The Reformation, traditionally dated as beginning with the posting of Luther’s Ninety-five Theses on October 31, 1517, brought intense focus to the issue of scriptural sufficiency. Indeed, the formal principle of the Reformation was sola scriptura, for it was the assertion of biblical sufficiency over against tradition that allowed for the recovery of certain biblical doctrines: justification by grace through faith alone, the proper form and governance of the church, the individual priesthood of the believer, and much more. The preeminence of the Word can be seen in Luther’s comment: “The Word comes first, and with the Word the Spirit breathes upon my heart so that I believe.”

Rome taught that because she was the custodian of sacred tradition, people needed her magisterial authority; hence, Rome vehemently opposed and denied the idea of Scripture alone as the sole infallible rule of faith for the church. Neither did Rome sit quietly in response to the Reformation, as the Catholic counterreformation blossomed in the latter decades of the sixteenth century. The chief ecclesiastical manifestation of this movement was the Council of Trent (1546-1564), which began its work bu issuing a declaration on the issue of the nature of Scripture itself (April 1546). The council not only claimed authority to define the extent of the canon but also sought to “check unbridled spirits” (i.e., those who refused to acknowledge the ultimate authority of the papacy),…

Just how all-encompassing Rome’s authority claims were (and are) can be perceived by listening to the words of a leading counterreformation figure, the founder of the Jesuits order (The Society of Jesus), Ignatius Loyola. He taught his followers: “That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it black.” This is supremacy of the church over Scripture with a vengeance: Loyola sent out legions of like-minded men to “take back for mother church” what had been hers. The battle was joined, and while Calvin and Luther had discussed the issue of scriptural sufficiency in their writings, it would be left to their heirs to continue the conflict with the counterreformation.

Dr. James R. White (Scripture Alone, 11, 12)

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