Prima Scriptura

Prima scriptura, Latin for 'scripture first', is the historic Anglican position, unlike sola scriptura. Tradition and reason help to interpret the Bible, which remains the highest authority.

Article VI of the Thirty-nine Articles of 1571 declares Scripture sufficient for salvation. Richard Hooker answered the Puritans with a 'three-legged stool' of scripture, tradition and reason, later developed by Methodists into a quadrilateral.