Celebrations of a Sola Scripturist

“We should not attempt to escape from our embeddedness in the Christian tradition, but should rather celebrate it” (Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology, 13).

In light of the doctrine of creation, Stephen Holmes is contemplating the goodness of “historical locatedness” (6).

Let me add that it is the doctrine of sola scriptura which enables the believer embedded in the Christian tradition to celebrate, to borrow a phrase, both “in spirit and in truth.” God’s revelation teaches us first and foremost that God is God and we are part of his creation. Scripture is our chief authority, it is God’s Word given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life (WCF. I. 2.), and in Scripture we learn to be thankful for “historical locatedness” (i.e., creatureliness) and to celebrate tradition, which is a “subsidiary authority” (6).