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The "Bible Alone" is Not Enough
Catholic Family News ^ | July 1995

Posted on 03/15/2004 6:40:12 PM PST by narses

The "Bible Alone" is Not Enough

Answers to 25 Questions on the History of New Testament which completely refute the Protestants' "Bible Only" Theory.

ONE

Did Our Lord write any part of the New Testament or command His Apostles to do so? Our Lord Himself never wrote a line, nor is there any record that He ordered His Apostles to write; He did command them to teach and to preach. Also He to whom all power was given in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28-18) promised to give them the Holy Ghost (John 14-26) and to be with them Himself till the end of the world. (Matthew 28-20).

Comment: If reading the Bible were a necessary means of salvation, Our Lord would have made that statement and also provided the necessary means for His followers.

 TWO

How many of the Apostles or others actually wrote what is now in the New Testament? A few of the Apostles wrote part of Our Lords teachings, as they themselves expressly stated; i.e., Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude, Matthew, also Saints Mark and Luke. None of the others wrote anything, so far as is recorded.

Comment: If the Bible privately interpreted was to be a Divine rule of Faith, the Apostles would have been derelict in their duty when instead, some of them adopted preaching only.

THREE

Was it a teaching or a Bible-reading Church that Christ founded?

The Protestant Bible expressly states that Christ founded a teaching Church, which existed before any of the New Testament books were written.
   Romans 10-17: So then faith cometh by Hearing and hearing by the word of God.
   Matthew 28-19: Go ye therefore and Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
   Mark 16-20: And they went forth, and Preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.
   Mark 16-15: And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and Preach the gospel to every creature.

Comment: Thus falls the entire basis of the 'Bible-only theory.

 FOUR

Was there any drastic difference between what Our Lord commanded the Apostles to teach and what the New Testament contains? Our Lord commanded His Apostles to teach all things whatsoever He had commanded; (Matthew 28-20); His Church must necessarily teach everything; (John 14-26); however,  the Protestant Bible itself teaches that the Bible does not contain all of Our Lords doctrines:

    John 20-30: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.
    John 21-25: And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

Comment: How would it have been possible for second century Christians to practice Our Lords religion, if private interpretation of an unavailable and only partial account of Christs teaching were indispensable?

FIVE

Does the New Testament expressly refer to Christs "unwritten word"? The New Testament itself teaches that it does not contain all that Our Lord did or, consequently, all that He taught.

    John 20-30: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.
   John 21-25: And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

Comment:    Since     the  Bible is incomplete, it needs something else to supplement it; i.e., the spoken or historically recorded word which we call Tradition.

SIX

What became of the unwritten truths which Our Lord and the Apostles taught? The Church had carefully conserved this 'word of mouth teaching by historical records called Tradition. Even the Protestant Bible teaches that many Christian truths were to be handed down by word of mouth.

    2 Thessalonians 2-14: Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
   2 Timothy 2-2: And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Comment: Hence not only Scripture but other sources of information must be consulted to get the whole of Christs teaching. Religions founded on 'the Bible only are therefore necessarily incomplete.

SEVEN

Between what years were the first and last books of the New Testament written? The first book, Saint Matthews Gospel, was not written until about ten years after Our Lords Ascension. Saint Johns fourth gospel and Apocalypse or Book of Revelations were not written until about 100 A.D.

Comment: Imagine how the present-day privately interpreted 'Bible-only theory would have appeared at a time when the books of the New Testament were not only unavailable, but most of them had not yet been written.

EIGHT

When was the New Testament placed under one cover? In 397 A.D. by the Council of Carthage, from which it follows that non- Catholics have derived their New Testament from the Catholic Church; no other source was available.

Comment: Up to 397 A.D., some of the Christians had access to part of the New Testament; into this situation, how would the 'Bible-only privately interpreted theory have fitted?

NINE

Why so much delay in compiling the New Testament? Prior to 397 A.D., the various books of the New Testament were not under one cover, but were in the custody of different groups or congregations. The persecutions against the Church, which had gained new intensity, prevented these New Testament books from being properly authenticated and placed under one cover. However, this important work was begun after Constantine gave peace to Christianity in 313 A.D., allowing it to be practiced in the Roman Empire.

Comment: This again shows how utterly impossible was the 'Bible-only theory, at least up to 400 A.D.

TEN

What other problem confronted those who wished to determine the contents of the New Testament? Before the inspired books were recognized as such, many other books had been written and by many were thought to be inspired; hence the Catholic Church made a thorough examination of the whole question; biblical scholars spent years in the Holy Land studying languages of New Testament writings.

