I was on an Orthodox page discussing plural marriage; arguing that polygyny isn't sinful and stating that scripture doesn't suggest it is. Multiple people claimed that I was being "Sola scriptura." When I looked into the definition, I was even more confused. "Sola scriptura is a Latin phrase that means "by scripture alone" or "the Bible alone". It is a Christian doctrine that states the Bible is the sole source of authority for Christian faith and practice." Why would someone take issue with this? Can someone help me understand this a little more? These are some of responses I received-
"Yes it's important to note that we are not sola Scriptura and that we don't believe that the entirety of moral teaching is contained within the Bible. It is very clear from Christian witness that from the earliest times Christianity dictated monogamy. In this way it did distinguish itself from Judaism. We could argue that this is new revelation and that we shouldn't hold that monogamy is binding for non-christians and that polygamy is immoral for non-Christians since it's explicitly permitted in the old law. But again it's very clear from Christian history that from as early as we have discussion from Christians about marriage that it is purely monogamous."
"Sola scriptura, it's a false teaching with nothing supporting it."
"That's not how it works. The burden of proof falls on those that claim Sola Scriptura"
"That's not a belief, it's a fact. Like I said, the burden of proof falls on the one making the claim that scripture supports Sola Scriptura."
"The Orthodox Church (and importantly the early church) has never taught that everything is completely outlined in the Bible. Now, everything has at least some nexus in the Bible -- in this case, monogamy definitely doesn't come out of nowhere and is strongly implied in the text -- but relying on the Bible doesn't define the doctrine, and you can even find in the Old Testament a time when it wasn't the doctrine. Consider the Trinity. You can argue the Trinity from the biblical text, but it's just not the direct teaching of the Bible. Using the text alone, you can come to other conclusions. But it's clearly the teaching of the Church. The New Testament is a collection of stuff from the apostles we thought was right and important to write down as guidance, but not everything we thought was important got written down by them."
"Yes it's important to note that we are not sola Scriptura and that we don't believe that the entirety of moral teaching is contained within the Bible. It is very clear from Christian witness that from the earliest times Christianity dictated monogamy. In this way it did distinguish itself from Judaism. We could argue that this is new revelation and that we shouldn't hold that monogamy is binding for non-christians and that polygamy is immoral for non-Christians since it's explicitly permitted in the old law. But again it's very clear from Christian history that from as early as we have discussion from Christians about marriage that it is purely monogamous."
"Sola scriptura, it's a false teaching with nothing supporting it."
"That's not how it works. The burden of proof falls on those that claim Sola Scriptura"
"That's not a belief, it's a fact. Like I said, the burden of proof falls on the one making the claim that scripture supports Sola Scriptura."
"The Orthodox Church (and importantly the early church) has never taught that everything is completely outlined in the Bible. Now, everything has at least some nexus in the Bible -- in this case, monogamy definitely doesn't come out of nowhere and is strongly implied in the text -- but relying on the Bible doesn't define the doctrine, and you can even find in the Old Testament a time when it wasn't the doctrine. Consider the Trinity. You can argue the Trinity from the biblical text, but it's just not the direct teaching of the Bible. Using the text alone, you can come to other conclusions. But it's clearly the teaching of the Church. The New Testament is a collection of stuff from the apostles we thought was right and important to write down as guidance, but not everything we thought was important got written down by them."
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