Systematic Theology, Sufficiency of Scripture / Sola Scriptura

In this PowerPoint, I present the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture and sola Scriptura vs. solo Scriptura. I also address the growing trend of “churches” that no longer practice this doctrine.

“In this way the sola Scriptura first became a thesis and then received a polemical and hermeneutical function in the actual life of the church. The Reformers were deeply bound to remain faithful to the pattern of the New Testament. For in it there is a radical boundary (an emphatic sola) that could not be transgressed. The idea was not to condemn the past of the church but to claim that belief in a self-evident continuity ought to be placed on the touchstone of the gospel. They desired to stand in the light of tradition themselves; this is evident from Calvin’s high regard for the doctrinal decisions of the early councils. But the critical function of the Word of Scripture was respected within this context, not only theoretically but practically, with a clear freedom regarding the ancient church and the manner in which it had spoken of salvation in Christ.”

[G. C. Berkouwer, Holy Scripture, ed. Jack Bartlett Rogers, Studies in Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1975), 299–326.]