The Aquila Report

Your independent source for news and commentary from and about conservative, orthodox evangelicals in the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches

Providence College
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Search
Home/Biblical and Theological/What Exactly Is “Sola Scriptura” Protecting Us Against?

What Exactly Is “Sola Scriptura” Protecting Us Against?

To allow human tradition to rule the church is to rob people of their Christian liberty.

Written by Michael J. Kruger | Friday, June 4, 2021

Humans have been remarkably inventive in the variety of authorities they erect in place of God.  Sola Scriptura is designed simply to prevent these other authorities from ruling the Christian and to keep God’s Word rightly as our ultimate guide. 

 

One of the foundational convictions of the Reformers was, of course, this doctrine we call Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).  Simply put, this is the belief that the Scriptures are the highest and most ultimate authority in the life of the Christian.

Contrary to popular misunderstandings, it is not the belief that the Scriptures are the only authority.  Christians have other legitimate authorities in their life (their elders, classical creeds, etc.), but only Scripture is an infallible authority. For more on this point, see here.

At the heart of Sola Scriptura, is the recognition that fallen humans are always looking to replace God’s authority with some other human/creaturely authority.  After all, that was the essence of the very first sin in the garden.  The rebellion of Adam and Eve was fundamentally a rejection of God’s word that if they ate of the fruit they would surely die.

Ever since, humans have been remarkably inventive in the variety of authorities they erect in place of God.  Sola Scriptura is designed simply to prevent these other authorities from ruling the Christian and to keep God’s Word rightly as our ultimate guide.  Here are three examples of such authorities:

Traditionalism:  “Church Tradition is Our Guide”

Not surprisingly, the number one motivation for Sola Scriptura was that the Roman Catholic church had erected human tradition–whether from the pope or church councils–as equally authoritative as Scripture.  Luther rejected this on the grounds that these other sources of authority are not infallible whereas the Scriptures are.

Of course, one does not have to be Roman Catholic to struggle with traditionalism.  Protestants need to be ever mindful of allowing other authorities to rule over the Bible.  As important as confessions are, for example, we must be careful they don’t subtly migrate into the position only reserved for Scripture.

Read More

Related Posts:

  • What Was Reformed in the Reformation
  • Four Contemporary Threats to Scripture’s Sufficiency
  • Sola Scriptura
  • By Nature We Are Not Ill But Dead
  • Reformed Faith Christians, Are We Willing to Lose ‘Sola…

Subscribe, Follow, Listen

  • email-alt
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • apple-podcasts
  • anchor
Text and Translation
Belhaven University

Archives

Books

Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian - by Danny Olinger

Special

A Golden Chain
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Donations
  • Email Alerts
  • Leadership
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Principles and Practices
  • Privacy Policy

Important:

Free Subscription

Aquila Report Email Alerts

Special

5 Solas of the Reformation
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Principles and Practices
  • RSS Feed
  • Subscribe to Weekly Email Alerts
Providence Christian College - visit

DISCLAIMER: The Aquila Report is a news and information resource. We welcome commentary from readers; for more information visit our Letters to the Editor link. All our content, including commentary and opinion, is intended to be information for our readers and does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by The Aquila Report or its governing board. In order to provide this website free of charge to our readers,  Aquila Report uses a combination of donations, advertisements and affiliate marketing links to  pay its operating costs.

Return to top of page

Website design by Five More Talents · Copyright © 2022 The Aquila Report · Log in