What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church

by Gavin Ortlund

When it comes to the nature of Scripture, Protestantism has much agreement with other Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, teaches that “Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.”15 In Roman Catholic theology, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition together constitute the Word of God, but in different ways—Sacred Tradition is not inspired by the Holy Spirit in the way Scripture is.16 Similarly, while the magisterium is entrusted with the role of interpreting the deposit of faith contained in both Scripture and Tradition, the charism of infallibility extended to the church in that capacity is distinguished from divine revelation.17 Thus, when a pope speaks ex cathedra, his words are not the words of God. When an ecumenical council delivers a verdict, its words are not the words of God. On the contrary, Roman Catholic theology maintains public divine revelation ceased with the deaths of the apostles: “We now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”18 Similarly, though the Eastern Orthodox Church distinguishes her view of Scripture in many ways from a Protestant one, that Scripture is the inspired Word of God is not a point of difference.19