Epic debate between a Catholic and Protestant on Sola Scriptura. Any Protestant who tries to witness to a Catholic must address the following:
1) Did the people in Jesus' day practice Sola Scriptura?
2) Did the Apostles practice Sola Scriptura?
Nowhere in the bible does it state faith "alone" justifies, and this new doctrine was not heard of before the 16th century. Why did the Protestant reformers propose it and what authority gave it to them?
3) Did the early Christians within the first 1500 years practice Sola Scriptura?
Between 397 and 1450 then, how did most people learn about the contents of Scripture, and who was the authoritative figure for the early Church during these centuries? The authority clearly could not have been the Bible, but clearly was the Church Herself who preached it to the faithful. So how can Scripture have been our only guide for the centuries before copies of the Bible were readily available, and were the people who lived during those centuries all damned because they did not have access to Scripture?
4) Where does the Bible say "faith alone" or "Scripture alone?"
5) Are you infallibly sure that the table of contents in your Bible is absolutely trustworthy? (By your own authority that you make such claim?)
6) If you say the reformers were given appropriate mission to reform the Catholic Church, then we ask who is the authority that sent them?
7)Jesus did not hesitate to show signs when reforming the Church, so what audacity do the Protestant reformers have to propose changes as drastic as Jesus made without showing any signs?
Why should we take the Protestant reformers mere word without a sign?
8) Who told the Protestant reformers that the books they removed from the Bible were not legitimate and by what authority did they remove them? Some Protestant reformers claim some books were rejected because they were not in Hebrew or Chaldaic, though some other books that were kept by the Protestant reformers were not in these languages either, so this excuse cannot be used.
9) Where in Scripture does it say the Christian Church has not as much power to give authority to the Sacred Books as the Mosaic may have had?
10) Why do the Protestant reformers call parts of Scripture false when the whole of antiquity has held them as articles of faith? (We see many writers from the first three centuries including St. Clement of Rome, St. Irenaeus, St. Hippolytus, Tertullian, Cyprian and many others all allude to the deutero-canonical books we mention above.)
11) If there was a true immediate mission from God to reform the church, then we ask which one had the true mission; Luther, Calvin, or another reformer? (Each of these men had opposing beliefs from the start which resulted in different denominations so it is quite obvious these men did not have an immediate mission from God.)
12) How do Christians begin their course as people of God? By Baptism, a visible sign. And by whom are they governed? By bishops, which are visible men. And how has the Church been persecuted over the centuries? By visible people. Need we say more?
13) Where does the Bible say that any man can interpret the Bible as he sees fit?
14) It is forbidden to add anything to Scripture, as it is to take anything away from it. Why do the Protestant reformers also take away the traditions which are expressly authorized?
15) Even St. Paul clearly warned those baptized Christians, saying that if they don't heed his advice as he WARNED before, they'll all perish in spite of Christ's death on the cross. Here's proof: Galatians 5:19-21 "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I DID BEFORE, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Are not agreed?
16) Where did the Protestant reformers come up with the exact list of books in the Canon they choose to follow? Who told them which books should be included or removed?
17) What is the likelihood that the Holy Spirit hid for the first 1400+ years of the Church, then revealed a new Canon to two unknown men, namely Luther and Calvin?
18) The Protestant denominations clearly fall into this category with their thousands of denominations, all with beliefs opposing the other. How can we call thousands of opposing denominations a reformation of the Church?