Defending Sola Scriptura in the Church Fathers | Michael Horton Responds to Trent Horn

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1. 00:00

   Trent Horn

   Irenaeus doesn't say that the faith itself is confined or only found in the apostles' written word alone.

2. 00:07

   Michael Horton

   Well, actually he does. Let me respond. There's a lot to respond to here. There's plenty of pre-Nicene testimony to sola scriptura. How did scripture function? Did it function differently from tradition in the ancient church? And the answer is yes. Let me give you some examples here. Clement is writing really on the heels of Paul, and he is upbraiding the Corinthians now because a bunch of young guys in the church have overthrown the presbytery, the elders, the ruling council of elders. They have deposed them illegally, contrary to the word of Christ. So, it's a disciplinary letter, and here he says, “Let us put aside empty and vain cares, and let us come to the glorious and venerable canon of our tradition.” He doesn't say canon and tradition. He says the canon of our tradition, the canon of the Christian faith. He exhibits this by drawing support from Matthew, Luke, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Titus, 1 Timothy, and Hebrews, with allusions to Acts, calling them Scripture.

3. 01:27

   Michael Horton

   Hi, I'm Mike Horton, and I'm a Reformed professor, theology teacher. Today we're going to look at a criticism of sola scriptura, scripture alone, from Trent Horn. He's the host of the popular YouTube channel Council of Trent, and he often speaks on Roman Catholic apologetics and other issues. In this video, he's trying to debunk the notion that the Church Fathers held to sola scriptura, the sufficiency of scripture.

4. 01:54

   Trent Horn

   Let's start with the first option, the pre-Nicene Church Fathers, the Church Fathers Fathers before the Council of Nicaea in 325. When you read historical defenses of sola scriptura, they almost always use sources from after the Council of Nicaea. The closest I've seen Protestant apologists come to providing evidence from this era comes from St. Irenaeus, who said, “We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures to be the ground and pillar of our faith.” But in this passage, Irenaeus is saying the Gnostic heretics are wrong when they claim that the apostles lacked perfect power and that they didn't have the true gospel. They had the gospel, and the Gnostics contradicted, which can be seen in the gospels that have been handed on. Irenaeus writes just after this passage, “These, the gospels, have all declared to us that there is one God, creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets, and one Christ, the Son of God. If anyone do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord.”One of the common Catholic views of the material sufficiency of scripture says that all dogma is in scripture, at least implicitly, but the church provides an infallible interpretation of these dogmas, showing clearly what must be believed. Whenever Protestants cite a post-Nicene father, who sounds like he supports sola scriptura, you can find another quote from that same father undermining sola scriptura. For example, here's the full quote from St. Athanasius that I referenced earlier. “For although the sacred and inspired scriptures are sufficient to declare the truth–while there are other works of our blessed teachers compiled for this purpose, if he meet with which a man will gain some knowledge of the interpretation of the scriptures and be able to learn what he wishes to know–still, as we have not at present in our hands the compositions of our teachers, we must communicate in writing to you what we learned from them–the faith, namely, of Christ the Saviour.”For Athanasius, the scriptures do contain the truth of the gospel, but one must also seek out the correct interpretation of that truth from those who already teach the faith. That's why Athanasius cited 1 Corinthians 11:2 saying, as I handed the traditions to you, so ye hold them fast” in his letter to the bishops of Africa. And he instructed them to, “let the faith confessed by the fathers at Nicaea alone hold good among you.” However, Irenaeus doesn't say that the faith itself is confined or only found in the apostles' written word alone.

