Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sola Scriptura and Tota Scriptura
Over against this, the Reformers challenged the traditions of men and reasserted the full authority of God’s word, declaring sola Scriptura and tota Scriptura (only Scripture and all of Scripture). The final standard of faith and practice, the yardstick for all of life (personal as well as social morality), was the Bible. That is why the Puritans strove to let God's word form, their view and regulate their behavior in every sphere of human endeavor. A holy God required them to "be holy in all your conduct" (1 Peter 1:15), and the standard of holy living was found in God's holy law (Rom. 7:12). Accordingly the Puritans even took God's law as their yardstick for civil laws in the new land to which they eventually came, and we have enjoyed the fruits of their godly venture in this country for three centuries now. The attitude of the Reformers and Puritans is nicely summarized in Robert Paul's painting which hangs in the Supreme Court Building, Lausanne, Switzerland; it is entitled "Justice Instructing the Judges" and portrays Justice pointing her sword to a book labeled "The Law of God."
-Greg Bahnsen in By This Standard