Prima Scriptura ( Russian primacy of Scripture ) is a Christian doctrine that claims that the Holy Scripture is “first” or “above all” other sources of divine revelation . Indirectly, this opinion confirms that, in addition to canonical Scripture , there are other sources of what a believer should believe and how he should live, such as creating order, traditions, charismatic gifts, mystical insight, visiting angels, conscience, common sense , expert opinions, the spirit of the times or something else. Prima Scriptura suggests that ways of knowing or comprehending God and His will are not possible from the canonized Scripture, and may be useful in interpretation, according to the Scripture, but verified by the canon and corrected by it if they seem to contradict the Scripture.
Difference with sola scriptura
Prima Scriptura is sometimes contrasted with Sola Scriptura , which literally translates to "Scripture only." The last teaching in the understanding of many Protestants , especially evangelical Christians , is that Scripture is the only infallible rule of faith and practice, but the meaning of Scripture can be mediated through many types of secondary authority, such as the usual classrooms of the Church, antiquity, Christian church councils, reason and experience.
However, Sola Scriptura rejects any original infallible authority other than the Bible. From this point of view, all secondary sources of power come from the power of Scripture and, therefore, are subject to reform, when compared with the teachings of the Bible. Church cathedrals, preachers, biblical commentators, personal revelation, or even communication supposedly from an angel or apostle , are not as authoritative as the Bible in Sola Scriptura's approach.
See also
- Sola scriptura
- Doctrines of Protestantism
- Portal: Gospel Christians
- Protestantism
- Calvinism
- Lutheranism
- 39 Articles
Links
- Olson R. . The Tradition Temptation: Why we should still give Scripture pride of place . Christianity Today (November 1, 2003).