“I have no creed but the Bible,” is a common quip today in some church circles. As bold and spiritual as it may sound, it is actually very problematic.
Some people hear the words sola Scriptura and think that it teaches what amounts to “no creed but the Bible.” But that is emphatically not what the doctrine of Sola Scriptura teaches.
If it doesn’t mean “no creed but the Bible,” then what does it mean?
The words sola Scriptura are Latin for “Scripture alone” or “only Scripture.” The expression was coined during the time of the Protestant Reformation. But what is it referring to?
Gavin Ortland, a leading expert on Protestant Theology and doctrine writes:
Stated responsibly, sola Scriptura is a modest doctrine. The core idea is that Scripture is the church’s only infallible rule. A rule is a standard that governs the church’s faith and practice. Infallible means being incapable of error. So sola Scriptura is essentially the claim that Scripture is the only authority standing over the church that is incapable of error (author’s emphasis). [1]
The Reformers used the expression norma normans non normata, “the norm of norms which cannot be normed,” to describe the way this functions within the life of the church. In other words, there is nothing external to Scripture that can correct it. It is the plumb line by which we measure everything else.
Why would Christians elevate the Bible to such an incredible place?
A Unique Role
One reason the Bible has a unique role in the life of the Church is because it is unique. There is no other book like the Bible.
Josh McDowell convincingly argues in his tome, Evidence for Christianity, that the Bible should “be on the top shelf all by itself. The Bible is unique.” He goes on to show how the Bible is unique in its continuity, circulation, translation, survival, teachings, influence on literature, and civilization. Written over a fifteen-hundred year span, by more than forty authors, in different places, at different times and moods, in three languages, in a multitude of styles, addressing hundreds of controversial subjects, yet presenting a single unfolding story: God’s redemption of human beings. [2]
Jesus too, viewed the Bible as unique, unlike other authorities. When we look at the life of Jesus we see our Lord elevating the authority to the Scriptures over other authorities, like tradition (see Matthew 15 and Mark 7). [3]
Of course the Bible itself shows us that it clearly has a unique role in the life of God’s people. It’s commands were written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18). The longest chapter in the entire Bible is a chapter about the importance of Scripture (Psalm 119). Obedience to its precepts gives life and blessing (Deut. 8:3; Josh. 1:8). The rules of the Lord are to be desired even more than gold and silver (Ps. 19:7-11). They were called to meditate on the Scriptures day and night (Psalm 1:1-3). In the New Testament, it is the imperishable word of God that causes the new birth (1 Peter 1:23), and is “God-breathed” and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
We could go on and on.
Because it is the Word of God
But the raison dêtre for sola Scriptura is because the Bible is the very word of God. Jesus prayed for his disciples, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). In the Apostle Paul’s words, the Scriptures are theopneustos, or “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). As men wrote the words down, they were carried along by God Himself. Biblical scholar John Frame explains:
The written Word is, of course, expressed on a created medium, whether stone tables, papyrus, paper, or digital media. But the Word that is written on these media is divine. It is the personal word of God himself. So “breathed out by God” means “spoken by God.”[4]
God as our Maker has authority over his creation. Because God has spoken to us in the Bible, one way we submit to him is by submitting to his teachings and commands in Scripture. Theologian Wayne Grudem says it is this way, “The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.”[5] This is why Jesus flatly rebuked his disciples for not believing the Old Testament Scriptures (Luke 24:25).
The Proper Place of Lesser Authorities
That being said, because the Bible is the highest authority (and only infallible one), does not mean that we do not need other authorities, even if they are fallible.
Parents are not infallible, yet they are given real authority over their children (Ephesians 6:1). Governments are not infallible, yet God has granted them real authority to punish evil (Romans 13:4). Pastors and elders in the church are not infallible but the Scriptures give them real spiritual authority over their congregations (Heb. 13:17). Creeds and Confessions have real binding authority, yet we hold that they can be wrong.
All of these authorities serve important purposes. God has placed them around us for our good and we would do well to recognize them.
