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Sola Scriptura
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Word of G o
n an accurate historical reconstruction of the famed Leipzig Disputation, Martin Luther is likely not cool and collected. He’s probably sweating up a storm.
Before a packed room hanging on his every word at the disputation of 1521, Luther parried with Johannes Eck for several hours over the matter of objective authority. The questions twisted and turned, but the epic struggle between the firebrand monk and the expert theologian boiled down to one simple matter: for Christians belonging to the church, what had final authority—the Pope, church councils, or Scripture? Luther’s answer threatened to place his entire life in jeopardy. His cataclysmic answer to Eck’s question left him sweating, fearful, and as yet unaware that his answer would forever alter the course of human history. Sola Scriptura, the doctrine that the Word of God alone has theological and spiritual preeminence, came at great cost to the reformer—and to his clerical robes.
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by Owen Strachan
Biblical and Historical Foundations The people of God have always believed that the word of God alone has ultimate authority and power. The supremacy of the Word is evident in Genesis 1, when God creates all that is by speaking. He continues to speak to humanity as its absolute authority, assigning Adam and his progeny his essential role in life (Genesis 1 and 2), decreeing terms of covenant relationship (Genesis 2, 6, 12, 15, 22), pronouncing sentences of life and death (Genesis 3 and 4), and charting right from wrong (Exodus 20), among many other functions. The word of God spoken to Israel comes from above, and is not taken as a suggestion by His people. From the beginning, God’s speech is understood as preeminent, binding, wise, certain, and right. The nation of Israel faces many challenges in its existence as a tiny upstart in the Ancient Near East, but its fate always stands upon one essential matter: whether it receives the Word of God and obeys it. The people may face insurmountable obstacles from their perspective—whether hordes of Egyptians or arid deserts or Babylonian sieges--but they are not required www.credomag.com | 31