Sola scriptura is authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian. Sola scriptura is an argument against unbiblical, extra-biblical and/or anti-biblical doctrines. The only way to know for sure what God expects for us is to stay true to what we know He has revealed - the Bible.
The Bible is the Word of God and it declares itself to be God-breathed, inerrant, and authoritative. He does not change his mind or contradict Himself. Therefore, those traditions that contradict the Bible are not of God and are not a valid aspect of the Christian faith. Traditions play an important role in clarifying and organizing Christian practice. Sola scriptura is the only way to avoid subjectivity and keep personal opinion over the teachings of the Bible. The essence of Sola scriptura is basing your spiritual life on the Bible alone and rejecting any tradition or teaching that is not in full agreement with the Bible. Sola scriptura does not nullify the concept of church traditions. Rather, Sola scriptura gives us a solid foundation on which to base church traditions. That is why Christian must always go back to Sola scriptura. Again, traditions are not the problem. Unbiblical traditions are the problem.
We now have the Scriptures readily available to us. Through the careful study of God's Word, it is clear that many church traditions which have developed over the centuries are in fact contradictory to the Word of God. This is where Sola scriptura applies. Sola scriptura points us back to what God has revealed to us in His Word. Sola scriptura ultimately points us back to the God who always speaks the truth, never contradicts Himself, and always proves Himself to be dependable.
The Bible is the Word of God and it declares itself to be God-breathed, inerrant, and authoritative. He does not change his mind or contradict Himself. Therefore, those traditions that contradict the Bible are not of God and are not a valid aspect of the Christian faith. Traditions play an important role in clarifying and organizing Christian practice. Sola scriptura is the only way to avoid subjectivity and keep personal opinion over the teachings of the Bible. The essence of Sola scriptura is basing your spiritual life on the Bible alone and rejecting any tradition or teaching that is not in full agreement with the Bible. Sola scriptura does not nullify the concept of church traditions. Rather, Sola scriptura gives us a solid foundation on which to base church traditions. That is why Christian must always go back to Sola scriptura. Again, traditions are not the problem. Unbiblical traditions are the problem.
We now have the Scriptures readily available to us. Through the careful study of God's Word, it is clear that many church traditions which have developed over the centuries are in fact contradictory to the Word of God. This is where Sola scriptura applies. Sola scriptura points us back to what God has revealed to us in His Word. Sola scriptura ultimately points us back to the God who always speaks the truth, never contradicts Himself, and always proves Himself to be dependable.
You mentioned that some traditions contradict the Bible. Can you give some examples of traditions that contradict the teachings of the Bible?
ReplyDeleteprayer to Saints and/or Mary, immaculate conception, transubstantiation, infant baptism, indulgences and papal authority, to name a few.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to suggest that the Roman Catholic contradicts the Scriptures but their traditions is based on their Bible and its church doctrines (which they derive from their Bible). Perhaps you are saying that their practices are unbiblical because it contradicts with what you believe according to the Protestant Bible.
ReplyDeleteThen to be fair using your judgement, can Catholics also say that your church practices are unbiblical because it contradicts with what they believe according to the Roman Catholic Bible? Here they are just saying what you imply.
Monthly tithing is one practice or may I say tradition which the Roman Catholic deemed as unbiblical practice by most Protestant churches as it is not found in the Scriptures - Yes, not even in the Bible version used by the Protestant.
To be very fair using your set of judgement, many celebrations and traditions (namely the Pentecostal churches) are unbiblical too as they are not found in the Bible. If you want your church to be that "biblical" then don't you ought to observe some festivals mentioned in the Bible?
I believe your point of view is limited to your world of Pentecostal churches thus I believe that you should be more careful not to impose your belief system and practices as the standard for being "biblical" to all other denominations within the huge diversity of Christianity.
Another food for thought (which I have already posted before in other blogs) that I would like to share with you (and get clarification from) as it is in line with what we are discussing here is as below :
The Bible used by Jesus, his disciples, and the early Christian movement was the Septuagint (a.k.a. LXX). This was a Greek translation from the original Hebrew. It included a number of books that are commonly called the Apocrypha. These books appear in the translations of the Bible used by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and some Anglican churches, but have been deleted in the translations used by Protestants and most Anglicans. One reason for this rejection was a passage which implies the existence of Purgatory. Thus, the range of books in the Bible which are to be considered inerrant is open to debate among Christians.
So which "Bible" is inerrant when different groups claim their "Bible" is inerrant? Which "Bible" is The Scripture? Which "Bible" contains The Ultimate Authority? Even Islam claimed inerrancy of their "Bible". There are many books in the world which claim to be inerrant. But they teach different and conflicting beliefs. Choosing one over the other cancel off the claim of inerrancy of that "Bible"...you can't claim with certainty that the Bible is without error when the claim itself is debatable. Even the range of books that should be in a "Bible" is debatable.
Thus you cannot prove the inerrancy of the Bible...
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your sharing and comment! it's really informative. Please tell me more as i found it helpful in my evangelism work. Especially the inerrancy of the Bible of Christianity and the "Bible" in the context of other non-christian faiths.
ReplyDelete