Sola Scriptura and the Role of Teachers in our Spiritual Growth

A less-than-admiring reader once wrote Pastor Phil Johnson the follow criticism.  Regardless of what seminary your pastor went to and what authors he consults the most this is a criticism educated church leaders/members hear with some regularity today; (hence this posts value to the larger church; note Eph. 4:11-16; Colossians 1:28-29; 2 Timothy 2:2).... Dear Phil, "your identity as a 'Baptist'; your endless quotations from Charles Spurgeon; your faithful devotion to John MacArthur; and especially your willingness to call yourself a are all huge red flags that tell me something is seriously wrong with your theology. Why do you teach a system of doctrine that is named after a mere man? Why are you following human teachers instead of going to the Bible alone? After all, 1 John 2:27 says, 'The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you.'

Word-driven church leaders and members agree that we ought to go to Scripture alone to establish our doctrine! The truth is in God's Holy word, not in any theological system or theology textbook developed by mere men.

Isn't that principle what the Reformation was originally about? Sola Scriptura? Didn't even the Reformers go to Scripture for the truth instead of reading other men? I believe that if Luther himself wrote for this blog, he would point people to the truth in God's Holy word, not to a theology developed by some other man."

Pastor Johnson's Reply: You have seriously misunderstood sola Sriptura if you really imagine that it rules out human teachers or eliminates systematic theology. The Protestant Reformers often cited the works of Augustine, Tertullian, Jerome, Cyprian, Ambrose, and others—ranging from the early church fathers through Aquinas. They didn't follow any of them slavishly, of course, but they certainly took them seriously. Not one of the major Reformers would have tolerated the claim that because the Church Fathers were mere men they were therefore irrelevant or incapable of shedding any helpful light on tough theological questions.

Sola Scriptura means that Scripture alone is the final court of appeal in all matters of faith and practice. It is an affirmation that "the whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture" and that "nothing at any time is to be added [to the Bible], whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men." It recognizes that there is ultimately no higher spiritual authority than God's Word, so "the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture . . . it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly."

But none of that means we're obliged to discard the wisdom of godly men from ages past and require each man to try to discern truth from scratch by reading nothing but Scripture by himself.

Unintended Consequences

Photo Credit: vickster51corner.wordpress.com

Today's blog post highlights a few of the tragic, unintended consequences that a "reprobate" mind has on "we the people of the United States of America."

Last week President Barack Hussein Obama pushed his radical LGBTQ agenda on the children of our nation.  The message our Liberal President sent was clear, "Accept transgenderism or else."  Even though these public school bathroom guidelines do not carry the force of law the Obama administration threatened to withhold financial aid to public schools that ignore this imperial decree.  In view of this, Dr. Mohler wrote an excellent commentary piece titled: The (Im)Moral revolutionaries present their demands: unconditional surrender. (see also Obama's Outrageous Decree).

As was true with "the gay rights movement" politicians and judicial activists who advocate Progressive ideology have a powerful ally in the popular world of entertainment; (remember Brokeback Mountain)?  In 2015 the Danish Girl sought to romanticize in film "a love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer."  Like Brokeback Mountain this pro-Transgender movie received an Oscar nomination; (see also How did we get here: Desensitize, Normalize, Demonize, Idolize, Legalize, Victimize).

Here are a few of the unintended consequences of Liberalism, LGBT ideology, and the Feminist movement:

1) If carried out to it's logical conclusion, the Transgender movement will destroy Title IX and female sports as we know it.

Among many things, the Feminist movement has worked hard to eliminate role distinctions under the banner of equality.  Some of the advancements that have been associated with this movement have been good.  Such as, helping women earn the right to vote in public elections.  Having said that, certain positions and goals of the Feminist movement are antithetical to the teaching of Scripture; (examples include abortion on demand, the ordination of female pastors, etc).

In the blood-sport, that is better known as UFC, the allowance of transgender fighters threatens the health and well being of female athletes.  Even Ronda Rousey (who cusses like a sailor and who is anti-conservative) has spoken against male athletes fighting as females, calling it, "an unfair competitive advantage).  Recently this fear came to fruition when a transgender fighter destroyed her female opponent in the form of a concussion and broken eye socket.