5. 4:31

   Michael Horton

   Well, actually he does. Let me respond. There's a lot to respond to here. There's plenty of pre-Nicene testimony to sola scriptura. The first thing we have to recognize is that the Apostle Paul in Galatians, his letter to the Galatians, said that even he as an apostle is subordinate to the gospel. “Even if I or another apostle or an angel from heaven preaches another gospel than the one I preached, let him be anathema.” See, what happened was the canon emerged around a gospel. It's like a pearl in an oyster. It formed, it germinated because of the apostles' testimony to Jesus Christ, that he was risen. The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, attested very early, probably three years after the crucifixion itself. Paul is saying that there is a tradition already in the church that Jesus was crucified, buried. After three days, he rose again and was seen by the apostles and then “as one untimely born, I saw him on the road to Damascus.” So we have the canon of scripture emerging from a gospel, from Genesis to Revelation. That's what Irenaeus emphasizes more than anything else, that the whole Bible, he says, is a mosaic. He also uses the analogy of a symphony, whereas the Gnostics, all they do is a cacophony. The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you piece it together and it's a mosaic of Christ. That is what the canon is built on. So it's not like, you know, dropping from heaven, Muhammad has an angel reveal everything to him at once, or it's nothing like that. And it's not just the whims or feelings of the early Christian community. It comes around, it forms around an announcement, and that announcement is the good news of the gospel. And then even the law testifies to that, as Paul says in Romans. Jews knew what it meant to appeal to tradition. They knew what it meant to appeal to the Scriptures. They often distinguished them. And Jesus himself acknowledged that they sit in Moses' seat. So they have real authority, but it's ministerial authority. And that's why he chides them for setting aside the commands of God, the Word of God, for the traditions of men. So Jesus makes that distinction between the tradition of the elders and the authoritative scriptures themselves, which have sufficient authority. So you have a teaching authority, It's ministerial, and you have a canonical authority. It's sort of like the Constitution and the courts. In our country, you know, we have courts that consider cases, actual cases of challenges to the Constitution. It's the Constitution that literally constitutes the people. And then the courts don't make up the Constitution. The courts interpret the Constitution and apply it. And that's what we have church courts doing. It's not like everybody, each one of us running around deciding what we're going to believe, how we're going to live. We do this together, and that's why Irenaeus also called this the “presbyterial reading of Scripture.” That wasn't just because he was a Presbyterian. He's talking about the presbytery, the council of elders in assembly. That is what leads and guides us. So the early church fathers certainly had a high view of tradition and coming to a consensual conviction about what the Bible teaches, but it's the Bible itself they were convinced that is so clear it can be summarized for a child. The Roman Catholic Church doesn't believe that the Word of God is clear. That's why it needs to have a clarifying teacher. An infallible Scripture requires an infallible teacher. But have we actually seen the church over all these centuries making things clearer than the Bible? Now, when you go to actual quotations, here's what we find. And bear with me because Trent Horn contends that apologists on the Protestant side just really can't go to pre-Nicene sources. They're just not there. Well, that's not true.

