“It is perhaps not too much to say that, for many professing Christian theologians, the idea of a final and finished revelation from God to man about Himself and His place in the universe has no serious significance today.”[1] Modern man is asking how that knowledge about God is even possible, but historically man has always asked this same question. Historically many of the first theological questions that faced the Christian church really had their basis in “how do we know?” Man has always sought an explanation for his own existence as well as that of God. Man has also sought for the basis of knowledge. There is always some type of epistemology at work among mankind. The Christian church today is asking the same questions, but is getting a different answer from theologians today then they received in the past. We have lost site of the critical necessity of maintaining and seeking Biblical truth.
The main arguments of church history have always pivoted around the theme of the sole authority of the scriptures. A good example of how the sole authority of scripture played a part in church history is found in the rising of the Arian controversy in the late third and early fourth century which resulted in the counsel of Nicaea. The pastor’s that gathered together sought the scriptures as their sole authority in this major controversy. They not only refuted this error, but took time to place there conclusions in writing and they drew those conclusions from the scriptures. They took those conclusions and formulated them into a propositional statement. We still have that statement today and it is a profound statement of theological beliefs. It was never intended as a replacement for the scriptures, but a help in the form of propositions that embody what Christians believe. There is a copy of the Nicene Creed attached to this paper.
Thus the only real valid method of Biblical studies is one that assumes that the Bible is the only authority of our faith and that it contains all the facts or truths necessary to the Christian faith. The very center of theological studies for the Christian theologian must be the Word of God and we must follow the inductive method. All Biblical studies should also rely on the presents of the Holy Spirit’s leading in understanding what the scriptures are saying. Our solace must be to the One that is spoken of in Scripture and the Scriptures must be our only final and sole authority in all maters of faith and practice. [2]
Theology is something more than just vain and empty philosophy. It draws its content in the form of premises gleaned from the careful study of scripture and draws conclusions based on those premises. Theologians start with the inductive method, by examining scripture looking for statements to compare with each other. Having uncovered premises a conclusion is then drawn based on the premises. Remembering always to compare scripture with scripture and studying under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
The word theology comes from two Greek words, the first word Theo or theos is translated as God and the second word logy or logos is translated word. Together they mean a word, discourse or study about God, in this case specifically ‘the only and true God”. [3] Theology derives its content from the Scriptures and hence Theology in its proper perspective refers to the only true, living God. Theology is properly the study of God. It is not the study of the god of this world, but the study of the only living and true God. Hence any Christian who chooses to study the scripture is in a lower sense a theologian.
It is necessary in these days to well define what we mean by the word Theology. There is much confusion in the world today as to who is the best representative of God. It is essential to define theological terms in order to prevent misunderstandings. This is done by taking all of the facts then comparing them to find common ideas. Only by comparing scripture with scripture can we have understanding of biblical truth. “The Bible is to the theologian what nature is to the man of science. It is his store-house of facts; and his method of ascertaining what the Bible teaches, is the same as that which the natural philosopher adopts to ascertain what nature teaches.”[4] There are rules for the study of scripture and they are used by the theologians to determine what God is actually saying through His word. The validity of these rules must be accepted by the theologian. Among these are a belief in a difference between right and wrong. God never does anything against His own nature. For instance sin deserves punishment; God would be outside of His own nature to permit sin in his presence.[5]
The Christian theologian first must collect facts and he does this by going to the Bible as the source of facts. The Christian theologian believes that the Bible contains all of the necessary information. The Bible contains authenticated information concerning God, “’the Bible, and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants.”[6] The Christian “theologian is guided by the same rules in the collection of facts, as govern the man of science.”[7] Christian theologians must be diligent to: (1) Collect facts with great care. Errors occur because a great deal of care was not taken in the collection of facts. (2) A comprehensive and as complete as possible list of facts. An incomplete one may leave out important information. No statement should be made about a truth that is based on little evidence. A study on an obscure word would be limited by a lack of sufficient information to make a conclusion. This is not always the case for some topics have a good deal of information. For instance all facts that are attributed to God are also attributed to Christ. Christ is found in scripture to have infinite intelligence as opposed to a finite intelligence. Christ is seen in scripture to have lived a sinless life. There were not two Christ’s one that is God and then one who is man, but one Christ that is the God man.[8] These are examples in which there is a great deal evidence to support these conclusions.
The Bible is the final or sole authority in all maters of faith and practice. Faith should be defined by what scripture says and practice should be defined by what scripture says. Once we step outside of the realm of sole authority into a man made realm we loose all sense of what direction we are going. If we start redefining our faith to suit this world then we step outside the scriptures. B. B. Warfield said, “The religion of the Bible is a frankly supernatural religion. By this is not meant merely that, according to it, all men, as creatures, live, move and have their being in God. It is meant that according to it, God has intervened extraordinarily, in the course of the sinful world’s development, for the salvation of men otherwise lost. In Eden the Lord God had been present with sinless man in such a sense as to form a distinct element in his social environment (Gen3:8).”[9]
Admittedly Sole Authority is not just a belief of Baptists, but has been held to by most of the protestant church. Baptists however, have held to this position longer then the protestants.
The scriptures demand our utmost, careful, attention and consideration. Those who we know as Baptist have tenaciously held to the position that the scriptures are the only final, inerrant and authoritative rule for all maters of faith and practice. This paper shall seek to narrowly define this doctrine and then show that it is the historical position of Baptists this includes an examination of various theories and philosophies.
[1] Warfield, 4
[2] Hodge, Vol. 1, pg. 17
[3] Thayer, 287
[4] Hodge, 10
[5] Hodge, 10
[6] Hodge, 11
[7] Hodge,11
[8] Hodge, 12
[9] Warfield, 71