Comment: According to the present-day 'Bible-only theory, in the above circumstances, it would also have been necessary for early Christians to read all the doubtful books and, by interior illumination, judge which were and which were not divinely inspired.

ELEVEN

Who finally did decide which books were inspired and therefore belonged to the New Testament? Shortly before 400 A.D. a General Council of the Catholic Church, using the infallible authority which Christ had given to His own Divine institution, finally decided which books really belonged to the New Testament and which did not.

Either the Church at this General Council was infallible, or it was not.

If the Church was infallible then, why is it not infallible now? If the Church was not infallible then, in that case the New Testament is not worth the paper it is written on, because internal evidences of authenticity and inspiration are inconclusive and because the work of this Council cannot now be rechecked; this is obvious from reply to next question.

Comment: In view of these historical facts, it is difficult to see how non-Catholics can deny that it was from the (Roman) Catholic Church that they received the New Testament.

TWELVE

Why is it impossible for modern non-Catholics to check over the work done by the Church previous to 400 A.D.? The original writings were on frail material called papyrus, which had but temporary enduring qualities. While the books judged to be inspired by the Catholic Church were carefully copied by her monks, those rejected at that time were allowed to disintegrate, for lack of further interest in them.

Comment: What then is left for non-Catholics, except to trust the Catholic Church to have acted under divine inspiration; if at that time, why not now?

THIRTEEN

Would the theory of private interpretation of the New Testament have been possible for the year 400 A.D.? No, because, as already stated, no New Testament as such was in existence.

Comment: If our non-Catholic brethren today had no Bibles, how could they even imagine following the 'Bible-only privately interpreted theory but before 400 A.D., New Testaments were altogether unavailable.

FOURTEEN

Would the private interpretation theory have been possible between 400 A.D., and 1440 A.D., when printing was invented? No, the cost of individual Bibles written by hand was prohibitive; moreover, due to the scarcity of books, and other reasons, the ability to read was limited to a small minority. The Church used art, drama and other means to convey Biblical messages.

Comment: To have proposed the 'Bible-only theory during the above period would obviously have been impracticable and irrational.

FIFTEEN

Who copied and conserved the Bible during the interval between 400 A.D. and 1440 A.D.? The Catholic monks; in many cases these monks spent their entire lives to give the world personally-penned copies of the Scriptures, before printing was invented.

Comment: In spite of this, the Catholic Church is accused of having tried to destroy the Bible; had she desired to do this, she had 1500 years within which to do so.

SIXTEEN

Who gave the Reformers the authority to change over from the one Faith, one Fold and one Shepherd program, to that of the 'Bible-only Theory? Saint Paul seems to answer the above when he said: 'But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Galatians 1-8 (Protestant version).

Comment: If in 300 years, one-third of Christianity was split into at least 300 sects, how many sects would three-thirds of Christianity have produced in 1900 years? (Answer is 5700.)

SEVENTEEN

Since Luther, what consequences have followed from the use of the 'Bible-only theory and its personal interpretation? Just what Saint Paul foretold when he said: 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. 2 Timothy 4-3 (Protestant edition). According to the World Almanac for 1953 there are in the United States 20 different organizations of Methodists, 22 kinds of Baptists, 10 branches of Presbyterians, 13 organizations of Mennonites, 18 of Lutherans and hundreds of other denominations.

Comment: The 'Bible-only theory may indeed cater to the self-exaltation of the individual, but it certainly does not conduce to the acquisition of Divine truth.

EIGHTEEN

In Christs system, what important part has the Bible? The Bible is one precious source of religious truth; other sources are historical records (Tradition) and the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost.

Comment: Elimination of any one of the three elements in the equation of Christs true Church would be fatal to its claims to be such.

NINETEEN

Now that the New Testament is complete and available, what insolvable problem remains? The impossibility of the Bible to explain itself and the consequent multiplicity of errors which individuals make by their theory of private interpretation. Hence it is indisputable that the Bible must have an authorized interpreter.

    2 Peter 1-20: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
   2 Peter 3-16: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
   Acts 8-30: And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31. And he said, How can I, except some men should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Comment: Only by going on the supposition that falsehood is as acceptable to God as is truth, can the 'Bible-only theory be defended.

TWENTY

Who is the official expounder of the Scriptures? The Holy Ghost, acting through and within the Church which Christ founded nineteen centuries ago; the Bible teaches through whom in the Church come the official interpretations of Gods law and Gods word.

