Sola Scriptura is Latin and it means "by Scripture Alone", it is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. This is not a denial of other authorities governing Christian life, but it demands that those authorities are found directly within the Bible or derived accurately from writings found in the bible. It demands that all other authorities are subordinate to the written word of God.
Sola Scriptura means that no other requirements for salvation are needed than those found in the Bible, which, in case you're playing along at home, is repentance of your sins, and faith in Christ. If a person believes that if he sings Ave Maria 520 times while holding Mother Teresa's rice bowl he will get into heaven, that's a very interesting belief, but it's not scriptural. Can you see this fellow standing before God on judgement day and God says "I only counted 519 iterations of Ave Maria, now let's talk about that weekend in Kansas city with the Elks lodge and the dancing girls from that nightclub..."
Belief that the Bible is the true inspired word of God is the basis of Christianity, so why would we want to pollute something so pure and perfect as His spoken word? Leonard Sweet is Professor of Evangelism at Drew University and very odd person. His heresy knows no bounds, here's what passes for biblical teaching to Mr. Sweet:
What It All Means: John 1:14. The Fourth Gospel elaborates the exchange as it extends an invitation to the quest and quandary of the quantum explored in this book.
The Word [the depth dimension of Logos which physicists call energy, ancients called fire and theologians call metanoi] ...
became Flesh [the height dimension of Pathos which physicists call matter, ancients called land and theologians call koinonia]...
and dwelt among us [the breadth dimension of Ethos which physicists call space, ancients called wind and theologians call diakonia] ...
and we beheld his [God’s] glory [the fourth dimension of Theos which physicists call space-time, ancients called sea and theologians call basileia] (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, pg. 9)
Slow down Mr. Sweet - the Word was, is, and always will be "Jesus", metanoi means "repentance" not energy, koinonia means living communally, not "matter" and diakonia means Kingdom of God, not "Space-time", but you did get close with diakonia, which is the act of ministering, what John means by dwelt was to live among us as a normal human being along with his holy ministry. Then again, His whole existance here on earth was a ministry so I give Mr. Sweet credit on that. So Mr. Sweet is 1 for 4 in one line of scripture, can you imagine what he would do with the rest of the bible?
Then there's Brian McLaren:
“Scripture is something God had ‘let be,’ and so it is at once God’s creation and the creation of the dozens of people and communities and cultures who produced it.” (Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 162)
The Bible is not a creation of people, it is the word of God. It transcends culture because the men who wrote it were divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, (2 Pet. 1:21) What McLaren is saying is that the Bible is both the creation of God and the creation of man, so if we can co-create something then man is just as good as God. Notice that McLaren ignored 2 Peter 1:21 which quite plainly states that the men were moved by the Holy Spirit (Of course he ignored that, to acknowledge 2 Peter 1:21 would be to acknowledge the superiority of God and the inadequacy of man.) Mr. McLaren also wrote:
“… if you’re going someplace where no one has ever been a map cannot help you. That’s where the name “Off The Map” comes from in part. But another problem with maps is that sometimes they change. (Brian McLaren, A New Kind Of Christian – Part 1, Copyright: 2004, Off The Map)
Maps change, people change, routes change, God does not change
For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)
What McLaren is telling us is that since we read from electronic tablets rather than scrolls, since we wear denim rather than sackcloth and sneakers rather than sandals God is completely out of touch with our needs. Sorry to inform you Mr. McLaren, God is still God, sin is still sin, depravity is still depravity, heresy is still heresy and salvation is still through Jesus Christ our Lord and not through your personal opinion. To claim that God is out of touch, that His word is out of date, and only the works of Brian McLaren can guide you through this spiritual realm am I wrong to say that this is Blasphemy? Instead I say to Mr. McLaren if you are the only one that knows The Way, if you are blessed with knowing the thoughts of God Himself, why aren't your books and videos free? The word of God is free, why not the word of Brian?
Phyllis Tickle, who's name is mentioned in the bible, said of the great reformation
We begin to refer to Luther’s principle of “sola scriptura, scriptura sola” as having been little more than the creation of a paper pope in place of a flesh and blood one. And even as we speak, the authority that has been in place for five hundred years withers away in our hands.” (The Great Emergence, pgs 46, 47)
Does she even realize that she just called the scriptures unscriptural? The great reformation fought against a pope who came between us and the word of God, by calling the bible a 'paper pope' she's saying that the bible is coming between us and the bible. (This nonsense is why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14:34) She goes on to say
The new Christianity of the Great Emergence must discover some authority base or delivery system and/or governing agency of its own. It must formulate—and soon—something other than Luther’s Sola Scriptura which, although used so well by the Great Reformation originally, is now seen as hopelessly outmoded or insufficient …(Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence, pg. 151)
"By scripture alone" is outmoded or insufficient? What she's saying is that scripture is outmoded or insufficient. What she is saying is that the emergent church must throw out the bible because it's inadequate for their plans. If she is saying that the word of God is inadequate then she is also saying that God is inadequate, but not Phyllis Tickle, she's not inadequate, she's just fine. ( Once again for clarity: This nonsense is why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14:34)
Speaking of inadequate, the fallen pastor of the Mars Hill Church, Rob Bell, also states that the bible is inadequate. The Bible itself, he
writes, is a book that constantly must be wrestled with and re-interpreted.
He dismisses claims that "Scripture alone" will answer all questions.
Bible interpretation is colored by historical context, the reader's bias and
current realities, he says. The more you study the Bible, the more questions
it raises. "It is not possible to simply do what the Bible says," Bell writes. "We
must first make decisions about what it means at this time, in this place,
for these people."
Impossible to do what the bible says Mr. Bell?
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15)
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. (John 14:23)
He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:24)
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10)
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)
As you can see, beloved, the inadequacy is not in the Bible, it's in Mr. Sweet, and Mr. McLaren, and Miss Tickle, and poor little Rob Bell who now claims to puke whenever he hears someone quote the bible. The problem is not that the bible is inadequate but the people damning the bible do not have something that John, the beloved disciple and personal friend of Jesus Christ, said you must have - love. Unfortunately no one is calling these false teachers on their heresy and blasphemy. And as they continue their ministry, crowds of bleating goats cheer them on to lower and worse heresy and blasphemy and they're soaking up the adoration of their blinded followers. We are witnessing the Great Apostasy as it gathers momentum
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