Joshua Stevens, Faith Contributor, Valley Ag Voice
“Scripture alone is the true lord and master of all writings and doctrine on earth. If that is not granted, what is Scripture good for? The more we reject it, the more we become satisfied with men’s books and human teachers.” 1
Martin Luther’s statements like this and others ignited a reformation that swept across Europe and transformed how Christianity interacted with and was known for the rest of history. In Sola Scriptura’s methodology, we find what separates Protestants from the rest of Christianity. An appeal back to the early Church understood in a modern context. This article will introduce Sola Scriptura and set a framework for its further defense, which will come in subsequent articles.
As defined by Matthew Barrett and R. Albert Mohler Jr.: “Sola Scriptura means that only Scripture, because it is God’s inspired Word, is our inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church.”1
To simplify it, Sola Scriptura is Latin for “by scripture alone.” It was not a phrase that the reformers may have ever uttered, though as we see in the quote from Martin Luther above, it was a sentiment that stirred the reformers to persevere into what they were convinced was a restoration of the gospel through acknowledging the wrongs of tradition and turning to the only authority that was left—scripture.
Protestants believe the 66 books of the Protestant canon are the inspired word of God. It is, as it was written, “theopneustos”2 or “breathed out by God” and recognized by the Church. Though the Church was integral to forming the canon, it did not make, define, or create the canon any more than a man, upon discovering a new species of animal, makes, defines, or creates that animal. In both cases, they simply acknowledge that which already exists.
Protestants proclaim that the canon, in its original manuscripts, was without error in the matters it addresses. Even though menial errors may have crept into the copies, these errors fail to bring about any change to the essential matters of the Christian faith. We, as all Christians, can have a high degree of confidence that the copies we have today faithfully represent what was originally written.4
Protestants believe the word of God is sufficient, meaning all matters needed for faith are addressed, affirmed, and made available in the canon of scripture. The Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646 says, “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”1
This is not to say that there is no need for interpretation, exposition, contemplation, debate, and reform, or as the late Larry D. Pettegrew wrote it, “Scripture is clear enough for the simplest person, deep enough for highly qualified readers. . .”4
Finally, Protestants believe scripture is the final authority by which no rule, tradition, dogma, or belief can contradict. All that Protestants must believe needs to be subservient and drawn from scripture. There is no authority that Christians are given that rises above scripture. “For the Scriptures suggest to us what is to be done, and what is not to be done.”5
The belief in Sola Scriptura is not to believe it is the only source of authority for a believer. The methodology does not just admit that Christians should look to tradition and the church fathers for guidance, support, and wisdom but encourages it, as we see in the examples given to us by the reformers. It does, however, make a distinct claim that those traditions, while helpful in keeping us within orthodoxy and preventing us from straying back into harmful and heretical beliefs, are subservient to scripture, which remains our sole authority. Matthew Barrett puts it like this, “We could say that while church tradition and church officials play a ministerial role, Scripture alone plays a magisterial role.”1
Protestants are not the only ones who have a high view of scripture. Catholics would also affirm scripture as authoritative; however, our disagreement will stem only from whether the Bible is the sole authority or a co-authority alongside the Church. The next three articles will address a defense of Sola Scriptura as it has been outlined above, dealing with a Biblical defense, a historical defense, and responding to specific arguments from apologists like Horn and others.
Will you pray with me?
Lord thank You for all You have done. Giving us each opportunity to seek You and Your will in our lives and in our minds. Allowing us to live the gospel out with our brothers and sisters in the faith as we contend earnestly for what You have given to us and preserved by Your sovereign will. As we continue to examine and address these arguments, we ask that You draw us into Your will and reveal to us the truth that we may, in loving kindness, extend it towards those who also seek that favorable title, “good and faithful servant.” Amen.
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- Matthew Barrett and R. Albert Mohler Jr., God’s Word Alone—the Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters, The 5 Solas Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 21.
- The Lexham Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Logos Bible Software, 2011).
- “The CHICAGO STATEMENTS on INERRANCY and HERMENEUTICS,” Defending Inerrancy, December 14, 2021, https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/.
- Larry Pettegrew, “THE PERSPICUITY OF SCRIPTURE,” TMSJ, vol. 15, n.d., https://tms.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/tmsj15i.pdf.
- John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to Timothy,” in Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. James Tweed and Philip Schaff, vol. 13, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889), 508.
