Subject: To whom do we belong? |
Bible Note: New Creature, The doctrine of "sola scriptura" is simply this:The Scriptures are the only and all–sufficient rule of both faith and practice. This stands in contrast to other historic criteria such as religious tradition, ecclesiastical authority, creeds, church councils, rationalism, and modern religious irrationalism which often stresses experience and emotionalism above the Word of God inscripturated. The Latin "Sola Scriptura" means "Scripture Only," or "Scripture alone." This was one of the distinctive features of the Protestant Reformation and signaled the Reformed departure from alleged Papal infallibility and the authority of Romish tradition contained in the writings of the Church Fathers and oral tradition. Both Reformed and Baptist theology claim the principle of Sola Scriptura or the all-sufficiency of Scripture as the only rule of both faith and practice. Scriptura Mensura is an elliptic statement, meaning "Scripture is [the] measure [of all things]." (http://www.reformedreader.org/sola_scriptura.htm) Did you recieve the gos[el from a person who taught you what it is or by learning it yourself from private reading of the Bible. Most likely you heard it from someone else. My point is that though no teacher is perfect, he may be used by God as a means of opening one's eyes to unexpected spiritual truth. To throw the baby out with the bathwater is foolish. On top of that, refusing to listen to others more mature in the faith and trained and educated in languages, history and hermenuetics will isolate a person from the rest of the body. Do you go to church? Do you listen to the preacher? Have you learned nothing from others? Or are you an mouth that has no use for an ear? I do not mean to be cruel; but you are on the fringe of what many believe the Bible to say. God has not made us "lone rangers" but has incorporated us into one body "the church". I truly hope you will re-consider your position on learning from teachers. John Reformed |