- I've read this two or three times this week so I just need to vent a moment on this subject. I've seen where people have been rallying against this notion of Sola Scriptura as if to imply that the people who hold to it mean to say that they need Scripture and nothing else. Now I'm not sure about others, but I've always held to the view that Scripture is the sole normative rule of faith for the Christian life. To unpack that a little, Scripture is the one, definitive source of God's speaking to mankind. When other things enter the picture they are held to a scriptural standard. That's not to say that I don't use those other things (traditions) to bring me closer to God, but that I have to ensure that those traditions are in line with God's verified revelation. It seems that when I've seen this rallying against sola scriptura, it's usually against someone who appears to have developed an isolationist view of their faith. Me and God and the Bible.....nothing else. Without getting into the ridiculousness of the idea of a life without "tradition" (can't happen), does anybody actually know people who hold to this radical view of scripture alone? I always get a little peeved when I see it because I've never held to this thought and I don't believe that historically anyone has held to that belief. Yet when I see discussions from a Catholic viewpoint this is the perspective I see. Then some poor soul tries in vain to correct that misinterpretation to a more moderate view of scripture alone and usually wastes quite a bit of time. Anyway, I don't think I've ever seen anyone hold to that "isolationist" view and it always seems like a waste of time (a minority view) when I hear someone argue against it. Anybody have any stories for me?
- You know that Lester girl that tried to run away to marry her "true love" over in Israel? Well someone put two and two together for me this morning (as slow as I am) and pointed out that her father (who was on Good Morning America this morning) works for our company down in Sales & Service. How weird. He's a quiet guy anyway, this thing really made me feel for him.
Welcome to the land of the surreal...
- This upcoming Monday I start installing the new laminate floor upstairs and in the hallway, down the stairs to the living room. Here's hoping I don't cut anything off. Good thing my Dad will be there to help keep me on the straight and narrow.
3 comments:
I don't know. I do feel as if I have had contact with the isolationist approach to the bible. I think that there is a particular strain within fundamentalism that supports isolationist feelings. We might be thinking of different things and I can definitely understand your point about it being a minority position but I feel as if there is some reality to isolationist sola-scriptura movements.
I don't doubt that it exists. I just wonder how widespread it truly is. It especially seem like a bastion of RC apologetics, but I can't help but feel like they're arguing against strawmen. Or just being intentionally ignorant of what others truly believe. Kind of arguing with the lowest common denominator.
Absolutely. It risks being a form of the strawman fallacy for anybody who makes the argument.
But like any informal fallacy, it's slippery ground to wage an argument on.
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