Bible Interpretation:  Sola Scriptura

willpick asked this question on 7/31/2000:

This question was asked on 7-25, What is Sola Scriptura ?Sola Scriptura is "Bible alone" The doctrine of SS is NOT taught any where in the bible. The doctrine of SS did NOT exist prior to the 14th century and the bible was NOT available to individual until the 15th century SS had its source in Luther's own emotional problems. THANK YOU

mscperu gave this response on 8/1/2000:

Greetings:

Sola Scriptura means that only the Bible is considered as an authority regarding the teaching of revelation. Evidently the Catholic Church, as the true Church is transmitting the treasure of tradition, i.e. the doctrinal treasure she guards until today together with the Bible. What happened?

I would like to suggest the thought that all phenomena (the religious too) have historical roots and conditioning.

The antecessors of Sola Scriptura were

- Renaissance�s Copernican change. The center of the universe is not God or the reality. It's "il uomo universale". The cultural focus passes from outside of man to the "inside".

- The posterior consequences (Cartesians, positivism, Kantianism, idealism, and so on) show the extreme results of this cultural change.

So Martin Luther was quite consequent in his option because the hermeneutics are not found outside but inside man: the illumination of the Spirit.

The political turmoil and the change from the medieval and feudal to absolute monarchism are equally signs of this situation. The political head becomes religious head.

Debating with our separated brothers should take into account these conditionings. If you read the recent Augsburg Declaration you will find there a prime example even if the focus is more about faith and work salvation. But it points in the same direction.

Vale

mscperu