Posted on 06/29/2015 11:23:16 AM PDT by RnMomof7
Sola Scriptura: the reformed Protestant belief that the Scriptures alone are the final and only infallible authority for the Christian. This does not mean that Scriptures are the only authority (nuda or solo Scriptura), as Protestants believe in the authority of tradition, reason, experience, and emotions to varying degrees (after all, “sola scriptura” itself is an authoritative tradition in Protestantism). It does mean that Scripture trumps all other authorities (it is the norma normans sed non normata Lat. “norm that norms which is not normed”).
Sometimes people get the idea that sola Scriptura was a 16th-century invention. While it was definitely articulated a great deal through the controversies during the Reformation, its basic principles can be found deep in church history. Take a look at some of these early church fathers who seemed to believe in the primacy of Scripture:
Related Resource: Six Myths About Sola Scriptura by C. Michael Patton
“There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source. For just as a man, if he wishes to be skilled in the wisdom of this world, will find himself unable to get at it in any other way than by mastering the dogmas of philosophers, so all of us who wish to practise piety will be unable to learn its practice from any other quarter than the oracles of God. Whatever things, then, the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us took; and whatsoever things they teach, these let us learn; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as He wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify Him; and as He wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive Him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet as using violently those things which are given by God, but even as He has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them.” (Against the Heresy of One Noetus, 1-4, 7-9)
“They [heretics] gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures. We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.
For they [the Apostles] were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon to the Church, but if they should fall away, the direst calamity. Proofs of the things which are contained in the Scriptures cannot be shown except from the Scriptures themselves.” (Against Heresies, 1:8:1, 3:1:1, 3:3:1, 3:12:9)
Recommended Book: The Shape of Sola Scripura by Keith Mathison
“For how can we adopt those things which we do not find in the holy Scriptures?” (On the Duties of the Clergy, 1:23:102)
“The Arians, then, say that Christ is unlike the Father; we deny it. Nay, indeed, we shrink in dread from the word. Nevertheless I would not that your sacred Majesty should trust to argument and our disputation. Let us enquire of the Scriptures, of apostles, of prophets, of Christ. In a word, let us enquire of the Father. So, indeed, following the guidance of the Scriptures, our fathers [at the Council of Nicaea] declared, holding, moreover, that impious doctrines should be included in the record of their decrees, in order that the unbelief of Arius should discover itself, and not, as it were, mask itself with dye or face-paint.” (Exposition of the Christian Faith, 1:6:43, 1:18:119)
“But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits will not desist from the search after truth until they get the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves.” – Clement of Alexandria (The Stromata, 7:16)
“In order to leave room for such profitable discussions of difficult questions, there is a distinct boundary line separating all productions subsequent to apostolic times from the authoritative canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The authority of these books has come down to us from the apostles through the successions of bishops and the extension of the Church, and, from a position of lofty supremacy, claims the submission of every faithful and pious mind. In the innumerable books that have been written latterly we may sometimes find the same truth as in Scripture, but there is not the same authority. Scripture has a sacredness peculiar to itself.” – Augustine (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, 11:5)
“Every sickness of the soul hath in Scripture its proper remedy.” (Expositions on the Psalms, 37:2; notice the sufficiency of Scripture being iterated here)
“Let nothing be innovated, says he, nothing maintained, except what has been handed down. Whence is that tradition? Whether does it descend from the authority of the Lord and of the Gospel, or does it come from the commands and the epistles of the apostles? For that those things which are written must be done, God witnesses and admonishes, saying to Joshua the son of Nun: ‘The book of this law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate in it day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.’ Also the Lord, sending His apostles, commands that the nations should be baptized, and taught to observe all things which He commanded. If, therefore, it is either prescribed in the Gospel, or contained in the epistles or Acts of the Apostles, that those who come from any heresy should not be baptized, but only hands laid upon them to repentance, let this divine and holy tradition be observed.” (Letter 73:2)
“For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.” (Catechetical Lectures, 4:17)
“This seal have thou ever on thy mind; which now by way of summary has been touched on in its heads, and if the Lord grant, shall hereafter be set forth according to our power, with Scripture-proofs. For concerning the divine and sacred Mysteries of the Faith, we ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell thee these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures.” (A Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Oxford: Parker, 1845, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 4.17).
“Nor did we evade objections, but we endeavored as far as possible to hold to and confirm the things which lay before us, and if the reason given satisfied us, we were not ashamed to change our opinions and agree with others; but on the contrary, conscientiously and sincerely, and with hearts laid open before God, we accepted whatever was established by the proofs and teachings of the Holy Scriptures.” (Cited in Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, 7:24)
“We make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings.
And to those who are expert only in the technical methods of proof a mere demonstration suffices to convince; but as for ourselves, we were agreed that there is something more trustworthy than any of these artificial conclusions, namely, that which the teachings of Holy Scripture point to: and so I deem that it is necessary to inquire, in addition to what has been said, whether this inspired teaching harmonizes with it all. And who, she replied, could deny that truth is to be found only in that upon which the seal of Scriptural testimony is set?” – (“On the Soul and the Resurrection” A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 442)
Enjoying as you do the consolation of the Holy Scriptures, you stand in need neither of my assistance nor of that of anybody else to help you comprehend your duty. You have the all-sufficient counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you to what is right (Letter CCLXXXIII, ANCF, p. 312).
