The ‘Bible Only’ Idea is Contrary to the Bible

David Martin | The Daily Knight

Many today insist that the Bible is the sole source of divine revelation but who ever authorized them to believe such a thing? The Bible only idea (sola scriptura) is neither approved by God nor found in the Bible. This was the invention of Martin Luther who was only looking for an excuse to get away from God and His Church.

St. Paul himself tells us, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.” (2 Thess. 2:14)

That is, whether by word of mouth (Apostolic Tradition), or by the scriptures. Divine revelation is two-fold so that the unwritten traditions of the Catholic Church are no less to be received than the epistles.

Bibles Were Not Available Through the Centuries

To say that sola scriptura is our sole path to Christ is to say that the people of the first 18 centuries A.D. had no access to salvation, since there were virtually no Bibles to speak of during that time. The Bible wasn't even compiled until 400 A.D., and even in the fourteen centuries that followed there were no mass-produced Bibles. For while there were printing presses by the 15th century they were far and few between and could scarcely provide each Church with a Bible, if that. Printing presses were only used in Germany at that time making it impossible to reach the world with mass-produced Bibles.

This is not to mention that all Bibles prior to the 16th century were in Latin, which scarcely no one could read. And even if Bibles had been available in the common language of the people (vernacular) they still couldn’t read them because so many people were illiterate. 

Christians Learned the Faith at Mass

So, how did the people of the first 18 centuries have access to salvation? Answer: they attended Mass on Sunday and received the Faith from the pastors of the Church. St. Paul said, "Faith comes then by hearing." (Romans 10:17) He never said, “faith comes by reading.” Christ never told us to 'read’ the Bible but to follow his commands and teachings as given to his priestly representatives.

Just before His Ascension into Heaven, Christ gave this command to his Apostles:

“All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:18-20)

Hence Christ commissioned his disciples to go out and preach so that people could hear their words and spread them to others. Some of these hearers then became priests and spread the Gospel still to others, and in this manner was the Gospel handed down through the centuries.

Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the tradition of the Faith was spread this way with SS. Peter and Paul preaching to the multitudes. They didn’t stand on a soap box with a ‘Bible in their hand’ but they preached by heart and from the heart. Their hearers were baptized and saved as were their hearers, who in turn carried the torch of truth to the next generation, and in this way the Light of Christ reached the four corners of the earth in keeping with Christ’s command.

The Bible Needed More Than Ever

The foregoing is not to imply that we should ignore Scripture since it is a key part of our ammunition to counteract the many errors and delusions being spread today in the name of Christ. In waging the good fight knowledge is power and a simple look at the Bible will reveal that the sola scriptura people know little or nothing of the Bible. They’re hoping we won’t read our Bible so that they could tie us up with words, therefore let us read the Bible daily as this will be a key part of “taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.” (Ephesians 6:16)