Quiddity
UndertheInfluenceofGiants
I Corinthians 4:6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? NIV
NetDoc, a catholic apologists does a rather good job of explaning this verse. For this one I will copy and paste. Gary Hoge says:
Hope this helps.1 Corinthians 4:6
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, Do not go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
At first glance, this verse really seems to nail it. Do not go beyond what is written. What could be clearer? Here, at last, is the perspicuous biblical teaching that all doctrines must be derived from the Scripture alone. Or so it seems. Unfortunately, what looks at first to be a clear teaching of sola Scriptura evaporates under scrutiny. Whatever this verse does teach, we know for certain that it does not teach that the Scriptures are the only source of truth, and we must never go beyond them. We know that because just seven chapters later, Paul wrote, Now I praise you because you . . . hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you (1 Cor. 11:2). The Corinthians were commended for holding firmly to the oral teachings of Paul, and not to the Scriptures alone. So unless Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, contradicted himself, this verse does not teach sola Scriptura.
So what does it teach? That depends in part on how it is translated. The phrase the meaning of the saying, in the New International Version (NIV) translation cited above is not found in the Greek text of 1 Corinthians; it is an interpretation. What the Greek literally says is,
Now these things, brothers, I adapted to myself and Apollos because of you, in order that among us ye may learn not [to think] above what things have been written, lest ye are puffed up against one on behalf of the other.8
The King James Version (KJV) is actually much closer to the literal meaning than the NIV:
And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
That certainly fits the context of Chapter 4, which is a warning to the Corinthians not to exalt Paul or Apollos above what is appropriate, and not to divide into factions. In other words, it is possible that Paul is saying, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written about the subject at hand. The Old Testament Scriptures (to which Paul is referring) teach enough about the nature of man that the Corinthians should know better than to exalt one over the other, and to divide into factions. This verse really has nothing to do with the Scriptures and their role in the formulation of doctrine and practice; it has to do with the proper attitude of the Corinthians toward Paul and Apollos.
Another problem with this verse is that it is not clear what Paul meant by that which is written. In a footnote to this verse, Geisler and MacKenzie note, There is some debate even among Protestant scholars as to whether Paul is referring here to his own previous statements or to Scripture as a whole. The great Protestant Scripture commentator Matthew Henry was of the opinion that Paul was referring to his own previous statements. There is actually some question whether hes referring to the Scriptures at all. Look at the verse in context:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ . . . For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? . . . For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: bet he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. (1 Corinthians 3:1, 4-5, 21; 4:1, 4-6).
It is possible that the key to understanding verse 6 is found in the phrase And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred . . . What things? The things in the immediately preceding verses, of course. Those verses deal with the final judgement:
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5).
This judgement is described in Revelation:
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12).
From the context, this may well be what Paul had in mind. When he says, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another, he may be talking about not exceeding what is written in Gods books of judgement. In other words, Look at men as they really are. Do not think of men above that which is written in heaven about them, then you will not take pride in one man over against another. Perhaps Paul was simply reminding the Corinthians that he and Apollos and Cephas were mere men, who, like them, must one day face judgement. Therefore, the Corinthians should not think more highly of them than is appropriate, and they certainly shouldnt divide into factions because of them.
I have offered two possible explanations of what verse 6 means, perhaps you can think of others. But as I said before, we know for sure that it does not support sola Scriptura because it was clearly not addressing that subject in the first place, and because of Pauls statement in chapter 11 that the Corinthians are to be commended for holding to the oral Tradition Paul handed down to them.
~Victor