When Protestants broke ranks with the Roman Catholics, one key aspect of their disagreements was the doctrine of sola Scriptura. The idea is that the Bible, alone, is sufficient for Christian faith and practice. The Roman Catholics, of course, believe that the Pope is God’s representative on earth (“vicar”) and that church councils, including the modern college of cardinals, can make laws for the sake of the church. Protestants reacted against that view, in principle.
In practice, they rarely remain with the doctrine. First, let’s point out that the Bible teaches its own sufficiency. In Hebrews 1:1-2, the writer informs us: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” If you meditate on what he says about Jesus (through verse 4, in fact), you’ll see that Jesus is all we need. The rest of the book of Hebrews points out that Jesus is superior to anything and everything in the Old Testament.
Since Christ is portrayed in the New Testament as the final prophet, priest, and king, then all power and all authority resides in Him (Matt. 28:18) and we have no need for another prophet, another priest, or another king.
Having established that point, then, the entirety of the message of Christ, the gospel message, is all we need since that is all He has given to us. That is the point that Timothy makes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Yes, the Bible is all we need to please God and honor Jesus Christ. We do not need any creeds of men. No rules by men. No doctrines from man. No rituals among men. The Bible is sufficient and all it compels of us is sufficient to allow us to be pleasing to Christ
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Yet in practice, few Protestants follow the doctrine of sola Scriptura. Kevin DeYoung, in a book that upholds much of biblical doctrine, illustrates the point. In Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What that Means for You and Me, DeYoung teaches the sufficiency of Scripture and then cuts the ground right out from under his own position.
He writes “with the sufficiency of Scripture we keep tradition in its place. …We stand fast on the ecumenical creeds of the church. …[W]e must take the vows to uphold our confessional standards seriously, carefully, and with integrity” (pgs 52-53). He goes on to make this self-contradictory statement, in order to keep his sola Scriptura doctrine and the “ecumenical creeds” of his church: “‘Alone’ does not mean ‘by itself.” Do you see how people who refuse to accept all the teachings of Scripture are forced to contradict themselves and/or redefine plain words?
Where do Protestant churches find the names for their churches? I thought Scripture was sufficient? Where do Protestant churches find their respective doctrines on baptism (sprinkling, monthly, etc.)? Isn’t Scripture the “final authority”? Where do Protestant churches find their elaborate rituals for worship? Is not Scripture the final authority?
Be that as it may, we who have no creeds, manuals, catechisms, or other confessions of faith outside of biblical teaching, must be very careful that we do not create de facto creeds by teaching, upholding, and forcing beliefs in doctrines and practices that do not have clear authority from Jesus Christ. If Scripture is sufficient and Christ is the only King of the church, then that holds true for them (Protestants as well as Catholics) as much as it does for us. Let’s not bind where Christ has not bound (Matt. 16:19).
–Paul Holland