6. Michael Horton

   First of all, I already went to Jesus' distinction. between the tradition of the elders and the Word of God. The Second Vatican Council, by the way, says that tradition and Scripture are one deposit of the one Word of God. Well, that's not what Jesus says. He distinguishes between the Word of God and the traditions of men. Peter called Paul's writings part of “the other Scriptures.” So already Peter was referring to Paul's writings as Scripture, and Paul referred to Luke's book of Acts as scripture. In fact, he quoted it, giving it as much of a canonical status as the book of Deuteronomy. And then Paul instructs in 1 Corinthians 4:6 “that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, do not go beyond what is written.” So there's already a saying in the church. I like tradition. This is a good tradition. There's already a tradition in the church of saying, do not go beyond what is written. Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. See, you'd pick out an apostle and—I really side with Peter, or I really side with James, or I really, I'm of Paul or Apollos. No, actually it's sola scriptura that creates unity rather than division. Polycarp, a disciple of John, quotes many passages of scripture, especially Ephesians and the Psalms as equal. Ephesians, New Testament, Psalms, of course, Old Testament, quotes them as scripture. The same is true in the letters of Clement, Clement of Rome, and also Barnabas. In fact, noted Princeton scholar Bruce Metzger said that even if we lost all of the manuscripts, early New Testament manuscripts, we could reconstruct almost all of the New Testament simply from the quotations you find in the Church Fathers. That's another important thing. How did Scripture function? It's not just quotes, cherry-picking quotes. How did Scripture function? Did it function differently from tradition? In the ancient church? And the answer is yes. Let me give you some examples here. Clement, I referred to Clement in his letter to the Corinthians. So the Corinthians were still a mess, just as they were in Paul's day. Clement is writing really on the heels of Paul, and he is upbraiding the Corinthians now because a bunch of young guys in the church have overthrown the presbytery. the elders, the ruling council of elders. They have deposed them illegally, contrary to the word of Christ. So it's a disciplinary letter. And here he says, “let us put aside empty and vain cares and let us come to the glorious and venerable canon of our tradition.” He doesn't say canon and tradition. He says the canon of our tradition, the canon of the Christian faith. He exhibits this by drawing support from Matthew, Luke, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Titus, 1 Timothy, and Hebrews, with allusions to Acts, calling them scripture. And again, this is in the late first century. I could go on and on with Clement, but I can move on to the Muratorian Fragment in 170 AD, which provided a list of canonical scripture allowed to be read in church. Now, there was no reason for a list until heretics came along and liked to add their own cartoonish versions of the gospel. And so now churches had to say, no, those have never been allowed to be read in church. Allowed to be read in church in public worship was a sign that it's the word of God. Remember, Paul told Timothy not only to preach the word, but to read the scriptures. And so the public reading of the scriptures was a very important part of the liturgy. And that already is a canon. It's a working, functioning canon because those were the only letters and gospels and narratives and laws that were allowed to be read in public worship. Irenaeus says in the quote that Trent Horn quoted, “we have learned from none others the plan of our salvation than from those through whom the gospel has come down to us —the apostles—“which they did at one time proclaim in public, and at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in sacred tradition.” No, “handed down to us in the scriptures to be the ground and pillar of our faith.” In fact, Irenaeus goes on to say it's the Gnostics who proffer oral tradition. Jesus spoke to our favorite apostle, Mary Magdalene, or Judas, or Peter. And we have this oral tradition, and Irenaeus says there is—no, we have the scriptures. Now the tradition is laid down in the written word, the holy scriptures, and don't go beyond that. Clement of Alexandria in the second century said, “The ecclesiastical canon is the concord and symphony of the law and the prophets in the covenant delivered at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Even Origen, not my favorite theologian, says “We understand the truth if we listen to Paul's words as the very words of God. And he says, do not go beyond the canon, even through teachers like me. If I stray from the canon, then I stray from the rule of faith.” And that's the thing, rule of faith, it was like an early creed. A summary of the Bible. It wasn't another authority alongside the Bible. It was only authoritative because it was the consensual reading of the Bible by the church over against the heresies who were contradicting it. The fact that the Bible is so clear that it can be summarized by the whole church—think of the Nicene Creed over all these centuries—attests to the fact that it's not a confusing book, as Rome teaches.

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10. 17:08

    Michael Horton

    Tertullian writes, “This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ and raises amongst us no other questions than those which heresies introduce and which make men heretics.” The rule of faith is a summary of Scripture, not a tradition alongside Scripture, but a summary of Scripture. Tertullian says that Scripture itself is not obscure. Here's what he says. “When you read”—talking to laypeople—“When you read, you can have my same level of understanding of the mystery of Christ. We have, however, put these opinions of the heretics to the test, both of the arguments which sustain them and of the Scriptures which are appealed to, and this we have done abundantly.” Notice both the Orthodox and the heretics appealed to the Scriptures. Even the heretics had to appeal to the Scriptures in order to twist them. The scriptures had a place in the true church that was so distinct from any authority that even the heretics had to use Bible verses to try to prove their theories. And then finally, as far as Tertullian goes, he says, this rule was taught by Christ and is simply that very faith to which the scriptures belong. Wherever the word is rightly preached, he goes on to say, There is the true church. So the Gnostics, he says, silence on your blasphemy. Let us be content with saying Christ died, the Son of the Father, and let this suffice because the scriptures have told us this much. For even the apostle, to his declaration, which he makes not without feeling the weight of it, that Christ died, immediately adds, according To the Scriptures.” That is how distinct the authority of Scripture was in the pre-Nicene church. And then if we move up to the Nicene Fathers, in 367, Athanasius listed 27, all 27 New Testament books, even calling them a canon. The whole point of a canon, in Greek, kanōn, a rule, sort of like a ruler. Feet and inches are measured by it. The ruler isn't measured by anything. It is the measure. And that's why we call Scripture a canon, and that's why the earliest church fathers called the Scriptures a canon. He added, “The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient for the proclamation of the truth.” The sufficiency of Scripture is sola scriptura. Cyril of Jerusalem, writing about the same time in the 4th century, said, you should examine my lectures. He said this to catechists, people becoming Christians, wanting to become Christians before they're baptized. He's teaching them, instructing them first, and he says, “Right now you should learn the rule of faith because many of you can't even read. But afterward, you need to be able to read the scriptures so that you can test whether what I'm saying is true.” Like the Bereans. And so he said, “I will teach you then the scripture proofs later. Here's what he says, “For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, not even a casual statement can be delivered without the Holy Scriptures. Even to me who tell you these things, give not absolute credence unless you receive the proof of the things which I announce from the divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning but on demonstration from the Holy Scriptures.”

