In a previous post entitled An Examination and Critique of the Theological Presuppositions Underlying Reformed Theology I discussed many of the (faulty) presuppositions Reformed critics of Latter-day Saint theology have (e.g., the relationship between God’s will and man’s will in salvation; the scope/extent of the atonement and the nature thereof). Of course, the main presupposition held by Protestants, not just Calvinists, is that of Sola Scriptura, the belief that the Bible is formally sufficient. The 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith states the following in chapter 1 section VI:
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.
The 1689 London Baptist Confession states something very similar in chapter 1 section VI:
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.
That this is the “dividing line” between Protestants and non-Protestants can be seen in the following meme I encountered featuring James R. White:
Sadly for the Protestant, the biblical/exegetical reality is that the Bible itself does not teach its purported formal sufficiency. For those interested, I have a full-length book exegeting all the relevant texts Protestants appeal to, including 2 Tim 3:16-17 and Acts 17:11:
It is also available online for free here. As far as I can ascertain, it is the most complete refutation of this man-made doctrine by a Latter-day Saint.
I mention this as White is correct. If Sola Scriptura is true, then Protestantism is true and LDS claims to authority are, ipso facto, falsified; if it is false, ipso facto, the Protestantism is falsified.
