Most Protestants have heard the term “Sola Scriptura”. Some are even aware of the history surrounding the Protestant fight to unveil the Word of God for the common people and to use it as their sole source of doctrine and practice. With major groups of Protestants distancing themselves from this historic position, mixing the authority of Scripture with the voices of Man and even diminishing the view of the authority of Scripture itself, ignorance of this issue could prove to plunge us back into the darkness that the reformation fought so hard to bring us out of. In light of the weight and importance of this issue, this paper will seek to address both the what and the why of Sola Scriptura.
Sola Scriptura Defined
In defining Sola Scriptura we will take a look at the 4 things that all Reformed authors of the past and present expressed in their representations of this most necessary doctrine. These 4 things are: using the Bible as the only source of authority in religious matters, letting the Bible speak for itself, listening to the totality of the Bible, and seeing the Bible as an external authority.
The Bible as the only source of authority
When writing on this topic 17th-century theologian Francis Turretin explained that we are to reject the idea that there is a need for, or even that we are able to seek another source of authority aside from God’s Word in matters of religious controversy.[1] Turretin reasons that the sufficiency of God’s Word demands that we conduct ourselves in a way that testifies to the very sufficiency of that Word that we profess.[2] Another piece of Turretin’s thought on this topic is that the Scriptures being sufficient for the task of deciding controversy do not make any mention of the use of any means aside from themselves.[3] As is stated in the ISBE, other branches of Christianity have sought authority in controversial religious matters within the Pope, church councils, or the ancient writings of the church fathers.[4] Speaking of Protestants, the ISBE says that although they had a view of church authority, and the authority within councils, and in the ancient fathers, it was only insofar as what they said was drawn from the Scriptures.[5]
Letting the Bible speak for itself
In His book, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin says that once God hands down His revelation to people through prophets and apostles there is no medium after such that needs to authenticate it as Scripture.[6] Calvin here is speaking of those in the Roman and Eastern traditions that believe that the Scriptures have authority because the church authenticated them and made them an authority in the church. Speaking of the true and only authentication of Scripture, Calvin says “we must derive the authority of Scripture from a higher source than human reasoning, evidence or conjecture. We must, that is, base it on the inner witness of the Holy Spirit”.[7] In his sermon on Sola Scripture, Steven Lawson says that the only thing that has the authority to interpret the Scriptures is the Scriptures themselves.[8]. This is to say, the Word is from God, the Word is authenticated by God, and the Word is interpreted by God. To say that there is a need for Man to authenticate or interpret is to deny the sufficiency of divine revelation.
Listening to the totality of the Bible
The church today must be careful that it does not affirm that the Scriptures are the only source of authority in matters of religion while reserving the right to decide when to listen to or ignore them. If the church is to proclaim that God has spoken infallibly to us in the Scriptures which authenticate and interpret themselves then we ought not to pick and choose what parts of them we hold to. Francis Turretin uses 2 Tim 3:15, 16 to show that the NT, in fact, claims that we must not use only the NT but also the OT which Timothy grew up with.[9]
Seeing the Bible as an external authority
In Wayne Grudem’s systematic he says “we must continually remember that we have in the Bible God’s very words, and we must not try to improve on them in some way, for this cannot be done”.[10] Grudem is writing this in light of those who believe that certain teachings in Scripture can be removed as we become increasingly distanced from the cultural context that the Scriptures were written in as well as those who believe that tradition can be added to our religious practice or teaching. As Grudem says, the authority of the Scriptures is eternal and objective, transcending culture and therefore it is applicable for all men regardless of context on this side of eternity.
Sola Scriptura Defended
In our defense of this classic Protestant doctrine we will cover 4 reasons that the church must retain it going forward. These 4 reasons are: the necessity of divine revelation, the fluidity of cultural and scientific opinion, the ceasing of revelatory gifts, and the inerrancy of Scripture.
The necessity of divine revelation
In defense of the necessity of divine revelation Turretin brings to mind the truth of the depravity and inability of man to do any good or understand things of God.[11] He shows that it is the general revelation around us in nature that gives us enough understanding of God to be without excuse from Romans 2.14, 15 and from Romans 10:17 to show that the Word of God is “absolutely and simply necessary for salvation”.[12] As is made clear by these texts, our capacity for understanding God restricted to that which He has revealed to us.
The fluidity of cultural and scientific opinion
The idea that cultural and scientific opinions hold an authority above the Scriptures is not only appalling due to the fact that it seeks to make man the supreme arbiter of morality and truth, but is truly impossible due to its fluidity and self-contradictory nature. In regard to both cultural and scientific opinion Hodge first states “the great body of what passes for philosophy or since, is merely human speculation”, and second that “men in one age or country affirm the truth of facts, which others deny or disprove”. It is for these 2 faults of cultural and scientific opinions of men that he exclaims “it would be a lamentable spectacle to see the Church changing its doctrines, or its interpretation of Scripture, to suit that constantly changing representations of scientific men as to matters of fact”.[13]
The ceasing of revelatory gifts
Steven Lawson when speaking of the Puritans view of revelation shows that they held that there are no longer any new revelations from God that can be added to His already sufficient counsel that He had given to us in His Word.[14] If somebody claimed to have a revelation from God it would either be one found directly from the Scriptures or it was condemned as false.
The inerrancy of Scripture
The final and most important reason to defend the doctrine of Sola Scriptura is that the Scriptures cannot err. As Lawson proves, the Scriptures themselves, proclaim themselves to be inerrant and fully sufficient for the Spiritual nourishment of all mankind.[15] It is inerrant because it is directly from God, and God cannot lie, nor can He do anything that is less than perfect. Drawn from the fact that the Word of God is the only inerrant source to draw our doctrine from, to use anything else would be to forego the stability that we have in the Scriptures in favor of shaky and unstable ground.
Conclusion
The Reformed church has always been founded upon the principle of Sola Scriptura and if it wishes to remain a church into the future it must not drift away from this sacred principle. What the Protestant Reformation meant by Sola Scriptura was that they were going to use the Scriptures alone as the source of their decision in religious controversy. If any reasoned from a source outside of the Scriptures it was not to hold weight in such issues of Religion. The Bible is to speak for itself without need of authentication from a church or council. We are to use the entirety of God’s Word instead of deciding ourselves what parts of it we will receive. The final thing that the church was to do in its practice of this principle is to keep themselves from adding to or detracting from the Scriptures regardless of our distance from the context that they were written in. The reasons that we must retain this doctrine are firstly that without revelation from God Himself we will never be able to obtain a right knowledge of Him or His will for our lives. Secondly that there are no reasonable alternatives for matters of faith aside from the Scriptures. The cultural and scientific opinions of men are constantly changing and are rarely agreed upon amongst contemporaries. Finally, the church must accept that having the perfect Word of the perfect God, we are left without reason to look for any wisdom outside of Scriptures. For these reasons and many more the church must hold fast to this doctrine and plant itself firmly upon the solid foundation of the Scriptures, and them alone.
