False arguments that Catholics and Orthodox use to prove oral extra-scriptural church tradition are refuted.

 "Sola Scriptura is impossible because there were so few Bibles in circulation until the printing press was invented in the 16th century."

Even a Protestant author admits sola Scriptura was impossible in the first century! "Literacy in the Roman empire, by very rough estimate, did not exceed 10 percent [10%] on average." (Wayne Meeks, The Moral World of the First Christians, 1986).

1. This is a silly and irrelevant argument against sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura means you follow the Bible only apart from tradition and creeds. Even if you do not have a copy of the Bible in your home, you can still use the Bible only to determine doctrine. People know when the doctrine comes from the Bible and when it comes from creeds and traditions even if they don't own a Bible. Catholics that don't own a Bible know that most of Catholic doctrine isn't taught in the Bible but creeds, canons and catechisms.
2. With the invention of the Gutenberg printing press in 1436 AD, it certainly made life easier. But to suggest the printing press is a necessary presumption for sola Scriptura to exist, is as poorly thought out as it is historically inaccurate. Scriptures were privately possessed in homes and always accessible in the synagogues.
3. Even if it was true that the Bible was not in every home, this would mean that people would work harder at memorizing scripture. Reciting scripture from memory is not oral tradition but sola Scriptura!
4. Even if it was true that that the Bible was only in the synagogues, sitting and listening to scripture being read in the synagogue is not oral tradition, but sola Scriptura! "For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." Acts 15:21
5. Psalms 119 contains an entire chapter on personal devotion to the scriptures in 1000 BC. This was to be the norm for all Jews! It matters not if they had a copy of the Bible themselves, they were still instructed to know the scriptures and meditate on them day and night.
6. Each individual family was to teach and read the scriptures to their children every day. They could certainly copy portions of scripture from the synagogue each Sabbath they worshipped: "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
7. The eunuch is a Gentile convert to Judaism with his own personal copy of Isaiah! Perhaps he had the entire Old Testament. But the fact remains, that the scriptures were readily available to anyone who wanted them. "So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah." Acts 8:27-28
8. Paul's custom was to reason from the scriptures in the synagogues every Sabbath in order to convert Jews to give up the Old Law and start worshipping with Christians on the first day of the week. Acts 13:15; 17:1-2; 10-11; 18:4
   "After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it." Acts 13:15
   "Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures," Acts 17:1-2
   "The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." Acts 17:10-11
   "And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." Acts 18:4
9. So even if only a few people had the scriptures, they could still fully adhere to sola Scriptura.

More Pro-Oral Church tradition arguments refuted!

More Anti-Sola Scriptura arguments refuted!

by Steve Rudd

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