Is Sola Scriptura Responsible for Church Divisions?

In this clip, Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer responds to one common objection to sola scriptura: it caused all the divisions we have in the church. Given that all Christians are committed to unity as a direct call from Jesus in John 17, this is a serious accusation. Here is how Dr. Vanhoozer works through that question.

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[jeremiahong]

Sola Scriptura means on the one hand you accept the Church to decide of all the epistles and letters written which ones are the authentic Word and worthy of being canonised but on the other hand you reject its authority to interpret scriptures.
Isn't this contradictory? If one rejects the Church having the right to interpret, then how can you be sure of its decision and conclusion that the chosen canons are the true Word of God ?

[ZachBlankenstein]

I appreciate hearing this perspective- but wow. As someone who grew up non-denominational and who is discovering orthodox and Catholic models of Christianity... I was hoping this would be more compelling. Rather he almost implicitly makes a case FOR the teaching authority of the church and marginalizes the Protestants who don’t recognize that reality.

[KnowledgeDiver]

A little incongruity would be that scripture comes from tradition. In a sense, scripture is tradition. Upholding Sola Scriptura is simply impossible.

[lilwaynesworld]

Ok he is willing to accept tradition well then who defines tradition as he all to briefly goes over Lutherans who followed Luther were often iconoclast who smashed statues and art something Luther was aghast when he reemerged from hiding.
He went to confession and said the rosary and accepted Traditional Marian dogmas till the day he died how many Protestants accepts these traditions not too many as Protestants even Lutherans define tradition in a Much different ways than Luther

[CatholicBossHogg]

Catholic friends, this is what we call vincible ignorance. This man will jump through any hoop to avoid the obvious. Pray for him and his conversion.

[matthewbroderick]

Again, would a Christian in the early Church read Paul's letter to the Church of Laodicea and know that it was NOT HOLY SCRIPTURE? Would those same Christians in the early Church read Paul's several letters that he wrote to the Philippians and know only ONE one of these letters written were Holy Scripture? Or the letters of Matthias and Gamaliel and Barnabas? "We must concede the Church of Rome has given us the Scriptures", ( Martin Luther, works.vol. 40). 7 of the 12 Apostles taught with oral authority and never wrote anything down. Holy Scripture never teaches Scripture alone. The manifold wisdom of God is revealed through the CHURCH!
Who has the final authority to interpret "This is My Body ", and "My Flesh is True food and Blood True drink ", ( Matthew 26:26, John 6:53-55).

[riverjao]

As a Protestant (sort of anyways) I find sola scriptura to be thoroughly illogical and completely unworkable, as evidenced by its history. BUT, I do appreciate Dr. KVs thoughtful and sincere insights here.

[TruthHasSpoken]

Sola Scriptura fails at the table of contents.

[AlexanderLayko]

If the "Bible interprets itself" why are there 45, 000 Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Baptist, and "non-denominational" denominations?

[TheFeralcatz]

The end of the book of John says "And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen."

Where did all of these teachings go? Did they get lost to time? No. They were passed down through the succession of the holy Orthodox Church. Trying to be a Christian only using the Bible is like trying to learn English by only reading a dictionary. It can get you to a certain point but you will never have the breath of the English language by just the book.

[BlooMort]

It seems to me Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer is talking about Scriptura primo not sola scriptura. I believe that a lot more common ground could be reached with Scriptura primo as that is what the Church teaches. He quotes the first Catholic council.

[Jordan-]

The truth is, Protestantism is not the Ancient Church.
Not only does it not hold to the correct beliefs and values of the Nicene Creed, and therefore abuses what came before.
But it also abandons the fulness of the faith in all it's truth.
The fulness of the faith which our brothers and sisters held to dearly centuries before, even to the point of martyrdom.
They held on, as we do to this day, on the Holy traditions which were past down generation to generation which were given to us by the disciples, apostles and the bishops and so on.

They died for Christ by not rejecting Him!
Amín

They died remaining faithful in His love and truth!
Amín

They died for Christ's Church!
Amín

One Church, Holy, katholikós (universal), and apostolic in nature.
Holding to true Orthodoxía (correct opinion).

I hope this serves as a reminder for those who may be struggling right now on this matter.
The Church predates the protestant movement, and it will remain for evermore after.
Because God's Church is a living Church; for God, is the God of the living and not the dead, and we are blessed that the saints are with us always.
Amín

As Jesus Christ said
"The gates of Hades will not prevail against it!"

*Psalm 150*
Alleluia
Praise God in His saints;

Praise Him in the firmament of His power;

Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness.

Praise Him with the sound of a trumpet;

Praise Him with the harp and lyre;

Praise Him with timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with strings and flute;

Praise Him with resounding cymbals;

Praise Him with triumphant cymbals;

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.

Alleluia.

[themorbidmole]

According to the professor, Protestants are in agreement on big doctrines, so I guess that means the necessity of a water baptism, the presence of the Lord in holy communion, or the need for ordained clergy, to name a few, are minor doctrines since their is no Protestant consensus on those?
I find that argument incredibly difficult to believe.

[alyssavela]

If you include tradition then it isn’t “sola”. It’s tradition + scripture which is what Catholics do. However, Catholics read the Bible in context.

[joseonwalking]

It isn't the only reason but it is one of the major reasons anyone who denys this imho is being specious.

[tonywallens]

It’s almost undeniable. Sola scriptura came hand in hand with the rejection of a single living unifying authority. Instead christian individuals became their own living authority on how one goes about interpreting the scripture. There is no longer a true living authority to tell you when your out of line like the church does.

[jzak]

Most Protestants won't admit it, but they wish they had some degree of a Magisterium in their church. There are some who are brave enough to say it, but the rest quietly deal with the confusion.

[marksmale]

There is even disagreement between what is important and what isn't. Interestingly, Eucharistic doctrine was a major area of disagreement at the Reformation, as you say, but is now pretty irrelevant to much of latter-day Protestantism because eucharistic belief and pratice have faded away.

[crimsontwins]

If Sola Scriptura were true, then how were Christians being saved prior to the invention of the printing press in the 1600's?

[George-urow]

No for the "Great Schism" of 1054 A.D., probably yes (to a degree) for the Reformation, and certainly yes (in varying degrees) within Protestanism itself.