Subject: Sola Scriptura supported by bible? |
Bible Note: Tim, Whether the tree is real or not isn't the issue. The tree (being the knowledge of good and evil) is very relevent to the story. If we miss the meaning of the tree, then I think we miss the meaning of the story. They didn't get kicked out of the garden because the disobeyed. They got kicked out because now that they had become like God (knowing good and evil) they must not be able to eat from the tree of life. The knowledge of good and evil is man's attempt to judge. The word for God means judge. When we take that role on for ourselves we are taking what is God's. He said eat from any tree except that one. This excersize may not seem like it has much to do with the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, but it does in the sense that if we don't read the Bible and take seriously what it says, then we can make up all kinds of doctrine to fit our needs. Sola Scriptura is not taught in the scriptures. It was an invention in response to the oppresion of the Catholic hierarchy. The reformers thought that if every man could read and decide for himself what the Bible said, then we would be free. But actually the opposite has happened. It turns out that everybody has their own interpretation and people impute all kinds of meaning into the scriptures that just isn't there. There are ove 30,000 protestant denominations in the world today. Sola Scriptura just hasn't been what the reformers dreamed that it would be. My suspicion is that if Luther couls see the state of the church today, he would second guess is beliefs. |