Is the Bible enough?
During the sixteenth century in Europe, the Protestant Reformers fought a battle for the heart of Christianity. One of the key issues they contended for was that of authority. Who has the right to tell Christians what to do? The Roman Catholic Church claimed that the Church itself, according to Scripture and tradition, had supreme spiritual authority over all people. But the Reformers insisted on sola Scriptura—“Scripture alone”—as our chief, supreme, and ultimate authority.[1] This was nothing short of a battle over the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God. In dealing with the issue of sufficiency, it’s helpful to look at 2 Timothy 3:16, a key text in understanding the doctrine of Scripture. Not only does Paul declare, “All Scripture is inspired by God,” but he adds four modifiers, namely that Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” Let’s look at these. “Scripture is sufficient to minister to every aspect of your life...