Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)

Why is scripture alone our standard? What role does the Bible play in the life of the believer?

(Continued from Introduction to the Five Solas)

Introduction

In the days before God became a man in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures were the guide for every aspect of Hebrew life. The Hebrews taught their children to memorize Scripture because it taught them how to worship, what foods to eat, how to keep clean, how to deal justly, and even how to manage relationships properly, among other things. Teaching contrary to Scripture was punishable by death if there was no repentance. Jesus takes the Scriptures a step further.

Jesus said the Scriptures are the Word of God (e.g., Matthew 22:31-32, Mark 7:13) and cannot be broken (e.g., John 10:35). He also said Moses and the Prophets wrote about Him.

There’s no reason not to consider the words of Christ, or his Apostles, the Word of God and by extension the authority for Christian belief and life. The question raised by “Scripture Alone”, is easily stated, but is perhaps overly reductive.

Is Scripture the only authority for Christian life?

Define Scripture Alone

Martin Luther was accused of heresy and asked to recant at the Diet of Worms. He took the time to craft his response. Today we call it the “Here I Stand” speech. The speech was eloquent and well-written, but Emperor Charles V wanted a simple answer. He asked, “Will you recant?” He believed if Luther recanted, order would be restored. If he didn’t, Christendom would suffer. Luther, reportedly, responded this way:

“Since your most serene majesty and your highnesses require of me a simple, clear, and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God’s word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”

In this last statement, Luther does a couple things. First, he points out we should not put our faith in popes and councils because they can be wrong and contradictory. Second, he puts “cogent reason” after Scripture. We’re left with good commentary on the new covenant view of true and false prophets; a true prophet speaks the word of God; a false prophet contradicts the word of God; to tell the difference we use our God given reason to study the Scriptures.

Sola Scriptura is therefore referring to our standard for belief and life, not that we can’t learn about God from other sources, but when we make definitive statements about God, doctrine, theology, or being faithful to the Gospel and the Christian life, the Bible is the authority on what is true and what is false.

Objection #1 – The Bible makes no claim to Scripture Alone

The Roman Catholics have long referenced this as one of the key points against Scripture Alone. If the Bible doesn’t actually make this claim, are we pulling it out of thin air? Are we making the Bible into something it was never meant to be? There are liberal¹This is not a political statement. In this sense, liberal refers to those who want to change the Bible’s status from authoritative to informative only. A conservative Christian, by contrast, is one who wishes to conserve, or keep, the understanding the Bible is both authoritative and informative. I’m being somewhat reductive here, but I’m only trying to delineate between liberal and conservative Christianity. Christians who completely disregard the Bible as authoritative in any way. They believe the Bible is too ancient to speak to modern sensibilities.

I reject this notion on multiple counts.

First, if God is unable to maintain His Word over a few measly centuries, God being eternal, let alone inspire his prophets to write down His Word with any accuracy then how can we trust God with our lives?

Second, if God, cannot speak through the centuries, God being eternal, to something as obvious as changing sensibilities how can trust God with our future?

Third, knowing that God cannot lie and doesn’t like it when we speak falsely about Him, why wouldn’t we compare what people are saying in the name of God to what’s been said in the Word of God²Hat tip to Pastor Chris Rosebrough who starts his podcast with the words, “Comparing what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.?

Fourth, I think Pastor Brian Wolfmeuller asks an excellent question of those who oppose Scripture Alone when he says, “What would you have me believe that isn’t already in Scripture?”

Objection #2 – Doesn’t the church have authority over the Bible?

This is an interesting objection and one that could easily fall prey to a distinction without a difference. In the case of the Roman Catholic church, they do not teach they have authority over Scripture. What they do teach is that only the Pope can interpret Scripture and since the Word of God comes to us through inspired men, the Word of God goes beyond the Bible. They call this Sacred Tradition and put it equal with Scripture.

This brings us back to an earlier point made by Luther, “Popes and Councils contradict.” With that in mind, I would agree with Sacred Tradition as long as Sacred Tradition agrees with Scripture. At that point, what does Sacred Tradition do except repeat what we already have in the Bible? If it’s repeating what we have in the Bible then why not just hold to Sola Scriptura?