“Their treason involves us in the difficult and dangerous position of having to make a definite pronouncement, beyond the statements of Scripture, upon this grave and abstruse matter….We must proclaim, exactly as we shall find them in the words of Scripture, the majesty and functions of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and so debar the heretics from robbing these Names of their connotation of Divine character, and compel them by means of these very Names to confine their use of terms to their proper meaning….I would not have you flatter the Son with praises of your own invention; it is well with you if you be satisfied with the written word.” (On the Trinity, 2:5, 3:23)
Recommended Reading: Now that I’m a Christian by C. Michael Patton (has a lengthy discussion in chapter one on the different types of authority and how they interact with Scripture)
“When, then, anything in my little work seems to you harsh, have regard not to my words, but to the Scripture, whence they are taken.” (Letter, 48:20)
“I beg of you, my dear brother, to live among these books [Scriptures], to meditate upon them, to know nothing else, to seek nothing else.” (Letter, 53:10)
“I shall yield to scripture alone.” (Dialogues, 1)
Here is a good quote from J. N. D. Kelly to sum it all up:
The clearest token of the prestige enjoyed by (Scripture) is the fact that almost the entire theological effort of the Fathers, whether their aims were polemical or constructive, was expended upon what amounted to the exposition of the Bible. Further, it was everywhere taken for granted that, for any doctrine to win acceptance, it had first to establish its Scriptural basis (Early Christian Doctrines, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978, pp. 42, 46).
Fascinating. Never heard of that term.
I do love to learn. Post much appreciated.
ping
Thank you for your diligence.
Corrections welcome, but I don’t think that the early church fathers had the Holy Bible as we know it today. The Holy Bible was a later development.
Again, corrections welcome.
The problem with a concept such as “Holy Tradition” is that it is not scripture and therefore not the inspired word of God.
So many people get these details wrong. Can't tell you how many times someone accuses us of believing that the Scriptures alone are the only authority and only source of knowledge for the Christian. Thanks for posting!
Yes.
It always best to stick to scripture and not read things into the Bible which are not there or make things up out of whole cloth.
One example: Mary ever virgin.
The Bible NEVER says anything like this. EVER. The Bible mentions:
1) That Mary was a virgin ONLY up to the time of her conception of Jesus. It NEVER goes any farther than that.
2)That Mary was married to Joseph.
3) That Jesus had brothers and sisters.
This doesn’t add up to someone who was a lifelong virgin to me.
And btw, the fact that Mary was married to Joseph, and that Jesus did have brothers and sisters takes nothing away from Mary and Joseph. The Lord commands us to be fruitful and multiply and Mary and Joseph did just that. Physical intimacy is in fact a gift from God given to all married couples. I see no reason why this gift would be denied to Mary and Joseph or our priests for that matter. There is nothing in the Bible supporting such a doctrine.
Or having to go through Mary to reach Yeshua. Yeshua said He was the only way to G-d through Him. There is no other mediator between G-d and Man other than Yeshua.
I'm sure that if all of us Protestants had a nickel for every time we had to correct someone's false idea of SS, we'd all be rich, rich, rich.
Again, thanks for the great post!
Hoss
They had the books of the Holy Bible, which all existed, but at first they weren’t all together in one volume. The various books of the Bible circulated among the churches in individual scrolls. In the second century the Codex (a modern book style) was invented, and within a couple of centuries they were putting all the books together in a codex.
Paul did! That is why he commanded Timothy to guard his doctrine in order to save himself and his hearers!
But how did they know which books? If we grant that the early church was competent in declaring which books were Scripture then it was equally competent in declaring what was Christian doctrine. And if the church in the first centuries was competent to do this then it is so today. Without the declaration of the church we would not know what were the books of the Bible in the first place.
I always get confused about the term “Church Fathers.” If that means the Apostles, they had only the “Old Testament,” they didn’t write anything themselves, except letters back and forth to each other. At some point four guys sat down and wrote what they remembered, plus Acts. Then somebody decided the letters and memoirs constituted “scripture.”
God said to Moses, “Write this down.” Jesus never said to anybody during his earthly sojourn, “Write this down.” It just seems kinda strange.
We still know not what we do.
Which is fine until they start trying to expel from Christendom those who have a different tradition, in which case they are no more justified in doing so than are Catholics.
Wow! Another great one! Thanks for all you do. I pray God opens the eyes of those deluded by Catholicism and all the other religions that rely on adding to the words of scripture.
Peter called Paul’s writings scripture. John was told what to write in Revelation. Add that to the consistent admonition by God (which includes Jesus) to write down what He told them just when do you think God changed His mind about writing it down?
The original church was catholic (universal), and, continuing the Jewish scriptural tradition, the authority of scripture was appealed to constantly, Matt. 22:29, for instance, Jesus said to the Sadducees, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”
Quite an oxymoron, the Papists use of the scripture against Protestants on this forum.
These are the same ones who burned Protestant martyrs at the stake, like William Tyndale, for the “crime” of trying to get the Bible to the common people.
These are the same ones who once had the Bible chained to their pulpits.
And the same ones who use the scripture against the scripture-first Protestants - or attempt to, they neither know the scriptures, nor the power of God - on this forum... on one hand, while denouncing sola scriptura on the other. Go figure. What hypocrites.
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