Sola Scriptura

As heirs of the Reformation period, we know about the importance of the Bible and the slogan ‘Scripture Alone’ in our branch of Christianity. But what do the Scriptures mean to us today? Are they still relevant? Do we read them or only hear from them at church?

The Bible is still the most wide-spread and best-selling book in the world, after Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. As such the Bible as Christians know it, Old and New Testament, doesn’t of course stand on its own. Millions of holy books/texts/scrolls/scriptures are sold around the globe every year… and read every day: the Tenakh of the Jewish people, the Muslim Qur’an, the Baghad Vita, the Vedas, the Sutras, the I Tjing or the writings of Confucius and so on and so forth… Fact is that some kind of ‘Holy Book’ plays a major role in the lives of most believing people. We only need to look at the arts and see where many objects, buildings, pieces of music, etc… got their inspiration from. Laws –even those in secular societies- have more often than not been based on religious tenets and in a lot of countries swearing on the Bible at a trial is still common. Holy texts even influence our speech, even when we don’t realise it: “that’s the Bible on that subject”, “Milan is the mecca of fashion”, “please cite chapter and verse” “he’s the guru of the stock exchange”… the list is endless.

Non-believers might scoff at this or be wary or even fearful of this fact, but to the majority of humanity these texts do matter –in various degrees of importance- and they do have a daily, if not lifelong, impact. To be fair though to non-believers, some of their criticisms on how sacred texts are used/abused/misused or how they are perceived by believers are in fact correct and worthy of careful consideration, especially if it calls believers to the reassessment of so-called truths, held dear but not necessarily accurate. It’s a sad truth that many believers and readers of their respective holy books do not use these texts as solely a moral compass or a work of devotion, but as a weapon to knock people over the head with or as a tool of exclusion, as a proof of their –what they believe to be God-given- right. Just look at the televangelists in the US banging on about “the right to bear arms” and the “sanctity of life or marriage”, or the attacks in Mali or Algeria by Al-Qaida supporters.

Because let’s face it, a lot of religious followers, a lot of us, don’t really know their Bible/Qur’an/Vedas… that well or at all! It’s the age-old debate on inspiration versus dictation, on metaphor versus inerrancy, on the holy text as a rule book versus the text as a guide book. In a Christian setting, we could say that it’s about the difference between the Bible as dead letter versus the Bible as Living Word. Fundamentalists tend to quote Scriptures to get their own way and push their own –mostly political- agenda, but if you listen carefully, you will find they often quote the same passages, the same chapter and verse, over and over again.

But while some misuse the sacred books to divide, there are others that point out the similarities these texts share when speaking of human life and common experience. It’s interesting how these scriptures, so specific at times in the basic self-identification and self-definition of a religious tradition, could actually become vehicles for inter-denominational and inter-religious dialogue and action, of shared human values. One of these is of course the famous “do unto others what you would have them do unto you”, known in Christianity as the Golden Rule. The same phrase, albeit with slight variations, can be traced in all major religious and spiritual traditions. Even Atheists can wholeheartedly agree to it.

I think it’s very important for the future of peaceful coexistence, equality and justice that we take these similarities seriously and are not too eager to dismiss them from the get-go. I reckon it’s important therefore that we keep studying and reading, keep exploring our Holy Book or Books. So may I encourage you to do so: read your Bibles and books on them, watch some documentaries (there’s some very high quality programmes out there, especially if they’re marked BBC or National Geographic), etc…

We, as heirs of the Reformation, have a duty and a pleasure to hold the slogan ‘Scripture Alone’ very high and to hold the Scriptures in our hearts. It might seem a contradiction, but in order to overcome some of the religious divides, we would –in my opinion- do well to go back to the sources of our religion and see what the texts really have to say to us today.