Sola Scriptura?

I appreciate the sentiment of Sola Scriptura, that we will base our theology totally on the Bible, and on nothing else. It sounds good, it's a nice slogan in a debate. I suppose it even makes a bit of sense, but it's not realistic.

None of us are Sola Scriptura believers.

We are all believers in Scriptura-plus. Plus our pastor, or plus our denomination, or plus how we were raised, or plus Beth Moore, or plus Oswald Chambers, or plus TULIP, or plus the Wesleyan Quadrangle, or plus Augustine, or plus The Shack, or plus Left Behind, or plus the Creation Museum. Even if we would check the "Sola Scriptura" box, most of us really aren't, way deep down.

But don't misunderstand. I think this is a good thing. When we enter into relationship with Christ, we don't need to begin with a blank slate. We jump into the middle of a great story, join a "great cloud of witnesses," who have wrestled over the hard issues, maybe 18 or 19 centuries ago. What a font of wisdom we have to tap into. We should not cut ourselves off from this great resource.