Here we are again making to the second to last argument that "Ed" has made against Sola Scriptura. As a reminder, "Ed" challenged me with these arguments on Facebook. You can have really good discussions/debates/ect on Facebook, but it can be a difficult medium to have deep conversations on. So instead of answering his objections there, I felt that a blog was the better medium to answer his challenges. As usual, text from "Ed" are in red and texts from the Scriptures are in blue.
8. So it was Sacred Tradition that preceded Sacred Scripture. Only an infallible sacred tradition can declare an inerrant and inspired NT scripture canon.
This point needs to be untangled in order to address it properly. There are built-in assumptions throughout the entire point.
"So it was Sacred Tradition that preceded Sacred Scripture." Where did you get "Sacred Tradition" from? It certainly wasn't in the previous seven points that were made. When looking at the last seven points that "Ed" made, "Sacred Tradition" isn't even mentioned once, let alone proven. This is an assumption that has been made and must be demonstrated in order to be believed.
If "Ed" isn't aware, Protestants have traditions as well. Tradition itself isn't a bad word. Sadly, many Roman Catholics read the word "tradition" and import their own understanding into it. Often times, Roman Catholics see Protestants following a tradition and immediately use that as a means to justify their own version of "tradition," namely "Sacred Tradition." There can be traditions, but they must be held accountable to the Word of God, which is the Bible.
"Only an infallible sacred tradition can declare an inerrant and inspired NT scripture canon." This is nonsense and here's why. The inspired text is inspired by someone, but that someone isn't a man. Biblical inspiration didn't happen by the will of man, but by the will of God Himself. The only thing that man can do is recognize the inspired canon. None of the men at the Councils of Rome, Hippo, or Carthage are reported as saying that they are capable of making infallible declarations concerning the canon.
The truth of the matter is that the canon is the canon because God made it so. Technically speaking, both Roman Catholics and Protestants should agree on that point. Our real issue is how does mankind recognize the infallible Word of God?
There are many ways that man can recognize what the canon itself is. Yes, we can look at "tradition" and see what God's people have valued and passed on to later generations, there's no question about that. But we also can look at what the original language was for a particular text, we can see how widespread a text was or where the text originated, we can also look at what early opponents of the faith said that believers recognized as Scripture.
Tradition itself is fine, there's nothing wrong with following traditions as long as they are held subject to the Bible. There is no need for a "Sacred Tradition" that is infallible for us to understand what the canon is. To believe that we need man to determine what the canon is, is to place man above the Scriptures themselves. All have sinned, and no man is the author of the Word of God. Only God Himself determines what the canon is.
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? Mark 12:24
