Daily Gleaning - Sola Scriptura
What did Christians think of Scripture before the Reformation? Let's look at what ordinary Christians believed, as represented by their regular recitation of the Nicene Creed:
- The Nicene Creed says that our knowledge of God is "ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES."
- The Nicene Creed says that no man is the author of Scripture, but that God himself is the author in that the Holy Spirit "SPAKE BY THE PROPHETS."
- The Nicene Creed says that we can know Scripture testifies truthfully concerning the invisible because God has authenticated what it says about the visible by acting in history, especially through the person of Jesus Christ.
- The Nicene Creed says that the truth of what the Church declares is subordinate to what God has spoken directly in Scripture.
Contrary to liberal assumption, the Reformation declared nothing new in respect to the role of Scripture. It reestablished the essential doctrine that Scripture speaks in God's own words; it ALONE is authentic, authoritative and complete.
Nicene Creed
I BELIEVE in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made:
Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead:
Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.