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I'm not sure if this has been asked,

I watched a video on YouTube where the person in the video mentions "Poly Scriptura" at about 17:28, I have tried to look it up just to get the basic information on it and all that comes up in the search results is "Sola Scriptura"

Can someone please tell me what Poly Scriptura is?

Thanks and God bless.

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    Can you please link to the video and point out exactly when in the video the phrase occurs? We'd need context to give a correct answer.
    – Matt Gutting
    Oct 18, 2018 at 19:49
  • The link is youtube.com/watch?v=DXFgeoAC1fo and it's mentioned near the end of the video.
    – Netdude21
    Oct 18, 2018 at 20:32
  • @disciple I just checked the link and it worked just fine.
    – Netdude21
    Oct 19, 2018 at 2:49
  • At about 17:28. The closed captioning said "poly stripped". I'm pretty sure he was thinking both of "many" ("poly" in Greek) scriptures AND of the term "sola scriptura" at the same time. It would be a good idea to add the link and the exact time to the question. I hope someone else will listen carefully to this and at least say what they think. I do think it was a slip of the tongue, so is purely a matter of opinion exactly what he intended to say.
    – Bit Chaser
    Oct 19, 2018 at 3:04
  • @disciple I agree with you. It would be nice if there can be some clarification on what he said and meant. You’re right about the time in the video, and a minute later he says, “You’ve got multiple authorities, which means you have no authority.” What does he mean there?
    – Netdude21
    Oct 19, 2018 at 18:51

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The word "Poly" is a Greek word, meaning 'many'. "Scriptura" is a Latin word, meaning 'scripture'. Put these words together and we get the phrase 'many scriptures'. The phrase "Poly Scriptura" would therefore refer to exactly that; be it all the 66 books in the Bible; the Bible & other books, such as the writings of the early church fathers; or, as in the Youtube video, the many different available Bible translations.

I found the below paragraph on this site. The author is rebutting "King James Onlyism"; that King James is the only acceptable Bible version and "sola-scriptura", and that all other Bible versions are "poly-scriptura".

Most of the time, but not always, he tends to become agitated when I ask this, because it puts him on the defense. He is attempting to argue for God’s Word being found exclusively in one English translation. However, it is his burden to demonstrate with reason why I must abandon my favored, non-KJV translation because it doesn’t fit the qualifications of infallible, inerrant, and so forth. Now, he can chide and mock me by saying I believe in poly-scriptura not sola scriptura or what ever, but he is still in the position of establishing why his view of the biblical text is correct and mine is in error.

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  • +1 I yield to your superior google-fu. Full disclosure: I used DDG and when I put "poly scriptura" in quotes, it found the same page -- but only a few hits.
    – Bit Chaser
    Oct 22, 2018 at 0:52
  • In the mentioned YouTube film the author applies the phrase 'Sola Scriptura' to his, and many others, favoured version of the Bible; the King James Version. Although, 'Sola Scriptura' is a theological doctrine, held by especially protestant Christians, that the written word (the Bible) has authority over tradition, irrespective of version. It was Martin Luther, who came up with the concept of 'Sola Scriptura' . He applied it to his German translation of the Bible. This Bible included the 'Old Testament Apocrypha', and was translated directly from the original text. (Wikipedia)
    – Constantthin
    Oct 24, 2018 at 11:23
  • @Constantthin So, if I say that I read two different translations of the Bible (The NIV and the NLT) and like them that I'm applying "Poly Scriptura" to them, even though the verses say the same thing? Galatians 2:20 comes to mind, they are worded pretty much the same in both translations mentioned above.
    – Netdude21
    Oct 31, 2018 at 19:21
  • @Netdude21. The phrase "Poly Scriptura" is a somewhat new concept that probably can mean whatever you want it to mean, depending on where you come from. To me it would mean a shortcut, and a time saving 'device', for Bible students who don't know Greek or Hebrew, since the authors of the various Bible translations already have done the tedious ground work for us. I find "Bible Hub" being the perfect tool in this regard.
    – Constantthin
    Oct 31, 2018 at 22:45

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