Why I Believe in Sola Scriptura

As all are undoubtedly aware, the last few weeks have seen the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and the election and coronation of Pope Francis I, the first non-European pontiff in over a thousand years and the first from the Americas.  While current events don't typically dictate my blogging topics, I thought Francis' inauguration presented a good opportunity to give a brief list of reasons why I am a Protestant and why I reject the system of Roman Catholicism.  In this post, I want to enumerate the reasons why I believe in the historic Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone.

Firstly, it is good to state what Sola Scriptura is and is not.  I would define Sola Scriptura as the belief that the Scriptures (which contain the 66 books of the Protestant canon) are the sole and only infallible and inerrant form of God's revelation to man.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) states it this way:

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...The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture. (Chapter I:VI, X)

This does not rule out the other forms of revelation to man, which include general revelation (in which God reveals His character and goodness through creation, providence, and conscience), tradition (which is the fallible summary of Scripture's teaching like the creeds for example), and the prophetic gifts (which do not threaten Scripture's sufficiency in any way, but that's another post).
Sola Scriptura simply states that the Bible is alone infallible, inspired, and inerrant.  It is the final court of appeal in any theological dispute.  Nothing at all is ever to be placed alongside or above the Scriptures.

However, this understanding has been misunderstood and misapplied by many individuals and groups since the Reformation.  James White in his excellent book The Roman Catholic Controversy gives a helpful summary of what Sola Scriptura is not.  Sola Scriptura is not a:

1.  claim that the Bible contains all knowledge;
2.  claim that the Bible is an exhaustive catalog of all religious knowledge;
3  denial of the Church's authority to teach God's truth;
4.  denial that God's Word has, at times, been spoken;
5.  rejection of every kind or use of tradition
6.  denial of the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church. (page 59)

In contrast is the Roman Catholic position concerning the relationship between Scripture and Tradition.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church (published after Vatican II incidently) states the official Roman dogma of two distinct modes of transmission this way:

"Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.  It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it abroad by their preaching."
As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone.  Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence." (page 31; Emphasis mine)

In contrast, the Holy Scripture itself asserts its own supremacy in several places:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8 NKJV)

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11)

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.  Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5,6 NKJV)

He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.   For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’  ¹¹ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, ¹³ making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
(Mark 7:6-13 NKJV)

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:14-17 NKJV)

That last Scripture in 2 Timothy is the clincher for me.  Verse 17 says that the man of God will be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work by obeying the Scriptures.  In other words, if the Bible makes me complete and thoroughly equips me, then by definition I need no other source for information on what to believe or how to live in order to please God.  Scripture alone is sufficient to guide me in the truths of the Gospel and Christian living.

There is certainly much more that could be said, but I just wanted to give a brief listing and sampling of the reasons why I remain convinced of Sola Scriptura.  I hope this brief explanation is beneficial to my readers.

ACRC South Central Regional Conference - The Gathered Church

If anyone reading my blog will be or can be in the Dallas, TX area this month, you should check out the ACRC South Central Regional conference entitled, "The Gathered Church".  The conference will be held Monday March 18 through Wednesday March 20.  I sadly won't be able to attend, but I will be there in spirit with my brothers, and I certainly will be downloading the messages afterward.  Below is a link from the ACRC South Central website.  Blessings.

http://www.acrcsouthcentral.org/ACRC-South_Central.html

My Vision for a Word and Power Church Plant, Part 2

In my last post I went into some detail concerning the vision that I have for planting a church that is committed to both Word and Power.  While I have mentioned the wedding of Word and Power and what that might look like in the ministry I envision, I wanted to use this post to go into a little more detail about what I hope one aspect of the ministry of power will look like.

If I could be blunt, and I hope I do not sound unkind, my experience with what is broadly considered "Reformed Charismatics" are too light on the charismatic side.  In fact, I think it would be better to classify them as "Reformed Continuationists".  There are some notable exceptions of course, but in general, and I speak with very broad strokes, there seems to be a real hesitancy to fully embrace the dynamic and empowering ministries of the Holy Spirit that are available to us in the "now" of the Kingdom of God. 

I refer primarily right now to really pursuing the prophetic ministry and the role of the prophet.  While  Reformed Continuationists believe in the continuing gift of prophecy; there is in my opinion, a fear of expanding our experience and embracing a robust prophetic ministry in the church.  There are reasons I know.  Possibly there is a fear of going too far and being labeled a "charismaniac".  Perhaps it is the fear compromising the Reformed conviction regarding the sufficiency of the Bible and Sola Scriptura. 

I certainly understand these fears and have actually seen the abuses mentioned above in practice.  It's not pretty.  But the reason I bring it up is because I really believe that the New Testament provides us with both example and precept regarding this vital function in the church (Acts 11:27-30; 13:1; 15:32; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 14:1; Ephesians 2:20; 4:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).  If indeed the New Testament does indicate that the prophetic is a valuable and vital tool for building up the body, then perhaps it we should be willing to broaden our horizons a bit; going to prophetic conferences and opening ourselves up to ministries and individuals with whom we don't agree on other things. 

All that just to say that if I could make this vision a reality, the prophetic ministry would receive the attention that I believe it deserves.  I myself do not believe I possess a strong prophetic gifting or anointing, but that's part of the point of spiritual gifts in the church.  Christians with different gifts and strengths coming together in one body to see Jesus glorified.  I understand that we are all doing the best we can with what we've been given and some people are in different places, but I hope this small blog post gives my readers an idea as to where I am at this time on this particular subject.