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la Prima scriptura is the Christian doctrine that canonized scripture is "first" or "above all other" sources of divine revelation. Implicitly, this view suggests that, besides canonical scripture, there can be other guides for what a believer should believe and how they should live, such as the Holy Spirit, created order, traditions, charismatic gifts, mysticism insight, visitations, conscience, common sense, the views of experts, the Zeitgeist or something else. Prima scriptura suggests that ways of knowing or understanding God and his will that do not originate from canonized scripture are perhaps helpful in interpreting that scripture, but testable by the canon and correctable by it, if they seem to contradict the scriptures. Prima scriptura is upheld by the Anglican and Methodist traditions of Christianity, which suggest that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible. Pentecostalism generally uphold prima scriptura with an emphasis on the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than tradition.
However, sola scriptura rejects any original infallible authority other than the Bible. Church councils, preachers, biblical commentators, private revelation, or even a message allegedly from an angel are not an original authority alongside the Bible in the sola scriptura approach, and the authority of most of these is seen as derivative of and subject to examination via the Scriptures; as per 1 John 4:1 the claims of "angelic" messages are to be readily and rigorously examined against the Scriptures in order to certify or refute them.
Both may be contrasted with nuda scriptura, which rejects any authority of any sort other than the Bible; this doctrine is very common amongst fundamentalists.
With these principles, Anabaptists use the writings of the Church Fathers, not to establish doctrine, but "to verify that we have read Scripture correctly, and to give us continuity with those who have based their lives on apostolic teaching through the ages."
The Anglican view of the role on prima scriptura can be best summarized by Richard Hooker. In his famous work "On the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity" he developed a view that would be known in the Anglican tradition as the "3-legged stool". This consists of scripture, tradition and reason. Scripture is the source of all revelation in the Christian tradition. At the same time Hooker also saw the necessity of tradition, while not on the same level as scripture, as being an important mediating principle in interpreting. He specifically critiques the Puritan interpretations of sola scriptura that were present at the time in Elizabethan England. This is followed by what Hooker calls the "law of reason". Hookers' 3-legged stool would become the basis of the Methodist quadrilateral as well as form a via media between the Catholic and Lutheran understandings on the relationship between scripture and tradition.
Regarding the Church's view on the belief held by many that the Holy Bible, as presently constituted (in any translation, or even from the extant Hebrew and Greek manuscripts), is inerrant or infallible, etc, or the doctrine of sola scriptura, the Church has said the following: "The Latter-day Saints have a great reverence and love for the Bible. They study it and try to live its teachings. They treasure its witness of the life and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Joseph Smith studied the Bible all his life, and he taught its precepts. He testified that a person who can 'mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God’s own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand of wherever he can see it'."
The Church further said on the subject of sola scriptura: "Latter-day Saints believe in an open scriptural canon, which means that there are other books of scripture besides the Bible (such as the Book of Mormon) and that God continues to reveal His word through living Prophet. The argument is often made that to be a Christian means to assent to the principle of sola scriptura, or the self-sufficiency of the Bible. But to claim that the Bible is the final word of God—more specifically, the final written word of God—is to claim more for the Bible than it claims for itself. Nowhere does the Bible proclaim that all revelations from God would be gathered into a single volume to be forever closed and that no further scriptural revelation could be received."
While most Pentecostalism and Charismatics believe the Bible to be the ultimate authority and would not say that any new revelation can ever contradict the Bible, they do believe that God continues to speak to people today on extra-biblical topics as well as to interpret and apply the text of the Bible.
Besides the Holy Scriptures, the Seventh-day Adventist Church hold Ellen White's writings to be "a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church." However, Adventists do not necessarily believe that the writings of a so-called post-canonical prophet has equality with Scripture. A leading Adventist theologian has claimed "Adventist theology and ministry depend on the sola-tota-prima Scriptura principle (the Scripture only, in all its parts, and as the first principle of interpretation of natural revelation and the human sciences)."
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the interpretation of scripture and codification of doctrines is considered the responsibility of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Christadelphians believe that the Bible is the sole source of instruction from God in terms of the way that they should conduct their affairs. However they do note that some translations of the bible into non-original languages have changed the message, so study of the original texts are important.
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