The Myth of Sola Scriptura
Reflections on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral - Scripture
August 18, 2024
Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:105, John 20:30-31
… God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It’s able to judge the heart’s thoughts and intentions.
Hebrews 4:12
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In the 16th century, church leaders challenged various forms of corruption and abuse in the church, ultimately leading to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or “Scripture Alone.” Martin Luther, John Calvin and other Protestant Reformers said that Scripture alone is the ultimate authority in matters of faith, over and against the rules and traditions established within the church. People, they believed, could err in their judgment or even intentionally spread false teachings and heresies, but Scripture was always unchanging and reliable.
In theory, this sounds reasonable. After all, we as Christians believe the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God and as Paul writes to Timothy, are useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character (1 Timothy 3:16). The problem is that no one can read the Bible in a vacuum. The fact that we are not reading in Hebrew or Greek means that there is always at least one layer of interpretation in the translation itself. Not to mention all of our preconceived ideas about God, theology, and what we have been taught. In some religious education, theology classes are required before taking Biblical Studies, which ensures that when students actually get to studying the scripture, they are already steeped in a particular denominational viewpoint on how to interpret it.
The Wesleyan tradition still holds scripture as our primary source of authority when it comes to knowing God, but we also recognize that scripture always comes to us through various lenses of interpretation and that it is quite possible for us to get some things wrong.
Rather than Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), we might say a more accurate way is Prima Scriptura (Scripture First, or primary). Reflecting on John Wesley’s practical methodology for interpreting scripture and doing theology, Albert Outler coined what is known as the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral,” consisting of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. Of course scripture has more weight than the other three, but this process of theological reflection reminds us that whether we like it or not, scripture is always interpreted through the lens of the other three. When we read the Bible, we cannot separate ourselves from the church tradition in which we were taught. We cannot and should not shut off the intellect God gave us. To ignore reason leads not to a perfect understanding of scripture, but to a blind acceptance of what someone else told us it means. And finally, we can never separate ourselves from our own experience, particularly our experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God’s word is alive and breathes in us through the Spirit, teaching us how to apply what we read in our own unique context and circumstances.
When we recognize these lenses, we open ourselves to the work of scripture that seeks to penetrate our hearts and transform our souls. We come humbly, acknowledging that we have much to learn about the text from those who have gone before us, from deep study, and even from the fresh voice of the Spirit today.