The Five Solas were the rallying cries of the Reformation. They also captured the essence of the theological objections the reformers had with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Five Solas are: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) Sola Fide (Faith Alone) Solus Christus (Christ Alone) Soli Deo Gloria (To the Glory of God Alone)
We celebrate the Five Solas because they came out of God s Word and led to the Reformation that brought the church back to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles.
There are some obvious fundamental differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant theology. One of the biggest differences has to do with the doctrine that we are looking at today, sola Scriptura.
We can t just point to one individual passage in the Bible that teaches the doctrine of sola Scriptura. Asking the question, What passage in the Bible teaches the doctrine of sola Scriptura? is like asking What passage in the Bible teaches the doctrine of the Trinity?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
The word inspired comes from the Greek word theopneustos. Theopneustos literally means Godbreathed.
John Huss had taught against the corrupting influence of indulgences, the need for the authority of Christ, rather than the pope, and the supremacy of Scripture.
The Roman Catholic Church maintains that the pope is the Vicar of Christ. In other words, in their eyes, he is the representative of Christ on earth. The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that the Magisterium possesses infallibility in matters of faith and morals.
The day to day teaching of the Church throughout the world, when the Bishops are in union with each other and with the Pope, and present something as definitive, this is infallible.
It was precisely by the use of that authority that Vatican I was able to define that the Pope alone, when speaking as such and making things definitive, is also infallible.
Luther had to choose whether He would stand with the teaching of the church or with what he had learned from Scripture. Luther chose the Scriptures.
A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or council without it. For the sake of Scripture, we should reject pope and councils (Martin Luther).
Sola Scriptura is the doctrine that says the Bible is our sole authority in all things concerning faith and practice. There is no higher or equal authority, in the life of a believer, than the inerrant and infallible Word of God.
The doctrine of sola Scriptura recognizes that the Bible teaches that we all have other authorities in our lives. However, the doctrine of sola Scripture says that none of those authorities are above or, even, equal to the Scriptures.
While recognizing other earthly authorities in our lives, followers of Christ should acknowledge that the Scriptures alone are our ultimate authority.
Luther argued that the pope and church councils could err and, in fact, had erred in the past. Eventually, he was branded a heretic and a criminal.
Protestants believe that Scripture alone is our final authority. The Roman Catholic Church, however, teaches that that Scriptures, not only aren t our final authority, they can t be.
Clearly, something other than Scripture had to be used as an ultimate test of doctrine (catholic.com).
Protestants claim the Bible is the only rule of faith, meaning that it contains all of the material one needs for theology and that this material is sufficiently clear that one does not need apostolic tradition or the Church s magisterium (teaching authority)
to help one understand it. In the Protestant view, the whole of Christian truth is found within the Bible s pages (Scripture and Tradition, catholic.com)
Catholics, on the other hand, recognize that the Bible does not endorse this view and that, in fact, it is repudiated in Scripture. The true rule of faith as expressed in the Bible itself is Scripture plus apostolic tradition, as manifested in the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church,
to which were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, along with the authority to interpret Scripture correctly (Scripture and Tradition, catholic.com).
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that apostolic authority would be passed down to each succeeding generation through the end of time. The Bible doesn t give us any indication that only church leaders would be blessed with the ability to correctly interpret Scripture.
The Roman Catholic Church argues that the only way that we can have unity in the church is to adhere to church tradition. The belief that tradition should be the highest authority in the church, because it maintains unity, just isn t true.
Tradition should never be placed above the Scriptures. It s virtually impossible to read the Scriptures without some influence of tradition.
If we say we believe the Bible is God s Word, then at some point we are going to delineate what we believe it is saying. Every single one of our spiritual traditions should be based on the Bible. However, sometimes traditions get so ingrained that people follow them, even if they aren t based in the Scriptures.
When Luther said that the Roman Catholic Church was teaching some doctrines that weren t biblical, he was told he was wrong, because he was rejecting the tradition of the church. Tradition becomes a problem when it begins to overrule what is taught in the Bible.
Tradition becomes a problem when it begins to overrule what is taught in the Bible. The Bible gives us ample warnings about elevating traditions over the Scriptures.
Isaiah 29:13 Then the Lord said, Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
Mark 7:6-8 6 And He said to them, Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7 BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN. 8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.
Matthew 15:1-3 1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. 3 And He answered and said to them, Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
There are some very clear warnings against following the traditions of men, even men who were considered to be the most religious men of their day. However, there are also places in the Bible that seem to support the teaching of tradition.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. 2 Timothy 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Clearly, it s dangerous (and unbiblical) to place tradition over the Scriptures. The only way to properly approach tradition is through the grid of the Scriptures.
The Roman Catholic Church says the doctrine means that we (Protestants) completely reject tradition. They define sola Scriptura to mean something different than what it actually means.
Sola Scriptura means that the Scriptures alone are the ultimate authority in the lives of believers.