Is the Bible the final court of appeal or the only court of appeal?
Below is a biblical defense of Sola Scriptura articulated in academic theological language, followed by an engagement with the mistaken notion that it excludes commentaries, church councils, or confessions and reduces the Bible to the only court of appeal rather than the final court of appeal.
A Biblical Defense of Sola Scriptura
Sola Scriptura, the doctrine that Scripture alone is the ultimate and infallible authority for Christian faith and practice, finds its grounding in the self-attesting nature of God’s Word as revealed in the biblical text. This principle does not deny the utility of subordinate authorities but asserts their contingency upon the divine revelation contained within the canonical Scriptures. Several key passages undergird this doctrine.
First, 2 Timothy 3:16–17 declares, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (ESV). Theopneustos (“breathed out by God”) denotes the divine origin of Scripture, establishing its unique authority as a direct revelation from God. Its sufficiency is affirmed in its capacity to render the believer “complete” (artios) and “equipped” (exartizō) for every good work, implying that no extrabiblical source is necessary to supplant its normative role in doctrine and ethics.
Second, Psalm 19:7–9 extols the perfection and sufficiency of God’s Word: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (ESV). The descriptors—perfect (tāmîm), sure (ne’ĕmān), and right (yāšār)—underscore the intrinsic reliability and completeness of Scripture, positioning it as the ultimate standard by which all other claims to truth are measured.
Third, the example of Christ Himself in Matthew 4:4, 7, and 10, where He counters Satan’s temptations solely with citations from Deuteronomy (“It is written”), demonstrates the authoritative primacy of Scripture. Jesus does not appeal to oral tradition, human reason, or ecclesiastical pronouncement as coequal authorities but rests His rebuttal on the written Word, affirming its sufficiency and finality in matters of spiritual conflict and obedience.
Additionally, Isaiah 8:20 commands, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” (ESV). Here, the prophetic call to test all claims against the written revelation establishes Scripture as the ultimate arbiter of truth, relegating competing authorities to a subordinate status.
Finally, the Bereans of Acts 17:11 exemplify the practical outworking of Sola Scriptura: “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (ESV). Their commendation lies in their recourse to Scripture as the final norm by which even apostolic preaching—here, Paul’s—was evaluated, illustrating that the written Word holds primacy over all human proclamation.
Interaction with the Mistaken Notion:
The critique that Sola Scriptura, if followed consistently, excludes the use of commentaries, church councils, or confessions—and thereby reduces Scripture to the only court of appeal rather than the final court of appeal—misconstrues the doctrine’s intent and historical application. This misunderstanding conflates sola (alone) with nuda (bare), as if the Reformers advocated a radical biblicism devoid of interpretive aids or ecclesiastical structures. Such a caricature is neither biblically warranted nor historically accurate.
Sola Scriptura does not deny the legitimacy of subordinate authorities but insists that they derive their authority from and remain accountable to Scripture as the norma normans non normata (“the norm that norms but is not normed”). The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), a hallmark of Reformed theology, clarifies this in Chapter 1, Section 10: “The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined… can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.” This does not preclude lesser courts of appeal but subjects them to the ultimate adjudication of Scripture.
The biblical warrant for subordinate authorities is evident. Proverbs 11:14 states, “In an abundance of counselors there is safety” (ESV), suggesting the value of communal wisdom in applying God’s Word. Similarly, Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council, demonstrates the early church’s use of conciliar deliberation to resolve doctrinal disputes (e.g., Gentile circumcision). Yet, the council’s decision was grounded in Scripture (Acts 15:15–18, citing Amos 9:11–12) and issued with apostolic authority, which itself was validated by its conformity to divine revelation. This exemplifies a derivative authority, not a coequal one.
Commentaries, too, find implicit support in Scripture’s call for teaching and exposition (e.g., Nehemiah 8:8, where the Levites “gave the sense” of the Law). Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV) presupposes interpretive aids as instrumental to understanding. However, these tools remain ministerial, not magisterial; they assist in elucidating Scripture but lack inherent authority apart from it.
The mistaken notion that Sola Scriptura renders the Bible the only court of appeal fails to distinguish between sufficiency and exclusivity. Scripture is sufficient as the final norm (2 Timothy 3:16–17), but it does not exclude provisional judgments by human interpreters or ecclesiastical bodies. The Reformers themselves—Luther with his catechisms, Calvin with his Institutes, and the framers of confessions like the Augsburg and Belgic—relied heavily on such aids while maintaining Scripture’s supremacy. The error lies in assuming that affirming Scripture as the ultimate authority negates all subordinate courts, when in fact it orders them hierarchically beneath the divine Word.
