sola scriptura
Definition
Sola scriptura (Latin: “by Scripture alone”) is the Reformation principle that Holy Scripture is the only infallible norm (norma normans) for doctrine and practice, and that church tradition, conciliar decisions, and personal experience are subordinate to its authority.
This term is contested in this corpus because the authors diverge substantially in their understanding of the relationship between the written Scripture and the active Holy Spirit: Bullinger stands closest to the classical sola scriptura position; Warnock and Nee/Lee combine scriptural authority with a strong emphasis on pneumatic illumination; Noordzij structurally places the living Spirit-speech above the written text.
Author Usage Variants
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger stands closest to the classical sola scriptura principle. In Number in Scripture (1921) he states resolutely:
“We take the high ground of subjecting everything to it. Instead of making the Bible conform to Science, Science must conform to the Bible.”
(E.W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 4th ed., 1921, ch. II, conclusion)
“In the Bible we have something sure and something perfect.”
(ibid.)
For Bullinger, the Bible is the normative standard for all knowledge, including scientific. Post-canonical revelation or church tradition as a source of authority is entirely absent from his framework.
George Warnock
Warnock affirms Scripture as foundation and compass, but places pneumatic illumination alongside rather than under it:
“When men begin to lay aside the Scriptures on the assumption that they have gone beyond what is written in the Word, they are destroying the very foundation upon which solid Christian character is built, and are throwing away the compass that alone can direct them to the haven of rest which they imagine they have already entered.”
(George H. Warnock, Evening and Morning, ch. 1)
Yet Warnock also rejects the defining of doctrine by church councils as a substitute for living Truth:
“Sound doctrine does not submit itself to definition, because sound doctrine (Lit. ‘healthful teaching’) is that flowing forth of living Truth, and simply cannot be defined.”
(George H. Warnock, Evening and Morning, ch. 5)
This creates a characteristic tension in Warnock: Scripture is indispensable foundation and compass; confessional definition is inadequate; the living Spirit is the actual authority.
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij structurally places the living Spirit-speech before the written text, bringing his position into tension with classical sola scriptura:
“In this way we recognize in the Bible what He has already spoken to us through His Spirit. The Bible is a book in which we can see our life with the living Word confirmed.”
(Cees and Anneke Noordzij, De hand aan de ploeg slaan, section ‘Tenslotte’)
The Bible functions as a verification instrument for revelation the Spirit has already given — not as the norm from which all doctrine is derived. Yet Noordzij also uses the original text as a positive hermeneutical instrument (b5), which implies a normative function for Scripture.
Watchman Nee / Witness Lee
Nee and Lee formally affirm scriptural authority:
“What God has said is not a matter of guessing. His word is neither vague nor intangible. It comes to us today in written form: the Bible. The Bible is God’s own Word, inspired by Him (2Tim. 3:16). We can receive this Word, believe this Word, and trust this Word.”
(Nee/Lee, Basic Elements of Christian Life, Vol. 1, ch. 2)
Yet they shift the emphasis by asserting that the Bible is primarily an instrument of impartation, not doctrine-transfer. The Spirit is the true key to Scripture; soulish reading leads to death (2Cor. 3:6). In this they depart from the classical sola scriptura emphasis on the objective authoritative power of the text itself.