Sola Scriptura: Why the Reformers Put the Bible Back in the Center
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre Genève
By Matt Castro
In the heart of the Protestant Reformation was a cry that still echoes in our churches today: Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone. For the Reformers, this wasn’t a slogan of rebellion but a return. It was a return to the foundation that had once grounded the early church—the Word of God rightly read, taught, and trusted.
The Reformation was not merely a reaction against ecclesiastical corruption. It was a renewal movement, a rediscovery of the gospel. Yes, the Roman Church had gone astray, entangling itself in layers of tradition, papal decrees, and political power. But the Reformers did more than protest; they sought to reform. They wanted to recover the beauty of biblical Christianity.
What Happened to the Bible?
To understand Sola Scriptura, we have to understand what had been lost. After the early centuries of the church, as theological councils addressed heresies and affirmed core doctrines like the Trinity and Christ’s divinity, the church also began to accumulate authority structures. Over time, the pope claimed supremacy not only over the church but, in effect, over Scripture itself.
By the Middle Ages, the Bible was no longer in the hands of the people. It was chained—literally and figuratively. Read only in Latin, interpreted solely by the clergy, and subordinated to the decisions of councils and popes, the Scriptures were obscured from the common believer. The church had come to see Scripture and tradition as twin sources of authority. The Reformers would insist otherwise.
The Spark of Renewal
In 1516, a brilliant scholar named Erasmus published a Greek New Testament. A young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther read it—and everything changed. In Romans, Luther discovered the stunning truth that we are justified by faith, not works. That the righteousness of God is a gift, not a punishment. This wasn’t new information—it had always been in the Bible—but for centuries, it had been buried under centuries of distortion.
When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door in 1517, he was calling the church back to the Scriptures. He wasn’t introducing a new doctrine—he was reclaiming an old one. And at the center of it all was this conviction: the Bible is the final and ultimate authority in the life of the church.
Still Reforming Today
The Reformers weren’t perfect. And neither are we. But they remind us of something essential: every generation must ask if the church is still anchored to the Word of God. Is Scripture shaping our worship, our teaching, our lives? Or have we quietly replaced it with the authority of tradition, personality, or preference?
Sola Scriptura is not a relic of history. It is a living principle. As we open the Scriptures today, we stand with Luther, with Calvin, with countless unnamed saints who treasured the Word above all else. Because in the Bible, we hear the voice of God. And that voice alone has the power to renew the church and awaken the world.
