The Reformation and the Sufficiency of Scripture

Reformation Day is coming up in a few days on October 31st, and one of the central points of the Protestant Reformation was the doctrine articulated in the quote below. As opposed to the idea that the whole counsel of God was given partially in Scripture and partially in a distinct oral tradition preserved by the church leadership, the Reformers taught that Scripture was sufficient, not lacking any additional revelation to be gained through church tradition, and that Scripture alone remained an infallible rule of faith and obedience. Because the whole counsel of God was given in His written word, and only there preserved infallibly, it could serve as the basis for a reformation of the church and a correction of her doctrines and traditions where they had gone astray.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God 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 Timothy 3:16-17)