The Gift of Prophecy

The Protestant Response: Sola Scriptura as Principle

The Reformation of the sixteenth century was first and foremost a hermeneutical reformation that gave birth to an ecclesiastical reformation. ¹³ One of the leading principles of the movement was the sola Scriptura principle, which implied (1) the theoretical acknowledgment of Scripture as the only rule of faith and practice on religious matters, and (2) the practical application of that principle in the actual interpretation of Scripture. From the theoretical perspective, Luther stated clearly: “Therefore, Scripture is its own light. It is good that Scripture interprets itself.” ¹⁴ At the Diet of Worms (1521) Luther affirmed that he did “not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other.” Unless he was “convicted by sola Scriptura and plain reason,” he would never recant his views. ¹⁵ GOP 291.3

John Calvin argued more explicitly that “those whom the Holy Spirit has inwardly taught truly rest upon Scripture” and that “Scripture indeed is self-authenticated; hence, it is not right to subject it to proof and reasoning.” ¹⁶ Likewise, article 6 of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England (1571) reads: GOP 291.4

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. ¹⁷ GOP 292.1

But from a practical perspective, the Magisterial Reformers did not use the sola Scriptura principle as a reason to reject all other sources of religious knowledge. Luther not only accepted the first Ecumenical Creeds and much of the Church Fathers, but also wrote his Small Catechism (1529) and Large Catechism (1529). Likewise, Calvin wrote his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536, revised in 1559) and his own Catechism (1538). Several other confessions and articles of faith were crafted, exposing a variety of Protestant beliefs and nuances. ¹⁸ Furthermore, while Zwingli and Carlstadt rejected whatever the Bible did not endorse, Luther tended to allow whatever the Bible did not prohibit. ¹⁹ Assuming that “whatever is not against the Scripture is for the Scriptures, and the Scriptures for it,” ²⁰ Luther kept several components of the Catholic Mass in his own liturgical model. ²¹ GOP 292.2

Different attempts were made to define the relationship between the inspired Scriptures and other noninspired Christian statements and writings. For instance, the Lutheran “Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration” (1577) suggested “a threefold tier of authority” ²² comprising (1) the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which are “the only true standard or norm by which all teachers and doctrines are to be judged”; (2) “the true Christian doctrine” collected from God’s Word into the three ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Creed of Athanasius—and the early Lutheran confession and doctrinal articles; and (3) “other good, useful, pure books, expositions of the Holy Scriptures, refutations of errors, and expositions of doctrinal articles.” ²³ GOP 292.3

Luther emphasized the unconditional authority of Scripture in contrast to the relative and conditional authority of the theologians of the church. Only a derived authority was granted to those parts of the tradition of the church “which prove to be based on Scripture” and to the three ecumenical creeds, “because he was convinced that they conform to Scripture.” ²⁴ Consequently, from a Protestant perspective, a creed is only a norma normata (secondary rule of faith) with “only ecclesiastical and therefore relative authority, which depends on the measure of its agreement with the Bible,” which is the norma normans (primary rule of faith). ²⁵ GOP 292.4

Some scholars have seen the so-called Wesleyan quadrilateral as a later Evangelical attempt to undermine the Protestant sola Scriptura principle, attributing to Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience the same level of authority. But Donald A. D. Thorsen points out that a tetrahedron— or flat-sided object with four triangular faces forming a pyramid—would better represent John Wesley’s theology. “Scripture would serve as the foundation of the pyramid, with the three sides labeled tradition, reason, and experience as complementary but not primary sources of religious authority.” ²⁶ Under this analogy Scripture would still be allowed to confirm the validity of the other sources. GOP 293.1

Nonetheless, Alister E. McGrath argues that “the only wing of the Reformation to apply the scriptura sola principle consistently was the radical Reformation, or ‘Anabaptism.’ ” ²⁷ But even the Anabaptists who subscribed to the seven articles of the Schleitheim Confession (1527) ²⁸ did not go very far in restoring biblical truths by way of the sola Scriptura principle. So the motto “the reformed church, always being reformed according to the Word of God” (ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda, secundum verbum Dei) ²⁹ should remain the enduring motivation of those who want to carry on the restoration process birthed by the Protestant Reformation. GOP 293.2