Sola Scriptura vs. Prima Scriptura

After a conversation yesterday with a great Christian brother, I have been thinking alot about the idea a scriptural authority in the life of the church.

I grew up a staunch Protestant, the grandson of two Southern Baptist Deacons, and was told my entire life that Scripture is the SOLE authority in life and in practice. This is a Protestant Reformation idea know as Sola Scriptura (scripture alone), and had it's origins in the theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin. This doctrine of Sola Scriptura states that the Bible, and all contained therein, is the one and ONLY authority in life, and that every aspect of worship and life should be governed by the texts of Holy Scripture.

But is the Bible the ONLY authority in life and faith?

I am begining to think not. Now please DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME, I believe with every fiber of my being that the Holy Scriptures are the absolute, complete, inerrant and infallible Word of the True Living God. For we know without a doubt that "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable." But there are certain issues that one MUST look at when being confronted with this question.

1. What do we do with the gray areas (or issues with which the bible doesn't speak)?
-There are many issues that we deal with on a daily basis that we simply don't find in Scripture. Some call these areas things that are "written in silence." Some are simple issues such as: how much a Pastor should be paid? how large should a church be? what is the proper mode of baptism?

-Others though are more complicated, such as: where do babies go when they die? how are mentally handicapped people able to express faith if they can't comprehend the Gospel? what about people who commit suicide?

Whether simple or complex, these are issues that simply are not spoken about in the pages of the Bible. What do we do with these?


2. How do we deal with the fact that the Church carried on for almost 300 years without the benefit of the Canon of Scripture that we enjoy today? What did the early church do when different churches held different books (even some apocryphal ones such as the Gospel of Thomas) as authoritative?



The answer to these, at least I feel, is not found in the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone is simply not a viable response to these issues.

The early church had little other than Apostolic Tradition as their authority. Paul encouraged the churches to "carry on in the traditions" that the Apostles had taught them. The first centuries of the Church were governed by the Traditions of the Faith that were passed on by the Apostles themselves, without the benefit of the Scriptures to guide them.

Once the Canon of Scripture was formally put in place it was a wonderful solidification of the truth of the Gospel and of Salvation, but the practice of the Church remained governed by the Apostolic Tradition. The Bible became not the SOLE authority, but rather the FINAL authority.

When Luther put forth the doctrine of Sola Scriptura he did so not as a way of saying that the Church should ONLY do that which She finds in the Bible, but rather that the Church should not do anything that is CONTRARY to Scripture, and that Scripture is the Authority of Salvation. Meaning that it is in the pages of Holy Writ that we find the means of our salvation in the narratives of the Gospel of Our Lord Christ, and the Epistles of the Holy Apostles.

I would not push a harsh Sola Scriptura position any longer, rather I would put forth the doctrine of Prima Scriptura. Prima is a Latin word meaning "first" or "foremost." So scripture is not the ONLY authority, but rather the First authority.

The Anglican Church allows for this in its Three Steps of interpretation: Scripture, Tradition & Reason.

Scripture is the first and foremost authority, but as stated earlier it does have gray areas. With those gray areas we can look at the Traditions of the church, or another way of stating this would be to look at how the church has always dealt with these issues. Then take the orthodox teaching of the Church and stack it against the Scripture. If the two do not contradict then we should use our reason to determine that the orthodox interpretation is probably the right one.

Our church has given us a wonderful tool to use in touching on the Scriptural gray areas, and even with Scriptures that are difficult to interpret!

Praise God for the Holy Scriptures, and for the Traditions of His Church, that shed light on our interpretation!

May you all be blessed by God, our Father, as you live in the nuture of the Church, our Mother.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit+
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew