Seth Hedman

One of the key challenges of the Reformation, when Protestants split from Roman Catholics 500 years ago, was around the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. Rome tended to devalue Scripture, reserving it for the experts who could read Latin, and put it on equal footing with the teaching of the Church, particularly the Pope. So it didn’t matter that Purgatory wasn’t in the Bible, because the Church taught it, so that settles it. But the Reformers taught that only Scripture was without error and you couldn’t teach anything necessary for salvation that couldn’t be clearly proved from Scripture. They called this Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone.

Since then, however, many Protestants have misunderstood this teaching. Many think this means that with Scripture alone they can come, not just to salvation, but to all truth. Lock Joe in a room with the Bible and he is capable of unlocking all theological insights, that’s all he needs. While the Reformers would have indeed taught that Scripture alone is infallible, they also believed that there are many other lesser authorities that are still extremely valuable: namely the Creeds, Church Councils, and the Fathers of the early Church. They even even added helpful clarifications, particularly around the controversies of the Reformation, in Confessions like the Westminster Confession (Presbyterians), 39 Articles (Anglicans), Belgic Confession (Dutch Reformed), Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), and London Confession (Baptist). These have been handed down to us as tradition, from the Latin tradere, meaning to hand over.

Locking yourself in your room with the Bible is actually quite dangerous. While the Bible is without error, you are not. You are fallible, finite, and full of sin. Every aspect of you is broken by the fall and vulnerable, even inclined, towards self-deception and satanic influence. History is full of false prophets, heretics, and fools that take the words of Scripture out of context and twist them into all kinds of lies and crazy beliefs. Mohammed is one, Joseph Smith is another. Most cults operate this way. They don’t deny the authority of the Bible, they twist it towards their own ends and inclinations. Worst of all, they don’t know it. They say crazy people don’t know they’re crazy. Well heretics and cult leaders don’t know they’re cult leaders. They really think they’re the Messiah. They are convinced that they are right and everyone else is wrong. So how can you tell? How can you tell your reading of Scripture is right? How can you avoid being a heretic or starting a cult?

There are three basic rules for interpreting the Bible: According to the plain meaning, according to the whole of Scripture, and according to the whole of the Church. There is much that could be said about the first two, but most Protestants would probably agree there. The point of this article is the third. No man is an isolated individual. Christians are part of the body of Christ, stretching all across the world and all the way back to the Apostles. This is the real meaning of the word “catholic.” Not Rome, not the Pope, but “universal, according to the whole.” There is a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on from heaven and brothers and sisters in every nation. We do not have the right to lock ourselves in our room with the Bible. When we run into an uncertain interpretation, and we’re still not sure or there’s controversy after looking at the text and context, we must learn to ask the communion of saints looking over our shoulder. What did the Church think about this for 2,000 years? Is there a universal interpretation that didn’t change until five minutes ago? Go to the Creeds, the Councils, the Confessions, the Church Fathers. Will this help us on same-sex marriage? Yep. What about female pastors? You betchya. What about abortion? Uh huh. What about the Trinity? You know it. Embracing the Church and tradition as a lesser but still essential authority is the antidote to heresy, the medicine for progressivism, and the vaccine for cults. Christians, we need the tradition of the Church. Note: 0% of this article was written by AI.

Seth Hedman is the pastor of the Garwin Valley Community Church. He is a member of the Society of St. Bede, a guild for Classical Anglican teachers, and has written for Touchstone Magazine and FirstThings.com.