That’s right, in my daily Bible reading I’m now up to the boring part of First Chronicles (which consists of roughly the first nine chapters, since they are all geneology). This reminds me a little bit of some conversations I’ve had with Roman Catholic apologists. This is because some of them (thankfully it’s not all of them) so misunderstand Sola Scriptura that they will say something like: “If Sola Scriptura is true, then you should be able to prove every bit of doctrine from every little shred of Scripture, such that not only is Sola Scriptura true but so is Sola First Peter or Sola Lamentations.”

This, of course, is absurd and is not what Sola Scriptura teaches in the least. And it is obvious when you read First Chronicles. For example, you get a passage like this: “Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar” (1 Chronicles 1:52-53). Exciting stuff to say the least…but not very doctrinally illuminating. Reading a list of names (the geneologies) is not going to give you the same teachings found in the Law, nor is it going to explain the Gospel like Paul did in the book of Romans. This is not to demean these passages in 1 Chronicles, as if to say they are not really Scripture. No, the passages are Scripture, and they do serve their purpose in demonstrating the geneology of the various kings of Israel and Judah, such that we can now look through them to see how Jesus is a descendant of David, as was prophecied. But without the prophecy also being in Scripture, the geneology lacks its meaning.

Thus, we must have all of Scripture, and not just some part of it. It is erroneous to claim that every doctrine and every belief must be declared by every verse, or even by every book. Instead, Sola Scriptura requiers tota Scriptura. That is, all Scripture.