Scripture Alone: The Dumbest Belief of Protestantism?

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]If you look right now at the LDS apologetic scene, there is currently a lot of heat directed towards one very particular Protestant doctrine. Solless scriptor.

[00:00:10]People say, "Who closed the cannon?

[00:00:12]Doesn't a closed cannon require another authority? Where does the Bible say it's the sole authority for the church? There are bladen errors in the Bible. It can't be the sole authority. Or what use is an authoritative text if we have no authoritative interpreter?" These are some good questions mixed with a host of misunderstandings. In this video, I'm going to explain what solos scriptor is and what it isn't and why I think it's not only a reasonable belief to hold, but essential.

[00:00:42]The second London Baptist Confession of Faith, sometimes called the 1689, starts by saying this. The holy scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Soloscript Torah is the conviction that scripture alone is the sole verbal infallible authority for God's people today. Soloscriptura is not the belief that scripture is the sole authority for God's people only that it is the sole infallible authority. We distinguish between solos scriptorra and solo or nuda scriptorra.

[00:01:16]There are other authorities church history, creeds, confessions, tradition, reason, etc. But while those are authoritative, they are not infallible authorities. They can be and are corrected by the infallible standard of scripture. Solora is not the conviction that the canon is closed, that new books can't be added to the scriptures. That's a doctrine aptly named closed canon.

[00:01:38]It's related but meaningfully distinct from soloscriptor. You could conceivably hold to both open canon and solos scriptorer. In that scenario, you would believe that scripture is the only infallible verbal authority for the church, but that God continues to give books under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Okay, now that I've defined the doctrine, let me explain for you the logic behind it. Soloscriptor begins with the conviction that God himself is infallible. Simply put, that God is unable to be wrong. This is really important. It is not that God just chooses to not do wrong. It's that he can't do wrong because he's the very source of life and goodness and justice and love itself. Everything that he does is the very definition of goodness and truth. So what he is, what he does, and what he says are all intrinsically infallible. To illustrate this, there's this thing called the international prototype of the meter. It's obsolete now, but for decades starting in 1889, it was a platinum meridium bar that was the standard defining measurement of a meter. All other meters in the world were defined by the international prototype of the meter. It was in essence the infallible standard for a meter. It literally couldn't be wrong or it wouldn't be what it was. We're told God is love. What God does defines love and so he literally can't be unloving.

[00:03:07]God is truth and so he cannot be wrong or he wouldn't be what he is. So step one in our logic train, God is infallible. Step two then logically follows. God's word is infallible. God's word goes forth with a unique authority and power and a kind of truthdefining clarity because of its source. Because God is the source of truth and is therefore inherently infallible. When God speaks in Genesis, let there be light, the newly created cosmos bow in submission to the authority and power of God's word, an expression of God's very nature. God's word is truth, defining truth wherever it goes. When we say that scripture is God's word, we don't just mean that it's the inspired recollections of the prophets. as though Isaiah had an encounter with God and then later wrote down what he remembered of that revelation. We mean that scripture is the very words of God. So we can quote a section of scripture and say God said XYZ or the Holy Spirit said this. Step three, scripture is literally God's word. I actually expect this is where many of my LDS friends hop off on this chain. So hang with me for a minute. Because God is truth. what God says is infallibly true. So when something is God's word, it is unfailingly, infallibly accurate. So if scripture is God's word, then step four, scripture is infallible. God ensures this when he speaks through his prophets by guaranteeing that none of their words fall to the ground. He tells Jeremiah, "Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth. I am watching over my word to perform it. And if scripture is infallible, well then it holds a very unique position in our world. What else is there that is an infallible verbal authority? Therefore, step five, scripture is the sole infallible verbal authority for the church. Church history, tradition, man's reason, these things are important and authoritative.

[00:05:14]They may even be without error in some cases, but that is still a long way from being unable to heir. Scriptures uniqueness and authority stems from what we're saying it really is, the very words of God. I suspect that many of my LDS friends hop off right here. Step three, the conviction that scripture is the actual words of God. So, my aim for the rest of this video is to demonstrate that this was the perspective of the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament apostles, and Jesus himself. But before I get there, I want to take a quick detour and do a little bit of a history lesson because I really want people to understand that Mormonism's objection to this doctrine is not the same as Roman Catholicism's objection to solar scriptor.

[00:06:02]At the dawn of the Reformation in Martin Luther's day, the Roman Catholic Church had two primary authorities, scripture and tradition. Rome's conviction was that there was not a sole verbal infallible authority for the church, but that there were two verbal infallible authorities for the church. It's not that Rome thought that there was something deficient in scripture.

