DAY 107
CHALLENGE
“Catholicism is false because it bases its teachings on things other than the Bible—the word of God.”
DEFENSE
Catholicism bases its teachings on the word of God, which is not limited to the Bible.
The Church acknowledges that “Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 9). However, even a cursory reading of Scripture shows that the word of God is not limited to Scripture.
In the very first chapter of the Bible, we read about the power of God’s creative word, as he says things like, “‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). This understanding is confirmed by the Psalms, which state: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Ps. 33:6). This exercise of God’s creative word occurred before the existence of man and the writing of Scripture, making it clear that the reality of God’s word goes beyond Scripture.
Even after God began to communicate his word to men, it often was not in the form of Scripture. Thus the Bible records the word of God being given to prophets who wrote no Scripture at all, such as Samuel (1 Sam. 9:27), Shemaiah (1 Kings 12:22), and John the Baptist (Luke 3:2).
Similarly, the oral apostolic preaching of the Christian faith is spoken of as the word of God (Acts 4:31, 6:7, 16:6).
Most fundamentally, Scripture reveals that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1–18, Rev. 19:13).
All this makes it clear that the word of God is a complex, multifaceted reality that includes but goes beyond Scripture, which is the portion of God’s word that was consigned to writing under divine inspiration.
Our proper response to the word of God is to accept the whole of it as authoritative, for “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4; cf. Deut. 8:3). It would be wrong to close our ears to God’s word when it is found outside of Scripture. Thus Paul tells his readers to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:15).