Wednesday, February 15, 2023

A Problem Posed to the Common Protestant Appeal to Acts 17:11 to Support Sola Scriptura

 


Elsewhere, Paul’s own assessment of his oral teaching to the Thessalonians confirms its superlative distinction, for in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 he states:

 

We also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

 

This is a pivotal because it shows that Paul considered his oral message to the Thessalonians in Acts 17:1-4, (which revealed that Jesus was the Christ), and by necessary extension his oral message to the Bereans in Acts 17:11-13, as divine revelations on a par with Scripture, as obscure as it was at times, unless accompanied by and equally authoritative divine interpretation. This is the essential teaching of the Berean encounter. (Robert A. Sungenis, “Does Scripture Teach Sola Scriptura,” in Not By Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, ed. Robert A. Sungenis [2d ed.; State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2013], 125)

 

 Further Reading:


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