“SOLA SCRIPTURA” AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE REFORMATION AND THE RECENT “GAY DEBATE” IN THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH

Abstract

Although “sola Scriptura” was an important doctrine of the Reformation, it was not perceived to be a generic and exclusive principle that Scripture or the Bible had final authority with regards to any conceivable topic. The Reformation, with “sola Scriptura” as rallying cry, played a significant role in the development of critical biblical scholarship, and it was only after the emergence of evangelical fundamentalism in the late nineteenth century that the reinterpretation of “sola Scriptura” created a less accommodating attitude towards critical biblical scholarship. It is against this backdrop that the function of biblical authority in the recent “gay debate” in the Dutch Reformed Church will be discussed. In conclusion it will be asked whether “sola Scriptura” led to the Bible becoming a type of “paper pope” when the Counter-Reformation triggered the Protestant emphasis on the authority of Scripture to counter papal authority.