Four views of Sola Scriptura

Before we get into Sola Scriptura I do want to mention that I plan on getting back to the Holy Ground series. I’ve been immersed in Church History as of late (in particular the Reformation) and very encouraged how God has worked wonderfully in the lives of His people.

Sola Scriptura is Latin for Scripture Alone and was formulated by the Reformers in the 16th century. It was the formal principle of the reformation, meaning that it was the key principle that upheld the main argument of the reformer’s ‘protest’ against the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). They claimed that the Scriptures alone were the authoritative source of divine revelation. They made this claim because the only ruling authority at the time was the RCC which claimed that the Scriptures and Tradition together are the sources of divine authority. Before we go into the arguments of Tradition versus Scripture, what exactly do we mean by Tradition? Most understand Scripture to be the written word of God but what is Tradition? Once we define Tradition we move to understanding the conflict(s) between Scripture and Tradition – if any.

According to Keith A. Madison, historically there are four main views on Tradition.

1) Tradition I – this view proposes a one-source theory of revelation. That is to say, tradition and scripture are identical. After the death of Christ certain traditions and teachings were orally passed down by the Apostles until the writing of the New Testament Gospels and epistles. This argues that all the doctrines of what was orally passed down is revealed in the writing of the New Testament.

2) Tradition II – this view proposes a two-source theory of revelation. Scripture and tradition are two equally authoritative and supplemental sources of divine revelation. This means that Scripture and Tradition are not identical but that they supplement the other.

3) Tradition III – this view proposes that the real source of revelation is neither the Scripture or Tradition but the living Magisterium (teaching office) of the church. And since only one church claims to have a “living magesterium” that church would be the Roman Catholic Church.

4) Tradition 0 – this view rejects any role of tradition whatsoever and argues that every individual is able to interpret the Scripture correctly for himself according to his own private evaluations and judgments. His or her interpretations are made apart from the Apostolic rule of faith. This tradition has been also known as Solo Scripture, not Sola Scriptura, meaning that it by itself is all that is necessary.

These four definitions are helpful in understanding how we communicate what we mean by Tradition. In the 16th century, the cry of Sola Scriptura was not a denial of authority of the Church, authorities of the Apostles, authority of pastors and the rule of faith, nor a denial of any kind of authority. Instead the cry of Sola Scriptura was against the traditions of men that were not founded on the Word of God which was the authority on all things pertaining to life and godliness (2Peter 1:3). Sola Scriptura does not deny any traditions but instead subjects those authorities under Scripture.

Often times when talking with Catholics the idea of Sola Scriptura is caricatured into Solo Scriptura (Tradition 0). What I found interesting is the Tradition III theory. This appears to be more apparent in recent times than in any other part of RCC history. For example Catholics that I have spoken with argue that individuals are not to interpret the scriptures on our own but that everything is subject to the Magesterium. They claim that Catholics or Protestants cannot individually read the Holy Scriptures and privately interpret what those Scriptures mean without the guidance of the Roman Catholic Church. They claim that 2Peter 1:20 forbids individuals from “self-interpreting” the Scriptures. In a following post, I’ll show how this verse is taken out of context by many Catholics, and proves this new wave of Tradition III, where the Scriptures are viewed by Catholics as truly non-authoritative and really view only the Magesterium as the only authority.