The Church Fathers on Scripture;
Listed below are several early Church Fathers whose writings reflect a view of Scripture consonant with the principles of Sola Scriptura as articulated above—namely, that Scripture is the ultimate, infallible authority for faith and practice, sufficient in itself, and the final norm by which all teachings are judged. While the term Sola Scriptura is a Reformation-era formulation, these Fathers demonstrate a high view of Scripture’s primacy and sufficiency, often subordinating other authorities to its judgment. I will provide specific quotations and contextualize their views in relation to the foregoing defense.
1. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130–202 AD)
Irenaeus, in his polemic against Gnostic heresies, emphasized Scripture’s authority and sufficiency as the standard for orthodoxy. In Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 1.1), he writes:
“We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.”
Here, Irenaeus identifies Scripture as the definitive repository of apostolic teaching, the “ground and pillar” of faith—a phrase echoing 1 Timothy 3:15 but applied to the written Word. He further asserts its normative role in Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 28.2):
“When, therefore, we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek among others the truth which is easily obtained from the Church; for the apostles, like a rich man in a bank, deposited with her most copiously everything which pertains to the truth: and everyone whosoever wishes draws from her the drink of life… But since we have the writings of the apostles, why should we seek further?”
Irenaeus does not deny the Church’s role but insists that its authority derives from Scripture, aligning with the notion of Scripture as the final court of appeal.
2. Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD)
Athanasius, the champion of Nicene orthodoxy, consistently upheld Scripture as the ultimate standard. In his Festal Letter 39 (367 AD), where he delineates the canon, he states:
“These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from them.”
This affirmation of Scripture’s sufficiency (“in these alone”) and exclusivity as the source of doctrine mirrors 2 Timothy 3:16–17. In On the Incarnation (Section 5), he further writes:
“The holy and inspired Scriptures are fully sufficient for the proclamation of the truth.”
Athanasius’s reliance on Scripture to refute Arianism—often citing texts like John 1:1 and Hebrews 1:3—demonstrates its role as the final arbiter, even amidst conciliar debates, aligning with the hierarchical ordering of authorities under Scripture.
3. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD)
Augustine’s high view of Scripture is well-documented, particularly in his emphasis on its authority over human tradition or reason. In On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 9), he asserts:
“Among those things which are clearly laid down in Scripture are to be found all those which concern faith and the conduct of life… Whatever a man may learn from other sources, if it is hurtful, it is there condemned; if it is useful, it is therein contained.”
This reflects the sufficiency and normativity of Scripture as articulated in Psalm 19:7–9. Augustine also subordinatesthe Church’s interpretive role to Scripture in Letter 82 (to Jerome):
“For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church. But although I give honor to the Church, I do not set it above the Scriptures, which even the Church herself confesses to be her judge.”
Here, Augustine echoes Acts 17:11, affirming Scripture as the final court of appeal, to which even ecclesiastical authority submits.
4. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386 AD)
Cyril, in his Catechetical Lectures (Lecture IV, Section 17), instructs his catechumens with a clear affirmation of Scripture’s primacy:
“For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.”
Cyril’s insistence on Scriptural proof as the basis for doctrine aligns with Isaiah 8:20 and the Berean example, rejecting any teaching not demonstrably rooted in Scripture. His view precludes the elevation of human reason or tradition to coequal status, reinforcing Scripture’s role as the ultimate norm.
5. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407 AD)
Chrysostom, known for his expository preaching, frequently extolled Scripture’s sufficiency and authority. In his Homily 9 on 2 Timothy (on 2 Timothy 3:16–17), he writes:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable… that the man of God may be perfect. If it is profitable for these things, then it is sufficient for all things. For if it can make the man of God perfect, what need has he of anything else?”
This directly parallels the defense from 2 Timothy 3:16–17, affirming Scripture’s completeness for equipping believers. In Homily 1 on Matthew, he adds:
“To everything that is said, we must refer to the Scriptures; for thus we shall best detect falsehood and establish truth.”
Chrysostom’s practice of grounding doctrine and ethics in Scripture reflects its status as the final court of appeal, consistent with the hierarchical model articulated earlier.
Thus, Sola Scriptura upholds Scripture as the final court of appeal, not the only one. It invites the church to employ reason, tradition, and conciliar wisdom as secondary norms (norma normata, “norms that are normed”), always subject to correction and alignment with the infallible standard of God-breathed Scripture.
The above study was Groked, under the direction of Jack Kettler, and perfected using Grammarly AI.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Mr. Kettler is an author who has previously published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum. He and his wife, Marea, are active Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church members. Mr. Kettler’s extensive work includes 18 books defending the Reformed Faith, which are available for order online at Amazon.