Is "Sola Scriptura" Valid?

One of the foundational principles of the Protestant Reformation was that Sacred Scripture is the only valid source of Christian beliefs. Martin Luther made this one of his primary claims against the validity of Papal authority, purgatory, and many other Catholic teachings that had been held since the time of the apostles. Many Protestant denominations still cling to this belief.

There are several problems with this assertion. The first is that there is no basis for saying that Scripture alone is the authoritative source of Christian doctrine. Certainly there is no mention of this in Scripture itself. Secondly, this belief has caused many protestants to examine the Bible and through their own interpretation, claim that certain Catholic doctrines are in error. Thirdly, due to the lack of an authoritative source of interpretation of the Scriptures, we have seen the splintering of the Protestant denominations because each has its own interpretation of the Scriptures. We shall attempt to examine each of these issues in the light of Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church in order to understand the problems associated with each.

First, when trying to understand the concept of Sola Scriptura, we would logically look for some basis for this belief in Scripture itself. We would be looking for a long time, because there is no evidence for it in the Bible. On the other hand, there are several passages in Scripture that show us that Sacred Scripture is to be understood in the light of Sacred Tradition. This Tradition, which has been handed down to us since the apostles, gives us a rich source of understanding of the words and intentions of Jesus. The first and most obvious verse to affirm the Catholic position on this matter is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” This verse clearly indicates the authority of oral tradition in forming doctrine.

Consider John 20:30, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of (his) disciples that are not written in this book”. What about John 21:25? It states “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” These things that Christ did are handed down in the form of Sacred Tradition.

When Protestants interpret Scripture, they commonly claim that certain Catholic doctrines are against Scripture. This is what happens when Scripture is interpreted without guidance. One excellent example of a Catholic practice that is supposedly against Scripture is the sacrament of Confession. They claim that no man has the power to forgive sins. However, in John 20:23, Jesus says, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” This is clearly an indication of the validity of Catholic Confession. Protestants claim that the Bible does not affirm the authority of the Pope. They fail to consider the full passage in the Gospel of Matthew when making this claim, however. In Mt. 16:13-19, we have a dialog between Jesus and His disciples:

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

We see that the people had no idea what to believe. They thought Jesus may have been John the Baptist, or a prophet. They were seriously in error. Then there was Peter, who knew Jesus. He did not know Jesus because he heard it from someone else, but because the Holy Spirit guided him. This passage gives us the beautiful promise that Jesus made to us that He would never abandon His Church to confusion. He gave us a leader, Peter, who was the first Pope. We see that we need a moral leader who can speak with authority.

There are thousands of Christian denominations. Each one claims to have the truth. Logic dictates that only one religion can have the fullness of the truth. There is only one Truth, who is God Himself. Private interpretation of Scripture can be faulty, and this is even conveyed in the Bible. Acts 8:30-31 says, “Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.” Here, the Bible clearly shows us the error of private interpretation of Scriptures. Philip sits down to guide the man through them so that they may be understood in the proper light.

These are just some of the reasons that Sola Scriptura, which is the belief that Scripture alone is the source for all Christian doctrine is wrong. We can only understand the Scriptures in the light of Sacred Tradition. The Bible itself does not dictate Sola Scriptura, but rather warns against it.

Happy Easter

May the Lord Bless you and all of your loved ones on this joyous day! May you rejoice in Jesus' rising from the dead and His conquering of sin!

Happy Easter!

What is the Meaning of Good Friday?

Good Friday is the solemn commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. This day is the most sorrowful of any day in the history of the world for Christians. Jesus, innocent and without sin, freely offered His life for the redemption of the sins of the entire world.

How is this possible? How can the sacrifice of one man be enough to redeem the gruesome sins of mankind? The sacrifice on the cross was the offering of God Himself. God, the almighty and infinite master of the universe made an infinite offering by His sacrifice on the cross. Our sins, though many and serious are finite. They are limited, though they are numerous. We cannot count them. They are too many, but God, knowing and seeing all knows all of our sins.

His sacrifice is an eternal one, by which we receive an eternal reward. By our sins beginning in the Garden of Eden and continuing throughout the history of humanity, we sentenced ourselves to separation from God for eternity. God is perfect, and through our sins, we blemished ourselves such that we could not be united with God in Heaven.

God, however, is compassionate and gave us a redemption from our sins. The death of Jesus on the Cross is the eternal sacrifice that removes the eternal consequences of our sinful nature. Christ in His mercy opened the Gates of Heaven for us.

There are many who freely choose to reject this gift. There are also many who accept it. Regardless of our response to this offering of His life, the gift was generously offered for the redemption of all. This gift is the manifestation of perfect love. Jesus was innocent of all sin. He gave the most precious gift that anyone could give: His Life. For, as it says in the Gospel of John, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.” (John 15:13).

This is the day when that famous verse, quoted in all corners of the world, written on signs at sporting events, and written on the hearts of all mankind came to fulfillment. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Let us not forget this amazing gift. Let us not reject this gift whether outright or through our sinfulness. Our Lord spared no pain, retained no shred of human dignity. He was scourged, crowned with thorns, spat upon, made to carry a cross through the streets, filled with a hostile crowd, nailed to a cross and killed for our sins. There is no sacrifice we can make that can even compare to His. For though we suffer, we are sinful. Our Lord was perfect and was tortured and killed for us.

We must conform our lives to goodness. We must sacrifice the pleasures of sinfulness so that we may be united with Him in Heaven. For though He died to redeem our sins, we must still accept this gift in our lives. We must live for Christ.

Betrayal

In today’s gospel, we hear Jesus prophesy two different episodes of betrayal by His disciples. He tells Judas “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Then He tells Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

Imagine the tension as Jesus calls out these two followers. Though not all of the disciples knew what was happening with Judas, John must have known because he asked Jesus who was to hand Him over. What must have the disciples thought after hearing of the betrayal? There must have been anger, confusion, and despair.

Jesus is present in our lives. The opportunities for grace are indeed frequent for us. We can witness to others about the Lord, our Savior, but do we? Let us take every opportunity to bring Jesus to others, even if we will be ridiculed, persecuted or cast out for our beliefs. Our message will be heard if we have conviction and confidence in our words. We must not allow ourselves to betray our Lord the way Peter did, or worse still, as Judas did. Pray for strength, that we may not withhold our witness to Christ.

No Gift is Too Great for Our God

During this time of Lent, one of the areas of focus in our lives should be the sacrifice of a lesser good for a greater good. The reason we fast and give alms is that by our sacrifice, we recognize the proper hierarchy of goods. God is the first and greatest good. All other goods are secondary. Money, comfort, time, and fame are all subordinate goods to the love of God.

Today, the readings at mass convey this idea. The prophecy in Isaiah sets Jesus apart as the chosen one, with whom the Father is pleased. The Lord is identified as our ultimate goal. He is the greatest good, in whom we should place all of our trust and energy.

The gospel reading affirms this concept. A woman begins to wash the feet of Jesus with rare and expensive oil. She then uses her own hair to dry His feet. As she is doing this, Judas becomes upset and asks why the oil is wasted and not used to help the poor. We know that Judas really intended to steal the money from the proceeds of the sale of that oil. Jesus then gives us perspective on the dispute. He silences Judas by reminding him that “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

Here we see that social justice certainly has its place. It is a very worthwhile cause, but it is still subordinate to the greater cause, which is the glorification of God. We must not forget the proper order of our priorities. God must always be first in our lives.