St. Cyril of Jerusalem and Sola Scriptura

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Many Protestant scholars such as James White and William Webster have tried to prove the doctrine of Sola Scriptura from the Church Fathers.  I’m unimpressed with a lot of the quotes that they provide.  The quotes stress the authority of Scripture.  I certainly believe in the authority of Scripture, just not in the same way that they do.  There are only a couple quotes from the Church Fathers that I believe can be used to support this doctrine.  One of them(and the best one in my opinion) comes from the great fourth century father St. Cyril of Jerusalem.

In the late fourth century, St. Cyril wrote something called the Catechetical Lectures.  These are meant to instruct catechumens in the faith.  In this work we find the quote that White, Webster, and other Protestants like to reference.

Have thou ever in thy mind this seal, which for the present has been lightly touched in my discourse, by way of summary, but shall be stated, should the Lord permit, to the best of my power with the proof from the Scriptures. 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.

– Catechetical Lecture 4, 17

Let’s be honest here.  This is pretty close to Sola Scriptura.  We could go deeper but I think it represents the Protestant position.  This looks pretty good for the Protestant observer but only at first glance.  There are a couple problems that we can examine.

The first problem is that if St. Cyril is teaching Sola Scriptura it refutes Sola Scriptura.  St. Cyril writes: “not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures…give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures“.  In this passage, St. Cyril doesn’t quote any scripture at all.  He doesn’t even bring up the classical texts used by Protestants such as 2 Timothy 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 4:6.  He says not to believe without Scripture but doesn’t back this up with Scripture.  This doctrine is therefore self-refuting by St. Cyril’s own standard.

However, there is a far bigger problem than this mere technicality.  When one reads St. Cyril, he doesn’t sound anything like Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon, or Gill.  We could look at many examples but I want to focus on one example which is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, also known as Sola Fide.  It’s just as important to Protestantism as Sola Scriptura.  Protestants disagree on quite a bit among each other but the things that they agree on are these two doctrines.

Does St. Cyril of Jerusalem teach Sola Fide?  If we go to the next lecture we get our answer.  St. Cyril writes:

There is much to tell of faith, and the whole day would not be time sufficient for us to describe it fully. At present let us be content with Abraham only, as one of the examples from the Old Testament, seeing that we have been made his sons through faith. He was justified not only by works, but also by faith: for though he did many things well, yet he was never called the friend of God, except when he believed.

– Catechetical Lecture 5, 5

St. Cyril clearly teaches that works are a part of justification.  In fact, he seems to take works being part of justification for granted and it’s faith that needs to be evaluated.  Protestants cannot accept works being part of justification.  While St. Cyril might be friendly in regards to Sola Scriptura, he firmly opposes its sister doctrine of Sola Fide.