    Luke 10-16: He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.
   Matthew 16-18: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
   Malachias 2-7: For the priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

Comment: Formerly, at least, it was commonly held that when individuals read their Bibles carefully and prayerfully, the Holy Ghost would guide each individual to a knowledge of the truth. This is much more than the Catholic Church claims for even the Pope himself. Only after extended consultation and study, with much fervent prayer, does he rarely and solemnly make such a decision.

TWENTY-ONE

What are the effects of the  Catholic  use  of the Bible? Regardless of what persons may think about the Catholic Church, they must admit that her system gets results in the way of unity of rule and unity of Faith; otherwise stated, one Faith, one Fold and one Shepherd.

Comment: If many millions of non-Catholics in all nations,  by  reading  their Bible carefully and prayerfully, had exactly the same faith, reached the same conclusions, then this theory might deserve the serious consideration of intelligent, well-disposed persons -- but not otherwise.

TWENTY-TWO

Why are there so many non-Catholic Churches? Because there is so much different interpretation of the Bible; there is so much different interpretation of the Bible because there is so much wrong interpretation; there is so much wrong interpretation because the system of interpreting is radically wrong; you cannot have one Fold and one Shepherd, one Faith and one Baptism, by allowing every man and every woman to distort and pervert the Scriptures to suit his or her own pet theories.

Comment:  To  say  that Bible reading is an intensely Christian practice, is to enunciate a beautiful truth; to say that Bible reading is the sole source of religious Faith, is to make a sadly erroneous statement.

TWENTY-THREE

Without Divine aid, could the Catholic Church have maintained her one Faith, one Fold, and one Shepherd? Not any more than the non-Catholic sects have done; they are a proof of what happens when, without Divine aid, groups strive to do the humanly impossible.

Comment: Catholics love, venerate, use the bible; but they also know that the Bible alone is not Christs system but only a precious book, a means, an aid by which the Church carries on her mission to 'preach the Gospel to every living creature and to keep on preaching it 'to the end of time.

TWENTY-FOUR

Were there any printed Bibles before Luther? When printing was invented, about 1440, one of the first, if not the earliest printed book, was an edition of the Catholic Bible printed by Johann Gutenberg. It is reliably maintained that 626 editions of the Catholic Bible, or portions thereof, had come from the press through the agency of the Church, in countries where her influence prevailed, before Luthers German version appeared in 1534. Of these, many were in various European languages. Hence Luthers 'discovery of the supposedly unknown Bible at Erfurt in 1503 is one of those strange, wild calumnies with which anti-Catholic literature abounds.

Comment: Today parts of the Bible are read in the vernacular from every Catholic altar every Sunday. The Church grants a spiritual premium or indulgence to those who read the Bible; every Catholic family has, or is supposed to have, a Bible in the home. Millions of Catholic Bibles are sold annually.

TWENTY-FIVE

During the Middle Ages, did the Catholic Church manifest hostility to the Bible as her adversaries claim? Under stress of special circumstances, various regulations were made by the Church to protect the people from being spiritually poisoned by the corrupted and distorted translations of the Bible; hence opposition to the Waldensians, Albigensians, Wycliffe and Tyndale.

Comment: Individual churchmen may at times have gone too far in their zeal, not to belittle the Bible, but to protect it. There is no human agency in which authority is always exercised blamelessly.

Taken from The Catholic Religion Proved by the Protestant Bible

Reprinted from the Juluy 1995 edition of
Catholic Family News
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To: Gamecock
If you posted that here just to be a troll, as you accused me of doing, where is your charity? Where is your faith? Can you not defend what you believe?
21 posted on 03/15/2004 7:29:58 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: NWU Army ROTC
If 83% are apostate because they went to a MOVIE, it begs the question of their faith, no? Of course, the fact that such a charge was repudiated by most was also interesting. If every one of us is free to interpret the Faith (and we are), then we have a fascinating world. For those of us who choose to accept the Apostolic Succession, life is simple (sort of). Then again the "once saved, always saved" crowd has an equally easy time.
22 posted on 03/15/2004 7:32:41 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: narses
***Did Our Lord write any part of the New Testament or command His Apostles to do so***


This article is woefully ignorant of the scriptures...


"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later."


...Write, therefore...
23 posted on 03/15/2004 7:33:37 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: narses
"The professing church is in a hopeless, demoralized state whenever its members begin to believe that the Bible is insufficient for the task before us."

I guess the church for 1500 years was in a hopeless, demoralized state. If I were a Protestant, I would have a tremendously difficult time trying to explain how Christians living in the early years of the church could be "saved", when they relied purely on spoken word and tradition.

