The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura in Scripture and Early Christianity

Sola Scriptura, meaning “Scripture alone,” is the Protestant belief that the Bible is the only infallible authority for faith and practice. Supporters point to verses like 2 Timothy 3:16–17, where Scripture is said to make the man of God “complete,” and note how Jesus and the apostles often appealed to Scripture as the final standard of truth. However, the idea that Scripture is the only infallible authority is not actually found in Scripture itself.

 The Bible also upholds oral apostolic teaching 2 Thessalonians 2:15, and the early Church relied on both Scripture and Tradition long before the canon was finalized. The Church determined which books belonged in the Bible, showing that Scripture was recognized on the Church’s authority. Because of this, and because the earliest Christians did not practice Sola Scriptura, the doctrine cannot be proven true when weighed against the full history and evidence of Christianity.

Jesus did not leave us with a bible. It did not fall from the sky. he left us his church. He gave us The apostles who received the Holy Spirit in John 20:22. And from there we received the New Testament that is god breathed. Meaning that the men who wrote scripture were under divine inspiration. In other words, infallible at the moment. Therefore, while Scripture is divinely inspired and authoritative, it does not present itself as the sole infallible authority. Both Scripture and apostolic Tradition function together within the Church Christ established, which existed before the New Testament and preserved it. For this reason, Sola Scriptura is a later theological framework rather than a doctrine taught or practiced by the earliest Christians.