Prima Scriptura: Saving Sola Scriptura from Itself

Taking bearings from Walter Altmann's attempt to retrieve a proper understanding of sola Scriptura , this essay argues that the Latin ablative, “by way of the Scripture alone,” presupposes a nominative solus Christus whom the Spirit proclaims in turn “by way of the Scripture alone”—a dialectic of Word and Spirit, a virtuous circle. It clarifies this proper understanding of sola Scriptura over against modern biblicism, crude and sophisticated, by teasing out its implications for dogmatics as a critical discipline.