{"id":62082,"date":"2021-12-21T13:04:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T17:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=62082"},"modified":"2021-12-21T13:04:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T17:04:07","slug":"polycarp-69-155-vs-sola-scriptura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/12\/polycarp-69-155-vs-sola-scriptura.html","title":{"rendered":"Polycarp (69-155) vs. Sola Scriptura"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Protestant apologists, in tackling the topic of\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>\u00a0and whether the Church fathers believed in it or not, very often argue as follows:<\/p>\n

Church Father X believes in\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>, because, look, see!: he\u00a0praises\u00a0<\/em>Scripture in this place and that, and another over there, and says that Christians ought to\u00a0read<\/em>\u00a0the Bible to learn theology! Obviously, then, he agrees with the formal Protestant principle of\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>! Who could possibly\u00a0doubt<\/em>\u00a0it?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But this is fallacious and illogical through and through. The proper approach to this topic and what a given Church father believed is as follows:<\/p>\n

Sola Scriptura<\/em>\u00a0(as\u00a0classically defined by Protestants<\/a>) means that Scripture is the\u00a0only final infallible norm and source<\/em>\u00a0and standard<\/em>\u00a0(rule of faith) for Christian doctrine and faith. It follows from this, that neither the Church, nor ecumenical councils, nor popes, nor sacred, apostolic tradition, nor apostolic succession are infallible sources of authority. They are usually respected by the thinking Protestant, and regarded as authoritative to a degree, but not\u00a0infallibly<\/em>\u00a0so.<\/p>\n

We must, therefore, look to see if Church father\u00a0X<\/em>\u00a0thinks Scripture is\u00a0formally sufficient for authority<\/em>\u00a0(not just materially sufficient, which we agree with) without the necessary aid of tradition and the Church, or if he does not, as indicated in other statements. A thinker\u2019s statements regarding Christian authority must be evaluated in context of all of his thought in this area, rather than having pieces taken out and then claiming that they \u201cprove\u201d something that they do not, in fact, prove at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, even if we find a quote where a father\u00a0seems<\/i>\u00a0(at first glance) to be stating something akin to\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>\u00a0(since he is writing about the Bible without immediate reference to Church or tradition), we must examine what he believes about the (binding?, infallible?) authority of tradition, Church (including ecumenical councils), and apostolic succession, because the very question at hand (what is the\u00a0rule of faith<\/em>?) has to do with the\u00a0relation<\/em>\u00a0of all those things (all but Scripture being non-infallible, according to\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>).<\/p>\n

For that reason, their beliefs concerning all these\u00a0other<\/em>\u00a0elements\u00a0have<\/em>\u00a0to be examined, in order to understand properly how they views their relationship vis-a-vis each other, and whether or not they adhere to\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>. as the rule of faith. If they hold to the infallible authority of anything besides Scripture, they do\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0believe in\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Protestant always puts the Bible above Church and tradition, and denies that the latter two can be infallible. Catholics and Orthodox believe in a three-legged stool, where, practically-speaking, Church and tradition have equal authority with Scripture, because they are the necessary framework and interpretive grid through which Scripture can be properly interpreted in an orthodox sense.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With this in mind, we proceed to determine whether Polycarp<\/a>, bishop of Smyrna<\/a>, and a disciple of St. John, believed in\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>, or the Catholic rule of faith. The material below is from his Epistle to the Philippians<\/em>, in Philip Schaff\u2019s 38-volume collection of the Church fathers.<\/p>\n

Sacred Tradition<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[N]either I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and\u00a0glorified\u00a0Paul. He, when among you, accurately and steadfastly taught the word of\u00a0truth\u00a0in the presence of those who were then alive<\/span>. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter<\/span>, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that\u00a0faith which has been given you<\/span>, . . . (ch. 3)<\/p>\n

[W]hosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord<\/span> to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the\u00a0first-born\u00a0of\u00a0Satan. (ch. 7)<\/p>\n

