Double Irony

“Because many have understood the magisterial Reformation’s phrase, sola Scriptura, in terms of the Anabaptist solo Scriptura, it is easy for modern Christians to think that a return to the original understanding of sola Scriptura is an abandonment of it. This is simply the result of historical and theological ignorance. It would be very esay to take a series of quotations from the first-generation Reformers, statements they made in the heat of their controversy with Rome, and induce modern confusion. The statements could be on Scripture, on the Lord’s Supper, on the motherhood of the church, and so on; show them to a modern Christian, and he would assume that the quotations came from the pope. There is often a double irony in this, because the positions adopted within modern evangelicalism actually are the same as Rome’s teaching — and if one contradicts them, he is accused of heading back to Rome” (“Sola Scriptura, Creeds, and Ecclesiastical Authority,” in When Shall These Things Be?, p. 279).