As I have demonstrated many times on this platform the issues that arise with the paradigm of Sola Scriptura. In this post, I quote Bro. Peter Dimond on this dilemma–and why the Protestant paradigm is absurd:
THE CHURCH EXISTED FOR DECADES BEFORE THE BIBLE WAS EVEN FINISHED
According to scholars, the last book of the Bible (the Book of Revelation) was written in approximately 68 A.D. at the earliest, and approximately 95 A.D. at the latest. Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven in approximately 33 A.D. Therefore, no matter what view one takes on the date of the Book of Revelation, there is no doubt that the Church of Christ existed and operated for decades (30 to 60 years) before the Bible was even finished. So, who guided the Christians during that period? How did they know exactly what they had to believe and do to be saved? It was the Church which taught them. It was the Church which, from the earliest days, served as the rule of faith for the Christian. Doctrinal questions and decisions were being decided for an entire generation before the Bible was even finished. It is thus a fact that the Bible was not and could not have been the sole rule of faith. Indeed it would not be for another 300 years that the Church would officially determine exactly which books make up the Bible.
IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 4TH CENTURY THAT THE CANON OF THE BIBLE WAS FINALLY DETERMINED
This is a crucial point. In the first three centuries after Christ, there were disputes about the precise makeup of the Bible. The official list of biblical books (called the Canon) was not the same everywhere. Some books which were considered to be part of the Bible in some localities were suspected or rejected in others. For example, the Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, First Clement, and The Shepherd of Hermas were, in some cases, considered inspired Scripture and used in public worship. Although these were very important ancient works which in many ways expressed true Christian tradition, the Church would declare that these writings were not actually part of the Bible. The matter wasn’t settled and clarified universally until the authority of the Catholic Church pronounced upon the list of books. This occurred at the Councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). Before the Church had made its decision, there were also many doubts about 2 Peter, the epistle of Jude, Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, and the Book of Revelation – all of which were eventually included in the Bible. In fact, “the oldest surviving list of Christian books is the Muratorian Canon, from about 150. This fragment includes all the books of the New Testament except Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter, and counts as canonical [part of Scripture] the Apocalypse of Peter and The Shepherd of Hermas, both of which were eventually excluded from the Church’s definitive canon.” There were also spurious gospels floating around, such as the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas and others. These were rejected by the Church and not included in Scripture. Since Protestants reject the authority of the Catholic Church, they have absolutely no way of determining with certainty (i.e. infallibly) which books make up the Bible. The Bible doesn’t come with a Table of Contents. That has been added by the one who published your version of the Bible. The Bible doesn’t tell us which books are inspired or how many books are in it. Moreover, even if one book did mention other books as being inspired, by what criteria could one determine that that particular book is inspired? In order to arrive at an infallible list of books, there must be an infallible authority outside of the Bible. That is the Church. Therefore, if one rejects the infallible authority of the Church and holds to Scripture alone, he remains unable to determine if he has true books.
Faced with this problem, well-known Protestant scholar R.C. Sproul was forced to assert that the Bible is a “fallible collection of infallible books.” If you carefully think about it, a fallible collection of infallible books is a contradiction. It logically leaves you with a fallible Bible. This demonstrates that Protestants cannot logically maintain that their Bible is infallible; for they cannot know with certainty if they even have the correct books.
THE BIBLE COULD NOT BE MASS-DISTRIBUTED UNTIL THE 15TH CENTURY
Prior to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, it was a laborious and painstaking task to reproduce the Bible. It had to be done by hand. This difficulty, combined with common illiteracy, meant that few had a Bible for the first 15 centuries of the Church. Would God have left His Church without the means to mass-produce the sole rule of faith for the first 1,500 years of the Church’s existence? Obviously not. The notion is ridiculous and self-refuting. In the first millennium, the rule of faith for the Christians was the Church. It remains so today. The Church is the proximate rule of faith, which provides the true understanding of Scripture and Tradition, which are the dual sources of Jesus Christ’s revelation.
Bible proves the teachings of the Catholic Church: Brother Peter Dimond: 9780975551431: Amazon.com: Books. (n.d.). https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Proves-Teachings-Catholic-Church/dp/0975551434#:~:text=In%20this%20book%2C%20Peter%20Dimond,%2C%20Holy%20Orders%2C%20Holy%20Eucharist%2C
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