Critique of THE PROTESTANT'S DILEMMA by Devin Rose

Chapter 15 - The Closure of Public Revelation

Page 105: Virtually all Christians agree that public revelation – the “deposit of faith” given by God to man for our salvation, as opposed to private revelations given by God to individuals for some specific purpose – ended with the death of the last apostle. Because of this, we know that all necessary savific truths have already been given to us, although we may expand or deepen our understanding of those truths over time. Protestants believe this even though no passage in the Bible states when (or if) public revelation ended or will end. This puts them in the awkward position of affirming sola scriptura while also professing belief in this binding truth found nowhere in Scripture.
Note: The Apostle John warns about adding revelation beyond the book of Revelation.
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19.

Page 106: Not that Protestants haven’t tried to find one. Since the Book of Revelation is usually placed at the end of the Bible, some of them point to Revelation 22:18 as evidence that no more books could be added after it. But the stronger verse that could be interpreted to support the belief that public revelation ended with the death of the last apostle is Jude 3: “I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Protestants assume that the faith delivered to the saints is coextensive with the books of the Bible; so if that faith was “once for all delivered,” then no more books could be inspired.
Note: Traditions of men have gone beyond the simple faith in Jesus Christ.
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Galatians 2:15-16.

Page 106: Sola scriptura therefore requires that public revelation ended. Otherwise books could be added to the Bible, and those books could contain infallible statements that would either add new truths to the existing body of revelation or, even worse, modify or outright refute Protestant interpretations of other verses. Protestants intuitively understand this principle, which explains one reason why they respond so strongly against Mormonism, which claims to be a Christian religion but has added books to Scripture.
Note: Mormonism should never be confused with Christianity.
Unlike most other Christian groups, Mormonism espouses a distinctly nontrinitarian theology as regards the nature of God. The LDS Church, the largest denomination within Mormonism, teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings, the Father and Son having perfected physical bodies and the Holy Ghost having only a body of spirit. While the three beings are physically distinct, in Mormon theology they are one in thoughts, actions, and purpose and commonly referred to collectively as "one God" or the "Godhead". Also, Mormonism teaches that God the Father is the literal father of the spirits of all men and women, which existed prior to their mortal existence. Further, all humans as children of God can become exalted, inheriting all that God has, as joint-heirs with Christ, and becoming like him. Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
Note: Mormonism is actually Hinduism cloaked in Christian terminology.

Page 107: The passage from the book of Revelation that warns people not to add or take away from the words of the book clearly refers only to that book (since at the time of its writing there was no single “book” of the whole Bible).
Note: The author is ignorant of the foreknowledge of God.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:29-30.
Note: God foreknew the canon of the Holy Bible in the first century A.D.

Page 107: Indeed, similar passages exist in Deuteronomy 4 and 12, yet, of course, many books were added to the Bible and Deuteronomy.
Note: There is a difference between the law and future prophecy.
“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” Deuteronomy 12:32.
Note: The author is ignorant of Scripture context.

Page 107: Jude 3 is a more interesting possibility, and in Catholic theology it is plausible to interpret the verse in a way that supports (but not proves) the belief that public revelation is closed. One problem for a Protestant seeking to use it alone as a proof text is the probable dating of Jude itself. Unless Jude were the very last book of the Bible to be written, it makes no sense to claim that the inspired author intended his words to mean that no more books of the Bible would come after him. Scholars consider it likely that 2 Peter draws from Jude, which argues for an earlier dating of the letter, probably in the 50s or 60s. Another problem is that Jude’s status as Scripture was not universally attested to – recall Luther himself appealed to this fact in his prologue to the four New Testament books he rejected, which included Jude. Since the Church took centuries to accept Jude as Scripture, it is unlikely that one of its statements would have been used to prove the closure of public revelation.
Note: Has the Catholic Church added to the Christian faith with their traditions?
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
Catholic Prayer: HAIL, Mary, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul! Thou art all mine through thy mercy, and I am all thine. But I am not thine completely enough. Destroy in me all that may be displeasing to God.
Place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee. Amen.

Page 108: If this belief about the end of public revelation did not come from Scripture, where did it come from? The answer is Sacred Tradition: the revealed Christian truths that were not written down to be part of Scripture but were transmitted orally and preserved by the Church.
Note: The author accepts only statements by Catholics and misquotes Protestants.
Page 106: The Westminster divines were borrowing from the long-held understanding of the Church that no more books would be inspired by God. But no biblical verses explicitly support this declaration.
Note: God foreknew the canon of the Holy Bible in the first century A.D.

Pages 108-109: Protestants frequently attack Catholic truths found principally in Sacred Tradition (such as Mary’s Immaculate Conception), even caricaturing the very idea of Tradition as a game of Telephone, where the original message gets garbled as it passes along a chain of people until what the last person hears doesn’t even resemble the original. But they don’t have a problem with accepting Tradition’s judgment about the closure of public revelation, because they happen to believe that one (not to mention that guaranteeing the biblical canon is closed is also a necessary precondition for sola scriptura.
Note: God foreknew the closure of canon in the first century A.D.
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” Acts 1:7
Note: The author is ignorant of the foreknowledge of God.

Page 109: If Protestantism is true, there is no reason to say for sure that revelation is closed (since nowhere does Scripture say it is). And so the possibility remains that there may be future public revelation – like the Book of Mormon – leading to confusion and chaos among God’s people.
Note: The Book of Judith is bad fiction and is not Scripture.
It is generally accepted that the Book of Judith is not historical. The fictional nature "is evident from its blending of history and fiction, beginning in the very first verse, and is too prevalent thereafter to be considered as the result of mere historical mistakes." Thus, the great villain is "Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians" (1:1), yet the historical Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylonia. Other details, such as fictional place names, the immense size of armies and fortifications, and the dating of events, cannot be reconciled with the historical record. Judith's village, Bethulia (literally "virginity") is unknown and otherwise unattested to in any ancient writing. Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
Note: The Book of Mormon is bad fiction and is not Scripture.
The Book of Mormon mentions several animals, plants, and technologies for which there is no evidence in pre-Columbian America. These include asses, cattle, milk, horses, oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants, wheat, barley, figs, silk, steel, bellows, brass, breast plates, chains, iron working, plows, swords, scimitars, and chariots. The Smithsonian Institution has stated that “none of the principal food plants and domestic animals of the Old World (except the dog) were present in the New World before Columbus.” Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
Note: God foreknew the closure of canon in the first century A.D.

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