Bible alone? Part 1
Today I’d like to speak about “Bible Alone” Christianity, also known by its Latin name, “Sola Scriptura”.
Sola Scriptura is an important issue to discuss because it underpins virtually all of Protestantism. It was the Formal Principle of the Reformation. This topic has come up in every discussion I’ve ever had with non-Catholics. It is the major Protestant presupposition and, although the Catholic Faith can certainly be defended from Sacred Scripture, this presupposition really needs to be tackled early on in any Catholic-Protestant dialogue.
This article is another of those half-written posts which languished in my “Drafts” folder for a long, long time. I had intended to write a substantial and thorough article concerning Sola Scriptura since my own realization concerning the shortcomings of this doctrine was the tipping point in my return to the Catholic Church.
However, once again, my desire to write a thorough post has prevented me from writing anything at all. I resisted writing until I had time to do the subject matter justice. So, once again I am forced to return to the words of G.K. Chesterton “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly”. Rather than waiting until I can do a perfect job I’m just going to sit down, write something and get it out there. So, please put on your crash helmets…here we go…
Today is Mother’s Day in America, so I’d like to say a few words about one of my favourite mothers in history. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, the great Father of the Early Church. She was born in Tagaste, North Africa, to a Christian family. When she reached a marriageable age, she was given in marriage to Patricius, a pagan of infidelity and foul temper. Monica endured a lot during their marriage, but through her patience and kindness, Patricius underwent conversion and was baptized a year before his death.
A lot of Christians choose a “life verse”, a favourite verse from the Bible which is a source of encouragement and inspiration. If I had to pick one passage from the Bible I guess I’d choose the following text from 2nd Corinthians:
