Sola Scriptura

Rating:
Summary: What is the Pillar and foundation of Faith?
Review: The Bible says the Church. These tapes give you at least 95% of the answers you need to dismantle Sola Scriptura. The reason for the only 4 stars is because this series of 6 tapes could have been cut down to 4 or 5 tapes at the most. At least half of tape 2 is a review of tape 1. Thanks Ken for all the help and God bless you.

Rating:
Summary: The Funeral of a Great Myth
Review: These tapes would have been a very resourceful tool in my past. They clearly outline the deficiencies of the cornerstone of Protestantism in a spirit of love, humor and charity. He understands that, for Protestants, to question the "bible only" mentality is tantamount to questioning the whole of salvation history and the very incarnation and resurrection. It may have been Cardinal Ratzinger who said that for Catholics to believe in Christ and to believe in the Church it is one act of faith, whereas for Protestants it is solidly two acts. The function of the Church for Catholics is the role that the scriptures play for Protestants. The main problem, however, is that the latter cannot replace the former and still be the latter. That is, when the scriptures are torn from the heart of the Church, they cease, in some sense, from being the scriptures. It is like saying you believe in Jesus, but then go on to profess a belief that is akin to a Mormon. There are many false christs to believe in, but only one is the Saviour. There are many false ways to understand the scriptures, as the apostles themselves proclaim, as the existence of the thousands of different Protestant denominations, each 'preaching the gospel rightly in the fullness of truth,' is living, contradictory proof. Sola scriptura is in fact a very close cousin to the Muslim, Quranic notion of scripture, but this is too shocking for most Protestants to accept. Jesus is not incarnate in the book, but in the womb of the Virgin.

As a former staunch (Lutheran) Protestant, it took a long time for me to digest the fact that the whole notion of sola scriptura was, in fact, based upon an overreaction to Roman Catholic faults, influenced strongly by the "return to the sources" movement at the time, based upon some of Luther's own personality quirks, and the result of an over-simplistic understanding of God, the Church, and the historical process of the Tradition. But, as Newman said, he who reads the Father's (or Church history) ceases to be Protestant. It went something like that for him, and for me as well!

I would also suggest: Sungenis' "Not By Scripture Alone", which is in many ways the most complete debunking of the myth available. Yves Congar's "Tradition and Traditions" is also a very detailed account of the role and nature of tradition in East and West. "Common Ground" by Fr. Bajis contains a succinct but very useful critique of the doctrine of s.s. To top the list off, although there are tons of other great books about this, there is the charming account of one man's reception into the Roman fold, "Evangelical is Not Enough" by Thomas Howard.

May we seek His face in love.