As Bible-believing Christians, we receive our truth from God from the inspired and inerrant Word of God.
This is not the case with the Roman Catholic Church.
Like other cults, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and that is the basis for establishing truth, doctrine, and practice. But it also has other criteria that it says are equal to Scripture: tradition, and Magisterium (the teaching authority of the Church). [178]
Vatican II said the following about the Bible:
Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine wellspring, move towards the same goal. Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles [the pope and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church] so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence.
But the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone...
It is clear, therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. [179]
Roman Catholicism on one hand says that the Word of God is what we need to know the truth, but then on the other hand teaches that it is only through the Magisterium that we can know the Word of God.
According to the official teaching of the Catholic Church, Catholic men and women are not allowed to believe what they read in the Bible without checking it out with the Catholic Church. They are required to find out how the bishops of the Church interpret a passage and they are to accept what the bishops teach as if it came from Jesus Christ Himself. They are not allowed to use their own judgment or follow their own conscience. They are required to believe whatever the bishops teach without questioning it. (Catechism 85, 87, 100, 862, 891, 939, 2034, 2037, 2041, 2050) [180]
The Catechism says:
"The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ." This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. [181]
Note the phrase, "the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the "Word of God" exists in two forms, written and oral, and that these are equal. Also, please note that "the Church alone" can give "an authentic interpretation."
The Catechism continues:
The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him. [182]
The same point is made here: only the Roman Catholic Magisterium can rightly interpret scripture.
Hence the Church teaches that "the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ." [183]
Please be aware of the teaching here. If you listen to the Roman Catholic clergy, you are listening to Christ. If you despise them, you are despising "Christ and him who sent Christ." This is quite a claim!
The Catechism also says:
When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed," and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith." This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself. [184]
Here the Roman Catholic Church says that not only is scripture infallible, but doctrine proposed by the Magisterium is infallible as well!
On the one hand, Rome says the Word of God is infallible and our only authority, but when we look at what Rome means by that, we discover:
In practice, the Roman Catholic Church has elevated its Magisterium above the Word of God.
According to Jesus, Scripture is the plumb line for measuring everything else. He judged religious traditions by comparing them to Scripture. When religious traditions contradicted Scripture, he condemned them. This shows clearly that nothing is equal in authority to Scripture. The Bible stands alone as the standard by which all other things are to be judged. [185]
James White defined Sola Scriptura as follows:
The doctrine of sola scriptura, simply stated, is that the Scriptures alone are sufficient to function as the regula fidei, the infallible rule of faith for the Church... There is no necessary belief, doctrine, or dogma absolutely required of a person for entrance into the kingdom of heaven that is not found in the revelation of God in the pages of Scripture. [186]
Everything we need to know about salvation is found in the written Word of God.
To summarize sola scriptura:
- Scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith.
- No other revelation is needed for the Church.
- There is no other infallible rule of faith outside of Scripture.
- Scripture reveals those things necessary for salvation.
- All traditions are subject to the higher authority of Scripture. [187]
The phrase "all traditions are subject to the higher authority of Scripture" is an important one to consider. Holding to Sola Scriptura is not a rejection of all traditions. Many traditions are helpful! Lots of churches have it as a tradition to have "The Lord's Supper" on the first Sunday of the month. This is not a bad tradition. But this tradition must be subservient to the Bible - meaning that we test the tradition by the Bible, and if we find a discrepancy, the Bible wins. Upon further Bible study, should it be demonstrated that the "Lord's Supper" ought to be performed every week, then the tradition must change accordingly. That is what Sola Scriptura is saying.
Some Roman Catholics incorrectly characterize proponents of Sola Scriptura as "anti-tradition." This is an error.
James White pointed out what Sola Scriptura is not:
- claim that the Bible contains all knowledge;
- claim that the Bible is an exhaustive catalog of all religious knowledge;
- denial of the Church's authority to teach God's truth;
- denial that God's Word has, at times, been spoken;
- rejection of every kind or use of tradition;
- denial of the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church. [188]
As discussed before, the Bible is not anti‑tradition. Paul told the Thessalonians, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15, emphasis mine).
He also wrote, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us" (2 Thessalonians 3:6, emphasis mine).
Here we see that Paul passed on traditions and taught the Christians to value them. And so should we!
As James White aptly said:
Sola scriptura does not entail the rejection of every kind or form of "tradition." There are some traditions that are God-honoring and useful in the Church. Sola scriptura simply means that any tradition, no matter how ancient or venerable it may seem to us, must be tested by a higher authority, and that authority is the Bible. [189]
Following traditions is a far cry from adding doctrines that clearly are absent from Scripture.
There are doctrines that Rome teaches as divine truth that are not found in Scripture, either directly or by any logical deduction or implication. For example, Rome teaches that Mary was bodily assumed into heaven. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that this doctrine is binding upon all Christians... And yet the Bible does not provide even a hint of the doctrine... hence, the Protestant says the doctrine is not binding upon the Christian; the Roman Catholic, having accepted the doctrine on the authority of the Roman Church, is forced to conclude the Bible is insufficient as a source of all divine truth. [190]
It is one thing to have a tradition of singing a hymn during the offering, but an entirely different thing to hold to a tradition that Mary is a co-redeemer!
We discover, despite words to the contrary, the Word of God is not the final authority for the Roman Catholic Church.
Here is the "three-part" view of authority found so often in Roman Catholic writings: the Scriptures, tradition, and the Magisterium (the Church's teaching power). Since the Magisterium defines the extent of the Scriptures (by defining the canon), claims sole right of interpretation of the Scriptures, tells us what is and what is not tradition, and defines doctrines on the basis of self-defined tradition, in reality we see that the only one of the three "legs" of this system that is not defined by one of the other is the Magisterium itself.
Because of this fact, the reasoning behind the often repeated Protestant assertion that the Scriptures are not the ultimate authority in Roman Catholic teaching is clear. While Rome loudly proclaims her fidelity to the Scriptures, she at the same time makes statements that plainly elevate her own Magisterium to the highest position of authority. [191]
The Word of God says, "thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" (Palm 138:2). God has placed His Word above even His own name, and the Roman Catholic Church has placed its Magisterium above God's Word.
"The words of the are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O , thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Psalm 12:6-7).
God says that His words are "pure" and that He will supernaturally preserve them forever.
"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" (Psalm 138:2).
God's Word is magnified even above God's name. The Word of God is so holy. No Magisterium or any other body could possibly be higher than the Word of God!
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Herein is Sola Scriptura. Scripture is all we need for "doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." The Bible "is given by inspiration of God" and is able to make us "perfect." We do not need the Magisterium.
Please consider Jesus' conversation with the Sadducees in Mark, chapter 16.
"And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures... have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err" (Mark 16:24, 26-27).
Jesus expected that they would have known the scriptures and believed every word, right down to the verb tense. Jesus' high view of Scripture is evident.
If you want an idea of what the Bible claims about itself, read Psalm 119.
This document written to the glory of God.
© 2006, Mark Edward Sohmer. Please feel free to quote from it in context, and distribute it in its entirety without profit.
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