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Who is the arbiter in the arbitration?
Seriously...why don't you start a thread and explore that question? This thread is about the definition of Sola Scriptura (which has been done only about thirty times now) .
Thank you for asking.Friend, how are YOU doing? You seem to not be getting confused, no matter how fast they move the shells...... You seem to be doing well in keeping your eye on the ball. Good for you! But you must give the protestors credit for playing their game well....
Thank you for asking.I meant it when I wrote a little while ago that this has all the earmarks of a shell game (to borrow the expression you used), intended to string along their targeted opponents. As a result, and in the realization that nothing more can be done in the way of defining Sola Scriptura after it's been done repeatedly, my opinion is that continuing to be played isn't worth doing. Yeh, a comment here or there might be in order, but that's all.
Yeah, seventeen words from a Lutheran document a don't really explain the difficulties sola scripturists have in presenting a concise, consistent definition of the practice of sola scriptura.
I don't know anyone who's infallible. Can you point out those who do, and who that might be?Well now, Sola Scriptura is intended to norm doctrine, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to do it!
We have all sorts of people around here who would rather follow some supposedly infallible person's pronouncements or custom or popular legend rather than follow Scripture, but Sola Scriptura still is what it is.
No, that would be the case if Scripture were defective. Or if there were actually some authority higher and more reliable than divine revelation! Are you prepared to argue that there is?
But that doesn't make any sense. What alternative is free from your criticism? None. That's easily proven. So how can it be that there is something wrong with relying upon God's word in preference to ... what?
You may be attempting to play denominations off against each other, Catholic vs Protestant and Protestant vs Protestant, but the thread is about defining Sola Scriptura.
"Scripture Alone" means relying upon Scripture as the most reliable guide to doctrine, to the exclusion of competing and manmade alternative authorities.
It was presented as the alternative to a corrupted process, you could say. That's what reform normally is--correcting something that's gone awry and returning to the original.
Each of us will have to decide that for ourselves, I guess. However, I have no hesitation in saying that the superstition-ridden and thoroughly politicized and corrupted Medieval Church that, BTW, your EO churches would not reconcile with either, needed reform.
But if someone who has only a dreamy idea of the Middle Ages as a time of lovely Gothic cathedrals and knightly codes of chivalry (and I'm not speaking of you here, in case there's any doubt), he's likely to think that everything was just fine and should have gone on forever. Those people also are unaware that almost all of the key changes that the Protestant churches wanted and instituted have been adopted also by the Roman Catholic Church itself in the years since.
In short, the return to Apostolic standards has my approval.
Since the Lutherans were the first to define Sola Scriptura and are the best known for articulating the concept, that's the answer.Yeah, seventeen words from a Lutheran document
I don't know anyone who's infallible.
That's what we're trying to get at. There isn't one definition.
And of course, you are wrong. I've not found ONE Protestant who has offered a different definition
Really? A quick internet search for 'definition of sola scriptura' turns up about a half dozen different definitions, all which vary from yours and of which yours is conspicuously absent.
I'm confident that you are mixing explanations given about Sola Scriptura with "definition."
The dictionary says:
Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by Scripture alone") is the Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.Wikipedia says:
CARM says:Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by Scripture alone") is the Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. Sola scriptura does not deny that other authorities govern Christian life and devotion, but sees them all as subordinate to and corrected by the written word of God.
Sola scriptura is a formal principle of many Protestant Christian denominations, and one of the five solas. It was a foundational doctrinal principle of the Protestant Reformation held by the Reformers, who taught that authentication of Scripture is governed by the discernible excellence of the text as well as the personal witness of the Holy Spirit to the heart of each man. Some Evangelical and Baptist denominations state the doctrine of sola scriptura more strongly: Scripture is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine.
By contrast, the Anglican Communion and the Methodist Church, though generally considered a form of Protestantism, uphold the doctrine of prima scriptura, with Sacred Scripture being illumined by tradition, reason, and in Methodism, experience as well, thus completing the four sides of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. (see here)
The Christian Research Institute says:Sola Scriptura is the teaching that the Scriptures contain all that is necessary for salvation and proper living before God. Sola Scriptura means that the Scriptures--the Old and New Testaments (excluding the Catholic apocrypha)--are the final authority in all that they address (1 Cor. 4:6); and that tradition, even so-called Sacred Tradition, is judged by Scriptures. Sola Scriptura does not negate past church councils or traditions. Those who hold to Sola Scriptura are free to consider past councils, traditions, commentaries, and the opinions of others. But, the final authority is the Scripture alone because the Scripture alone is what is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and not past church councils, tradition, commentaries, and opinions. Scripture is is above them all.
1Timothy 3:14-15, "I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth."
