The Theology of the Reformation: Then and Now The Five Solas Note: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Theology of the Reformation: Then and Now

The Five Solas

Note: That’s “solas” not “solos”!

What Are They?

• Sola Scriptura (scripture alone)
• Sola Fide (faith alone)
• Sola Gratia (grace alone)
• Solus Christus (Christ alone)
• Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone)

History of the Five Solas

• ‘Sola gratia’ and ‘sola fide’ were used in

conjunction by the reformers themselves.

• All of the solas show up in the writers of

various reformers but are not cataloged together by any of them.

History of the Five Solas

• In 1916 Lutheran scholar Theodore Engelder published an

article title “The Three Principles of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, and Sola Fides.”

• In 1934 theologian Emil Brunner substituted “soli deo

gloriam” for “sola scriptura.”

• Later, Brunner added “Christus solus” to the list of solas

while leaving out “sola scriptura.”

The Two Biggies

The Two Biggies

• Sola scriptura is the formal cause of the

reformation (i.e. the thing that gives it is shape, what describes the authority behind it).

• Sola fide is the material cause of the

reformation (i.e. the stuff of which it is made, the central doctrinal content).

Sola Scriptura

Sola Scriptura Defined

• The Bible is the sole infallible rule for

Christian faith and practice, and thereby contains all that is necessary for us to understand in order to be saved and to live rightly before God. It is the final authority by which all doctrines are to be evaluated, and it is the ultimate source from which all doctrines purporting to be binding on Christian conscience must be derived.

Sola Scriptura Defined

• That is,
• (1) Scripture is ultimate: Any doctrine

pertaining to Christian life and practice that is not properly based on Scripture is not binding on the Christian conscience.

Sola Scriptura Defined

• That is,
• (2) Scripture is sufficient: There is nothing we

need to understand in order to be saved and to live rightly before God that is not found there.

Sola Scriptura Defined

• That is,
• (3) Scripture is final: Any doctrine or

tradition is to be tested in light of Scripture and where those doctrines or traditions contradict Scripture they must be abandoned.

What Sola Scriptura Does Not Imply

• Sola scriptura does not imply that there is no

truth to be found outside the Bible. That would contradict what the Bible says! (e.g. Romans 1:20).

• Sola scriptura does not imply that truths

found outside of the Bible cannot better help us understand the Bible.

What Sola Scriptura Does Not Imply

• Sola scriptura does not imply that we should

not consult church tradition in order to understand the Bible.

• Sola scriptura does not imply that it is

improper for us to hold positions pertaining to Christian faith and practice that are not based

• n Scripture if we find that reason and

evidence supports them and they are not at

• dds with Scripture (it implies merely that

those positions are not binding Christian conscience).

A Related Doctrine

• The perspicuity of Scripture: The things which must

be known, believed, and observed for salvation are sufficiently clear in Scripture that they can be discerned by both the learned and the unlearned alike, without the aid of an infallible interpreter.

• Note that this doctrine does not imply there is

nothing in Scripture that it is difficult to discern nor that there is nothing in the Bible that we do not need the help of Biblical scholars to understand.

A Further Note on Sola Scriptura and Tradition

• Theologians sometimes distinguish between two different

views regarding the relationship between Scripture and tradition.

• According to the Tradition 1 view, there is binding church

tradition, but all such tradition is based on Scripture.

• According to the Tradition 2 view, church tradition

constitutes another binding source of divine revelation alongside Scripture.

A Further Note on Sola Scriptura and Tradition

• Both the Tradition 1 and the Tradition 2 view were

held by people within the Catholic church prior to the Reformation.

• The Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura can be

understood as a rejection of the Tradition 2 view in favor of the Tradition 1 view.

• Important upshot: To affirm sola scriptura is not to

reject church tradition!

Some Biblical Support for Ultimacy and Finality

• Mark 7: 1-20.
• Here Jesus both rejects the bindingness of a

tradition that is not based on Scripture (indicating the ultimacy of Scripture).

• Jesus also chides the Pharisees for upholding

traditions that are in conflict with Scripture (indicating the finality of Scripture).

