Prima Scriptura: Saving Sola Scriptura from Itself.

Taking bearings from Walter Altmann's attempt to retrieve a proper understanding of sola Scriptura, this essay argues that the Latin ablative, 'by way of the Scripture alone,' presupposes a nominative solus Christus whom the Spirit proclaims in turn 'by way of the Scripture alone'-a dialectic of Word and Spirit, a virtuous circle. It clarifies this proper understanding of sola Scriptura over against modern biblicism, crude and sophisticated, by teasing out its implications for dogmatics as a critical discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]