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Is The Bible Our Only Authority
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We may face this question through our non-Catholic friends who hold that view, generally known (in Latin) as "sola scriptura" (sola = only; scriptura = scripture). Their other common question might come like this: Why your (Catholic) Church does not regard the Bible as the highest authority, but supplements it with traditions which in many cases "contradict" it? Some Catholics may not be able to answer those question properly; some may even be led to leave the Church by those "Bible only" believers.
To answer the question whether the Bible is our only authority or not, we first must investigate whether our Lord Himself has such intention. Did He intend to make Christianity a religion of the Book? If that is the case, then definitely He would leave for us a written text, all compiled and endorsed by Him for us before His ascension. Having a written text at the very beginning of Christianity will certainly be a crucial matter if our faith is to be based on it and not on anything else. However, it is a well known fact that Jesus did not leave any written record. What we call now as New Testament books were written (after His Ascension) by His followers, none of them bears His commandment to write down His message. Furthermore the fourth Gospel testifies that there are other signs and things which Jesus did but not recorded in His Gospel (John 20:30 and 21:25). In fact what Jesus established and left for us is His Church, to whom He promised that the gates of Hades shall not prevail (Mat 16:18). It was His Church through the guidance of Holy Spirit who collected and approved all books of New Testament, a process which took more than three centuries until the final canon of New Testament was declared.
Without any written text, then our Lord's and subsequently His apostles' teaching were first transmitted orally. Acts 2:42 says that the first Christians devoted themselves to the teaching of apostles which must be in oral form. Paul wrote to Timothy, "And what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well" (2 Tim. 2:2). The words attributed to Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35) are not found in the four Gospels and therefore must have been passed orally to Paul. Gradually part of this oral form of teaching was put in written form and became New Testament. Catholic Church retained to this day the oral form which is preserved in apostolic succession through the bishops. This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit is known as Sacred (or Holy) Tradition. It is written with capital T to distinguish it with human made traditions. The latter is changeable while Tradition is unchangeable. The word "Tradition" was not invented by Catholic Church but was introduced by apostle Paul. It comes from the verb which means "to hand down" or "to deliver". Thus Paul in 1 Cor 15:3 wrote "For I handed down (Greek paredoka] to you as of first importance what I also received ...." The same verb is also used in Luke 1:2 indicating that this Gospel is in fact a written form of oral traditions handed down from eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. The noun of that verb is translated as "tradition" (Greek paradoses). In 2 Thes 2:15 Paul wrote "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions (paradoseV) that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours" In the same letter he gave order to shun any whose conduct is not according to the traditions (2 Thes 3:6). Furthermore in 1 Cor 11:2 He praised those who hold fast to the traditions which was handed by him.
Those who believe that the Bible is the only authority usually will quote from 2 Tim 3:16 to support their view. The verse says "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness" However the word "useful" does not imply "sufficiency" or "authority". The verse only shows Scripture divine origin (not denied by Catholics) and its usefulness, but neither its authority and nor its sufficiency. In addition 2 Tim 3:15 also shows that what Paul meant with Scripture is Old Testament books. During Timothy childhood, none of New Testament books, including his epistles (the first to be written) existed, or only Old Testament books were known to Timothy.
Did Jesus and all writers of New Testament always quote from Scripture (Old Testament)? Since Old Testament was already a written text during Jesus' time, does it proof that they held the view that the Scripture is the only authority? However, there are quotations in New Testament which do not originate from Old Testament books. Consider one prophecy fulfilled in Jesus in Matthew 2:23, "He shall be called a Nazorean." No such prophecy can be found in Old Testament. Is 11:1 has been suggested since "branch" in Hebrew is "neser", but it is a play of words (both words have similar pronounciation). Other proposed the word "nazir" which means "consecrated" and it is also a play of words. Jesus was not a nazir (like Samson or Samuel), as He will not fulfill its requirement stated in Num 6:1-21. Nazorean simply means a person from Nazareth, the home town of Jesus which was never mentioned in any Old Testament books. Thus this prophecy must be taken from other source, most likely an oral one since there is no any existing written record even from outside Old Testament. Jesus and writers of New Testament also quoted from outside Old Testament books and treated it as from Scripture (John 7:38, James 4:5). Jude 9 is quotation from "Ascension of Moses" and Jude 14 is from "the Book of Enoch", neither of these two books was ever included in Old Testament, either Hebrew or (longer) Greek Old Testament. In 1 Cor 10:4 Paul wrote about a spiritual rock that followed the Israelites in the desert, yet the Old Testament says nothing about movement of the rock (Ex 17:1-7, Num 20:2-13). In 2 Tim 3:8 he named the opponents of Moses, not mentioned in Old Testament. In short Jesus and the writers of New Testament books did not restrict themselves to quote only from Old Testament books.
Bible only believers may also quote from other verses like John 20:31 and Acts 17:11 to support their view. From the verse itself, John 20:31 only says that his Gospel was written to help us to believe in Jesus as Messiah, through which we may have life in His name. It does not say that his Gospel becomes authority or sufficient for our salvation (if this is the case then we don't need other 26 books of New Testament). Acts 17:11 only shows that the Bereans checked the Scripture (Old Testament) to see whether Jesus fulfilled its prophecies. Did Paul already put in written form what he said or received orally (1 Cor 11:23 and 2 Thes 2:5)? In 1 Cor 11:23 Paul only wrote about the institution of Eucharist which was handed down to him (it is recorded in the three Gospel as well). Similarly in 2 Thes 2:5 he put down in writing only what he said about the Antichrist (verses 1-4). In short, Paul did not put his whole oral teachings in his epistles. How about Peter, did he write "I shall also make every effort to enable you to remember these things after my departure." (2 Pet 2:15)? Yet Peter did not write any other letter after 2 Peter, so his effort cannot be in the form of written text. There is no verse in New Testament indicating that it contains the whole apostolic oral teaching.
When it comes to the word "tradition", the Bible only believers try to show that Jesus condemned tradition. Their favorite verses are Matthew 15:3 (or Mark 7:9) which says, "Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions?" and Col 2:8, "See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ". However these verses only condemn erroneous human traditions, not Jesus and apostolic teachings (Tradition) which were unchangeable, handed down orally and entrusted to the Church. Consider Matthew 15:6 (or Mark 7:13): "You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition." Jesus did not condemn all traditions. He condemned only those that made God's word void. In this case, it was the teaching of Pharisees that any dedication to Temple can be taken from money set aside to support parents. By doing this, they violated the commandment to "Honor your father and your mother" as stated in Ex. 20:12.
One good question is how we can guarantee that the Church can preserve this Tradition after so many years without being lost or tampered? Jesus did promise that He will be with us to the end of age (Mat 28:20) and that He will send the Holy Spirit to remind us about His teaching (John 14:26). For sure He did not talk nonsense or bluffing. He Himself said that "Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Matthew 24:35). Then how can we trust the Church? Jesus Himself guaranteed that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against His Church (Mat 16:18). In 1 Tim 3:15, Paul wrote that the foundation and pillar of truth is the Church, not the Bible. In conclusion Catholics believe that the authority of faith is Bible and Tradition, as manifested in the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church, to which were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles.
By: Dr Wibisono Hartono