24 posted on 03/15/2004 7:34:21 PM PST by Life is Sacred (I'm sick of the "change the channel" defense!!!)
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To: narses
***Before the Bible was written, how did "Sola Scriptura" exist***


Jesus said...


"He [Lazarus] answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "


...Moses and the Prophets...

If you won't listen to Scripture NOTHING will save you!
25 posted on 03/15/2004 7:38:17 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: narses
Moi? I posted it to be fair and balanced. Did I not put a link to your thread on my post? You didn't. I wanted my RC friends to benefit from my post.

To paraphrase your post #10, I wanted our beloved, if somewhat heretical, protestant Catholic brethern to have the full story.

Where is your faith? In my heart.

Can you not defend what you believe? Sure. See my home page.

26 posted on 03/15/2004 7:38:27 PM PST by Gamecock
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To: Life is Sacred
***when they relied purely on spoken word and tradition***


See # 25
27 posted on 03/15/2004 7:40:07 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: PetroniusMaximus
Good, except that was John hearing from an ANGEL. Try again.

John 20-30: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.

John 21-25: And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
28 posted on 03/15/2004 7:41:39 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: Gamecock
"I posted it to be fair and balanced"

And calling me a troll was charity?
29 posted on 03/15/2004 7:42:07 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: Gamecock
Can you not defend what you believe? Sure. See my home page.

Well, that is an improvement over your first answer:

Why should I?

But since this thread is here, why can't you answer the objextions here point by point?

30 posted on 03/15/2004 7:43:53 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: PetroniusMaximus
""Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later." ...Write, therefore...",

Did the apostle then and there begin the arduous task of writing the entire NT and then writing even more so there would be enough copies to go around? How does that verse have anything to do with the other NT authors, who weren't personally called to pick up their quills?

31 posted on 03/15/2004 7:44:17 PM PST by Life is Sacred (I'm sick of the "change the channel" defense!!!)
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To: PetroniusMaximus
"If you won't listen to Scripture NOTHING will save you!"

A non sequiter. BEFORE scripture was written, what did the 'sola scriptura' crowd do? (Hint: the Apostles PREACHED the Word.)
32 posted on 03/15/2004 7:45:05 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: narses
5

***Comment: Since the Bible is incomplete, it needs something else to supplement it; i.e., the spoken or historically recorded word which we call Tradition.***


Prologue to Luke...

"Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.


...that you may have certainty...

Did Luke LIE when he wrote that we could have certainty through this writings?

(I am not mad at you. I love you! and I am mad that people would attempt to deceive you like they have about the Bible!!!)
33 posted on 03/15/2004 7:48:07 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: narses
And calling me a troll was charity?

Actually, yes it was. Would you have preferred a brood of vipers?

BTW, don't you have enough to worry about without antagonizing Proddies?

34 posted on 03/15/2004 7:49:39 PM PST by Gamecock
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To: PetroniusMaximus; Gamecock
""Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'"

Kind of like when the early Christians listened to church fathers and the apostles before them, seeing as how there was no Bible to refer to. You can also call it oral tradition.

35 posted on 03/15/2004 7:50:50 PM PST by Life is Sacred (I'm sick of the "change the channel" defense!!!)
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To: narses
***Good, except that was John hearing from an ANGEL. Try again. ***

Angels do not claim to be the Alpha and Omega the First and the Last!

""Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
"Write, therefore"

This is Jesus speaking!
36 posted on 03/15/2004 7:52:37 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: narses
But since this thread is here, why can't you answer the objextions here point by point?

Because I have better things to do than answer a poorly written piece of garbage. Like pick my belly button lint.

37 posted on 03/15/2004 7:52:47 PM PST by Gamecock
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To: PetroniusMaximus
How in the world does his certainty about what he wrote eviscerate the Tradition given to the Apostles about which he did NOT write? Is logic entirely absent from your world? The Word is Infinite, the Bible is finite. The Holy Ghost exists, is part of the Triune Godhead and contains ALL of the Truth. I pray your eyes open to that reality.
38 posted on 03/15/2004 7:53:36 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: Gamecock
Ah, if your faith cannot deal with a " poorly written piece of garbage", how strong can it be? Strong enough, perhaps, to "pick (your)belly button lint", but not strong enough to support you in debate?
39 posted on 03/15/2004 7:56:16 PM PST by narses (If you want OFF or ON my Catholic Ping list, please email me. +)
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To: narses
***BEFORE scripture was written, what did the 'sola scriptura' crowd do? ***

I miss your point.

Since Moses took up the styles there has been scripture.
40 posted on 03/15/2004 7:57:20 PM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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