Sola Scriptura - Say What?

The other day I had a conversation.
But no, not just a conversation -- THE conversation.

You know ... the Bible Alone.

One of my grandmother's friends came over to see our new house and sit outside despite the wind.  This friend of hers is an absolutely delightful woman. She's kind, vivacious, outgoing, and loves to laugh! One of her most admirable qualities is her relationship with God.  She trusts in Him so much, and there have definitely been some miracles that have occurred by the grace of God as the fruit of her prayers.  Her immense trust in the Almighty Father results in some great things, surely.

She came inside as I was making some waffles for dinner (because who doesn't want waffles for dinner?!) and I heard her talk about a Bible Study class.  I shared that I'm taking Bible Study for school this year, and we discussed our favorite passages and favorite books. It was really a lovely discussion.

But then ... I got daring.
She presented an ideal that was rather anti-Catholic - that is, that merely believing in Jesus achieves salvation, anyone who doesn't believe cannot be saved, and one is saved by the works of God and not by their own actions.  (Clarification on Catholic standpoint from my understanding: everyone is saved through Jesus and by His death and resurrection. Without that, we could not achieve heaven. But it is up to us to follow His ways so that we might earn that Salvation which He has secured for us so graciously. [To the best of our ability, that is; we're never fully worthy and never will be, and that's where God's mercy and His Son's sacrifice come in.] In addition, even if one does not believe, if it is by no fault of their own, they may be saved; ultimately, it's in the hands of God.)

"No," she said politely, "We are saved by Jesus' sacrifice. You cannot give yourself credit for something that our God has done for us!"

Valid point, I thought to myself. Definitely food for thought there. 

Finally, after a few minutes, I stumped her when she said: "You achieve salvation when you believe in Jesus, not by your own actions," to which I responded:

"Is not believing an action which God, by giving us our Free Will and Reason, has allowed us to achieve?"

"...who says?"

I don't know, I thought to myself. The dictionary. "Believe" is a verb. But I kept my mouth shut as she continued on an unrelated tangent.

So I politely continued debating a few of her points a bit by asking questions.  She was elated, under the impression that I was asking her expertise and knowledge, and I politely smiled and nodded as she proceeded to present all sorts of lovely philosophies and revelations she had discovered from reading the Bible.

I asked her for her sources and where she had attained her knowledge from. Of course, the answer was Sacred Scripture -- the Bible. I shared that most of my philosophy came mainly from the Bible and from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  "I don't do denominations," she said. "As Christians, we're supposed to be together, and not divided."
"Precisely," I agreed wholeheartedly (with perhaps a bit of a smug smirk..hopefully it didn't show.) "For all of the denominations have that one, main, sole thing in common: Jesus Christ, the heart of our salvation, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, through whom we are saved. 'No one comes to the Father, except through Me.'"

And then, the statement to rule all statements - and of course, FINALLY the point of this post.
"It's wrong to follow tradition of man," she stated. "No where in the Bible does it say, 'Scripture and tradition.'"
(It does, but I couldn't remember where.)
"Can you tell me where in the Bible it says 'The Bible Alone'?"

Silence.

Because the Bible does not say, "The Bible Alone." The Bible says:.

 "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." 

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Really, that's all there is to say! 

But being as I like to talk a lot, I have more.

It is logical that the only accurate interpreter of a written work is the author himself.  Take, for instance, a children's novel about a puppy who gets lost because it was left in a wagon that rolled down the street, but in the end the wagon was found...literary analysis could provide all sorts of convoluted explanations for the author's motivation of writing such a thing; that the puppy was the soul, the wagon represented the world, the hill represented the fall of man, the boy who found the dog was God. 

Wow. Deep.

Only the author could shake his head and clarify, "It was a story about a puppy in a wagon. That's it." 

And so, we know that the author of the Bible to be Holy Spirit Himself, using man as His divine instrument.  The wording, the creative liberties, the artistic language is that of man, but the message is that of the Holy Spirit.  Through countless translations and many years of the Bible being passed on, it needs an interpreter.  Also just because there's just some pretty weird stuff in there. ("What do you MEAN my hair is like a flock of goats?!" Song of Solomon 4:1) 

The only accurate interpreter of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. 

Who's got the Holy Spirit?
Them Apostles got the Holy Spirit! I'd like to think that they chanted, "We've got Spirit!" on Pentecost. (Acts chapters 1 and 2; 11:15) 

As Christ built his church on St. Peter the Apostle (Matt 16:18) and He conferred His Spirit upon them on Pentecost, the Apostles then had the ability to allow the Spirit to work through them in a way that most people could not.  This included interpreting scripture.

At the first Council of Hippo (I think that's what it was, anyway...) the Catholic Church discussed the credibility of each written work regarding the Jewish Law and regarding the Life of Christ. It was at that council that they pieced together the Old and New Testaments and we have the Bible we have today.

In short, when someone says: "By the Bible Alone," ask them where they got the Bible in the first place...Then ask where it says, "By the Bible Alone." The Bible sure doesn't! 

My conversation with my grandmother's friend ended pleasantly. We discussed our favorite books once again, smiled, talked about how much we had enjoyed our discussion...And I nonchalantly added: "I love the book of John! ... Chapter 6 is my favorite!"