Timeless Truths...Is the Bible The Ultimate Source Of Authority

We now arrive at one of the most important matters which we will address: the extent of the authority of the Bible. The question can be simply stated, “Is the Bible the full, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and adequate rule of faith, or is there something else that the believer needs?”
In other words, is the Bible enough? Is it the last word on every subject in which it deals with, or do we need something else? Is there another source of divine authority? In this book, we will examine various claims to where ultimate authority resides.
We will discover that the Bible is indeed the final authority on all matters of belief and practice. The Scriptures are sufficient; nothing else is needed.
The Roman Catholic Church would not agree that the Bible is where ultimate authority rests. They contend that the Roman Church, rather than the Scripture, has the right to have the last word on all matters of belief. While they believe the Bible is God’s divinely inspired Word, they do not accept the idea that the Bible alone is enough. They also believe and teach that holy tradition is an equally authoritative source.
Furthermore, the Roman Church believes and teaches that it alone is able to properly interpret the Scripture and the sacred tradition.
To look at this issue further, we call your attention to Question 3 in this book…
Where Do Protestants And Roman Catholics Differ On The
Question Of The Authority Of The Scripture?
Roman Catholics and Protestants both claim to believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. While there are a number of things in which they agree about, there are also things in which they disagree. It is important that we understand exactly what the agreements and disagreements consist of.
In fact, the main thing which separates Protestants and Roman Catholics is this issue of where ultimate authority comes from. Protestants believe that the Bible and it alone is the final authority on all matters of belief and practice. Roman Catholics have a different perspective on this issue. They do not believe that Scripture alone is the final authority. They believe the Bible is only one channel of divine revelation which God has revealed to humanity.
To understand the differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics on this issue, we can make the following comparisons and observations about their beliefs on the matter of ultimate authority.
Protestants and Roman Catholics Hold To The Same Books In The New Testament But Disagree About The Old Testament
The Protestant Church and Roman Catholic Church both agree that the Scriptures are the divinely inspired Word of God. Protestants and Roman Catholics hold to the exact same books as New Testament Scripture while Roman Catholics add a number of books to the Old Testament which Protestants reject. Therefore, there is no agreement as to which writings make up the written Word of God to the human race.
We have written a separate book answering this question in great detail… Does The Old Testament Apocrypha Belong In The Bible? We will examine this question in another edition of Timeless Truths…
What Does The Bible Say About Scripture And Tradition?
The Bible teaches that only the written Scripture is divinely inspired. Nowhere does it say that this type of tradition is inspired in the way in which Rome claims it is inspired. We can make the following points in our response to the Roman position.
1. Jesus Answered Questions By Quoting Scripture, He Never Cited Tradition
2. Jesus Came To Fulfill Scripture Not Tradition
3. Jesus Warned Believers Against Traditions Which Contradict God’s Word
And we skip down to point number 6...
6. Scripture Describes Itself As Sufficient
What About Papal Authority?
One more thing, in this book we look at a number of claims that the Roman Catholic Church makes regarding its authority. This includes the claim that Peter was the first Pope, the bishop of Rome, and that there have been his successors since his time until the present… Question 5...Did Jesus Give Peter The Unique Authority To Speak For Him? (Papal Authority)
We demonstrate that the evidence is lacking. In fact, we list some 19 reasons as to why this idea is not biblical. In other words, there is no biblical evidence, whatsoever, for the Roman Catholic view.
These are just some of the timeless truths from the Bible that we deal with in this book.
In sum, it is clear that the Bible, and it alone, is the ultimate source of authority on all matters of faith and practice…. Nothing else…
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