Paul the apostle says he is writing to the church, so that the church would know how to conduct itself. Paul's writings, which are Scripture, are above the church because Paul tells the church to behave according to what he writes. Therefore, we can see that the church along with its tradition and councils is subject to the word of God. (see here)
PROTESTANT UNDERSTANDING OF SOLA SCRIPTURA
Sola Scriptura- A Definition By sola Scriptura Protestants mean that Scripture alone is the primary and absolute source for all doctrine and practice (faith and morals). Sola Scriptura implies several things. First, the Bible is a direct revelation from God. As such, it has divine authority. For what the Bible says, God says. Sola Scriptura- The Sufficiency of ScriptureSecond, the Bible is sufficient: it is all that is necessary for faith and practice. For Protestants “the Bible alone” means “the Bible only” is the final authority for our faith. Sola Scriptura- The Authority of ScriptureThird, the Scriptures not only have sufficiency but they also possess final authority. They are the final court of appeal on all doctrinal and moral matters. However good they may be in giving guidance, all the fathers, Popes, and Councils are fallible. Only the Bible is infallible. Sola Scriptura- The Clarity of ScriptureFourth, the Bible is perspicuous (clear). The perspicuity of Scripture does not mean that everything in the Bible is perfectly clear, but rather the essential teachings are. Popularly put, in the Bible the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. This does not mean — as Catholics often assume — that Protestants obtain no help from the fathers and early Councils. Indeed, Protestants accept the great theological and Christological pronouncements of the first four ecumenical Councils. What is more, most Protestants have high regard for the teachings of the early fathers, though obviously they do not believe they are infallible. So this is not to say there is no usefulness to Christian tradition, but only that it is of secondary importance. Solo Scriptura- The Interpretiveness of ScriptureFifth, Scripture interprets Scripture. This is known as the analogy of faith principle. When we have difficulty in understanding an unclear text of Scripture, we turn to other biblical texts. For the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible. In the Scriptures, clear texts should be used to interpret the unclear ones. (see here)
The dictionary says:
Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by Scripture alone") is the Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.Wikipedia says:
CARM says:Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by Scripture alone") is the Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. Sola scriptura does not deny that other authorities govern Christian life and devotion, but sees them all as subordinate to and corrected by the written word of God.
Sola scriptura is a formal principle of many Protestant Christian denominations, and one of the five solas. It was a foundational doctrinal principle of the Protestant Reformation held by the Reformers, who taught that authentication of Scripture is governed by the discernible excellence of the text as well as the personal witness of the Holy Spirit to the heart of each man. Some Evangelical and Baptist denominations state the doctrine of sola scriptura more strongly: Scripture is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine.
By contrast, the Anglican Communion and the Methodist Church, though generally considered a form of Protestantism, uphold the doctrine of prima scriptura, with Sacred Scripture being illumined by tradition, reason, and in Methodism, experience as well, thus completing the four sides of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. (see here)
The Christian Research Institute says:Sola Scriptura is the teaching that the Scriptures contain all that is necessary for salvation and proper living before God. Sola Scriptura means that the Scriptures--the Old and New Testaments (excluding the Catholic apocrypha)--are the final authority in all that they address (1 Cor. 4:6); and that tradition, even so-called Sacred Tradition, is judged by Scriptures. Sola Scriptura does not negate past church councils or traditions. Those who hold to Sola Scriptura are free to consider past councils, traditions, commentaries, and the opinions of others. But, the final authority is the Scripture alone because the Scripture alone is what is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and not past church councils, tradition, commentaries, and opinions. Scripture is is above them all.
1Timothy 3:14-15, "I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth."
Paul the apostle says he is writing to the church, so that the church would know how to conduct itself. Paul's writings, which are Scripture, are above the church because Paul tells the church to behave according to what he writes. Therefore, we can see that the church along with its tradition and councils is subject to the word of God. (see here)
PROTESTANT UNDERSTANDING OF SOLA SCRIPTURA
Sola Scriptura- A Definition By sola Scriptura Protestants mean that Scripture alone is the primary and absolute source for all doctrine and practice (faith and morals). Sola Scriptura implies several things. First, the Bible is a direct revelation from God. As such, it has divine authority. For what the Bible says, God says. Sola Scriptura- The Sufficiency of ScriptureSecond, the Bible is sufficient: it is all that is necessary for faith and practice. For Protestants the Bible alone means the Bible only is the final authority for our faith. Sola Scriptura- The Authority of ScriptureThird, the Scriptures not only have sufficiency but they also possess final authority. They are the final court of appeal on all doctrinal and moral matters. However good they may be in giving guidance, all the fathers, Popes, and Councils are fallible. Only the Bible is infallible. Sola Scriptura- The Clarity of ScriptureFourth, the Bible is perspicuous (clear). The perspicuity of Scripture does not mean that everything in the Bible is perfectly clear, but rather the essential teachings are. Popularly put, in the Bible the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. This does not mean as Catholics often assume that Protestants obtain no help from the fathers and early Councils. Indeed, Protestants accept the great theological and Christological pronouncements of the first four ecumenical Councils. What is more, most Protestants have high regard for the teachings of the early fathers, though obviously they do not believe they are infallible. So this is not to say there is no usefulness to Christian tradition, but only that it is of secondary importance. Solo Scriptura- The Interpretiveness of ScriptureFifth, Scripture interprets Scripture. This is known as the analogy of faith principle. When we have difficulty in understanding an unclear text of Scripture, we turn to other biblical texts. For the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible. In the Scriptures, clear texts should be used to interpret the unclear ones. (see here)
Interesting samples.
Who does CARM "represent"?
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