Sola Scriptura and Reason
I have been conversing with several other folks about the best approach to share the truth of Christ with the world. The role of natural law and philosophy has surfaced repeatedly. There is one person who believes that it is wrong, or at least ineffective, for a believer to appeal to natural law or other philosophical arguments in support of the fundamentals of the Christian doctrine and worldview. His motto is “Sola Scriptura”!
“Sola Scriptura” (Latin: By Scripture Alone) is a famous latin phrase which was an important slogan of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Adherents to this slogan (which would probably include most of the evangelical world) believe that it is scripture alone which is the inerrant rule for Christian faith and morals. This belief reversed the entrenched authority of the Catholic church to interpret scripture for the believer. The traditions of the Church were not to be the ultimate authority, but the individual believer was to look to scripture alone as a guide to his faith. It did not, however, reject all church tradition as being worthless to a Christian. Instead of church tradition interpreting scripture, scripture was to interpret tradition. In the words of John Wesley, “The Church is to be judged by the Scriptures, not the Scriptures by the Church.”
This brings me to my point. Sola Scriptura does not imply a rejection of reason, natural law, or philosophy. How does the individual interpret scripture? He must do so by use of his reason! Reason is not in conflict with scripture, but is God’s gift to humanity to understand and properly relate to Him. J. P. Moreland, in his influential book, Love Your God With All Your Mind, made this statement:
The Christian mind is committed to seeking and finding the truth even if that truth is not what one wanted to hear. The Christian seeks to know and do the truth. In fact, in a certain sense the believer’s commitment to the truth is even more basic than his or her dedication to the Christian faith in general or some doctrinal position in particular. If one came to believe that Christianity or some doctrinal belief were false, then one ought to give up the belief in question.
Proper reasoning is how we come to recognize truth from error. Now, the Scripture tells us much that we could not know otherwise, for example, that God was manifest in flesh in order to make a substitutionary sacrifice for those who believe, or that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. We need the Bible, and we need to understand that it is the ultimate authority regarding our lives and faith. But there is much truth we can know without ever having read scripture by simply using the reason God has given us. That same reason also enables us to interpret scripture correctly. God’s general revelation and his special revelation (scripture) are not in conflict. Reason and scripture both point us to God’s wonderful truth.