Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)

Introduction: Where Is Our Authority?

The church is a living community that gathers every week to worship God. This rhythm of worship—praying together, singing, and reading Scripture—is a vital part of Christian life. Yet, regardless of circumstances—weather, crisis, or even physical isolation—one central element remains: the proclamation of God’s Word.

This raises an important question: what gives anyone the right to authoritatively proclaim truth? How do we know what is truly important? Is preaching merely the private opinion of a speaker, or is there a standard we must follow? And for those who listen—how should we evaluate what we hear?

Teaching others can be a humbling task, especially when speaking to those with more life experience or spiritual maturity. The authority, however, does not lie in the person speaking, but in God’s Word itself. The Bible possesses the power to speak to our hearts. The goal of any teaching should be to open the text and make this divine authority visible. We believe in the principle of Sola Scriptura—“Scripture Alone.” This means that the Bible is our only and highest authority in all matters of faith, morality, and life.

Historical Context: Returning to the Source

The principle of Sola Scriptura is not a new idea. It was a return to the purity and authority that had been lost in the medieval church. The 16th-century Reformation began precisely as a reaction to human traditions displacing God’s Word. Martin Luther was one of many Christians who asked: “In whom or in what does the supreme authority truly lie?” He saw how popes and church councils often contradicted each other. He saw how the abuse of power led to the trade in indulgences—promises of the forgiveness of sins for money.

On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. He did not want a revolution; he wanted a debate about the truth. He questioned the right of a man to forgive sins and pointed out that many church practices directly contradicted Scripture. The Reformers did not invent new doctrines; they simply “blew the dust” off the Bible. In those centuries, Christians were starving for the pure Gospel. The wave of the Reformation swept across Europe because people once again heard the voice of God from the pages of the Book.

Unfortunately, we often find ourselves in a similar situation. Many modern “Christians” try to “update” the Bible, considering its doctrines outdated for modern culture. Others seek new mystical experiences that become more important to them than the written Word. But as theologian Abner Chou said: “Without the Word of God, we are confused, dysfunctional, and purposeless. You can’t even have church or ministry apart from the authority of Scripture”¹.

Our Attitude Towards God’s Message

When a letter comes to us, our reaction always depends on the sender. There is spam mail—it deserves no attention and goes straight to the trash. But there is a letter from the director of your company with direct instructions—such a letter is worth reading carefully. There is a letter from the tax office or immigration service—it forces you to set aside all affairs and delve into every letter, because your future depends on it. And there is a letter from the person you love most, full of words of tenderness—you will reread it many times, enjoying every sentence.

The Bible is God’s letter to us. It is more serious than letters from official bodies and more intimate than messages from loved ones. It is a revelation of God. God does not want to be mysterious; He wants to be understood. He condescended to our limitations and spoke in our language. How do we read this letter? Do we consider it the highest standard against which every thought, every word, and every decision must be checked?

To understand the authority of the Bible more deeply, let’s consider four of its fundamental characteristics: inspiration, inerrancy, canonicity, and perspicuity (clarity).

I. Inspiration: God as the True Author

My friends who believe in God but are skeptical of the Bible often say: “We cannot know for sure what God said to humanity. Any document on earth is written by people, and people tend to make mistakes or pursue their own interests.” This is sounds like a logical claim, but it is not. The Bible was written not so much by people as by God, although people participated in the process in the most direct way.

Hebrews 1:1-2 says: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” The author asserts that God is interested in communication and used special people—prophets—for this purpose. The Apostle Paul adds in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God…”

Inspiration is not mechanical dictation under hypnosis. It is a process through which God, as the initiator, worked through the abilities, personalities, and styles of prophets and apostles to ultimately produce a text possessing His authority. God did not suppress the individuality of the authors. Therefore, in the Bible, we see different styles—from the poetry of the Psalms to the legal texts of Leviticus and the logical arguments of Paul. Yet, at the same time, every word is exactly the word God wanted to say. If God is capable of creating the universe with His word, He is all the more capable of ensuring the error-free transmission of His will through people.

