Mike Abendroth: Sola Scriptura

“The sacred and inspired scriptures are sufficient to declare truth” – Athanasius

I am joined for the October episode of Echo Zoe Radio by Pastor Mike Abendroth of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Mike also hosts a radio show and Podcast called No Compromise Radio.

This episode marks the third installment in the series on the Five Solas of the Reformation, this one on Sola Scriptura. (For the first two, see Dr. James White: Sola Gratia & Sovereign Grace, and Phil Johnson: Sola Fide.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:58 — 43.9MB)

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An outline of our discussion is as follows:

• The history of Sola Scriptura. The doctrine arises from the debate over authority that took place early in the Reformation. The Reformers argued that the Scriptures alone carry the authority of God in all things relating to the Christian Faith.
  • Sola Scriptura is the formal principle of the Reformation. (Sola Fide being the material principle.)
  • Without Sola Scriptura, everything else falls.
  • In fact, if you listen carefully, you will notice that the real authority for Rome is neither Scripture nor tradition, but the church. What is Scripture and what does it teach? Only the church can tell you. What is tradition and does it teach? Only the church can tell you. As the Roman theologian John Eck said “The Scriptures are not authentic, except by the authority of the church.” As Pope Pius IX said at the time of the First Vatican Council in 1870, “I am tradition.” The overwhelming arrogance of such statement is staggering. But it confirms our claim that, for Rome, the only real authority is the church: sola ecclesia. – W. Robert Godfrey, Sola Scriptura, page 43
• The role of tradition in the Protestant Church.
  • The creeds and confessions (the London Baptist Confession of 1689, the Westminster Confession, The 39 Articles of the Anglical Faith, etc.) carry much weight in the Protestant Church, and summarize what we believe, but they are subordinate to Scripture.
• How do we define the Scripture?
  • The Roman Catholic Church will say that they selected the Canon of scripture, so they know what it contains, and what it lacks.
  • Jesus affirmed the Old Testament Canon by quoting from it, and taking it as it at face value. He never quoted from the Apocrypha, and neither do the New Testament writers.
  • The Apocrypha was added to the Catholic Bible approximately 30 years into the Reformation.
  • Mike recommends that people read the Apocrypha.
• How do we rightly interpret scriptures?
  • “You have Scripture for a master instead of me; from there you can learn whatever you would know” – John Chrysostom
  • Mike goes by what he calls the “blue-collar hermeneutic”, which is to say that blue-collar workers, then as well as now, were the primary audience, and the Bible was written such that they could understand it.
  • Scripture is illuminated to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
  • Men are gifted supernaturally with the gift of teaching to better understand the Scriptures.
  • Scriptures must be interpreted in light of authorial intent.
• We discussed the contemporary Protestant application of Sola Scriptura, and where Evangelicals diverge from the application of Sola Scriptura in the Church today.
  • When people begin to add internal machinations such as “God told me,” “God revealed to me,” “God gave me an impression,” “God gave me some intuition,” “God told me something and His Spirit testified to my spirit,” etc. they do the same thing Catholics do by putting their tradition at an equal standing, or above the Scriptures.
  • The idea that God talks to people today is a functional denial of Sola Scriptura.
  • Blackaby’s “Experiencing God,” Beth Moore’s Contemplative Prayer, etc. are other contemporary examples of a functional denial of Sola Scriptura
• How do the cults abuse Sola Scriptura?
  • They approach scriptures in one of two ways:
    • They use their own book, outside the Bible.
    • They use the Bible, but add to it with their own writings and/or teachings.

Scriptures Referenced

• 2 Timothy 3:16
• Acts 17:10-12
• 1 Thessalonians 5

Additional Resources

• Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible – R.C. Sproul, Joel Beeke, et. al. [Aff.]
• What Do We Mean by Sola Scriptura? – by Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
• Scripture Alone (Video)
  From R.C. Sproul's teaching series What is Reformed Theology?
• The Sufficiency of Scripture – John MacArthur (two audio sermons)
• Why Evangelicals are Returning to Rome: The Abandonment of Sola Scriptura as a Formal Principle – Bob DeWaay
• Thoughts on the Sufficiency of Scripture: What It Does and Doesn't Mean – John Piper
• Sola Scriptura – A.A. Hodge
• Is Scripture really Sufficient? What does the Bible say? – Phil Johnson (Youtube)

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