Sola Scriptura and Three Theological Systems

Sola Scriptura and Three Theological Systems (Belgic Confession 7e)

Rev. Angus Stewart

Belgic Confession 7: The Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures to Be the Only Rule of Faith
We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein. For, since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures; nay, though it were an angel from heaven, as the apostle Paul saith. For, since it is forbidden to add unto or take away any thing from the Word of God, it doth thereby evidently appear that the doctrine thereof is most perfect and complete in all respects.

Neither do we consider of equal value any writing of men, however holy these men may have been, with those divine Scriptures, nor ought we to consider custom, or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons, or councils, decrees, or statutes, as of equal value with the truth of God, for the truth is above all; for all men are of themselves liars and more vain than vanity itself. Therefore we reject with all our hearts whatsoever doth not agree with this infallible rule, which the apostles have taught us, saying, Try the spirits whether they are of God. Likewise, if there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house.

The second paragraph of Belgic Confession 7 teaches the truth of sola Scriptura, that God's Word is above all the writings “of men, however holy these men may have been.” This includes the great theologians of the Christian church, such as Augustine, Calvin and Hoeksema, as well as leaders in false churches or cults, such as Charles Taze Russell, Mother Teresa and Benny Hinn, plus evangelicals, such as C. I. Scofield and John Piper, and indeed everything in the Salt Shakers, including this article! The Triune God speaking in Scripture is also the supreme authority over “custom, or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons, or councils, decrees, or statutes.”

Roman Catholicism

What church or system is Belgic Confession 7 especially opposing? Roman Catholicism is particularly targeted here, though the critique would also apply, for example, to Eastern Orthodoxy. A key phrase, mentioned twice in Belgic Confession 7, makes this clear: “equal value.” The Church of Rome places the writings of holy men, “custom,” “antiquity,” “succession of times and persons,” “councils,” “decrees,” etc., on a par with the Word of God. These things Rome embraces under the term tradition, which it makes equal with the Scriptures.

Thus, the Roman Church holds to two equal streams of revelation: Scripture (to which they add the Apocrypha, as we saw when we considered Belgic Confession 6) and (Roman Catholic) tradition. This is Rome's authoritative position according to Vatican II (1962-1965) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992). So what happens when Rome's tradition disagrees (as it frequently does) with God's written Word? Which one triumphs over the other? Tradition!

The argument for the supremacy of Scripture in Belgic Confession 7 rests upon two crucial truths. The first concerns who God is, especially His truthfulness, since the Bible is “the truth of God [and] the truth is above all.” The second concerns who man is: “all men are of themselves liars and more vain than vanity itself.” Thus wherever Scripture and human teachers or writings clash, the Bible is always true and man's views false.^¹

Belgic Confession 7 concludes with a two-fold antithetical calling regarding sola Scriptura. First, we must repudiate all false teaching, whether concerning doctrine or ethics: “Therefore we reject with all our hearts whatsoever doth not agree with this infallible rule, which the apostles have taught us, saying, Try the spirits whether they are of God.” Our creed here quotes I John 4:1, which reads in full, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” This trying is a testing of the teachers and their writings or preaching, and even of the angelic powers that stand behind them, in the light of holy Scripture.

Our second antithetical calling is not to fellowship with the false teacher or help him disseminate his false teaching: “Likewise, if there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house,” to which II John 10 adds, “neither bid him God speed.”

Anabaptism

There is a second theological system that is condemned in Belgic Confession 7 paragraph 2: Anabaptism. Again, the key phrase is “equal value.” Very carefully, our creed does not say that the writings of men or “antiquity” or “councils” or “statutes,” etc., are of no value or very little worth. The sixteenth-century Anabaptists held that the historic church, the church fathers and the creeds were of little or no use, for they were largely irrelevant or even a hindrance. The Anabaptist Bernhard Rothman in the 1530s declared that “for fourteen hundred years there have been no Christians on earth.”²

Thus, the Anabaptist goal and agenda was restoration not reformation. They wanted to leap over a millennium and a half to get back to what they thought was pristine apostolic Christianity, dismissing virtually everything from the death of the Apostle John to their own time.

Much of evangelicalism today is nearer to the Anabaptists than the Reformers and their successors. They misunderstand sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) as if it meant solo Scriptura (only the Scriptures). That is, instead of viewing the Word of God as the highest authority, leaving a significant role for writings and creeds that faithfully explain and apply the Bible, they reckon that only the Scriptures are of any use. Their misinterpretation of “Scripture alone” often degenerates into “me alone,” that is, I can interpret Holy Writ all by myself and without any regard to the history of the church or its councils, etc.

Some of them even proclaim, “No creed but Christ,” not knowing that this is historically the slogan of liberalism, and that the Reformers who rediscovered and developed the truth of sola Scriptura were also the greatest creed-writers in the history of the Christian church. Many have no interest in the history of the church and a despicably low view of Christ's church, as if the church had no authority in any shape or form.

Whether or not they are conscious of it, instead of a biblical ecclesiology or doctrine of the church, they hold to the autonomy of the individual. This is especially seen when they get in a snit, either over something in which they are in the wrong or over something trivial. They leave the church in a huff and either simply stay at home on the Lord's Day or join a departing church or set up a little splinter group.

The Reformed Faith

Finally, we come to the third, and the true, view: sola Scriptura as it is taught by the Reformed faith. Over against Roman Catholicism, God's infallible Word is the supreme and final judge over all things. Nothing is its equal.

Over against all Anabaptist tendencies, the Bible itself teaches that we need the church (Ps. 87; I Tim. 3:16), church order (Rom. 12:8; I Cor. 12:28; 14:33, 40) and church assemblies, which make decisions and adjudicate controversies on the basis of Scripture (Acts 15). The Bible itself insists that we need preaching and preachers of the Word (I Tim. 4:13-16; II Tim. 4:2) and thus Scripture is not only to be read and studied by us individually and in our homes. The Word itself requires the use of the two Christian sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper as means of grace (Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23-34). Scripture calls for church officer-bearers (pastors, elders and deacons), as in Ephesians 4:11 and I Timothy 3, and church discipline as a key of the kingdom of heaven, so that when sins are bound or loosed by the church in accordance with God's Word, they are bound or loosed by Christ Himself in heaven (Matt. 18:15-18; I Cor. 5). The Bible itself commands that the church, as well as parents, must teach the children of believers: “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15). Scripture itself teaches that we need creeds (I Tim. 3:16) which possess derivative (not original) authority.

Of course, the Bible itself is the supreme judge over all of the institutions, people and activities that it authorizes: the church, church order, church assemblies, preaching, sacraments, office-bearers, church discipline and creeds. The Triune God, through the Scriptures He inspired, calls all who err to reformation, for His Word judges everybody, not only on the last day (John 12:48) but also today. Thus the Scriptures and all those who stand with Jehovah's truth issue the call to reformation. All those who believe and practice sola Scriptura, given the blindness and sinfulness of man, thus realize that ecclesia semper reformanda (the church is always to be reformed).

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

How do Roman Catholicism and Anabaptism oppose the Reformed truth of sola Scriptura?
What examples of the Anabaptist view of solo Scriptura have you come across?
What examples could you give of both right and wrong applications of ecclesia semper reformanda?