II. Inerrancy and Preservation: Can We Trust the Text Centuries Later?

Skeptics often point out that the original manuscripts have not been preserved. We do not have scrolls written by the hand of Moses himself or the Apostle Paul. The oldest complete copies date centuries after the originals (for example, the Codex Sinaiticus from the 4th century). Does this mean that fatal errors crept into the text during the time of copying?

The science of textual criticism says no. The copyists of the Bible (especially the Jewish scribes) treated their work with incredible awe. They used complex verification methods reminiscent of modern checksums in programming. They counted the number of letters in each line and column². They knew which letter should be exactly in the middle of each book. If even one error was discovered, the entire scroll was considered unfit and buried in the ground³. It was very expensive and responsible work.

Moreover, we see God’s hand in preserving the Scripture. Jesus said: “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18). The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 was the greatest confirmation of the accuracy of the text. The texts of the Prophet Isaiah found there were a thousand years older than those we had before, yet they were virtually identical. God not only gave the Word; He, by His providence, preserved it for every generation.

III. Canonicity: Why These Specific 66 Books?

The Bible is not a single book, but a library of 66 books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament). Approximately 40 authors participated in its writing over a span of 1,600 years. Many believe that the canon was “chosen” by people at church councils in the 4th century through a voting process. This is not the case. The Church did not create the canon; it recognized it. The books of the Bible possessed authority from the very moment they were written because they carried the authority of a prophet or an apostle. Early Christians immediately recognized the voice of their Shepherd in these epistles.

For us, the supreme authority is Jesus Christ. It was He who affirmed the canon of the Old Testament and authorized the writing of the New Testament.

Jesus recognized the same Old Testament canon (the Tanakh) that the Jews of His time possessed. Jesus quoted it, used it in debate, and asserted that all of Scripture bears witness to Him (John 5:39).

The principle of the formation of the New Testament is equally simple: it consists of texts written either by the apostles themselves or by their closest associates working under their supervision. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would “bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26), and it was this promise that became the foundation for the recording of the New Testament.

Indeed: Matthew, John, and Peter were apostles from among the twelve; Mark wrote based on the accounts of the apostle Peter; Luke was a physician and companion of Paul and wrote under his authority; James and Jude were brothers of the Lord, recognized as apostolic leaders (Gal. 1:19); and Paul—a specially chosen apostle. All books of the New Testament were written by these individuals. We do not know for certain only the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, though there is a theory that it is a sermon of Paul recorded by Luke⁴.

The unity of the Bible is striking: the authors lived in different eras, on different continents, and wrote in different languages, yet they all reveal the same theme—the salvation of mankind through the redemptive work of the Messiah. Such supernatural unity is the best evidence that behind all the authors stood one Author.

IV. Clarity: Do We Need a Mediator to Understand?

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that an ordinary person could not understand the Bible without the help of a hierarchy of priests. The Bible was in Latin, which the people did not know. The Reformers proclaimed the principle of clarity (perspicuitas). This does not mean that everything in the Bible is easy to understand at first reading. Even the Apostle Peter wrote that in Paul’s letters there are “some things hard to understand.”

But it means that the main message of Scripture—the way of salvation, the character of God, His requirements for man—is set out so simply and clearly that any person (even a child) reading with a sincere desire to know the truth can understand it. The Bible is a light, not a secret code. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The purpose of revelation is to be understood, not to hide. God speaks clearly so that we can respond to Him in obedience.

Conclusion: How Should We Live with This Truth?

If the Bible is indeed the only and infallible Word of God, it must radically change our lives. The principle of Sola Scriptura is not just a paragraph in a creed; it is a practical compass.

For believers, this is a call to deep study. We often seek answers in psychology books, in the advice of popular bloggers, or in endless disputes on social media. But we posses a Book whose author is the Creator of the universe. Do you check your life priorities against the Bible? Is it the final authority in your family conflicts, in financial matters, in raising children? We should be like the Christians from the city of Berea, who “examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

For those who are still searching: do not judge the Bible by rumors or by the behavior of those who call themselves Christians. Read it yourself. Start with the Gospel of Mark or John. You will see that the Bible is not a boring history textbook but a living voice that knows everything about you.

Sola Scriptura. Scripture Alone. We trust the Bible not because of tradition, but because it is the voice of God Himself. It is a voice that still invites everyone to the truth that sets us free.