“Christ built only one Church upon Peter who had the primacy among the apostles;hence the apostolic body of Peter and other apostles and their legitimate successors who have been conferred the authority to teach by Christ only may exercise the legitimate right to interpret the Sacred Scripture [Bible] and the Sacred Apostolic Tradition; both the Bible and the Sacred Apostolic Tradition belong exclusively to the one and only Church Christ built upon Peter, and Peter and other apostles of Christ have entrusted the Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition to their legitimate successors; this ensures the unity, integrity, consistency and cohesion of the doctrine of one true Church Christ built upon Peter; Any attempt to interpret the Scripture by schematics who have left the Mother Church and who have no apostolic authority and succession, lacks not only legitimacy and authenticity but leads to error and endless divisions among schematics themselves.” – Tertullian [155 AD– 220 AD]

It is clearly evident from Tertullian’s treatises that the schematics of his day were appealing to the authority of the Bible to support their respective teachings. This has been a characteristic of all break away sects from the Catholic Church from the Medieval times. The Waldenesians, Hussites and leaders of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation and their successors have been appealing to the authority of the Scripture in order to provide a foundation for their diverse dogmas and organizational entities without the legitimate apostolic authority and apostolic succession.

The Protestant dogma of sola scriptura [the Scriptures or the Bible alone is the sole authority for the matters of faith, morals and the Church], became the battle cry or slogan of the Protestant Reformers. Luther, Zwingly, Calvin and their spiritual heirs, and various other individuals who took upon themselves the right of private interpretation of the Bible through the ages. This has led to the formation of thousands of autonomous Protestant groups with diverse interpretations of the Bible on the same issues. Surely, the one Holy Spirit of God would not guide God’s people to different private interpretations [as the contradictory ‘truths’ on any one particular issue] among themselves creating bitter divisions, convincing each individual believer that his or her private interpretation represents ‘the truth’ on a particular issue.

If one reads Tertullian’s incisive and reasoned objection to the private interpretation of Scripture by schematics without apostolic succession and apostolic authority, she or he cannot but realize how true and logical his objection was and how prophetic he was.