James Park
New member
We can ask, “First of all, would you show me in your Bible where the Bible says that only doctrines found in Scripture are correct.” Most Protestants will cite 2 Tim 3:16 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” We agree that the Bible is a source of truth, but note that St. Paul said all scripture, not only scripture. Protestants who quote this passage always carefully start at 2 Tim 3:16 Let’s start two verses earlier and look at it in context.
2 Tim 3:14 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
1. The phrase “from whom you learned it” tells us clearly that St. Paul was referring to early Sacred Tradition!
2. St. Paul’s original Greek for “sacred writings” was hiera grammata. The New Testament uses grammata to mean Lk 16:6 a document, Acts 26:24 learning, Acts 28:21 epistles, 2 Cor 3:7, Gal 6:11 characters of the alphabet, or Jas 5:47 the collective writings of an author. But never “Holy Scripture.” Some of these sacred writings were later accepted by the Church into the Catholic Canon of Sacred Scripture. Others were not.
3. St. Paul’s phrase for “all Scripture,” pasa graphe, means all of the Old Testament books accepted by the Jews at the time he wrote his Epistles. The New Testament at that time consisted only of individual books and letters; no one then was thinking of them as a single collection, and certainly not an addition to Sacred Scripture. Pasa graphe literally means “each Scripture,” or “each passage.”
2 Tim 3:14 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
1. The phrase “from whom you learned it” tells us clearly that St. Paul was referring to early Sacred Tradition!
2. St. Paul’s original Greek for “sacred writings” was hiera grammata. The New Testament uses grammata to mean Lk 16:6 a document, Acts 26:24 learning, Acts 28:21 epistles, 2 Cor 3:7, Gal 6:11 characters of the alphabet, or Jas 5:47 the collective writings of an author. But never “Holy Scripture.” Some of these sacred writings were later accepted by the Church into the Catholic Canon of Sacred Scripture. Others were not.
3. St. Paul’s phrase for “all Scripture,” pasa graphe, means all of the Old Testament books accepted by the Jews at the time he wrote his Epistles. The New Testament at that time consisted only of individual books and letters; no one then was thinking of them as a single collection, and certainly not an addition to Sacred Scripture. Pasa graphe literally means “each Scripture,” or “each passage.”