With a proposition that says the church in the first century, just as the Jews in the previous centuries, was able to distinguish between sound doctrine and unauthorized teachings without the aid of an "infallible Catholic Magisterium" to reveal what books belonged in the biblical canon, some believe the stance of sola-scriptura is violated because "protestants" believe only scripture is infallible, not the church itself. Therefore, if scripture alone is infallible, how did the church know what was "scripture" before the collective scripture existed. Furthermore, it is claimed the Jews did not agree on the canon of scripture, therefore the infallibility of the church to provide the canon of scripture was and is essential.
But there is no contradiction against "sola scriptura" in the previously given proposition.
What the Spirit taught to the church by word did not contradict what the Spirit taught to the church by letter in the first century, and the same is true every century thereafter (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:14). A contradiction is a lie, and the Holy Spirit cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Therefore, the one who contradicts the written teachings of the Spirit is the liar (John 8:55; 10:35; Revelation 2:2). When someone teaches something based on an oral tradition, but it contradicts the tradition of the unchanged written word, then you know this person is not to be trusted. Simple as that.
Additionally, what anyone thinks about the Jew’s recognition of canon carries no weight on the canon’s existence. We can plainly see the numerous instances when Jesus, and the first century church, pointed toward the existing scripture in their day as proof of what was being fulfilled. If a proper canon did not exist for the Jews, then no prophecy could have been properly identified to be properly fulfilled.
Concerning any existing division over the old canon amongst the Jews in Jesus’ day, Jesus corrected the Sadducee’s, the Pharisee’s and the scribe’s (regardless of their party identification) erroneous views on the Old Testament scriptures with … Old Testament scriptures (Matthew 9:13). There was no appeal to an infallible magisterium of any sort. The appeal was to scripture, and if a proper collection of scripture did not exist or was not identifiable in their day, no correction could have been given by Jesus (Luke 4:14-30). Therefore, the proposition stands.
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