11. Michael Horton

    And this is the Bishop of Jerusalem in the fourth century. In fact, he says “The rule of faith”—or the creed—“is authoritative only because” — I'm quoting here—“it includes the most important points chosen from all scriptures. And expect at the fitting season the proof I will give of each part from the divine scriptures.” Basil the Great in the fourth century pointed out that traditions vary from place to place. Isn't that interesting? It's not tradition that holds the church together. Traditions vary from place to place. Then what holds the church together? He says, “Therefore, let God-inspired scripture.” This is what distinguishes scripture from everything else. It's inspired by God. “Therefore, let God-inspired scripture decide between us, and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will we cast the vote.” Basil's more philosophical younger brother, Gregory of Nyssa, warned that the nature of the soul can't be determined from the philosophers, adding, “We are not entitled to such license. I mean that of affirming whatever we please. We make the Holy Scripture the rule and norm of every tenet.” Sola Scriptura. The sole rule of faith and practice, the norm, the rule, the canon. John Chrysostom in the fourth century, Bishop of Constantinople, said, “Let us not therefore carry about the notions of the many, but examine the facts. Wherefore I exhort and entreat you all, disregard what this man and that man thinks about these things and inquire from the scriptures all these things. And having learned what are the true riches? Let us pursue after them that we may obtain also the eternal good things.” Moreover, he says, “Regarding the things I say, I should supply even the Scripture proofs. So I will not seem to rely on my own opinions, but rather prove them with Scripture so that the matter will remain certain and steadfast.” Also in the West, in the fourth century, Ambrose of Milan, said, “I do not wish that credence be given to us. Let the scripture be quoted.”This is the church fathers. I love the church fathers. I love church tradition because the tradition bows to the scriptures. The Roman Catholic Church does not. “Not of myself” says Ambrose, “do I say, ‘in the beginning was the Word.’ But I hear it. I do not feign, but I read what we all read.” Similarly, Augustine in the fourth century said, “Let the heretics show their church if they can, not by their speeches and mumblings, not by the councils of their bishops, not by the writings of any of their champions, not by fraudulent signs and wonders, because we've been prepared and made cautious against these by the word of the Lord, but let them show their church” by a certain church order, a pope perhaps.? No. “Let them show their church by a command of the law, by the predictions of the prophets, by songs from the Psalms, by the words of the shepherd himself, by the preaching and labors of the evangelists, that is by all the canonical scriptures The authorities of the sacred books. What more can I teach you than what we read in the apostle? For Holy Scripture sets a rule to our teaching, that we dare not be wise more than it behooves us to be wise, but be wise”—as he says—“unto soberness, according as unto each God has allotted the measure of faith.” And then his famous letter to Jerome, Augustine says, “I've learned to yield this respect and honor only to the canonical books of Holy Scripture. Of these alone” —sola scriptura—“do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error.” See, that's what makes sola scriptura sola scriptura. It's not the decision of the church to give authority to these books.

