Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture: Book Review
Few books are being published today on the sufficiency of Scripture. Canon, hermeneutics, and other topics within biblical theology are much more in vogue. While the interest in these topics is positive in some respects, what doth it profit evangelicalism if it loses the soul of Scripture? The soul of Scripture is our willingness to let it impact our thought and conduct in every realm of life since it is truly God’s Word.
Free Will Baptists should be grateful that its denominational publishing arm, Randall House Publications, has helped make possible two somewhat recent publications which address this topic. The first is a pamphlet written by Dr. J. Matthew Pinson entitled Free Will Baptists & the Sufficiency of Scripture. This pamphlet comes as the seventh in a series produced through the initiative of the Free Will Baptist Historical Commission. It is a fine treatment of some of the historical, theological, and practical aspects of this doctrine.
The second publication—and focus of this review—is Dr. Rob Rienow’s Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture (Randall House, 2014).[1] It is a brief, clear, and challenging exhortation for the contemporary church to reclaim a biblical and historic understanding of Scriptural sufficiency. Though Rienow’s concern here (as well as his organization’s) is to promote family ministry based on Scripture’s sufficient teachings, he would urge us to consider Scripture’s ability and design to transform our approach to all of life.
Overview/Summary
Rienow’s argument grows out of his own personal experience in local church ministry, and particularly a shift that began taking place over 10 years ago. Though well-trained and intentioned, he came to see that the biblical priorities he was teaching in ministry weren’t being embodied in his own household. As he puts it, “I was a leader at church, but not at home. I was discipling other people’s children, but not mine.”[2]
Rienow came to see that the reason for this error grew out of a very important disconnect that he had often witnessed. In many Christian conferences and even literature, the point is often made that the local church does not bear the responsibility to disciple children; rather parents do. Texts such as Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78, and Ephesians 6 are appealed to in order to substantiate this point.[3]
However, the problem is that a paradigm shift isn’t actually happening in many churches where these two points are affirmed by the leaders. Why? Because churches must not only accept that the “Bible is sufficient for doctrine (God loves children) and for the will of God (God wants children evangelized and disciples)—but also for how God wants His will carried out and who should do it.”[4]
Rienow came to understood that he had overlooked a critical aspect of Scripture—its sufficiency. He then proceeds to show that “God has given us both the ends, and the means of ministry . . . His mission and His methods.”[5]
Rienow sets this discussion in an historical context by explaining that the emergence of reform-minded figures in the 14-16th centuries was tied to an effort to emphasize and reclaim Scripture’s authority and sufficiency. The preeminent authority of church tradition led to the development of numerous unbiblical beliefs and practices that obscured that which Reformers would come to emphasize: Faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone, Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
Though emphasis is given to the Reformation’s teachings on scriptural sufficiency, Rienow explains that the problem of adding or taking away from Scripture stretches back to the Garden of Eden (“Did God really say?”), and reaches forward into modern times. As he explains, “The challenge in the 20th century was over inerrancy, the challenge in the 21st is over sufficiency.”[6] Unfortunately, many churches that affirm that Scripture is true do not also affirm that it is enough.
Rienow uses 2 Timothy 2:14-17 as a foundation for understanding scriptural authority and sufficiency. He unpacks the overlooked role Timothy’s family had in his instruction, and also shows that Scripture helps perform four tasks: (1) thinking right (doctrine/teaching); (2) not thinking wrongly (reproof), (3) not acting wrong (correction); and (4) acting right (training in righteousness).”[7] By embracing Scripture’s full function, we are prevented from falling into the ditch of rebellion (disregarding God’s Word), or falling into the ditch of legalism (adding to God’s Word).
Another key explanation in the book is the four ways or levels on which Scripture operates. First, level one is God’s truth, or doctrine. Level two is God’s will, or righteousness. The third level causes us to consider God’s ways. Here we move into the arena of methodology. Finally, there is God’s call or jurisdiction.[8] Scripture shows what God says is true, what God wants done, how it is to be done, and who is to do it.
Rienow’s framework for understanding Scripture challenges those who would ignore it when it contradicts their desires. It challenges those who would restrict the Bible’s truthfulness to one domain or another. While the Bible does not tell us all there is to know about the family, science, or history, in all it says it is true, and it tells us all we need to know to live faithfully for Christ.
Ultimately Rienow says that we need to repent where we haven’t embraced scriptural sufficiency. Specifically, as we deliberate over the shape of congregational life—especially when it comes to an institution as foundational as the family—we must let Scripture control our decision-making. As Rienow poignantly surmises, “Trying to reach a community for Christ without embracing God’s plan for the local church and the local family to both engage in the Great Commission is like pedaling a bike with only one pedal. It is awkward, tiring, and very slow.”[9]
Strengths
Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture yields several notable strengths.
