a layman's thoughts ~ Sola Scriptura was it the way of the Early Eastern Church?

Glory to God!



     Is Scripture alone the answer? Can we reconstruct the early Church with Scripture alone? Why was Scripture alone something the reformers were so eager to push forward?


   It seems that the only counter against the church of Rome was Sola Scriptura. It was the counter to the tradition of the Roman Church. We have years and years of tradition and so what do you have? We have Scripture!

   The Church seems to work better when there is both Scripture and Church helping each other. The Two working together to protect each other and the life of the Body of Christ. Scripture protects the Tradition (Church) and the Tradition protects scripture. These should not be adversaries. Christ's Humanity was not at war with His Divinity, but both were in unity working together, never divided, never separated and never mixed. Fully God and Fully man.

   Our Scripture beats your Tradition. This may have been a logical way to fight the Roman Church, but it leads to some strange things over time as these two become adversaries and no longer working in harmony. Scripture without the Tradition that is the Life of the Church can become letter only or even bibliolatry or book worship. While Tradition removed from the Scriptures, the very instructions written for the purpose of leading towards God, can become something invented and mixed with man's weaknesses, traditions of men, missing the mark. That is why we guard both, watch and pray that neither gets fragmented or confused or mixed.

   If Scripture was the answer for all time why was it not successful in dealing with the early heresies? Each of the parties would bring scripture to attest to their points. But during these controversies with Arianism or Gnosticism, etc., each party brought a different scriptural reading and interpretation. Who was right or correct? It had to come down to Tradition. This is the life of the Church, this is how we have lived and, now, you tell us it is wrong. We have understood Christ in this way and now you want to tell us that he is a creature, albeit a lofty one at that, but not God. The answer was simple to the Life of the Church. The Saints and Church Fathers had spoken, the laity had spoken, the Priests and Deacons had spoken. It is always and sometimes expediently easy to get involved with some new "ism" of the day over the course of 2,000 years and let it shape understanding.

   It is easy to bring old sage philosophies that are now "outdated" and use them to interpret big "T" Theology. To bring in Platonism or Augustinianism or Thomism, humanism, etc., and let the schema of man's speculations guide the Faith of the Saints. But should we do it? Should our reason be able even to understand such heights as the Incarnation or the beginning of something coming from nothing? Christ is the culmination and the anticipation of the sages of old and probably mythology points to Christ as well. Christ interprets the past in a more clear picture than the past interpreting Him. The rivers of the philosophers, the myths, and old religions of men all flow into the sea that is Christ. He completes their journey, He is what they were anticipating. He has done it, the work is complete.

   The Scripture alone idea may have been logical to fight off Roman Catholicism, but it was only a matter of time before Denominationalism would confuse and fragment things even more. It seems what was traded was the Supremacy of the Papacy for Supremacy of the Individual papacy. Each person interpreting Scripture with their current age, their biases, their conjectures and imaginations. And all this with no spiritual father or patron Saint or even the deep study of the Church Fathers, Church Councils and the unbroken Life of the Church. It is no wonder that there is so much division and denominations are growing even greater. How will the unity and agreement come forth? By the Wonder of God for sure. However, our participation needs to be willing as there is no love in force.

   Even creeds, Saints, dogmas and these things are not trusted in themselves but in how they lead to the Holy Life... to a life in Christ, theosis, Christ-like. This Holy life is the Tradition or life of the Church. The very road signs to lead to theosis. It is lived by some right now. Heaven is lived by some right now. It is not just a promise of Heaven after you die, but Heaven right now. It is the Life of the Spirit and not the letter which kills.

   What the early Apostles had for scripture where the Old Testament. So how did they build the New Testament Church from the Old Scriptures? There was no New Testament yet and would not be gathered all together, in the 27 books we have today, for some hundreds of years. So how did they construct the Church of Christ? There is good indication that it was started with the Jewish system in mind but with New Convenant sacrifices for the Old, The Body and Blood of Christ. Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Laity where the four that made up the Church of Christ. Apostolic succession was teaching and living handed down to the next generation, not by the fancies of secular life or juridical ideas infused herein, but something other-worldly. If the Scriptures alone had the ability to lead to this life of God, why are we in such division between churches in America, Europe, and the West. And why is the East so far from the West in understanding. Because there is a distinct difference between man's philosophies and imaginations and the mystical experience of men who commune with God and know not from scholastic study or syllogistic arguments, but from Him who illumines all truth, directly. These men came forth when they needed to and were not popular, rich, charismatic, but spoke as they needed to speak in the eloquent tongue of the Holy Spirit. Many of them were exiled and lived hard, painful lives for their confessions of Truth. But these words, recorded in Christ's Church (St. Basil "The Great", St Gregory "The Theologian", St John Chrysostom "The golden mouth", St. Athanasius "The Great" of Alexandria and many more....), were other-worldly and remain Theological teachings that need to be understood theologically and not scholastically or as the scientific method tests and proves things according to its ways. These are beyond the realm of man's rational mind and enter into the Divine realm of which we remain outside of until called.
 
   Should the Church Fathers be a footnote today since all we need is the Scriptures? Should the countless Saints and Elders and their wonders be left out of the Life and History of the Church? Should we dare to remove the Powers and Miracles of God and the mystical and replace it with rational faith, scholastic and reasonable mathematics, worldly philosophies? What is lost in all this? Who benefits from this? Are we more together today than in the early Church? Are we more united and in agreement? Maybe naturalism benefits and atheistic Science? Because if you remove the power and wonders of God... man will make his own wonders, and fulfill his own end apart from God or instead of Him. It is an interesting time between East and West. Does the Church of Christ have anything to offer modern man or will it have anything to offer man when the doctors and therapists become our Priests and the Hospitals become our Cathedrals?

   The idea of Scripture alone has presented problems in the history of Christ's Church as it places the tradition at the hands of the individual and not the collective whole voice of the Church throughout time and this is a shaky place as proved by the many, not soon ending, denominations. We do not need more fragmentation. Our unity as men and women resides in the unity of the Godhead in communion throughout eternity with each other, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our end is this unity as well, this bliss, this joy, this peace, and this love. It means communion with our brethren, the Body of Christ. What protects Tradition--- Scripture! What protects Scripture--- Tradition! These are not adversaries and neither is greater than the other.


Thanks to:


Christ God eternal
Fr. Photios
Fr. Dean
Brother Lawrence Janic
Clark Carlton
Jordan Bajis
The Church Fathers and all the Saints
and the Eastern Orthodox Church of which I am a small part


May God richly bless everyone to life Eternal and a good account before the awesome judgment seat of Christ. With the intercession prayers of the Theotokos, St Peter, St Basil, St Prophyrios  of Mt. Athos and all the saints. Amen