Thoughts on Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone

I recently attended a large Protestant Church, and the sermon was on getting back to the basics of Doctrine and how their Church was based on Scripture alone.  I enjoyed the preacher’s message, though he didn’t explain why his “Scripture Alone” church had many differences from other “Scripture Alone” churches.  I too used to believe in Scripture alone, but some of my recently changing thoughts are as follows:

The Bible Doesn’t claim to be the final authority for Christians.

 1. The Bible Does Say there is a pillar and foundation of the Truth.

• Not Scripture
• The Church (1 Tim 3:15)

2. 2 Tim 3:16 is often used out of context

• To interpret the passage in context, the word ‘Scripture’ refers to the Old Testament.
• We can infer that we can apply this verse to the New Testament as well; however, that was likely not Paul’s original intent and it in no way proves the Bible is our final authority.

3. Paul himself does not demand adherence to Written authority alone.

• 2 Thes 2:15: Paul urges them to hold to the traditions passed on by letter and by word of mouth.  Sounds dangerous if Scripture alone is the sole authority.

The results of making the Bible one’s sole authority have actually been to make one’s interpretation the sole authority.  This is why there are tens of thousands of Protestant groups, hardly the picture of oneness Jesus prayed for in John 17.  It has been said that the protestant reformation did not remove the pope.  It simply made each individual their own pope.

What this is not saying:

This does not mean the Bible is marginalized.  The Bible is to be revered and honored.  This does not mean that all Protestants are bad, stupid, going to hell, or that they don’t love Jesus, or that Jesus doesn’t love them.  This does not mean that Jesus doesn’t bless and use Protestant Christians.

Responses:

My advice on how to respond to this is to follow GK Chesterton’s, “Give history a vote.”  Don’t assume that Protestants are united on the Big Issues.  For 400 years, many Christians have believed the Bible is their sole authority, but for 1600 years before virtually no one believed that.  Study and find out why.  Consider listening to this podcast series for a church history introduction.

The Tragedy of Dogma

A few weeks ago I listened to this Podcast, The Tragedy of Dogma, by Clark Carlton.  I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.  He explains how dogmas of the Church came about because someone was going astray, they were wandering from intimate communion with Christ.

Towards the end he states, “There remains, however, one danger—a danger far more subtle than the heresies themselves. This is the danger of mistaking the road signs for the road. It is the danger of turning the dogmatic definitions and canons into idols and using them as a bludgeon for our brothers and sisters. It is the danger of assuming that knowing the right formulas equals the knowledge of God.”

Ouch…I tend to lean towards formulas and knowledge.  I want to know the “right” things, and I wouldn’t mind arguing with a few people about my “right” ideas.

This Podcast made me even more realize the ridiculousness of my blog.  I am not Orthodox yet.  Why am I writing about this?  Am I just arrogant!?  Orthodox Christianity isn’t about formulas and arguing theology.  I think it is about an intimate relationship with The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that love all mankind.  I think it is soul therapy that heals our sinfulness so that we can truly enjoy God’s love.  Lord, have mercy.  Perhaps I am speaking when I should be silent.

Reasons I think Orthodoxy is True

I thought I’d share a few thoughts on why I believe Orthodox Christianity to be Original Christianity.  I will edit and go into further detail on these points in the future.  I also want to say that I am not attempting to speak for Orthodoxy.  I could very well be misrepresenting something, and if so, I am truly sorry. 

Church History - Many people rarely think of the Church that existed after Jesus ascended and the NT was written.  Some people think the Church went off into heresy and didn’t correct itself until their particular denomination came about (despite what Jesus said in Matt. 16:18).  Others think the early Church looked like their home church.  Many letters exist from the early Church.  Some of these letters were written by people that knew the apostles first hand.  The Church, beliefs, and style of worship they describe still exists today in the Orthodox Church.

Where Scripture came from – Most Christians rightly revere the Scripture, but many do not know where the New Testament originated.  Jesus didn’t hand his apostles a collection of letters, and Churches didn’t instantly have nicely bound copies of the 27 NT books.  It took roughly 300 years for the NT to finally come together in the form we have it today.  How did the Church survive without a confirmed NT?  They held to the apostles traditions whether they were written in a letter or word of mouth (2 Thess. 2:15), and they knew the Church the apostles handed on to them was the pillar and foundation of the truth, not the Scriptures (1 Tim. 3:15).  In the 4th century, the Orthodox Church – by the Holy Spirit’s guiding – canonized our 27 NT books and clarified the Doctrine of the Trinity.  Most Christians today cherish these things.  Is it not possible that the Holy Spirit is still guiding the Orthodox Christian Church?