Also in Favor of Finality

• Galatians 1:8
• “But even if we or an angel from heaven should

preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Objections to Sola Scriptura

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Objection 1: The doctrine of sola scriptura is not

based on Scripture and therefore by its own lights not binding on Christian conscience. Therefore sola scriptura is self defeating.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Response 1: Note that this is an objection

to the ultimacy of Scripture (since the claim is that the doctrine of the ultimacy of scripture is not found in Scripture). But we have just seen that there is Scriptural support for the ultimacy of Scripture.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Response 2: Suppose for the sake of

argument that Response 1 fails. In that case all that follows is that the doctrine of the ultimacy of Scripture is not binding on Christian conscience (and so someone might disbelieve it while still being a faithful Christian). It might still be however that the doctrine is supported by reason and evidence and therefore something to be believed.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Objection 2: The canon of Scripture (i.e. the

list of books that constitutes Scripture) is not given to us by Scripture itself but by church

• tradition. So adhering to the doctrine of sola

scriptura would leave us with no basis for identifying what the Scriptures are.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Response: Once again, the doctrine of sola

scriptura does not constitute a rejection of church tradition, nor does it imply that we cannot reasonably believe any claims pertaining to the Christian faith that are not based on Scripture. What it implies is that the books that are in fact Scripture are together ultimate, final, and sufficient.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• Our judgements concerning which books those

are may be properly informed by church tradition since we may believe that the Holy Spirit has providentially guided the church for the purpose of recognizing, transmitting, and preserving the Scriptures. But Protestants maintain that the church tradition merely recognizes what is already Scripture and does not determine what is Scripture.

Objections to Sola Scriptura

• The conviction that individual books are

part of Scripture also becomes reinforced when those books are read and preached, and through the Holy Spirit we come to recognize that they are indeed the word of God.

Side Issue: The Apocrypha?

The Apocrypha?

• There is no controversy between Catholics and

Protestants about which books belong to the New Testament.

• Catholics also accept as canonical all of the same

books of the Old Testament that Protestants do.

• But Catholics also accept additional books. These

are what Protestants sometimes refer to as the “apocryphal” or “deuterocanonical” books.

So Why Do Protestants Reject The Apocrypha?

• The Protestant canon is identical to the Hebrew

canon (though there is much dispute concerning just when the latter became solidified).

• The apocryphal books are included in the

Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.

• There was disagreement concerning the

canonical status of the apocryphal books throughout church history.

So Why Do Protestants Reject The Apocrypha?

• Luther did not “throw these books out” as

Catholic apologists sometimes say.

• Rather, Protestants came to agree with those

parts of church tradition that saw the Hebrew canon as authoritative and the apocryphal books as uninspired but useful to read.

• In reaction, the Catholic church officially

declared the apocryphal books canonical at the council of Trent in 1546.

A Protestant Catholic Argument Against the Apocrypha

• (1) We should recognize as canonical all and
• nly those books as that have been endorsed

as such by the general consensus of the church.

• (2) The apocryphal books have not been

endorsed by the general consensus of the church (neither historically nor presently).

• (3) Therefore we should not recognize the

apocryphal books as canonical.

Caution: Sola Scriptura not Solo Scriptura!

Caution: Only Scripture ≠ Only Our Interpretation

Sola Fide

Sola Fide Defined

• We are justified (i.e. placed in right standing

with God) by faith alone and not by any work

• r merit on our part.

What Sola Fide Opposed

• According to Roman Catholic teaching, one

receives initial grace at baptism, which enables

• ne to believe and to perform good works, which

then become meritorious for salvation when joined with Christ’s work on the cross.

• The Reformed view by contrast is that we can do

nothing to merit our salvation which is a free gift, bought for us by Christ’s work on the cross, received through faith.

What Sola Fide Does Not Imply

• Sola fide does not imply that mere intellectual

belief in the Gospel unaccompanied by any desire

• r disposition to do good works is sufficient for
• ne to be right with God (see James 2:19-20).
• Saving faith does not consist in mere intellectual

assent but in a vibrant trust in Christ that unites

• ne to him in such a way that one becomes filled

with love for God and others and thereby disposed to do good works.

More on Faith and Works

More on Faith and Works

• Since genuine saving faith is accompanied by a

disposition to do good works, there is a sense in which good works are necessary for salvation (provided there is sufficient

• pportunity).
• But this sense is that of a necessary effect of

justification not that of a necessary pre- condition for it or cause of it (see Ephesians 2:8-10).

More on Faith and Works

• As Martin Luther put it, “Works are necessary

for salvation but they do not cause salvation; for faith alone gives life.”

• Good works are to be done not out of fear of

failing to receive salvation or of losing salvation, but out of gratitude for salvation, motivated by love for God and others.

Some Key Biblical Support for Sola Fide

• John 3:16-18; John 6:28-29; John 6:40,

Romans 1:17-18; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Romans 5:1; Romans 10:9; Romans 11:6; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 3:10- 14; Galatians 5:4-5; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 3:9; Titus 3:5.

Romans 4:5: But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

A Biblical Objection to Sola Fide?

• James 2
• 18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me

your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Romans 4 Vs. James 2?

• Romans 4
• 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has

something to boast about, but not before

• God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham

believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

• James 2
• 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works

when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

A Solution

• The Greek word for ‘justified’ can also in certain

contexts mean ‘vindicated’.

• E.g. Mathew 11:19 says “Wisdom is justified by

her deeds.”

• Whereas Paul is talking about justification as a

matter of being right with God which comes by faith, James is talking about justification as a vindication of genuine saving faith in opposition to a dead faith which is nothing more than mere intellectual assent.

Sola Fide not Solo Fide!

Sola Fide not Solo Fide!

• Sola fide does not imply that we are saved apart

from the community of God’s people and so do not need to participate in the life of the church as long as we have “a personal relationship with Jesus.”

• The Reformers did not drop but continued to

affirm St. Cyprian’s dictum “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” (“outside the church there is no salvation”).

• We are saved into the church, as part of the the

bride of Christ.

Sola Gratia

Sola Gratia Defined

• The grace of God is both necessary and sufficient

for our justification apart from any work or merit

• n our part.
• The Roman Catholic church affirms that grace is

necessary.

• But their view is that grace enables human beings

to cooperate with God so as to come to merit their salvation (though in fairness to Catholic doctrine these works are also held to originate and be sustained by way of God’s grace).

The Relationship Between Sola Gratia and Sola Fide

• The relationship between these two doctrines is

described by Ephesians 2:8-9.

• “For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

• While we are saved through faith, our faith is not

the cause of our salvation, but rather the means by which God’s grace brings about our salvation.

Solus Christus

Solus Christus Defined

• Christ’s death and resurrection are not only

necessary for salvation but sufficient to save us to the uttermost, and Christ is the sole mediator between God and humanity. There is nothing we can do to add to his finished work.

Solas of the Word Unite!

• It is by God’s grace (sola gratia!) that we are

united with Christ through faith (sola fide!) and thereby justified by his work alone (solus Christus!).

A Related Doctrine: The Priesthood of All Believers

• Because Christ is the sole mediator between

God and humanity, and each of us is united to him, each of us has access to God. There are no special human mediators (other than Christ!) such as priests who stand between us and God. And we, as part of the body of Christ, now share in Christ’s priestly ministry.

Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria Defined

• All of the glory for our salvation is owed to

God (since it is his work from first to last) and we are saved for the glory of God. Our end is that of the whole of creation, to bring glory to God.

Divine Egoism?

• In seeking to bring Glory to himself God is not being

self-centered or egotistical, for two reasons.

• (1) God did not need to create us in order to receive

glory from us. Rather, out of love, God purposes to have us bring glory to himself in order that he might share his glorious life with us.

• (2) God is triune. It is the self-giving love of the Trinity

that leads each to desire the glory of the others and to receive glory from the others (as one would receive a gift from one’s beloved) rather than some self-centered desire (see John 17).

