Instead of the living gospel there was dead ideology. Instead of
freedom there was bondage. Yet, like the Pharisees, we have
desperately tried to substitute an incredible devotion to the letter of
Scripture for the prophetic spirit." 30Jumping many centuries, we arrive in our historical
survey at the religious Reformation of the sixteenth
century. Roman Catholicism insisted on the inerrancy and
infallibility of the Pope; the authority was vested in the
Church and its papal proclamations. The Protestants
insisted on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible; the
authority of sola scriptura. Despite these contradictory
claims for the basis of authority, Jesus said, "All authority
is given to Me, in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18).
Inerrancy and infallibility is inherent in the living
expression of God in Christ, and in Him alone. The Roman
Catholics were susceptible (and still are) to ecclesiolatry,
idolatrous worship of the church institution. The Protestants
were susceptible (and still are) to bibliolatry, idolatrous
worship of the Bible. In fact, the Catholics chided the
Protestants for having a "paper pope" and a "God who was
imprisoned in a book." At least the Catholic conception of
God and pope was "personal," though mere man.
The Protestant Reformation fostered static concepts of
sola scriptura, justification, salvation, grace, faith, worship,