Prima Scriptura and Sola Scriptura

The idea of sola scriptura implies that the Bible is the sole trustworthy authority for church doctrine. It understates the prominence given to official doctrinal statements, confessions and creeds. Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians have popularized direct revelations by God outside of his recorded revelation in the Bible. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox believe that sacred tradition and episcopal authority carry equal authority to the Bible. Mainline Protestants also believe in tradition and church authority but give scripture primacy, prima scriptura. Methodists speak of Outler’s quadrilateral: scripture, tradition, reason and experience. They also teach that scripture is primary but not a sole authority. If the Holy Spirit will lead the church into all truth (John 16:13) that certainly occurs outside the Bible. Are tradition, reason and experience trustworthy or suspect? Would trustworthy revelation contradict the Bible’s primacy? Prima scriptura!

The Spirit of Love

A spirit of murder encompasses more than just the act of killing itself (John 15:26-16:15). It has nothing to do with the Spirit of God. The spirit of murder expresses itself in hatred and division between Christians. The Holy Spirit guides us in the opposite direction, love and unity. The truth that the Holy Spirit leads us is into is not some picky doctrinal twig, but deeper love for God and neighbor. He testifies about Jesus, because while many teach us to hate Christians who believe different from us, it is Jesus who taught us to love. When many create division within the Christian church over non-essentials, it is Jesus who taught us to strive for unity. The remarkable unity among Christians over the essentials of our faith is a testimony to the Holy Spirit’s work among us.

The Opposite of Murder

More Christians have been murdered for their faith in the past century than in all previous centuries combined. Why is it that those who murder Christians (John 15:26-16:15) think that they are doing God service? Even Christians have been guilty of murdering other Christians. As a Catholic priest once said, the church is sometimes the Whore of Babylon and sometimes the Bride of Christ. The cause of anyone engaging in such evils is that they have not known God. If they had, they would have known that the Christian way is the opposite extreme of murder. At opposite ends of human experience are hatred and murder on one end and love and unity at the other. One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into unifying, loving truth and making it known to us.

Creating Unity

How can we Christians be unified? We can keep unity by following God’s example expounded in John 15:26-16:15. Here we see the way Father, Son and Holy Spirit act in perfect unity. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. He is not a rebel, who speaks words that divide, but speaks only what he hears. From whom does he hear those words? It is from Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit receives the words that he makes known to us. As we look down through Christian history, perhaps we can see that division comes from politics, lust for power and words of mere human beings. However, there is something that unifies us all, the words of Jesus. When we emphasis the truths that Jesus taught, we become more unified. The Trinity teaches us how perfect unity behaves.

Daily Pentecost

Acts 2 was not a usual Pentecost. John 15:26-16:15 describes a Pentecost which occurs every day. The Advocate comes alongside to plead our case as the Accuser gossips about our sins. The Holy Spirit also helps us testify to Jesus in the face of opposition. He puts the world to shame regarding sin, justice and judgment. The opposite of sin is not impossibly perfect law-keeping, but faith. The remedy for sin is faith. The Holy Spirit convicts us that the world’s idea of justice is unjust and causes oppression, inequality and poverty. The Holy Spirit in us judges the world. The Holy Spirit guides us into the truth which is in Christ and nowhere else. Eastern Orthodox Christians call this theosis, growing into union with God. In the west we call it spiritual formation and it is a mystical experience.

(reference: http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Everyday-Pentecost-Alyce-McKenzie-05-21-2012.html)

In the Name of Jesus

Jesus was named as an infant (Luke 2:15-21). So what does it mean when we pray, “in the name of Jesus?” There is no single account of a prayer in the New Testament using that phrase in a prayer. We can pray in the name of Jesus without a rote phrase. Saying the phrase is not wrong, but it can lose its meaning, degenerating to a mere signal that a prayer is over. How then can we pray in Jesus’ name as he said (John 16:22-27)? The word for name also means reputation, authorization, power behind the name, in honor of and even for the sake of the person named. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are praying in honor of the most sacred name, with his full approval and in awe of his most wonderful reputation.

(Reference: Friberg, Timothy, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller. Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament Library. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000. BibleWorks, v. 3.5.)

Hermeneutics & Exegesis

A Christian in a healthy church may eventually run across these two words. Some will dismiss them as just for theologians to understand. Cults avoid them because these tools expose their false doctrines. Those who really wish to explore the Bible will desire to become proficient in both. Hermeneutics involves methods of proper Bible study and exegesis is the result. Some may say that the Holy Spirit leads me into all truth (John16:13), and therefore I don't need anyone else. The truth is that he illuminates the Scriptures to the whole church and not just a corner. So, if our interpretation is very different, perhaps we may need to take a second look. We don't have to become proficient in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and German to become good Bible students. We have tools available to us from those who are experts: commentaries. The best commentaries go into great detail.