Objection #3 – There are different versions and translations of the Bible. How do we know the one we have is accurate?

There’s no short answer to this question, but briefly we have this information:

400 years before Jesus was born, the Jewish priests considered the Hebrew Bible complete. The priests and scribes copied it meticulously over the centuries. The scriptures used in Jesus’ time match up with our Old Testament³What Christians call the Old Testament, Jews call the Tenakh. Tenakh is an acronym for the Torah (the books of Moses), the Nevi’im (prophets) and the Khetuvi’im (psalms, proverbs and other writings). TANAKH VS. OLD TESTAMENT – Differences and Similaries (bibleversestudy.com) today. The Dead Sea Scrolls verify this along with many other findings.

When it comes to the New Testament we can be just as confident. We can be certain the version we have today matches the original. How do we know? There are thousands of copies and fragments with more found annually.

Here’s the catch.

In Christendom we essentially have three different versions of the Bible. The smallest is the Protestant Bible with the complete Hebrew Bible (39 books) and the 27 New Testament books⁴When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German he included the Apocrypha at the back to separate it from the canon. Basically he considered those books non-canonical, but informative.. Next is the Catholic Bible which includes the Protestant Bible plus the Apocrypha in-between Old and New Testaments. The largest is the Ethiopian Bible which includes the Protestant Bible, the Apocrypha and books known as the Pseudepigrapha. 81 books in total.

Which one is the correct version? Let’s do some process of elimination.

Starting with the Apocrypha. The apocryphal books are all pre-New Testament and were considered, by the Jews, as not-inspired⁵What Is the Jewish Approach to the Apocrypha? – Chabad.org. They were rejected from the Hebrew cannon.

Pseudepigraphal, in this sense, means writing under the name of someone else. Ostensibly to give the writing credibility. No one has been able to authenticate the origins of these books. Therefore, these books are likely to be fraudulent.

Which brings us to the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New as inspired Scripture. I realize some might consider this an overly simplified explanation, but it really isn’t that difficult. These writings were in regular usage in the first century. The Apostles wrote them, or someone close to the Apostles, or someone who knew Jesus. It’s a strict, but simple authentication process. Let’s not muddy the waters with writings having no clear connection to any of these markers.

Conclusion

Why stick with Scripture Alone and not include “Sacred Tradition” whether it’s origin is Roman Catholic, Ethiopian, British, or American⁶Admit it, at some point you’ve quoted Shakespear, or Ben Franklin, and thought it was from the Bible.? There’s a basic premise I heard when I was younger; learn from the best.

It’s not that we can’t learn good things from other sources, but when I’m looking to understand something rightly, why not go to the source? Furthermore, if we are to be of one accord then going beyond Scripture will lead us into the problems Luther ran into; error, contradiction and confusion.

Scripture Alone makes sense on the most basic level because it settles the standard by which we live. We’re not reducing the Word of God to this finite book because even this book says it could not contain all the words and deeds of God. Scripture Alone simply says the words of God needed for salvation and the Christian life are here. You could even say, the fact the Bible is finite reveals the simplicity of salvation and the Christian life.

Footnotes

• 1
  This is not a political statement. In this sense, liberal refers to those who want to change the Bible’s status from authoritative to informative only. A conservative Christian, by contrast, is one who wishes to conserve, or keep, the understanding the Bible is both authoritative and informative. I’m being somewhat reductive here, but I’m only trying to delineate between liberal and conservative Christianity.
• 2
  Hat tip to Pastor Chris Rosebrough who starts his podcast with the words, “Comparing what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.
• 3
  What Christians call the Old Testament, Jews call the Tenakh. Tenakh is an acronym for the Torah (the books of Moses), the Nevi’im (prophets) and the Khetuvi’im (psalms, proverbs and other writings). TANAKH VS. OLD TESTAMENT – Differences and Similaries (bibleversestudy.com)
• 4
  When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German he included the Apocrypha at the back to separate it from the canon. Basically he considered those books non-canonical, but informative.
• 5
  What Is the Jewish Approach to the Apocrypha? – Chabad.org
• 6
  Admit it, at some point you’ve quoted Shakespear, or Ben Franklin, and thought it was from the Bible.