Warner/Jackson Debate on Tradition as Religious Authority

 
 
 Proposition: 
 Scripture alone is authoritative for the Church in matters of doctrine
 
 Affirm:  George A Jackson
 Deny: Matt Warner
 
 First, George, I would like to thank you for accepting my debate propositions.  I have thoroughly 
 enjoyed this debate.  As I said in my first affirmation, I admire your zeal and love for God and His 
 Word, and I still stand by that statement.
 
 In your last affirmation you asked me seven questions.  The answers to most of those questions 
 have been already answered throughout my three affirmations, so I won't go into them again here.  
 But if you (or anyone else in this group) would like further clarification on these questions, please 
 feel free to email me.  I would love to correspond with you.
 
 Now, in your affirmation you also mentioned that I have a recurring theme throughout my 
 rebuttals, and you are very correct.  That theme is the fact that the Scriptures that you quote do not 
 teach that the Scriptures are our only authority in matters of doctrine.  Why do I keep bringing this 
 up?  Because you say that the Scriptures alone are your authority, but then you are teaching a 
 doctrine that is not found in the Scriptures.  Thus, you are going against your own belief that the 
 Scriptures are our only authority.  This contradiction is the downfall to your belief.
 
 But in one last attempt to prove that the Scriptures alone are authoritative, you quote 2 Timothy 
 3:16,17, which you call the "Crown Jewel of God`s scriptural verses that authenticate the all 
 inclusive authority of Scripture".  These verses say:
 
 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished unto all good works."
 
 You then correctly point out that according to these verses Scripture is:
 
 1.  "profitable for doctrine"
 2.  "profitable for ... reproof"
 3.  "profitable for ... correction"
 4.  "profitable for ... instruction in righteousness"
 
 Now, note that the word used in these verses is the word "profitable".  This is the Greek word 
 "ophelimos", which simply means "helpful" or "useful".  Why is this important to note?  Because 
 these verses do NOT say that Scripture is:
 
 1.  "the only authority for doctrine"
 2.  "the only authority for ... reproof"
 3.  "the only authority for ... correction"
 4.  "the only authority for ... instruction in righteousness"
 
 Nor do they say that Scripture is:
 
 1.  "all-sufficient for doctrine"
 2.  "all-sufficient for ... reproof"
 3.  "all-sufficient for ... correction"
 4.  "all-sufficient for ... instruction in righteousness"
 
 What these verses say is that Scripture is simply HELPFUL for these things.  The word "helpful" 
 is MUCH different than the words "only authority" or "all-sufficent".  So, once again we see that 
 the verses that you use to try to prove that Scripture alone is authoritative really do not prove your 
 affirmation at all.  In fact, we see that these verses fall very short of being the "Crown Jewel of 
 God's scriptural verses that authenticate the all inclusive authority of Scripture".
        
 Finally, to the readers of this debate, I want to ask you to do something.  I would like to ask you to 
 take all of the Scriptures that George quoted to support his affirmation, and read them.  And not 
 only read them, but STUDY them.  Feel free to even research all the words in the original Greek 
 and Hebrew so that you get a clear understanding of what they mean.  And when you have done 
 that, then ask yourself if these verses actually say that Scripture alone is authoritative.  What you 
 will find is that these verses teach that Scripture is inspired, true, reliable, trustworthy, eternal, and 
 useful.  But what you will NOT find is where these verses teach that Scripture ALONE is 
 authoritative for the Church in matters of doctrine.  What George has affirmed has proven to be a 
 man-made doctrine that cannot be supported by Biblical evidence.
 
 With His Love,
 Matt Warner