5 Solas: Scripture Alone

Sola scriptura, “Scripture alone,” is one of the five theological principles of the Reformation. It guards against error by saying that Scripture is our primary source of authority, sufficient for our salvation and spiritual life.

[captainmarvel]

Scripture is not of Private interpretarion 1st Peter 1:20-23. Vice:
"I shall not have it judged by any man, not even by any angel. For since I am certain of it, I shall be your judge and even the angels' judge through this teaching (as St. Paul says [1 Cor. 6:3]) so that whoever does not accept my teaching may not be saved - for it is God's teaching and not mine."
Martin Luther

[jimhunter]

By what authority has the canon of the scriptures been set and been closed? How do we know whether or not the Gospel of John is scriptural? ( It is.) What about the book of Maccabees? (It is.) What about the Gospel of Peter? (It is not.) We know only because of the authority of the Church, which set and closed the canon. The authority of the Church necessarily precedes the canon of scripture. To put faith in the inerrancy of the scriptures requires putting faith in the inerrancy of the authority of the Church. Our Lord did not write or compile any written words, he founded an institutional Church. The authority of the apostles has been passed on even to today, and it is found in the Roman Catholic Church. There are other Churches which have bishops who can legitimately trace their authority to the apostles (for example, the Eastern Orthodox), but because they have cut themselves off from the rock upon which the Church was built (Peter and his successors, the popes) they are not in full communion with this Church which Our Lord Jesus Christ founded.

[GR]

Sola scriptura was an invention of the reformation and unheard of until Luther came along. Sola scriptura came about when the reformers rejected the papacy. In doing so, they also rejected the teaching authority of the Church. They looked elsewhere for the rule of faith and thought that they found it in the Bible as they had nowhere else to look. By default, the interpretation of scripture was left to the individual, supposedly guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there are literally thousands of non-Catholic denominations, each claiming sola scriptura but teaching different doctrines.