Sola Scriptura

Scripture is infallible because it is God breathed. The Holy Spirit is its Divine Author. There are numerous human authors that God spoke through. They spoke infallibly because God cannot fail and His Word never fails.

The Holy Spirit is what makes the Church infallible as well. Does that mean that she never makes mistakes? Of course not, but she will not fail as per the words of Jesus. The gates of hell will not prevail against her. All Bible Christians believe that - including or especially Catholics.

I think that in these discussions on Scripture vs. Tradition, the origin of Scripture and the origin of the Church gets all muddled and clouded. Neither are man-made, but human beings distort, change, and add all kinds of stuff to interpretations. The basics are not man made. The Church and Scripture work together to clear up errors and misunderstandings. The great Ecumenical Councils are examples of how the Church works to clear up errors.

The traditional Christian understanding is that both the Church and Scripture are infallible. It’s like a marriage, and you can’t have one without the other.

Protestants and all other non Catholic Christians accept at some level the idea of inter denominationalism or trans denominationalism. Few think that theirs is the only true Church, but each denomination believes that their way is either good or the best if not the only. Few denominations refuse to have any contact with other congregations outside their own groups.

There are problems with that, but at least there is some concept of the fact that all Christians, all believers in Christ as our Savior are part of the body of Christ.

The main problem in my understanding of denominationalism is the fact that Jesus chose a Bride, not a haram. There is only one Church, not many churches. Scripture clearly teaches that.

See Eph. 4:1-6

Questions:

1. Which came first? Apostolic tradition or the New Testament? 

2. In other words, which came first? The formation of the Church, or the writing of the New Testament? 

3. Who decided what books belong in the NT canon?

Are either of them - Church and Scripture - fallible? Will either of them fail and disappear, or will both enter eternity?

Both the Church and the Word of God are eternal.

The two stand or fall together. God’s Word is true. The Church is pillar and ground of the truth. Both Scripture and Church are infallible. Scripture teaches that. The Church teaches that.

1 Timothy 3:14, 15 

For example. St. Thomas Aquinas' primary appeal was to Jesus’ words as recorded in Scripture for his understanding of transubstantiation.

Here’s how I see it. Jesus said clearly “this is my body, this is my blood”.

Jesus said it. I believe it. 

How does that work? Thomas explained how that worked. How can bread be real bread and essentially the body of Christ at the same time? A similar question is how can Jesus be both God and Man?

Notice the “sola fides” in the text of Thomas’ hymn, Pange lingua. Faith in what? Faith in the words of Jesus. Take them at face value. Work out your understanding of the meaning from that point forward. It CAN literally mean what Jesus said it means. We can be partaking of the literal body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. If the Creator, Maker, and Sustainer of the universe says so, then it is so. He created everything out of nothing after all.

What God says, is.

Protestants take Jesus’ words as more figurative than literal, or totally figurative, but Jesus’ words are the correct starting point. Church Tradition must not contradict the very words of Jesus as they were preserved by the Church and then written down in Scripture.

Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem éfficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus déficit,
Ad firmándum cor sincérum
Sola fides súfficit.

The Word as Flesh makes true bread
into flesh by a word
and the wine becomes the Blood of Christ.
And if sense is deficient
to strengthen a sincere heart
Faith alone suffices.