“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Ad Fontes is Latin for “(back) to the sources” or “to the fountains”. It was a rallying cry of both the Renaissance and the Reformation. Its purpose was to encourage people to go back to the original writings (in the case of the Reformers that meant the Bible – especially the original Greek and Hebrew).
“The idea in both cases was that sound knowledge depends on the earliest and most fundamental sources.” Wikipedia
As Os Guiness has said:
“The Church always goes forward best by going backwards. The surest way to go forwards is always to look back to the thing that gave you your life in the first place.” As the Church we are always to look to Jesus Christ, the Scriptures and the Gospel written therein.
Psalm 42
Interestingly, this phrase, “Ad Fontes”, appears in Psalm 42 of Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible:
“As a deer pants for flowing streams (is drawn unto the sources), so pants my soul for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1 ESV
In fact, there is some evidence that suggests that the Spanish Renaissance actually got the expression from Psalm 42!
The Renaissance
In his book “How Should We Then Live?” Evangelical author Francis Shaeffer (1912-1984) talks about the Renaissance and the Reformation.
“Boccacio… learned Greek in order to study the classics better. His translation of Homer was one of the foundation stones of the Renaissance, reviving Greek literature after seven hundred years of neglect.” p.60
Shaeffer points out that while the Renaissance started out promising with its Ad Fontes mentality, it eventually led to nothing more than the false notion of secular humanism (where man was the centre of the universe and within him lay all that which was needed to perfect society). In contrast, the Reformation took its Ad Fontes mentality back to the Bible upon which it founded all teaching, morality and meaning.
The Reformation
The Reformation officially began when Martin Luther nailed his “Ninety-five Theses” to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517. As the Renaissance in the south of Europe was closing, the Reformation in the north of Europe was about to explode.
One of the tenants of the Reformers was Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). Shaeffer explains a bit what this means:
“That is, man needs not only a God who exists, but a God who has spoken in a way that can be understood.” p.81
“To the Reformation thinkers, authority was not divided between the Bible and the church. The church was under the teaching of the Bible – not above it and not equal to it. It was Sola Scriptura…” p.82
Some of the great artists who were to be strongly influenced by the Reformation include Rembrandt, Handel, Bach and Albrecht Durer. Durer, in fact, was so concerned about applying Ad Fontes and the Bible he wrote in his diary that “… the delicious Word of God is wrongly exegeted (or interpreted) or not at all taught in many places.” p..95
Durer goes on to write this prayer:
“Oh God in heaven, have mercy on us. Oh Lord Jesus Christ,
pray for your people, deliver us at the right time, preserve in us the right true Christian faith, gather your widely scattered sheep by your voice, which is called the Word of God in Scripture.” p.95
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“The Descent from the Cross” (c. 1508-1510), Albrecht Dürer, woodcut from “The Small Passion”
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An Important Caveat
As Reformed Theologian Robert Letham reminds us:
“[There is a] false notion, held widely, that the slogan sola Scriptura means that the Bible is the only source for theology. . . When the slogan [sola Scriptura, Scripture alone] was devised, it was never intended to exclude the tradition of the church.”
The Reformers did not mean to do away with this “church tradition” but rather to make sure it was subordinate to and in agreement with Holy Scripture. This is exactly what the Bereans did when they heard Paul:
“Now these Jews (in Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed…” Acts 17:11-12a
To clarify, here the idea of the “tradition of the church” is not meant to refer to man-made traditions such as the Apostle Peter refutes (1 Peter 1:18) but rather the body of theology, doctrinal creeds and confessions (i.e. statements of faith) and collective wisdom that the Church has cultivated over 2000 years. We must remember that it was the early church with whom God entrusted the discovery and compilation of the canon of the New Testament itself!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
The Bible is always our supreme source and it has the final say on all matters - but to ignore these other things, and the men and women of God who went before us, is both arrogant and unwise.
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2
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