Thursday, October 28, 2021

2 Peter 1:3 does Not Teach Sola Scriptura

  

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertained to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Pet 1:3 NASB)

 

This is a "proof-text" for Sola Scriptura that a few Protestants appeal to. It is not as popular as 2 Tim 3:16-17 and Acts 17:11, and for good reason. Consider the following problems with the “Sola Scriptura” reading of the text:

 

  1. If 2 Pet 1:3 is teaching Sola Scriptura, all books written after 2 Peter is superfluous and are not needed (except as being 'useful' like 1 Clement or the Didache). This would mean that, if they wish to be consistent, reject texts written after 2 Peter such as the Book of Revelation.
  2. For Peter, there were other sources beyond inscripturated revelation among the "all things" God has given that pertain to life and godliness, such as the Church (both local and universal [Acts 15; 1 Tim 3:15] and divinely-inspired oral revelation [1 Thess 2:13; 2 Thess 2:15; 1 Cor 11:23ff, etc]).
  3. One has to read into this verse a teaching that the source of 'all things' is exhausted in 'the Bible.’ This is refuted by the Greek. Peter uses πάντα (neuter pl.) but γραφη is feminine. πασα (or the pl. πασας) should have been used if 'scripture’ alone was in view.
  4. No one in the early and Medieval Christian periods understood this verse to teach the formal sufficiency of the Bible. If a Protestant wishes to claim 2 Pet 1:3 does indeed teach Sola Scriptura/the formal sufficiency of the Bible, they will have to claim that the correct interpretation of this passage, allege ding teaching a key doctrine (Sola Scriptura is the formal doctrine of Protestantism) was lost from the time Peter wrote his epistle until the Reformation era. On this, consider the following from a Protestant work on how the verse was interpreted in the patristic and Medieval-eras:

 

1:3 All Things That Pertain to Life and Godliness

 

Granted All Things. Hilary of Arles [c. 401-449]: Here Peter is talking about the Scriptures, the miracles which Christ did in the flesh, the work of baptism and the doctrine which was preached, all of which bring us into the enjoyment of eternal life. Introductory Commentary on 2 Peter [PL Supp. 3:107].

 

Through the Knowledge of Him Who Called Us. Bede [c. 673-735]: This verse follows on what has gone before, because it is by the knowledge of our Lord and Savior that we come to understand all the mysteries of his divinity, by which we have been saved. For he did not send an angel or an archangel to save us, nor did he find anything in us which might allow us to contribute to our own salvation, but when he saw that we were weak and had nothing to boast of, he came in his own glory and power and redeemed us. On 2 Peter [PL 93:69].

 

Pertaining to Life and Godliness. Theophylact [c. 1050-1108]: Grace and peace are the means by which God gives us everything we need in order to live godly lives. Commentary on 2 Peter [PG 125:1257]. (Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude [Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000], 132, comments in square brackets added)

 

As with so many proof-texts for Sola Scriptura, if it proves something, it proves too much for the Protestant apologist.


Further Reading


Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura