Bondage Instead of Freedom? Sola Scriptura as an Entrance to Pathological Theology

This paper discusses potentially negative consequences of the Lutheran principle of Sola Scriptura in light of three theoretical approaches: Reichel's understanding of theology as affordances, hermeneutical conditions for understanding, and psychological theory that points to the negative consequences of the neglect of experience/feeling, with the concomitant effect of insecurity, lack of self-reliance, and immature dependence on authorities.  Thereby, it shows the potential of this doctrine for supplying a theology that creates pathologies. Against the backdrop of a discussion of such pathologies, which includes an analysis of an empirical example, the paper also moves on to suggest what elements in Lutheran doctrine that can contribute to the avoidance of such pathologies.