Sola/Solo Scriptura

 I've been listening to a lot of debates on Sola Scriptura. Unfortunately there aren't many Protestants out there who are willing to go head to head against Catholics on the issue. So that means I've had to listen to about 4 James White debates, all against different opponents. That's not taking anything away from James White, however. As a biblical scholar and Protestant minister, I do respect him. I've listened to him in person debating Islam, Homosexuality in the Church, and Calvinism, and I've found him to be very good at presenting his position.

However, in listening to him more recently debating Patrick Madrid, there are a couple of things that have struck me:

The issue is really not Scripture itself. Catholics and most conservative Evangelicals believe that the Bible is inspired, inerrant, and authoritative. The issue really comes down to interpretation of Scripture. James White upholds the Reformation principle that the "main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things". So the Reformation principle asserts that every believer should be able to understand the fundamentals of Scripture. This is problematic, however, when you take a close look at Protestantism's inability to agree on what constitutes the main and plain things, and the subsequent interpretation of them. 

For instance, let's take a look at Baptism. You can't really find something more foundational to Christianity. Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and baptize, so surely understanding what Baptism is has to be fundamental. But, let's look at the different views across denominations: 

If you believe in infant Baptism and Baptismal Regeneration, become Lutheran or Anglican. If you reject Baptismal Regeneration but hold to Infant Baptism, become Presbyterian. If you hold to Baptismal Regeneration and reject Infant Baptism, join the Church of Christ. If you reject Baptismal Regeneration and Infant Baptism, holding to Believer's Baptism, become Baptist. 

And that's just Baptism. Throw in Church government, Election and free will, spiritual gifts, and you'll have a different flavour of denomination across every one of those issues. All of these denominations claim to believe the Bible alone and interpret Scripture faithfully with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but each one comes to a completely different viewpoint. 

Then, if you go back to the Reformers, what you'll find is very interesting. Calvin and Luther both believed in Baptismal Regeneration and Infant Baptism. Most Reformed Christians today who would hail Calvin and Luther as heroes would have been condemned by them for having views that differed from theirs. They were far less charitable than most of the Reformed crowd are today. 

Finally, if you go back to the early Church, you will find, without exception, that they believed in Baptismal Regeneration and Infant Baptism. So if I go back to James White, who is a Reformed Baptist, his denomination holds to a view that is completely different to the early Church. And the reason that this doesn't even bug him is not because of Sola Scriptura, but because of his solo interpretation of Scripture. Not all of us can be Greek and Hebrew scholars, and we don't need to be. Looking at Church History, especially the early Church, I can see some huge differences in how they understood Baptism. They also never taught anything that remotely resembles Sola Scriptura. James White likes to appeal to Athanasius as a Church Father that held to Sola Scriptura. Aside from this being disingenuous, Athanasius also affirmed Baptismal Regeneration, Mary's perpetual virginity, and many other teachings that James White would not hold to. 

My conclusion is that Sola Scriptura sounds great and noble in principle, but in practice it doesn't work. Your own interpretation will always become ultimate, just as with James White, who is able to pick and choose from the teachings of Athanasius that affirm his own views, and reject the rest. You can then do this to your own Pastor, Denomination, and every historical believer and church council. Everything must bow to your own interpretation of Scripture. This scares me much more than thinking there is an infallible church.