Many great points in this piece.
. . .Under the influence of Anabaptist radicalism, which swept across and transformed American evangelicalism in the 19th century (the causes of which are the subject of another post) led it away from the Reformation understanding of sola Scriptura to a different doctrine: biblicism or the attempt to understand Scripture by one’s self and by itself, i.e., in isolation from the history of the church and in isolation from the communion of the saints. In biblicism the interpreter, not Scripture, becomes sovereign. Historically biblicists, although they boast about their devotion to Scripture, are actually devoted to the supremacy of reason. As someone, somewhere said, “All heretics quote Scripture.” It is one thing to quote Scripture but it is another to read it well and to interpret it properly.
Scripture is sufficient and it is sufficiently clear but, because of sin, our minds are not always clear. I cannot count the number of conversations I’ve had with rationalists, i,e,, those who place the authority of the intellect above all other authorities and mystics, i.e., those who place the authority of religious experience above Scripture, who all the while insisted that they were following Scripture. A rationalist knows a priori what Scripture must say. Rome is guilty of this error. She knew before she ever read Scripture that God can only justify one who is already, by grace and cooperation with grace, inherently and entirely sanctified. That’s a form of rationalism. . .
The Difference Between Sola Scriptura And Biblicism
Scripture is sufficient and it is sufficiently clear but, because of sin, our minds are not always clear. I cannot count the number of conversations I’ve had with rationalists, i,e,, those who place the authority of the intellect above all other authorities and mystics, i.e., those who place the authority of religious experience above Scripture, who all the while insisted that they were following Scripture. A rationalist knows a priori what Scripture must say. Rome is guilty of this error. She knew before she ever read Scripture that God can only justify one who is already, by grace and cooperation with grace, inherently and entirely sanctified. That’s a form of rationalism. . .
The Difference Between Sola Scriptura And Biblicism