by Jeff Spry
The teaching of the priesthood of all believers means that all true Christians are capable of relating to God directly without the need of an earthly intermediary, such as a priest.(25) Several texts teach this (Romans 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16).
Many today understand this doctrine to additionally mean that each and every individual is free to interpret Scripture as they see fit. That is simply not true. Only the historical church universal has the ability and right to determine correct doctrine. We cannot ignore two thousand years of scholarship. The truth is that if your singular understanding of a passage is in direct conflict with the majority of reputable and accepted scholarly statements, you should think twice before establishing your interpretation as the correct one!
This is the ploy that heretics use often. The truth is that heretics often go “straight to the Bible.” I suppose the even more depressing truth is that many believers cannot disprove heresies from the same Bible. If we as believers are not familiar with what the Scriptures say and what the context is, we will be susceptible to believe these doctrines of man. In the passage above, Paul is saying to Timothy that the Scriptures, rightly interpreted, are the only infallible authority for determining absolute truth. Yet, Paul also tells Timothy to remember what he has been taught.
Mike Horton says it well when he states “to ignore creeds and confessions is the height of modern arrogance. Simply because we have microwaves and Novocain, we assume that ours is the wisest, most self-sufficient age in history. And yet, technological sophistication does not equal wisdom; know-how is not the same as knowledge. Christians have fallen into this modern arrogance that they do not need the teachers that Paul commended to Timothy.”26
Ancient creeds and confessions are important, though limited. We must understand that these documents written by men are not all-inclusive. They do not designate every doctrine man needs to understand. They are occasional in nature, meaning that they were written in response to a certain event in history. For instance, the Nicene Creed was written at the Council of Nicea in AD 325 to combat the rising belief in Arianism, the idea that Christ was “created” by God and thus not of the same essence as God. In A.D. 381, a second council met in Constantinople. It adopted a revised and expanded form of the A.D. 325 creed, now known as the Nicene Creed. This creed teaches much on the Trinity but offers no words on justification by faith or specifics about the future or any number of other important topics.
Therefore, to say to a cultist or heretic that “I just believe what the Bible says” is really no helpful defense at all because most are using that same Bible. The answer is neither to make our teachers infallible (as Rome does) nor to ignore them (as much of modern evangelicalism does). Instead, we should have the humility to realize that “iron sharpens iron.” (27)
25 Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed., (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 1096
26 Horton, All About Heresy, (several times within section).
27 Ibid.
From Jeff Spry, Heresy, An Introduction