12. Michael Horton

    They're the only writings we have. That the Holy Spirit actually inspired. And so he says, “As to all other writings, in reading them, however great the superiority of the authors to myself in sanctity and learning, I do not accept even their teaching as true on the mere ground of the opinion being held by them, but only because they have succeeded in convincing my judgment of its truth. From the canonical writings themselves.” Isn't that what Luther said? “I will recant. I'll retract everything that I've said if you can prove to me from the Holy Scriptures that what I've said is in error.” Augustine says, “The excellence of the canonical authority of the Old and New Testaments is distinct from all the books of later writers.”So the Church Fathers clearly teach sola scriptura. What's interesting is even Pope Benedict XVI conceded that presbyter and episkopos were used interchangeably in the New Testament and in the earliest churches. There was no pope, only pastors and elders, overseers and deacons. And in fact, in the Roman Catholic-Anglican dialogue called ARCIC II, the Vatican acknowledged, “The New Testament texts offer no sufficient basis for papal primacy.”Which we've also seen clearly from here. It was presbyters, obey the presbytery. There were no bishops in the earliest Christian communities. Gregory the Great in the sixth century, the Pope in the sixth century, was offended when a bishop called him universal Pope, declaring that, “It is a word of proud address that I have forbidden. None of my predecessors ever wished to use this profane word, universal.”And yet, that's what the Bishop of Rome came to be called, the universal Pope. “But I say it confidently” —said Gregory—“because whoever calls himself universal bishop or wishes to be so-called is in his self-exaltation Antichrist's precursor. For in his swaggering, he sets himself before the rest.”So should we believe the Pope of the sixth century or the Pope of the 21st century? And it should be said that the view that the Roman Catholic Church takes on this was not necessarily the view even in the Middle Ages. There were major theologians who affirmed sola scriptura. One in particular, Thomas Aquinas. This is what Thomas Aquinas says, “Sola canonica scriptura est regula fidei.” Scripture, canonical scripture, is the only rule of faith. That's what we say in our Protestant confessions. Scripture is the only rule for faith and practice. We got it from Thomas Aquinas. He quotes Paul's anathema on those who preach another gospel, and then he says, The reason is that only canonical Scripture is the measure of faith. Sola Scriptura. “Others, however, so wrote of the truth that they should not be believed save insofar as they say true things.” And against those who say we shouldn't have any creedal subscription because of Sola Scriptura, he says, “This was no addition to Holy Writ, but something taken from it.”And then he couldn't be clearer in stating sola scriptura when he says “The Church Fathers are valuable. Nevertheless, sacred doctrine makes use of the authorities of the Fathers as extrinsic and probable arguments, but properly uses the authority of canonical Scripture as an incontrovertible proof, and the authority of the Doctors of the Church as one that may be properly used yet merely as probable. For our faith rests upon the revelation made to the apostles and prophets who wrote the canonical books, and not on the revelations, if there are such any, made to other doctors. Hence Augustine says, only those books of Scripture which are called canonical have I learned to hold in such honor as to believe their authors not to have erred in anything that they wrote. But other authors I so read as not to deem everything in their works to be true merely on account of their having said it, whatever may be their holiness and learning.”This is the view of Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages. Sola Scriptura is based on the clarity of the apostolic word. It is the only thing we have as a church that can be called a canon. And so the tradition of our canon is the tradition of sola scriptura.

13. Michael Horton

    As it was with the early fathers, as it should be for us today, let us follow the church fathers in their following sola scriptura, guided by the witness of the apostles, martyrs, the reformers. Over two millennia, let's hold firm to the advice of Gregory of Nyssa in the 4th century. “Let the inspired scriptures then be our umpire, and the vote of truth will be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the divine words.” Or Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom in the same century, whose pastoral advice sounds remarkably contemporary. “There comes a heathen and says, ‘I wish to become a Christian, but I know not whom to join.’ There is so much fighting and faction among you, so much confusion. Which doctrine am I to choose?” At this point, does he say, well, then we need a Pope, we need an infallible magisterium? “How shall we answer him? says Chrysostom. Each of you, says he, asserts, I speak the truth. No doubt this is in our favor, for we— if we told you to be persuaded by arguments, you might well be perplexed. But if we bid you believe the Scriptures, and these are simple and true, the decision is easy for you. If any agree with the Scriptures, he is the Christian. If any fight against them, he's far from this rule.”

14. 32:26

    Michael Horton

    This year marks 1,700 years after the Council of Nicaea, and the mystery of the Trinity remains at the heart of the Christian faith. Recovering orthodoxy in our modern context is vital to the unity of the church worldwide, which is why I'm so excited that we here at SOLA, in partnership with Credo, are hosting a special two-day conference on the Trinity. Please join us in Washington, D.C. this May as we bring together leading Trinitarian theologians for keynote messages and interactive breakouts centered around the Nicene Creed. Just go to solamedia.org/trinityconference. That's solamedia.org.