Sola scriptura

Sola scriptura (Latin for 'by scripture alone') is a <a href="/facts/Christian_theology/sLefEsAd">Christian theological doctrine</a> held by most <a href="/facts/Protestantism/NXja4K3g">Protestant</a> <a href="/facts/Christian_denominations/rRQgoQd8">Christian denominations</a>, in particular the <a href="/facts/Lutheranism/L4pMlRcS">Lutheran</a> and <a href="/facts/Reformed_tradition/l95AzJtn">Reformed</a> traditions, that posits <a href="/facts/Christian_Bible/SqkRTKCh">the Bible</a> as the sole infallible source of authority for <a href="/facts/Faith_in_Christianity/x9x9tvau">Christian faith</a> and practice. The <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic Church</a> considers it <a href="/facts/Heresy/1eHqC2km">heresy</a> and generally the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Orthodoxy/5n20Akh5">Orthodox churches</a> consider it to be contrary to the <a href="/facts/Phronema/byBEQAmz">phronema</a> of the Church.
While the scriptures' meaning is mediated through many kinds of subordinate authority—such as the ordinary teaching offices of a church, the <a href="/facts/Ecumenical_creeds/t7wTufxw">ecumenical creeds</a>, <a href="/facts/Catholic_ecumenical_councils/8LpLkj13">councils of the Catholic Church</a>, or even personal special revelation—sola scriptura in contrast rejects any infallible authority other than the Bible. In this view, all non-scriptural authority is derived from the authority of the scriptures or is independent of the scriptures, and is, therefore, subject to reform when compared to the teaching of the Bible.
Sola scriptura is a <a href="/facts/Formal_principle/NuU4DMzq">formal principle</a> of many Protestant Christian denominations, and one of the <a href="/facts/Five_solae/TJP91bH4">five solae</a>. It was a foundational doctrinal principle of the <a href="/facts/Protestant_Reformation/9ClEbhnL">Protestant Reformation</a> held by many of the <a href="/facts/Protestant_Reformers/Y25HB3Ey">Reformers</a>, who taught that authentication of Scripture is governed by the discernible excellence of the text, as well as the personal witness of the <a href="/facts/Holy_Spirit_in_Christianity/reEWIwbX">Holy Spirit</a> to the heart of each man. 
By contrast, the Protestant traditions of <a href="/facts/Anglicanism/CDICRNVn">Anglicanism</a>, <a href="/facts/Methodism/XXvj9D0G">Methodism</a> and <a href="/facts/Pentecostalism/mUAWLAz6">Pentecostalism</a> uphold the doctrine of <a href="/facts/Prima_scriptura/zeDJdPtz">prima scriptura</a>, with scripture being illumined by <a href="/facts/Sacred_tradition/vtW0aGNY">tradition</a> and reason. The Methodists thought reason should be delineated from experience, though the latter was classically filed under the former and guided by reason, nonetheless this was added, thus changing the "Anglican Stool" to the four sides of the <a href="/facts/Wesleyan_Quadrilateral/A4Dcn5Kw">Wesleyan Quadrilateral</a>. The <a href="/facts/Eastern_Orthodox_Church/5n20Akh5">Eastern Orthodox Church</a> holds that to "accept the books of the canon is also to accept the ongoing Spirit-led authority of the church's tradition, which recognizes, interprets, worships, and corrects itself by the witness of Holy Scripture". The <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic Church</a> officially regards tradition and scripture as equal, forming a single <a href="/facts/Deposit_of_faith/3IHVISQj">deposit</a>, and considers the <a href="/facts/Magisterium/5T26UdIf">magisterium</a> as the living organ which interprets said deposit. The Roman magisterium thus serves Tradition and Scripture as "one common source [...] with two distinct modes of transmission", while some Protestant authors call it "a dual source of revelation".
Many <a href="/facts/Protestantism/NXja4K3g">Protestants</a> want to distinguish the view that scripture is the only rule of faith with the exclusion of other sources (nuda scriptura), from the view taught by <a href="/facts/Lutheranism/L4pMlRcS">Luther</a> and <a href="/facts/Calvinism/l95AzJtn">Calvin</a> that the scripture alone is infallible, without excluding church tradition in its entirety, viewing them as subordinate and ministerial.

Sola scriptura open-in-new

Sola scriptura