Posted on 08/21/2006 1:16:57 PM PDT by Teófilo
PING!
Good article, and completely on target. A waste of time, though, as the "reformed Christians" will, as usual, not admit that the doctrine of "sola scriptura" is itself NON-SCRIPTURAL. Scripture itself SPECIFICALLY says that it, alone, is not "all truth" about Jesus and his teachings (both St. Paul and St. John say so--specifically).
No. Sola scriptura-pushers do. Drop the filter and read again.
-Theo
Question: other than the written record of the teachings of the Prophets and Apostles, by what mechanism do you suggest we use to determine if a theological statement or system is consistent with the Apostolic Faith or is something way off in Griswold land?
Gee whiz. This essay answered that very question. Please, drop the defense mechanism and read it again!
Thus, when we speak of Sola Scriptura, we are speaking of the Bible and the explanation that we have of the Bible as a church consensus of orthodoxy. These are deemed traditions. We could label this view Tradition 1. Tradition 2 would encapsulate an extra scriptural written account of the apostles that has been given to the church but not the church at large. This is the position in which the Roman Catholic Church takes in relation to their authority. It is a two-source tradition that propagates both what is entailed in Tradition 1 and extra-scriptural writings that are only privy to the pope and Catholicism at large. Or, that the Pope himself is able to add to, but not take away, from what is given as the rule for faith and practice. This is where they place “tradition” on the same level as “Scripture.” But this is not the same as Sola Scriptura.The cults are a manifestation of solo Scriptura. They are at one extreme end of the theological continuum. At the other end are the extreme traditionalists within the Roman communion.This should cause those believing in “Sola Scriptura” to reject, out rightly, the false and twisted idea of SOLO Scriptura. No one through history believed that we should not comment and explain the Bible. The Reformers, for example did not believe in the “tradition” of the Catholic Church in the manner described above. Rather, they believed in the regula fidei that included the explanation of the Bible according to the apostolic teaching.
The via media of the protestant reformers is the only position consistent with Scripture which can deal effectively with both errors.
See also A Critique of the Evangelical Doctrine of Solo Scriptura and The Shape of Sola Scriptura by Keith Mathison.
It is interesting to note that when Roman Catholics compare their "one" church with what they claim to be an uncontrollably large number of Protestant denominations, they are in fact using an apple and oranges argument. A better comparison would be to compare the result of the "sola scriptura" model with the model of the "Bible plus an infallible interpreter". The former gives us Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. The latter gives us Roman Catholicism, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, etc.
Bump for later.
I think the author's ideas about sola scriptura are far more valid than yours. To me, what you say is sola Scriptura is not sola Scriptura. How does a "church consensus" (whatever that is) have anything to do with Sola Scriptura?
by Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
There are two main issues that divide Protestant Catholics from Roman Catholics. Both groups claim to be catholic, that is, part of the apostolic, universal church of Jesus Christ. Roman Catholics believe we Protestants departed from that church in the sixteenth century. Protestant Catholics believe they departed earlier.
The theme of this opening chapter is one of the issues that still divides us: the source of religious truth for the people of God. (The other main issue, that of how a man is made right with God, has been dealt with in the book Justification by Faith ALONE!, published by Soli Deo Gloria in 1995.) As Protestants we maintain that the Scripture alone is our authority. Our Roman opponents maintain that the Scripture by itself is insufficient as the authority of the people of God, and that tradition and the teaching authority of the church must be added to the Scripture.
Author
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey is President of Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California. He is also Professor of Church History. He received the A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, and the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has taught at Westminster Theological Seminary (both in Pennsylvania and California) for over twenty years. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Dr. Godfrey was a contributor to John Calvin: His Influence on the Western World; Reformed Theology in America; and Scripture and Truth. He edited the Westminster Theological Journal for several years, and is a frequent speaker at Christian conferences. Dr. Godfrey is a native of California. He and his wife Mary Ellen have three children: William, Mari, and Robert. ___________________________ This article originally appeared as Chapter I in Sola Scriptura! The Protestant Position on the Bible, Don Kistler, General Editor and published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications.
Good Grief! ping
Why would anyone want to belong to a church that teaches error?
And who decides what is and isn't apostasy?
Who knows? Just look at the confusion caused over this issue on another thread:
Church Fires Teacher for Being Female
Ahh...such unity! Refreshing isn't it? Fruits of Sola Scriptura?
I don't want to have to have to alert the Religion Moderator on this one, so I will tell you to your face. That was a very rude comment and you have essentially called all Catholics stupid. Not only that, but that we should forsake Christianity to become Muslims! Don't you know how to debate or prove your point without resorting to such inflammatory insults?
If not, then perhaps Catholics shouldn't engage in conversation with you. It would be a practice in futility.
God.
Those who are in fellowship with Him, may be futher sanctified while we in fellowship with Him, through faith, and by the work of the Holy Spirit upon our soul (our thinking) and our spirit.
If we think improperly by His standards, i.e. sin in our thoughts, He is not free in His Perfect Righteousness to sanctify that faulty thinking.
Since we all have a scarred thinking faculty, referred to as an old sin nature by some, or the natural man, or the old man, our rationalistic modes of thinking might be independent of faith through Christ, hence a scarred thinking.
One method for us to catch ourselves through faith in Him, is to always repent or turn away from disobedience to Him, and confess or name or pray to Him of our sinfulness, to include those sins inherant in our thinking which we may have become callous and scarred to perceiving.
Once back in fellowship with Him through faith in Christ, He is free to further sanctify our thinking.
When we read and think the Word of God, His revealed Word is made available to our thinking. The Holy Spirit is then free to recognize our faith and proper thoughts, which are the same as His (when we think Scripture as He communicated/revealed it), and also free to further sanctify our thinking in soul and then our spirit.
Maybe further truth exists, but then again, many a test, trail, and growth in our walk with Him, may ebb upon even the most simple thoughts of His Word.
I must admit, I cannot give testimony of ever knowing any person, other than our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, who was so well sanctified in Scripture, to have to search for more truth other than as the Father may have made available to Him by His standards.
I admit, I have my hands full, merely mastering Scripture already provided by Him, by always remaining in faith in all my thinking with Him and allowing Him to do the work of sanctifying me. Searching for further truth than Scripture, might be tempting, and testing of our discernment, but I suspect many more believers may be tempted to follow false teaching and false Christs when they seek such truth outside of Scripture.
Likewise, perhaps some of the Roman Catholic denomination have perceived some carnal Christians, who have fallen into legalism, and fail to study Scripture in fatih through Christ, but instead seek truth in His Word as a rationalistic rulebook independent of faith in Christ. Such legalism merely scars the soul of the legalist and is a type of moral degeneracy.
There remains, though, many a believer who seeks to further their walk with the Lord by focusing on His Word, finding sola Scriptura as a useful tool to remind their thinking to return to Him in all things.
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