Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. This thread could get "interesting."
This assertion does not carry the corollary; that God has limited his revelation to the scriptures. One can both hold firmly to sola scriptura and at the same time believe that God speaks through the Church, the councils, holy tradition, nature, reason etc.
In other words, sola scriptura does not assert that the scriptures are the only source of revelation. It does assert that the scriptures are the only infallible source of revelation. Therefore, because it is the only infallible source of revelation, the bible is the sole norm by which all other authoritative norms are normed. Another way to say this is to say that because the bible is the lone infallible source, tradition and reason must be judged in light of the scriptures....
Much appreciate the thread, sionnsar. Not sure I fully agree with the distinction between the "reformed" and the "radical reformers", but on the whole this is IMO an excellent introduction to the topic.
The Anglican model of authority is Scripture, Tradition, and Reason and is called the 'three-legged stool' meaning that one won't fall off track if one rests upon those three in concert.
Even Anglicans in the past of the most Evangelical sort would not have insisted on sola scriptura because they knew well that in the early days of the Church the only Scripture was the Hebrew Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus were handed down (tradere) orally to succeeding generations i.e., Tradition with a capital T.
Of course, Holy Scripture itself says this:
1 Timothy 3:14-15 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
The pillar and foundation of truth is the Church of the living God not the Holy Bible.
You also may wish to read Tract 90 of the Anglican Tractarians as it is an interpretation of the 39 Articles of Religion generally held by Anglo-Catholics. Of course, no one subscribes to the 39 Articles in The Episcopal Church, Inc. And I mean that literally. It is not a requirement as it is in the Anglican Church of Ireland for example.
Even if one accepts the principle of Scripture Alone, there remains the problem that Scripture is often confusing and contradictory. And where it is, the Scripture gives authority to the apostles of the Church to settle it. Of course, the apostles did not resolve all of those confusing issues, and God didn't make them immortal.
Some argue that Scripture is never contradictory or confusing, if "properly" understood. This is a dodge. "Proper" understanding in such cases invariably means "what I think it says", and that does not lead to a consistent moral faith but towards fracture and strife.
If we take Jesus seriously in Scripture, he wants us unified. If we refuse to assign a final arbitrator in the Church to these vexed issues of Scripture, then we cannot remain unified. So, why is it that the things that vex US is allowed to be permission to divide the Church and override the SCRIPTURAL admonition of Jesus to unity? There is not a principle of disunity in Scripture.
The identical problem arises in secular law. The Constitution of the US says what it says, but it is often unclear how it is to be applied to a given situation. To resolve that matter, we have the Supreme Court. The Constitution does not anywhere contain the words "judicial review" and establish the Supreme Court as the final say on what the Constitution MEANS in vexed questions, but without such an authority every man is his own law, or we are simply ruled by force...or the country falls apart (take your pick).
The authority of the Supreme Court is implicit in the Constitution.
The authority of the Church is more explicit in the Gospels and the Epistles.
But wherever you have that authority, you will have people who don't like a given decision. Schism and secession have been the recourse of those who cannot abide the decisions of the authority. But the result hasn't created a new basis of authority.
This one does. I agree with your thinking on this totally.
Oops, guess this wasn't YOUR thinking! I agree with the author's thinking! :-)
bttt
What is Scripture? It is the divinely inspired teachings of the prophets, apostles, and the Lord Himself. In another words, Scripture is the Truth that the Lord has revealed to us either in the flesh or through His servants. Tradition is the record of how the faithful responed to the Truth. Reason is what should be used when deciding how to apply the Truth to a new situation. That said, every legitimate church is "sola scriptura" in that it adheres fully to the Truth revealed. Every church that is more than a day old has tradition; even so-called "non-traditional" churches have a record of actions. Reason is important is that it allows us to apply the Truth to new developments. The Scriptures do not address directly drug abuse, but we can use our God-given brains to discern from them a Biblical approach to the issue.
In that sense, every healthy church is sola-scriptura, traditional and rational.
SPOTREP