Christian Unity - Like the other topics, this one could take pages to explain.  I think all would agree that Jesus goal for Christians is unity (John 17:21).  How far we take that “oneness” varies by group.  Most protestants will say they are all united by faith in the same Christ and only have minor differences of interpretation, but interpretation is one of the main problems.  All prostestants say the Scriptures are the foundation of their faith, but in actuality it is the individual’s interpretation of Scripture that is the foundation.

And how is it the same Christ?  Suppose I told you of a man that lived by a cliff with 1000 cats.  He loved the cats and decided to let them freely choose whether to jump off the cliff and die or come to his home and eat delicious catfood.  Next, I told you of a man in the same situation that loved the cats but wanted to be fair, so he threw half of the cats off the cliff and locked the other half in his home to eat delicious catfood.  Finally, I told you that both stories were about the same man.  You’d probably think one of two things, either this man has some sort of split-personality or I am mistaken.  Yet, protestants will tell similar stories about Christ.  Now, does Christ have a split-personality or are protestants mistaken?   I know I am not being totally fair, and I know to many at first glance, the Orthodox Church looks like just one more division amongst the 20,000+ denominations in the Christian west.  But there are many differences.  For protestants, the individual’s interpretation is the source of authority.  I don’t think this will ever lead to unity the way Jesus desires.  In Orthodoxy, when I humble my interpretations and submit myself to Christ’s Church, the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15), true unity and ”oneness” are a reality.      

Worship in the Scriptures - There are certainly spontaneous acts of worship in the Bible, but in worship services that is not the case.  From the Old Testament Temple worship to the worship in heaven seen in Revelation, worshipping God is done with liturgy and ritual.  This is an area with which I am still struggling.

God is Love - All Christians would say they agree with this statement.  I’ll have to fully explain myself in another posting, but most Western christians believe in a theory of atonement that states God must punish.  Many traditions could say, “God is love & God is wrath.”  Not the Orthodox.  In Orthodoxy, God is Love and is not a punishing God.  Hell is greatly misunderstood by the west.  If you are patient and would like to read more, look here.  On a related note that would also take much more explaining, for most in the west, salvation is a like a legal contract with this punishing god.  For Orthodoxy, salvation is a therapeutic relationship with the God of Love.

Conclusion – These are a few of my thoughts.  My attempt to be brief may have been more of a hindrance than a help, but I hope you have found this interesting and I welcome your comments.

Other’s words

Others can say things much better than I.  If you are interested, here are a couple of articles well worth your time.

A great introduction about Finding the New Testament Church.

This is a seven part testimony from a formerly-Baptist missionary.

Beginning my Blog

I have started this blog several times.  I have written and published multiple posts, then removed them.  I am having a difficult time composing what I want to say without it coming across as argumentative or arrogant.  I suppose this only proves my inadequacy to share what I am learning about Orthodoxy.

I just want to share with others the joy I’ve found in Christ through Orthodox Christianity.

If you want to know more, I cannot recommend highly enough Ancient Faith Radio.

I’ll continue to try to create this blog.  Thank you for checking it out.

What if?

What if there were two groups of followers of a great teacher.  The first group knew people that had personally known the teacher.  They wrote about the teacher and encouraged one another with speech and pen.  They had ideas about the right way to follow the teacher and of course, ideas about what the teacher’s message was.

The second group of followers came some 2000 years after the great teacher.  They had many documents from the time of the teacher, but they only trusted the documents which the first group had selected as special.  This second group read these documents but ignored virtually everything else about the first group.  The second group had thousands of ideas about the documents and the right way to follow the teacher, and of course, many different ideas about what the teacher’s message actually was.

Of these two groups, which seems more likely to truly represent the teacher?  What if the teacher was not just a teacher but the God-Man, Jesus Christ?  What if the second group portrays the current Protestant situation with thousands of opinions on Scripture and God?  What if the first group continues on to this day in the form of the Orthodox Church?