Summary
Highlights
Sam Shamoun, a former Reformed Baptist, explains that his deep study of scripture led him away from Protestantism. He emphasizes his high regard for scripture and clarifies that his argument is not to denigrate it, but to show how his understanding of biblical promises ultimately made him question Sola Scriptura.
Shamoun points to Matthew 16:15-19, where Jesus addresses Peter as the rock upon which His church will be built, stating that 'the gates of Hades will not overpower it.' He interprets this as a declaration that the Church will be triumphant over evil and will never be conquered, directly challenging restorationist views that suggest the Church became entirely corrupt and apostate after the apostles.
Referencing John 16:12-13 and Acts 20:25-32, Shamoun argues that the Holy Spirit was promised to guide the Church into all truth, not just the apostles. He highlights Paul's charge to the elders in Ephesus to 'shepherd the Church of God,' appointed by the Holy Spirit, to guard against false teachings. This succession of Spirit-guided leadership, he contends, extends beyond the apostles to their appointed successors.
Shamoun emphasizes 1 Timothy 3:15, which describes the Church as 'the pillar and support of truth.' He argues that truth is entrusted to the Church to preserve, uphold, and affirm it. This raises the question of which historical church maintained this role from the second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries, leading him to doubt that it was theologies born from the Reformation.
Shamoun explains that reading the early Church Fathers, such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Irenaeus, revealed that their beliefs did not align with Reformed or Baptist theology. He stresses that these early figures, many direct disciples of the Apostles or their immediate successors, held views on practices like infant baptism, water baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and the intercession of saints that are characteristic of Catholic or Orthodox traditions, not Protestantism.
He recounts how his understanding of figures like Athanasius, whom even Reformed apologists like James White praise for his strong christology, became a turning point. Shamoun discovered that Athanasius, while a champion of the Trinity, also believed in doctrines such as infant baptism, water baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist as the actual flesh and blood of Christ, and intercession of saints. This realization led Shamoun to question whether such a revered figure could be considered a 'heretic' for not holding 'Reformation' beliefs, which in turn softened his view towards Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
Shamoun concludes by reiterating that if God's word is truth, and the Church is the mechanism God uses to preserve scripture and truth, then one must ask which church of the early centuries fulfilled this role. He asserts that it was not Calvinism, Lutheranism, Baptist theology, or Evangelicalism, and this realization created a 'nightmare' for his former Sola Scriptura framework, especially considering the early Church functioned without a closed New Testament canon.