When a New Testament writer quotes a non-biblical source (Paul quoting pagan poets in Acts 17:28, 1 Corinthians 15:33 and Titus 1:12, or Jude quoting Enoch), does that make the source scripture?
InferredNo single verse settles it; the conclusion is assembled across texts and leans one way.
No, quoting a source does not make it scripture. The text defines scripture by divine origin (God-breathed), not by apostolic quotation, and no NT author calls the pagan poets or 1 Enoch "graphē" (holy Writ). The inference that quotation equals canonization requires an unstated step the text never takes.
The NT's own definition of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16, "every graphē is theopneustos") rests on divine origin, not on being quoted. No text states that quoting a source makes it scripture; reaching that conclusion requires an unstated assumption the text does not supply.
…and 9 more verses weighed in the full analysis.
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