2 Pet 1:19 is a common "proof-text" for Sola Scriptura. The passage reads as follows:
So we have the
prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a
lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises
in your hearts. (NASB)
Protestant apologists who appeal to this
verse understand "the prophetic word" to refer to the Bible. Of
course, this itself is anachronistic (see the section "Falling at the
First Hurdle: Why Sola Scriptura is an exegetical impossibility" in Not
By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura).
According to Richard Bauckham, the phrase
refers, not to the Bible as a whole, but the Old Testament (interpreted through
the Christ event):
The phrase τον προφητικὸν λογον (“the prophetic
word”), has been held to refer to (1) OT messianic prophecy (2) the whole OT
understood as messianic (3) one specific OT prophecy (4) OT and NT
prophecies (5) 2 Pet 1:20-2:19 (6) the Transfiguration itself as a prophecy of
the Parousia . . . In view of 2 Pet 3:16, where Paul’s
writings are called γραφαι
(“Scriptures”), it is perhaps not impossible that NT writings are included but
against this we should consider: (1) Even Justin does not use the term προφητικος λογος (“prophetic word”) of NT Scripture. (2)
Our writer is not likely to be representing Peter as saying that he and
his fellow-apostles based their preaching of the Parousia on apostolic
writings. The best sense of the whole passage 1:16-19 is that the apostles
based their eschatological message on (a) their own eyewitness testimony (vv
16-18), and (b) OT prophecies (v 19). (3) 2:1a, referring to false prophets in
the OT period, presupposes that the preceding verses are about the OT
Scriptures. (Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter [Word Biblical
Commentary 50; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992], 224)
That Peter is only speaking of the OT (via
a “Messianic lens”) and not the OT and NT is further supported by
vv. 20-21:
But know this first
of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God. (NASB)
The phrase translated as “until” in 2 Pet
1:19 is that of εως ου, the same term that appears in Matt 1:25. Most Latter-day Saints and
Protestants today interpret this to mean a cessation of the main clause when
the until/εως ου is reached. Interestingly, this would claim that “the prophetic word”
ceases to have ultimate authority when Christ returns(!) As Eric Svendsen
(Reformed Protestant) wrote:
Peter entreats us to
pay attention to the word of the prophets “as to a light shining in a dark
place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises” (2 Pet
1:19)—doubtless a reference to the parousia, after which it will no
longer be necessary to turn to the word of the prophets as a guide which navigates
us through a dark place; Christ himself will supersede any such need. (Eric D.
Svendsen, Who Is My Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in
the New Testament [Amityville, N.Y.: Calvary Press, 2001], 52)
