The Church Creed Argument
Why 1st Corinthians 4:6 is about the Creed (not Sola Scriptura).
The Division and Pride of Corinth
In the Church of Corinth, there are many believers who are divided due to factional allegiances and intellectual mixed with spiritual pride. The apostle Paul attempts not only to unite these immature believers, but also advised them to remain within the basic truths of the faith. So, one of the methods Paul uses to counter the disunity and intellectual pride of Corinth is by the use of a church creed. He counters their disunity by joining them together with a church creed, and he counters their intellectual pride by temporally restricting them to basic Christian knowledge within the creed. The verse above says, “I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” The Corinthian (or Church) Creed is indirectly found within this epistle,
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that ‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.’ ‘After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles”
(1 Corinthians 15:3–7). [bold parts are from the creed]
Sola Scriptura Rebutted
This Corinthian verse (4:6) cannot be implying the scriptures, because Paul would be excluding other epistles made after this letter. Not only that, he would also be excluding the Old Testament as a whole by simply adhering to his epistles. In other words, we cannot be presuming that sola scriptura is taught in this verse, but rather Paul is using personal and temporal discipline for the Corinthians’ welfare, instead of offering a universal and timeless mandate for sola scriptura. Since Paul doesn’t mention scripture by plain means, then the argument for sola scriptura is impossible to insist on others. Finally, sola scriptura cannot be true since the apostle Paul teaches that the spiritual man can judge spiritual matters and know non-deducible concepts through the mind of Christ (i.e. the Spirit of God), but no mention of scripture as the sole cause (1st Corinth. 2:13–16; Philippians 2:5). Paul essentially teaches communion or fellowship with the Holy Spirit, not the Bible (2nd 13:14). This is also known as Christian mysticism. If Paul affirms communion with God instead of biblicism, then sola scriptura is false.
The Creed: Most Probable Explanation
Why is the Church creed a more probable explanation than the scriptures? Well, Paul is countering an intellectual and elitist pride by conforming them back to basic affirmations or teachings of the faith. Here’s an example: Jesus rose after 3 days, He died for our sins, and He appeared to all the apostles. Paul attempts to destroy this intellectual elitism by redeeming them back to the basic and essential truths of Christ. And he uses these basic truths found in this creed to unite them, instead of dividing them on complicated matters. It is impossible to be divided and elitist over basic and universal truths unless such a person is a Christian. Church creeds were used to offer fundamental truths and unite every believer according to those basic affirmations. Evidently, Corinth had many issues but the two issues mentioned was the disunity and intellectual elitism that Paul counters in 1st Corinthians 8:1 and 12:12–27. Sola scriptura would fail to unite believers since Protestantism is very diverse, and sola scriptura addresses complicated teachings like the Trinity, charismatic gifts, and eschatology; therefore, sola scriptura is faulty speculation of this Corinthian text. The Church creed serves as a superior interpretation of 1st Corinthians 4:6 and a better alternative than sola scriptura.
