“All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 – NASV)
Today, we
will address another common objection to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (“Bible
Alone”):
ARGUMENT #4 –
IF 2 TIMOTHY
3:16-17 PROVES THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE, IT WOULD PROVE TOO MUCH, BECAUSE WHEN PAUL MENTIONS SCRIPTURE, HE WAS SPEAKING OF THE ONLY SCRIPTURE
THAT WAS AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME: THE OLD
TESTAMENT. SO, IF SOLA SCRIPTURA APPLIES
HERE, WOULDN’T WE HAVE TO SAY THAT THE *OLD TESTAMENT* IS ALL WE NEED AS A RULE OF FAITH? AND WOULDN’T THAT MEAN THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT
IS *UNNECESSARY*?
The premise in this argument is that Paul could only have been talking about the Old
Testament. While it is true that only
part of the New Testament was
available when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, this argument is using very poor logic. In the context of this passage, Paul is
describing the nature and purpose of “ALL Scripture,” not
“all-Scripture-given-to-us-up-until-this-point-in-time.”
This is like someone saying, “All birds have wings.” But this would not mean that only birds existing UP TO THIS POINT have wings, and it is not saying that birds that hatch in the future will not have wings. It’s simply saying that it is characteristic of ALL birds to have wings.
For an
example that’s closer to home, it is like a Catholic saying, “All infallible /
‘ex-cathedra’ statements of the Catholic Church are true.” Would any Catholic think that this means that
ONLY the ones proclaimed UP TO THIS POINT are true, and that future ones may be
FALSE? No, he would argue that “all”
means all.
So when the
Apostle Paul said “All Scripture…”, he meant All Scripture, past, present and future (from his perspective). Is not the
New Testament also considered
Scripture? Isn’t it part of the whole? Absolutely.
No true Christian would deny the inspiration of the New Testament.
There is
nothing in the context to indicate that Paul had only the Old Testament in mind, since he was also addressing the
needs of the church of the future, as
well (3:1,
13). When Paul said, “All
Scripture,” there is no reason to think he meant otherwise, or to limit his description of the sacred
writings to only what was available at that time.
Since the
Bible equips us for EVERY GOOD WORK, the problem is not “…IF it would be sufficient,
it would prove too much…” No, the point
is that the whole of Scripture IS INDEED
SUFFICIENT as the only infallible Rule of Faith for the church today, but
Catholic teaching doesn’t line up with this … that’s the problem. They are
using a faulty premise in verse 16 which distorts the conclusion and true
meaning of verse 17.
So, this is
an illogical and absurd objection that falls flat, since it is just another in
a long line of weak attempts to deny the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.
Russ,
ReplyDeleteActually, the original translation of 2 tim 3:17 says that scripture equipts us for MOST good works, not all. The Catholic Bible also has it translated the same way.
Hello Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteCould you please give me an example of a translation that says “most” good works? The Catholic New American Bible (NAB) that I have says “every good work,” and so do the great majority of Bibles on the market that I know of. So, I would say that your argument is with them.