[00:06:23]Rather, they thought that both scripture and church tradition helped inform the church's faith and beliefs. When Luther arrives on the scene, he felt that church tradition was indeed authoritative but not infallible. It could be wrong. And when it was wrong, it was corrected by scripture. Luther's controversial conviction was that popes and councils do error. They can be wrong. And when they're wrong, scripture corrects them. Thus, scripture is the sole infallible verbal authority. As important as tradition is, it's not God's word. The Westminster Confession of Faith articulates this well. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture. Rome's position was that both scripture and tradition were infallible authorities for the church. Luther's position was that scripture alone was the infallible verbal authority for the church. Mormonism simply doesn't have a dog in this fight. Rather than agreeing with Rome that both tradition and scripture are infallible, many Latter-day Saints believe that nothing is infallible. Indeed, for many, even God himself is not infallible. I mean, sure, God may not choose to do wrong, but he is not in this view of his own nature infallible. Instead of holding that there is one or two sources of infallible verbal authority, many Latter-day Saints hold that there are zero sources of infallible authority.

[00:08:01]So, I'd argue that much of modern Mormonism doesn't actually believe in open canon. That is that new scriptures can be added. Instead, I'd argue that Mormonism doesn't have a canon, at least not in the way that Protestants and Roman Catholics speak about canon.

[00:08:15]Latter-day Saints who deny any infallible authority have no list of inspired books. At best, this view of canon is nothing more than a very highly recommended reading list that the Holy Spirit can use and that may be inspiring to people but is not itself God's word.

[00:08:33]It's the difference between saying because I hear the voice of God in these writings, they are scripture versus these books are scripture, therefore I hear God's voice in them. So the big question then is is it reasonable to believe that scripture is the sole infallible verbal authority for the church.

[00:08:54]To recap the logic here, if scripture is inspired in the way we believe in that these are the very words of God, then scripture possesses a unique nature and authority. This is a presupposition that I have about the entirety of the Bible.

[00:09:09]And before you b at that, just keep in mind that everyone brings their presuppositions to scripture. The question I want to ask is, am I bringing the same presuppositions that Jesus and the apostles had? Do we treat scripture the same way they did? I think when we take a look at what they said, we find that they did believe scripture was the very word of God and was therefore supremely authoritative in the life of God's people. I want to have the same presuppositions about scripture that Jesus had. So, in order to figure out what presuppositions they held, let's take a look at what they wrote. I specifically want to look at the words of Jesus, the New Testament, and then the Old Testament. Let's start with the words of Jesus. In Mark 12, Jesus said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?" David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, and then he quotes Psalm 110. So, David wrote Psalm 110 in the Holy Spirit. Okay. Well, what does that mean? Matthew 19 perhaps sheds some light on this by revealing just how high a view Jesus had of scripture.

[00:10:14]Matthew 19 says, "And the Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, "Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." He who created Adam and Eve said, "Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother." That quote comes from Genesis chapter 2. And if you look close, you'll note that, "Therefore, a man shall leave," that quote is not a direct quote from God. It was a commentary written by Moses. And yet Jesus attributed that statement to God.

[00:10:56]So did Moses write Genesis 2 or did God?

[00:10:59]In Matthew 22, Jesus argues that the smallest details of the Old Testament are both important and authoritative. In a confrontation between the Sadducees and Jesus, the Sadducees were a group of Jews who denied a bodily resurrection.

[00:11:14]Jesus said this, "And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, he is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Jesus hinges his argument on the tense of the verb to be. It's not that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. the tense of a single verb in the Old Testament had the power and authority to correct and rebuke the Sadducees. So to recap, Jesus believed the authors of scripture wrote in the Holy Spirit such that their words were both the words of men but also the very words of God enough at least to attribute Old Testament text as being a quote from God and that even the smallest grammatical details were authoritative to correct false beliefs.

[00:12:06]Perhaps this is why throughout Jesus's ministry, he constantly appeals to the authority of the text. Haven't you read what David did? Haven't you read in the law? Have you never read the scriptures?

[00:12:18]What did Moses command you? What is written in the law? What's the meaning of that which is written in your own law? It is written. Is it not written in your own law? Jesus says, "It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh has no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." And he also says already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. There was something unique about these words. Christ believed that the Old Testament scripture was God's word.

[00:12:48]Did Jesus have too high a view of scripture? So let's look at what the New Testament says about scripture.

[00:12:56]The transfiguration is one of the most important events in the Gospels. Peter, James, and John go up on a mountaintop with Christ, and they catch a glimpse of his concealed glory. This was a testimony of the divine nature of Jesus.

[00:13:10]This was no ordinary person they were dealing with. Peter writes about this monumental event in second Peter, claiming to be an eyewitness to his majesty and hearing the voice that was born to him by the majestic glory. Yet, despite this incredible personal encounter, Peter says that scripture provides a prophetic word more fully confirmed. What's better and more fully confirmed than seeing Jesus transfigured? The prophetic word. And speaking about this prophetic word, Peter writes, "No prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

[00:13:44]For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Scripture provides this greater prophetic word because Peter argues scripture is not just a work of man. Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Certainly scripture retains their own individual personalities, their writing styles, their experiences and things like this.