Creeds and Confessions
Within the Church, creeds and confessions have a bad reputation, especially among evangelicals. Questions I’ve received across the years, “What is a creed?” “Why do they matter?” “If we have the Bible, why do we need creeds?” reflect this. I’ve written a post here that answers these questions in greater length, if you’re interested.[6]
Brief statements of important doctrines have been around since the beginning of biblical history. Chad Van Dixhoorn writes:
[Creeds and Confessions] often focus on God an the way of salvation. Old Testament readers encounter in the capstone of the books of Moses, “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). New Testament readers overhear Paul summarizing to the Corinthians his own teaching: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:3-5).[7]
Van Dixhoorn says that stating truth openly is a “basic Christian instinct.” Scholars have uncovered dozens of such statements from the centuries after the death of the apostles.[8] Over time as the Church grew, some of these brief statements were codified. At Red Door Church we hold to the following ancient creeds of the church:
Apostles’ Creed: A summary of foundational Christian beliefs.
Nicene Creed: Emphasizes the Trinity and the divinity of Christ.
Athanasian Creed: Details the doctrine of the Trinity and the incarnation.
Definition of Chalcedon: Articulates the two natures of Christ.
Red Door Church elders must agree with and submit to the Confessional Statement of the Gospel Coalition.
We believe that these creeds and confessions have real spiritual authority and convey what is true teaching about the Christian faith, inasmuch as they align with Scripture. They have real functional authority in our church. Theoretically, these creeds could be amended if they were shown to be in conflict with the teaching of the Bible.[9] To reject any part of these creeds (without serious biblical warrant) we argue, is to commit error, and potentially endanger your soul.
The teachings found in these creeds and confessions are in line with the teaching of the historic church. Christians should extremely cautious of stepping into ways of reading the Bible that contradict the majority of church history. God has not given all his wisdom to any one group in any one time, we must be quick to consult how other Christians have understood God’s Word.
D. Blair Smith is helpful here.
These subordinate authorities are well-established in the history of the church and have withstood the test of time. They are themselves the products of interpreting Scriptures. In turn, they teach us faithful ways to interpret Scripture. Thus, creeds, confessions and catechism not only help summarize the contents of Scripture but also help Christians read and interpret Scripture. In other words, confessional Christians and churches don’t think in terms of “just me, Jesus, and my Bible” They seek to read and believe in union with Christians past and present throughout the world. In fact, to go “straight to the Bible” for Christian teaching is an impossibility, and that general posture undercuts biblical faith. John Calvin once said that he’s be very happy simply to confess Scripture. However, he acknowledged, since many false teachers have Scripture on their lips, we need the careful theological language of confessional statements to draw out the meaning of Scripture and protect us from heresy.[10]
In Conclusion
The doctrine of sola Scriptura teaches that the Bible stands over every aspect of life and every other authority. It is unique in that it is the only infallible rule for our faith and practice because it is the very word of God. However, let us not dismiss the voices of church history or other fallible authorities but rather study them and learn from them. Let us be like the Bereans, who respected and honored the Apostle Paul and his words, yet double-checked him against the Scriptures (Acts 17:11).
[1] Gavin Ortland, What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for An Always Reforming Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2024), 72.
[2] Josh McDowell, Evidence for Christianity: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 19-36.
[3] Of course, Matthew and Mark do not teach that tradition per se is bad, only that Scripture is above tradition. Traditions can err, Scripture cannot, so we should not place tradition over Scripture. Tradition is bad when it is used to “nullify” the word of God (Matthew 15:6).
[4] John Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God: A Theology of Lordship, Volume 4 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2010), 125.
[5] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 62.
[6] For more info on the importance of creeds, read my post Why Creeds Matter.
[7] Chad Van Dixhoorn, ed., Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022), 7.
[8] Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms, 7.
[9] For an example of a creed that was amended and later led to schism, read my post on The Filioque.
[10] D. Blair Smith, Reformed Confessionalism (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2025), 17