A New Topic

Hopefully I can convince you that it’s not that bad!

The Five Points of Calvinism

The Five Points of Calvinism

History of the Five Points

• What have now become known as “the five

points of Calvinism” were not formulated during the time of the Reformation but arose from controversies among Dutch Calvinists in the 1600s.

• Even so, there is an organic connection

between those points, the teachings of Luther and Calvin regarding predestination, and the five solas (particularly regarding sola gratia).

History of the Five Points

• Luther and Calvin both taught a strong

doctrine of predestination according to which who would be saved was determined by divine degree apart from any foreseen free response or merit on the part of anyone.

• During his lifetime the Dutch Calvinist

theologian Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) began to question some of the seemingly harsh implications of such a doctrine.

History of the Five Points

• After his death, some of Arminius's followers

continued along the same line and came up with five articles encapsulating their disagreement with their fellow Dutch Calvinists (in the Five Articles of Remonstrance).

• These articles were repudiated and condemned

by Dutch Calvinists in the counter-remonstrance

• f 1611 and the canons of Dort in 1618-19.
• The five points of Calvinism are direct

repudiations of each of these five articles.

A Disclaimer

• My purpose here is to explain these points and

how they are motivated by the doctrines of the Reformation (in particular how they are motivated by sola gratia).

• My purpose is not to convince you to believe

them.

• I do think however that you should at least

wrestle with them a bit in light of the way in which they are rooted in the doctrine of sola gratia.

Total Depravity

• There is no aspect of our lives, whether it be our

reason, or will, or affections, that is not tainted by sin, and because of this, we are disposed to rebel against God and cannot through our own will or efforts turn toward God.

• Note that the doctrine of total depravity does not

imply that we are, apart from grace, as bad as we can possibly be, but that that sin pervades every aspect of

• ur lives.
• Motivation form sola gratia: The doctrine of total

depravity affirms there is nothing of ourselves that we can bring in order to be saved. It must all originate with God.

Unconditional Election

• God in his own sovereign decree prior to any

foreseen choice or merit on anyone’s part chose to elect some to salvation, and none of those who were not so elected will be saved.

• Motivation from sola gratia: There is no good

choice on our part or merit in us, not even choice or merit merely foreseen, that moved God to save us. It is all of grace.

Limited Atonement

• Christ died for all and only the elect. Christ’s having

died for a person is both necessary and sufficient for that person ultimately being saved.

• Note that this doctrine does not say that Christ’s death

is limited in power (rather, it saves to the uttermost) but only in scope (it concerns who his death was intended to save).

• Motivation from sola gratia (and solus Christus):

Christ’s death for a person is utterly sufficient. There is nothing that person can do to complete it or to render it efficacious. It is God’s gracious saving work from first to last.

Irresistible Grace

• God provides all and only the elect with efficacious

grace for salvation.

• This grace once received cannot be resisted. It

inevitably moves the will to receive salvation.

• In spite of the some of the connotations of

“irresistible,” this doctrine is not that God draws people against their will, but rather that his grace makes them willing to come.

• Motivation from sola gratia: Not even whether we will

to receive our own salvation was something up to us. Even our very willingness to come to God is something given to us by God. It is all of grace!

Perseverance of the Saints

• Once we have received the grace of God and are

justified there is nothing we can do to lose our salvation because God will ensure that we persevere to the end.

• Sometimes this doctrine is expressed by the phrase

“once saved always saved” but there are other views that sometimes go under that label that are

• versimplifications of that doctrine.
• Motivation from sola gratia: Once again the idea is that

there is nothing we contribute to our own salvation; we are both originally brought to salvation by grace and also kept there by grace.

Sola Gratia and Divine Election: An Argument

• (P1) There is nothing we contribute to our own

salvation (it is all of grace).

• (P2) If we are saved through faith and it is even

partially up to us whether we have saving faith, then there is something we contribute to our

• wn salvation.
• (P3) If it is not even partially up to us whether we

have saving faith, then it is entirely up to God whether we have saving faith.

• (C) Therefore, it is entirely up to God whether we

have saving faith.