Citations by century
AD 0s
1
AD 100s
8
AD 200s
1
AD 300s
9
AD 400s
2
Catholic
c. AD 96
1 Clement 3
Clement cites the Book of Wisdom (Wisdom 2:24) as Scripture: by the envy of the devil, death entered into the world.
Clement of Rome cites the deuterocanonical Book of Wisdom as Scripture without qualification.
Catholic
c. AD 180
Against Heresies III.4.1
Suppose there arise a dispute… should we not have recourse to the most ancient churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear?
Irenaeus explicitly names Apostolic Tradition — not Scripture alone — as the court of appeal in doctrinal disputes.
Catholic
c. AD 185
Against Heresies III.4.1
Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us... should we not have recourse to the most ancient churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question?
Irenaeus's method against heresy is the appeal to the apostolic churches and their publicly transmitted tradition — not to Scripture alone.
Catholic
c. AD 185
Against Heresies III.2.1
When they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures as if they were not correct... But when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, preserved by the succession of elders in the churches, they object to tradition.
Irenaeus observes that heretics appeal to Scripture when it suits them and dismiss it when it does not — the problem Sola Scriptura faces today. His solution is tradition and succession.
Catholic
c. AD 185
Against Heresies III.3.2
To this Church, because of its superior origin, all churches must resort — that is, all the faithful in the whole world; and in this Church the apostolic tradition has always been preserved by the faithful of all places.
Irenaeus identifies the Roman church as the standard of apostolic tradition — not Scripture, but the church founded by Peter and Paul and its publicly known succession.
Catholic
c. AD 185
Against Heresies III.3.3
The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him Clement was allotted the bishopric.
The first known list of Roman bishops — presented by Irenaeus as proof that the apostolic tradition was publicly transmitted through a verifiable chain of succession.
Catholic
c. AD 185
Against Heresies V.35.1
Irenaeus cites Baruch 4:36–5:9 with the formula as the prophet says — treating Baruch as a canonical prophetic book on a par with Isaiah.
Irenaeus explicitly attributes the deuterocanonical Book of Baruch to prophetic inspiration.
Catholic
c. AD 200
On Prescription against Heretics XIX
What the Apostles preached ought not to be proved in any other way than by those very churches which the apostles founded in person. We hold communion with the apostolic churches.
Tertullian argues that the standard of orthodoxy is the apostolic churches and their tradition — not the individual's interpretation of Scripture.
Catholic
c. AD 200
The Prescription Against Heretics 19
Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Apostles to preach… I take it these are all we need to know, and what they preached can only be proved through these same churches which the Apostles themselves established.
Tertullian grounds doctrinal authority in the apostolic churches and their succession — not in private interpretation of Scripture.
Catholic
c. AD 250
On the Lord's Prayer 23
He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.
Cyprian places the Church — not Scripture alone — as the necessary vehicle of salvation and doctrinal authority.
Catholic
AD 325
First Council of Nicaea
The Council defines homoousios — that the Son is of the same substance as the Father — a term not found in Scripture, derived from Tradition and reason.
The most important doctrinal definition of the early Church uses a non-scriptural term. If Sola Scriptura were the rule, Nicaea itself would be illegitimate.
Catholic
AD 367
Festal Letter XXXIX
Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away from these. In these alone the teaching of godliness is proclaimed.
The first surviving document listing the 27 books of the New Testament as we have them — by the Bishop of Alexandria, presented as authoritative.
Catholic
c. AD 380
Orations 2.37
Not everyone is capable of determining questions of theology — not to everyone, but only to those who have meditated deeply on these matters.
Gregory explicitly rejects the idea that every individual Christian is competent to interpret Scripture for themselves — the practical foundation of Sola Scriptura.
Catholic
AD 393
Council of Hippo, Canon 36
The canonical scriptures are as follows: the books of the New Testament — the four books of the Gospels, one book of Acts... one book of the Apocalypse of John.
The North African church council lists the 27-book canon, confirmed again at Carthage in AD 397 and 419.
Catholic
AD 393
Council of Hippo
The Council formally defines the canon of Scripture, including all seven deuterocanonical books, and orders that nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture except the canonical writings.
The first formal conciliar definition of the biblical canon includes all seven deuterocanonical books.
Catholic
AD 393
Council of Hippo
The Council promulgates the canon of Scripture — including the deuterocanonical books — on the basis of apostolic tradition and usage in the churches.
The Church defines the Bible using Tradition. Scripture does not define itself. The canon is the most decisive refutation of Sola Scriptura in existence.
Catholic
AD 397
Council of Carthage
The canonical books are… Tobit, Judith… Maccabees, two books… Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus. Besides the Canonical Scriptures nothing be read in Church under the name of Divine Scriptures.
The second formal conciliar definition explicitly names the deuterocanonical books. This is the canon the Western Church used for over a thousand years before Luther removed seven books in 1520.
Catholic
c. AD 400
City of God XVII
Let us enumerate the canonical scriptures… Tobias, Esther, Judith, the two books of Maccabees… Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom.
Augustine lists the full Catholic canon — including all seven deuterocanonical books — as the canonical Scriptures of the Old Testament.
Catholic
c. AD 400
On the Profit of Believing 7.17
I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.
Augustine places the Church's authority as logically prior to Scripture — the Church authenticates the Gospel, not the other way around.
Catholic
AD 419
Council of Carthage (reaffirmation)
The canon defined at Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) is formally reaffirmed, including all deuterocanonical books.
Three separate councils across 26 years confirm the same 73-book canon — demonstrating that this was the settled, universal canon of the Western Church.
Catholic
AD 434
Commonitorium II
In the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all.
Vincent's Vincentian Canon — universality, antiquity, consent — is not Sola Scriptura. It is the appeal to the universal tradition of the Church as the standard of orthodoxy.