First, the historical background is very helpful for putting the doctrine in context. Second, it is personal as well as thoughtful. Written in the spirit of a passionate father who has undergone a change of heart, the book has an appeal that more academic treatments of this topic may lose. Third, it is incredibly accessible. Adults, young adults, and even teenagers could read and appreciate it (certainly the brevity helps!). The discussion questions at the end of each chapter are a helpful apparatus for those who want to discuss the book, whether it be read by a church staff, studied in a small group, or even used in a congregational study setting.
Weaknesses
Though the book’s brevity is a positive feature, sometimes brevity leads to less precision of argument and care with details. Rienow’s explanation of modernism and post-modernism, while in the broadest strokes may be true, is potentially misleading. It implies an entire societal shift has transpired in which everyone is now postmodern and “feelings-driven.” No doubt some commentators are correct when they refer to this as “the age of feeling.” But empiricism, rationalism, scientism, and other modern outlooks still drive much of the discourse about the Bible, religion, and related issues.
On a smaller scale, I would note one incorrect historical detail. Rienow associates the Medieval church’s teaching of the Virgin Mary’s sinlessness with the other Roman Catholic abuses and corruptions in doctrine and piety prior to the Reformation. In point of fact, Mary wasn’t elevated to sinless status until the 1850s.[10]
However, my biggest concern is that whenever the sufficiency of Scripture is decoupled from the perspicuity (or clarity) of Scripture, it leaves many questions unanswered. For example, is it really true that God tells us how He wants every task done? Many Christians have acknowledged that numerous Scriptural commands (like preaching or singing) require some prudential judgment in their execution as the Bible didn’t always answer every question about the means behind these elements.[11] How long should a sermon be? Should instrumentation be used in singing? Rienow argues as though these prudential judgments can be made simply by reading Scripture, and by not tapping into the interpretive tradition and wisdom of the church.
The sufficiency of Scripture is always interwoven with hermeneutical issues. More attention really needs to be given to how these issues relate to one another, and how in many cases (perhaps most cases!) Scripture gives us principles that are to be fleshed out in the context of life and ministry. Some could be easily misled or disappointed by reading Rienow’s account of biblical sufficiency without further exploring the other important aspects of this subject.
Recommendation
These weaknesses notwithstanding, I would commend Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture to a wide audience as an introduction to thinking about scriptural sufficiency as a principle. As mentioned above, I could envision churches utilizing this book as a small group study, in a congregational teaching time (perhaps a Wednesday or Sunday night), or for a church committee, leadership team, or a group of parents concerned about their church’s ministry to children. Rienow has done the church a great service by packaging this argument as he has. Though it will require some further expansion by a competent teacher, it could be a starting point for many churches who have jettisoned this doctrine altogether.
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[1] Rob Rienow, Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture (Nashville: Randall House, 2012), 77 pp., paperback, $10.99.
[2] Rienow, 8.
[3] Ibid., 9.
[4] Ibid., 10.
[5] Ibid, 10-11.
[6] Ibid., 17.
[7] Ibid., 28.
[8] Ibid., 43
[9] Ibid., 50.
[10] Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus (1854); See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part One, Chapter Two, Section Two, Article Three, Paragraph 2, II, 491. The language actually says, “the church has become ever more aware” through the ages about Mary’s sinlessness. While some may have thought this during the 14th-16th centuries, it wasn’t official church teaching until much later.
[11] Even the Reformed tradition, with which Rienow appears to be quite familiar, made distinctions between elements, forms, and circumstances. The Westminster Confession of Faith even seems to allow room for cultural context having an influence on the way in which certain biblical tasks are carried out.
November 18, 2015
Jackson, I want to thank you for your candid, encouraging, blunt, and insightful critique of “Reclaiming the Sufficiency of Scripture.” As you note, one of the weaknesses of the book is its brevity. It opens many complicated issues of interpretation and application, but then does not bring closure to them. In some ways, this was intentional as “Reclaiming” is an introductory book to a full volume on the subject entitled “Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom – Uniting Church and Family in the Great Commission.” In that book, I attempt to more carefully interpret and apply the principle of the sufficiency of Scripture in today’s ministry context. I would be honored to send you a few copies of the book. If you feel inclined to review it, I would benefit from your feedback and insights. If not, that is fine as well. Again, thank you for your ministry.
November 19, 2015
Rob, thanks so much for reading, and your work on some of these important themes. We look forward to obtaining a copy of your new book as I am sure it will better fill out the picture you begin painting of the nexus of Scripture, church, and home.
As an aside, I want to reiterate for our readers the valuable introduction your book in fact is for the local church and its work.
November 23, 2015
Jackson, thanks for your encouragement. We will get some copies of “Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom” to you. Blessings to you and thanks for your ministry. I look forward to being in touch.