Solo Scriptura?

The cry of the Protestant Reformation was "Sola Scriptura!"- Scripture alone! It was a rejection of papal authority and the idea that the ultimate authority for knowing the mind and character of God lay outside the Bible.

But have we replaced this with "Solo Scriptura" - Scripture interpreted all on my own? This is the idea that all I need is a Bible and the Holy Spirit and I'm away. But this is fraught with danger as you can see from all the craziness that people have got into over the history of the Church.

Scripture is indeed our ultimate authority but we need to listen to tradition and the view of others. Scripture should always be interpreted in the context of community.

And so if we come up with an idea about God that no one has ever come up with before.....it might be worth talking to others!

Charles Spurgeon offered this critique of those who prefer the Solo Scriptura approach to hearing God:

It seems odd, that certain men who think so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves should think so little of what he had revealed to others.....

A useful warning to us to listen to one another as we seek to follow Jesus.