Both you and\u00a0Ignatius\u00a0wrote to me, that if any one went [from this] into\u00a0Syria, he should carry your letter<\/em> with him; . . . The Epistles of Ignatius<\/span> written by him to us, and all the rest [of his Epistles] which we have by us, we have sent to you, as you requested. They are subjoined to this Epistle, and by them you may be greatly profited; for they treat of faith and patience, and all things that tend to edification in our Lord.<\/span> (ch. 13)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Church<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0. . . subject to the presbyters\u00a0and\u00a0deacons, as unto God and Christ.<\/span> (ch. 5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apostolic Succession<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He Himself has commanded us, and as the\u00a0apostles\u00a0who preached the\u00a0Gospel\u00a0unto us<\/span>, and the\u00a0prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord [have alike taught us<\/span>]. (ch. 6)<\/p>\n

Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their\u00a0false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning<\/span>; . . . (ch. 7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

***<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For\u00a0much<\/em>\u00a0more on\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>: see my\u00a0Bible, Tradition, Canon, & \u201cSola Scriptura\u201d<\/a>\u00a0web page.<\/p>\n

For documentation of many more Church fathers who rejected\u00a0sola Scriptura<\/em>, see the \u201cBible\u201d section of my\u00a0Fathers of the Church<\/a>\u00a0web page.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Practical Matters<\/em><\/strong>: Perhaps some of my 3,900+ free online articles (the most comprehensive \u201cone-stop\u201d Catholic apologetics site) or\u00a0fifty books<\/a>\u00a0have helped you (by God\u2019s grace) to decide to\u00a0become Catholic<\/a>\u00a0or to\u00a0return to the Church<\/a>, or better understand some doctrines and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0we believe them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. I\u2019m always in need of more funds: especially\u00a0monthly<\/em>\u00a0support. \u201cThe laborer is worthy of his wages\u201d (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a\u00a0full-time Catholic apologist<\/a>, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog.<\/p>\n

PayPal donations<\/a>\u00a0are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. You\u2019ll see the term \u201cCatholic Used Book Service\u201d, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page:\u00a0About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong \/ Donation Information<\/a>.\u00a0Thanks a million<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Photo credit<\/strong>:<\/span> Carole Raddato<\/a> (4-1-15). Agora of Smyrna (west coast of present-day Turkey), built during the Hellenistic era<\/span> [Flickr<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a> license]<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>: Polycarp (69-155) did not believe in the Protestant rule of faith: sola Scriptura<\/em>, and accepted the authority of the Church, apostolic succession, and sacred tradition.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protestant apologists, in tackling the topic of\u00a0sola Scriptura\u00a0and whether the Church fathers believed in it or not, very often argue as follows: Church Father X believes in\u00a0sola Scriptura, because, look, see!: he\u00a0praises\u00a0Scripture in this place and that, and another over there, and says that Christians ought to\u00a0read\u00a0the Bible to learn theology! Obviously, then, he agrees […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":62084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[598,779,15533,48,514,33,15509,1029,240,15527,15524,15521,15530,2007,15518,2006,3828,15536,1266,1267,15548,15551,32,902,35,47,36,932],"class_list":["post-62082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fathers-of-the-church","tag-apostolic-succession","tag-apostolic-tradition","tag-authoritative-bible-interpretation","tag-bible-alone","tag-bible-only","tag-christian-authority","tag-christian-tradition","tag-church-authority","tag-church-fathers","tag-church-fathers-apostolic-succession","tag-church-fathers-church-authority","tag-church-fathers-ecumenical-councils","tag-church-fathers-scripture","tag-church-fathers-sola-scriptura","tag-church-fathers-the-rule-of-faith","tag-church-fathers-tradition","tag-fathers-sola-scriptura","tag-infallible-christian-authority","tag-patristics","tag-patrology","tag-polycarp","tag-polycarp-sola-scriptura","tag-rule-of-faith","tag-sacred-tradition","tag-scripture-alone","tag-sola-scriptura","tag-three-legged-stool","tag-tradition"],"yoast_head":"\nPolycarp 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}