[00:14:11]And yet they spoke as ones who were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[00:14:15]Perhaps this is why the author of Hebrews in quoting a psalm of David doesn't say that David wrote the psalm but that God did. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, then he quotes Psalm 95.

[00:14:27]And why Paul refers to the Old Testament as the oracles or the sayings of God.

[00:14:31]And the author of Hebrews does this more than once. Elsewhere, he quotes Jeremiah 31 as being also a quote directly from God. So when we come to the very ofted 2 Timothy 3:16, we have to keep in mind that the apostles thought that there was something unique about the nature of scripture. It was more than a recommended reading list. It was authored by both man and God. A process that theologians have called the superintendence of scripture. Paul famously writes in second Timothy, "From childhood, you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out or inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work." Scripture is unique, God breathed, which makes it uniquely able to make you wise unto salvation.

[00:15:30]Uniquely able to teach you and train you and reprove you. If you want to be complete and equipped for every good work, where should you look? You should look to scripture. It's this unique God-breathed nature that makes the word of God living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is uniquely effective because of what it is, the word of God. And this is what God's people since the earliest days of the church have recognized it as being.

[00:16:05]And we also thank God constantly for this. That when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God which is at work in you believers. So what then does the Old Testament have to say about scripture? Given the genre differences between what's in the Old Testament and the epistles of the New Testament, you could say that the Old Testament's statements about scripture are less concentrated. Nonetheless, I think there are some important texts to consider here. There are three psalms I want you to remember. Three psalms that if you have a chance, you should spend some time with reflecting on and meditating on to see if you have the same lifegiving view of scripture that David has that he expresses in these psalms. The three psalms are Psalm 1, Psalm 19, and Psalm 119. Ask yourself when you read them, what is it about the law of the Lord that is able to make it accomplish the things that are described in these texts? I won't go through the whole chapters here, but I will give you the highlights. Psalm 1 contrasts the cursed man who walks in the counsel of the wicked and stands in the way of sinners and the blessed man who meditates on God's law day and night.

[00:17:19]That man is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers.

[00:17:29]God's law here primarily is the Torah, Genesis through Deuteronomy. But I think we can extract from this a principle that applies to all similarly inspired texts. What is it about the law that makes it uniquely able to make men like trees planted beside streams of water that are bearing their fruit in season even if there's droughts? Well, something clearly about the law is unique. It's not like other writings. It is from the mouth of the Lord. According to Deuteronomy 8, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Psalm 19 contrasts God's self-revelation in creation in the things that have been made and in the law, his recorded word through the prophets. Creation speaks to everyone. Everyone sees the sun.

[00:18:18]Everyone witnesses the heavens declaring the glory of God. Yet that revelation doesn't move the heart of man. Creation reveals God's greatness and creative power, but it can't really do much more in the heart. In contrast, God verbally gives his law, his word, to accomplish more pointed tasks. He goes on in that psalm to say, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Again, God's word has a unique power. It can revive the soul. It can enlighten the eyes. It can make wise the simple. It can rejoice the heart. It is perfect, pure, sure, and right. Is that how Latter-day Saints can speak about their own prophets and apostles? Do Latter-day Saints look at the teachings and the words of Brigham Y. Young and say that those make wise the simple, revive the soul, that they are perfect and pure and sure and right.

[00:19:30]Is this even the same perspective that Latter-day Saints have towards their own scriptures? God gave his word and it stands for ages accomplishing his purposes. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. and my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Psalm 119 is really long, but I encourage you to read it and see how David delights over the law of the Lord and what it accomplishes. He yearns to gain life according to God's word. He acknowledges that God's word is firmly fixed in the heavens. How it gives light and how it imparts understanding and that the sum of his word is truth. Did Jesus, the prophets, and apostles have too high a view of scripture? Do we share the same presuppositions that they had? The words of the Lord are pure words like silver refined in a furnace on the ground purified seven times. If I'm right and scripture is the very word of God, then it stands unique in our world. God is not a man that he should lie. God is perfect and thus his word is perfect and powerful. In John chapter 10, Jesus says, "The sheep hear the good shepherd's voice. The sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers." God's people recognize scripture for what it is. Scripture is not our only authority, but it is our only infallible verbal authority because it is the very word of God. Now, I know this probably leaves you with a few questions about canonicity, closed cannon. What about interpretation? Don't we need infallible interpreters? All of those are good questions and important, but they're not strictly speaking the doctrine of soloscriptor. I will hopefully, Lord willing, get to some of those issues in future videos. So, be sure to subscribe in order to catch those later. Thanks so much for watching and God bless.