In a previous post, I discussed Craig Ledbetter’s appeal to John 17:17 and Rom 15:4 as “proof” of sola scriptura. In the same lecture, Ledbetter argued that 2 Tim 4:1-4 means that one cannot hold to a doctrine that is not in the Bible (another attempt to argue for the doctrine of sola scriptura). The pericope reads:
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word, be instant in season, and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.
Only by claiming that the “word” Paul writes to Timothy about is one-to-one equivalent to the Protestant Bible can Ledbetter and his ilk even claim that sola scriptura is being taught in this pericope. Of course, this is utter eisegesis (one cannot help but see that the characteristics of the false teachers prophesied of Paul fits Ledbetter to a tee).
Protestants like Ledbetter are guilty of the “word of God is the Bible alone!” fallacy one encounters all too often with Protestant apologists.
Fundamentalists often claim that every time the “Word of God” appears in the Bible it refers to the concept of Sola Scriptura, which, of course, is anachronistic with reference to the biblical texts! Furthermore, “the Word of God” does not refer to Scripture, but to Christ, the Law (Torah), God’s creative utterances, and apostolic and prophetic preaching in the Bible. Consider the following--
Luke 3:2-3: “Annas and Caiphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
Luke 4:44; 5:1: “And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesaret.”
Luke 8:11-15: “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hears, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation, fall away. And they which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which are in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
John 1:1, 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Acts 4:31: “And when they had departed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
1 Thess 2:13: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Heb 11:3: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do not appear.”
Again, this not only shows the utter exegetical bankruptcy of Craig Ledbetter, but also the anti-biblical nature of sola scrptura.