In a recent essay defending the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, we read that the Bible (not scripture merely) is necessary for salvation:
The Necessity of the Bible
Another
inherent attribute of the Bible is what has been called its necessity. It is
necessary if one is to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, as the Word of God
is instrumental in regeneration (1 Peter 1:23). It is necessary for the
believer to live a life of obedience to God, for it is in the Scriptures alone
that we learn of God's will, which is good, pleasing, and perfect (Romans
12:1-2; Psalm 119:105). God has also revealed Himself in the natural world, yet
general revelation, while sufficient to hold us morally accountable before God
(Romans 1:18-23), reveals nothing concerning the love and grace of God. In
order to know God in a saving way and to serve Him faithfully, we need the
Bible. (Lou Going, “The God-Breathed Character of the Bible: Affirming the
Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures,” in Standing on the Promises: Essays
in Honor of Stephen C. Brown and Wesley A. Ross, ed. Andrew J. Rice
[Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, 2019], 61)
Of course, this means that this
necessary instrument of salvation was not existent until the final book of the
Bible was inscripturated. Of course, this shows how idiotic such a teaching
about the nature of the Bible is.
Elsewhere, the same apologist
wrote the following:
The Sufficiency of the Bible
Because
the Bible is fully and verbally inspired by God, it is sufficient for life and
godliness. All that we must know in order to live in a way that is pleasing to
God and beneficial to others comes from the Scriptures. (Ibid., 61)
To see how fallacious the
reasoning is, consider the following:
Because
the book of Genesis is fully and verbally inspired by God, it is sufficient for
life and godliness. All that we must know in order to live in a way that is pleasing to God and beneficial to others comes from the book of Genesis.
The fact a work is (or a collection
of works are) fully and verbally inspired by God does not mean they are sufficient,
let alone “sufficient for life and godliness”; it would mean that they are
useful for such (which is what ωφελιμος, used in 2 Tim 3:16 for “scripture” [γραφη], means).
For a thorough refutation of Sola
Scriptura, see:
Not
By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
