The Historical background of Sola Scriptura Sola Scriptura

The Historical background of Sola Scriptura

§ Sola Scriptura defined the period of the Reformation and beyond. § Prior to the Reformation, the Bible was kept at a distance from the people § The Roman Catholic Church taught that only the church/the pope could interpret the Scripture. § Therefore, the authority of the church superseded the authority of the Bible. § The tradition of the church and the Bible became the supreme authority.

§ For much of the medieval ages, the Bible was nothing more than a book. § The authority lied with the Church. The church was the authority, it interpreted the Scriptures according the traditions of the church. § But the Medieval church was corrupt in its practices. The selling of indulgences became the tipping point for an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther

§ Pope Leo X was constructing St. Peter’s Basilica and used the selling of indulgences to complete the construction § Indulgences – the remission of sins for the believer before God. § Pope Leo issues a plenary indulgence which granted a person “a state of innocence before God. ” § Johann Tetzel was sent to sell these indulgences

§ Tetzel was nothing more than an ancient day used car salesmen. He used anything necessary to get these indulgences sold. § He is famous for saying “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs. ” § By 1517, Martin Luther had enough. § He began to preach against the abuse and corruption of indulgences. § He drafted the 95 Theses and nailed it to the wall of Wittenberg castle. § He did so on October 31 st, 1517.

§ Tetzel combated Luther’s Theses by defending papal authority and infallibility § Luther argued the pope is not above the Scriptures. § Luther believed that the made is supreme in authority because it is divinely inspired by God and the Scriptures alone, could not err and do not err. § Luther was brought before the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope at the Diet of Worms on 1521.

§ Luther is presented his works and asked to recant them. § Unless convinced by the Scriptures, his conscience is captive to the word of God and therefore he will not recant. § Luther was convicted by this one truth: Scripture alone does not err § The Scriptures were the normans non normata (The norm of norms that cannot be normed)

§ Luther was declared a heretic and a wanted man. § He was kidnapped by Prince Frederich and hidden away. § While in hiding, Luther wrote sermons and translated the Greek New Testament into German. § Luther knew the Scriptures alone would transform the German people.

§ William Tyndale was deeply impacted by Luther’s commitment to Sola Scriptura. § Tyndale would translate the Hebrew and Greek Bible into English and then distributed it throughout England. § Henry VIII would ban the Bible. § Tyndale was burned at the stake in 1536.

§ The Reformers were convicted by the truth that not only does Scripture interpret Scripture, but it interprets us as well. § This means we must submit ourselves to the Bible. § Since they believe that “Scriptures interpret Scriptures” then this preceded the pope and church councils.

§ Luther, Tyndale and others set the stage for John Calvin to reform Geneva, Switzerland. § John Calvin was a staunch supporter of Sola Scriptura. § This was seen strongest in his debate with Cardinal Sadoleto. § Sadoleto tried to convince the city of Geneva to return to the Catholic church after Calvin and Farel had been exiled.

§ Sadoleto claimed Calvin had torn the Genevans away from the church. § In response, Calvin said Sadoleto and the church had misconstrued the proper relationship between the Spirit, the Church, and the Word. § According to Calvin, the church did not create the Word, but the Word through the Holy Spirit created the church. § Thus, the Church is to test all doctrines by the inerrant standard and authority of the Word.

§ Calvin’s most famous work, the Institutes of Christian Religion, outlined his view of the Scriptures. § 1. Scripture is the Word of God. § Calvin firmly believed in the inspiration of the Scriptures § For Calvin, what Scripture says, God says § Scripture speaks with authority, for it is from God and it is God’s message to needy sinners

§ 2. Scripture receives its authority not from the church, but from God. § Calvin saw the Scriptures as the “living words of God. ” § The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets § The church does not give the Scripture its authority, but the church receives that authority from God § 3. Scripture’s credibility does not depend on man’s reason but on the testimony of the Holy Spirit. § Calvin believed that people will never persuaded of the trustworthiness of the Scriptures until they know God is the author. § The Spirit and the Word validate and confirm each other.

§ 4. Only Scripture is our infallible and inerrant authority. § Calvin believed that the church and its officers were fallible. § Calvin illustrated how previous church councils and popes had erred in the past. § Scripture is the supreme authority for the church.

§ In the 17 th century, people started to question Reformation scholars, including the authority of Scripture. § One those movements was the Enlightenment. § The Enlightenment was summarized by the emphasis on human reason.

§ The enlightenment taught that man by the means of pure reason, he could now discover truth for himself. § Reason was the golden ticket to a life of total objectivity, free from bias. § This led to a rejection of the Bible’s necessity and sufficiency for truth. § If man can discover this truth for himself, then what becomes of special revelation.

§ 3 Stages developed in the Englightenment: § 1. The Beliefs of Christianity were considered as rational, therefore it should stand the test of reason. § John Locke’s “Reasonableness of Christianity” § 2. Since Christianity was considered rational, then their beliefs could be derived from reason itself. § 3. Reason was exalted above divine revelation, thus reason becomes its judge.

§ Deism brought human reason more to the forefront. § John Toland (1670 – 1722) said revelation is a maidservant of reason, not the opposite. § Thus, anything in the Bible that proves incompatible due to reason must be rid of because its irrational. § Thomas Jefferson and his removal of all that is miraculous.

§ Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768 – 1834), often called the father of modern theology, took special revelation from the place of authority with man’s experience. § No longer about infallible truths or theological dogma’s but man’s spiritual experience of the divine. § He said the Bible was not inerrant and sufficient from God, but only as a path to the God-consciousness of Jesus.

§ Inerrancy became a big topic of debate during the 20 th century. § Fuller Seminary adopted a statement that said “The books which form the canon of the Old and New Testament as originally given are plenarily inspired and free from all error in the whole and in the part. ” § By the 1960 s, some rejected “inerrancy” and expressed how it inadequate it was to express biblical inspiration, but still held to the authority of Scripture

§ Fuller felt the pressure of these attacks whereby in 1965, most students at Fuller are known as “limited inerrantists” § Limited inerrancy – The Bible was only inerrant in areas of faith and practice, but not in science and history. § The battle over inerrancy and the authority forced evangelicals to come together and draft a statement affirming the full inerrancy of the Scripture.

§ This group of people met in the city of Chicago in 1973. § They crafted the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. § This statement has been used by several denominations to affirm their commitment to the inerrancy of the Scriptures and its authority.

§ The CSBI said ”God’s Word is “of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches. ” § So, these scholars said that parts of Scripture were inerrant and others were not, they unequivocally said all of Scripture is God-breathed and inerrant. § The CSBI ultimately connects the inerrancy of Scripture to the authority of Scripture. § Because the Scriptures are inerrant, then they are authoritative.

§ There are still those who critique the Bible and question how much of the Bible is inerrant. § Peter Enns: § Believes the Bible is not reliable nor factual in terms of science and history. § What the Bible says happened, didn’t happen § Most of the stories of the OT are fairy tales § The theological descriptions of God are downright disturbing. § The Bible is not inerrant

§ Kenton Sparks: § The Bible is primarily a human book § It’s riddled with historical errors and contradictions. § Most of Paul’s letters were not written by him § The Bible also has errors in theological and ethics. § The Bible espouses values that are sinister and evil

§ We must ground the authority of Scripture in the greatest Authority, God who is the greatest authority. § The Scriptures testify about their own validity and authority. § The internal witness of the Holy Spirit authenticates the Holy Scriptures.