The Five Solas: not a retro singing troupe! Rather, the five solas are Latin phrases that became the rallying cry of the Reformation of the early 1500s. The word sola is the Latin word for "only" and was used to describe five key teachings that defined a biblical foundation of faith. The five solas are as follows:
Each of these "solas" can be seen as a positive biblical declaration of the Christian faith.
The Reformation was a time in history when Christians sought to get back to the basics of Christianity. Leading up to the 1500s, the Roman Catholic Church had made its traditions superior in authority to the teachings of the Bible. This resulted in many practices that were not just misguided but actually contradictory to Scripture.
Some examples include praying to saints/Mary, the belief that the Lord’s Supper turns into the literal body and blood of Jesus each time it is offered (a.k.a. transubstantiation), and that Mary was sinless. These beliefs, not found in Scripture, had become dogmatic teachings and traditions within the Catholic Church. Anyone who dared to speak out against them could be excommunicated from the church, and, in some instances, were even threatened with death! Here enters Martin Luther (and others).
Martin Luther started out his religious journey as a monk. However, Luther erroneously thought he had to earn his salvation through good works, denying himself, or even physically beating himself. But when he read the book of Romans, the Lord showed him that salvation was granted by grace alone, through faith, not of works (Romans 1:17).
After this realization, he trusted in Jesus alone for salvation. As he continued to study the Scriptures, he realized that there were traditions in the Catholic Church were not found in Scripture and were even contradictory to it.
Even though speaking out against the Catholic Church would most certainly result in persecution, Luther knew that he had to stand on the Word of God and proclaim it.
On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed a document called the "95 Theses" onto the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. This document protested the various unbiblical practices of the Roman Catholic Church. So began the Protestant (Latin for "protesting") Reformation, which was a call to return to Scripture alone, salvation through Christ alone, given by grace alone, and received by faith alone—all to the glory of God alone!
The five solas are Latin phrases that became the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation of the early 1500s. The word sola is the Latin word for "only" and was used to describe five key teachings that defined a biblical foundation of faith. The five solas are: Sola scriptura ("Scripture alone"), Sola fide ("Faith alone"), Sola gratia ("Grace alone"), Solo Christo ("Christ alone"), and Soli Deo gloria ("To the glory of God alone." Each of these "solas" can be seen as a positive biblical declaration of the Christian faith.
Hanna loves spending time with kids and teens. She enjoys being detectives with them to investigate God's Word to discover truths to answer any questions. She is the co-author of a newly published apologetics curriculum for children and teaches one online for highschoolers-adults. To learn more about her ministry you can visit networkerstec.com. For fun, she likes to play Ultimate Frisbee, read historical fiction, and paint.
