To claim as Rome does that the early Church did not believe in Scripture alone, as Scripture was still being written, is to say the least naive. The Apostles were the source of God’s revelation and when they spoke, teaching the churches by word of mouth or by letter, the churches were hearing the Word of God. Anything that they said beyond what was written down would not contradict what has been written down, nor is there any evidence that what gets paraded as the oral tradition of the Apostles was ever taught by them. Furthermore there is plenty of evidence that the early Church preached the sole sufficiency of the Scriptures.

“We know that the Scriptures are perfect, as being spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit” (Irenaeus c. A.D. 120-c. 203, Lib. II c.47).

 “We have received the disposition of our salvation by no others, but those by whom the Gospel came to us; which they then preached, and afterwards by God’s will delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be the pillar and ground of our faith” (Irenaeus, Lib. III. c. 1).

 “Let the shop of Hermogenes prove that what it advances is written; or if it be not written, let it fear the malediction uttered against those who dare to add or to retrench.” (Tertullian c. 160-240, adv. Hermogenes ).

 “There is one God, whom we do not otherwise acknowledge, brethren, but out of the Sacred scriptures. For as he, who would profess the wisdom of this world, cannot otherwise attain it, unless he read the doctrines of the philosophers; so whosoever will exercise piety towards God, can learn it nowhere but from the Holy Scriptures” (Hippolytus c. 170-c. 235, adv. Noetum, c. IX).

 “Instead of asking what Holy Scripture says, they strain every nerve to find a syllogistic figure to bolster up their godlessness. If anyone challenges them with a text from Divine Scripture, they examine it to see whether it can be turned into a conjunctive or disjunctive syllogistic figure. They put aside the sacred word of God, and devote themselves to geometry—earth measurement—because they are from the earth and speak from the earth, and do not know the One who comes from above. When people avail themselves of the arts of unbelievers to lend colour to their heretical views, and with godless rascality corrupt the simple Faith of Holy Scripture, it is obvious that they are nowhere near the Faith” (Eusebius c. 260-c. 340).

 “In the two testaments every word that pertaineth unto God may be sought and discussed, and out of them all knowledge of things may be understood. And if anything remains which Holy Scripture does not determine, no other third scripture ought to be received to authorize any knowledge, but we must ‘commit to the fire’ what remains, that is, reserve it unto God” (Origen c. 185-c. 254, Hom. in Lev.).

 “And with simple-minded trust in God, we accepted the conclusions to be drawn from the proofs and teachings of Holy Writ” (Eusebius, in The History of the Church, quoting Dionysius c. 200- c. 265, Bishop of Alexandria).

 “The Holy and Divinely inspired writings are sufficient of themselves alone to make known the truth” (Athanasius 296-373, Orat. Contr. Gent. Tom. I).

 “In the Holy Scriptures alone is the instruction of religion announced—to which let no man add, from which let no man detract—which are sufficient in themselves for the enunciation of the truth” (Athanasius, adv. Gentes init.).

 “Do not believe me simply, unless you receive the proof of what I say from Holy Scripture” (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. A.D. 348).

 “Concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, even the most casual remark ought not to be delivered without the sacred Scriptures” (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. IV.12).

 “It is evidently a falling away from the faith, and a proof of great presumption, to neglect any part of what is written, or to introduce anything that is not written” (Basil c. 329-379, Bishop of Caesarea, de Vera Fide ).

“How can we use those things, which we find not in the Scriptures” (Ambrose c. 339-397, Offic. Lib.1,c.23).

 “… to receive the opinions of others, when we have a rule by which we can examine everything? I mean the Divine law. It is for this reason that I conjure you all, without resting in the slightest degree on the judgment of others, to consult the Scriptures” (John Chrysostom c. 347-407, Homil. xiii. in 2 Cor.).

 “It is from ignorance of Scripture that all our evils arise; hence the plague of so many heresies, hence our careless lives, our fruitless labours… They err who look not to the bright rays of the divine Scriptures, because they walk in darkness” (John Chrysostom,

 Look for no other teacher; thou hast the oracles of God; none teaches thee like these” (John Chrysostom, Homil. IX in Ep. Coloss.).

 “When you shall see the wicked heresy, which is the army of Antichrist, standing in the holy places of the church, then let those who are in Judea head for the mountains, that is, those who are Christians should head for the Scriptures. For the true Judea is Christendom, and the mountains are the Scriptures of the prophets and apostles, as it is written: ‘Her foundations are in the Holy Mountains’, but why should all Christians at this time head for the Scriptures? Because in this period in which heresy has taken possession of the churches there can be no proof of true Christianity nor any other refuge for Christians who want to know the truth of the faith except the divine Scriptures. But now there is for those who want to know which is the true church of Christ no way to know it except only through the Scriptures” (Traditionally ascribed to John Chrysostom, glossa ordinaria 49th Homily, on Mat. 24).

 “In those things, which are plainly laid down in Scripture, all things are found, which embrace faith and morals” (Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana A.D. 427, Lib. II, c. 9).

 “The canon of the Scriptures is perfect, and in itself suffices to the full, and more, for all demands” (Vincent of Lérins, Adversus profanes omnium novitates haereticorum commonitorium A.D. 434).

 “The source of error is that when men are hindered by some obscurity in knowing the truth, they run not to prophets, or apostles, or evangelists, but to themselves” (Leo, Ep. xxviii to Flavian 13 June 449 ).

Finally let me enquire as to the alternative to the sole sufficiency of Scripture. Oral tradition, on which the Church of Rome places such importance, cannot be verified as ever being taught by the Apostles, and causes confusion, as oral tradition contradicts the clear teachings of Holy Scripture. Without the sole sufficiency of Scripture, how would we differentiate between pure and false doctrine? In plain words, the Church of Rome still claims that she and she alone can tell us what Scripture means and that we must submit to her decrees.

Dermot Nash