The History of Christian Thought: The Reformation Part 1

Looking at the condition of the church at the end of the Middle Ages, as well as Martin Luther’s own spiritual journey, we can see why he came up with his reformed ideas. Luther was someone who struggled in his faith, tormented by guilt and doubts about his own salvation. He often went into bouts of depression and gloominess. At the same time, the Church was getting more and more corrupt with the selling of indulgences. It was believed that the dead saints had so much goodness in them and led such a holy life, that there was a storehouse of extra goodness in Heaven that people could actually purchase (for themselves or their relatives) so that their time in purgatory would be shortened. Priests and bishops were fighting for positions in the Church. And thus, the five ‘solas’ came to be, in response to the Church and his own doubts.

Sola Scriptura: that the Bible should be the only source for theology, and should be interpreted only by itself
Sola Fide: that justification comes by faith alone, not works
Solus Christus: Christ is the exclusive mediator between God and man; neither Mary, the saints nor the priests can be the mediator
Solus Gratia: salvation comes by grace alone, not human merit
Soli Deo Gloria: all the glory is due to God alone, not the pope, priests, Mary or the saints.

Why Sola Scriptura?

In part, he was inspired by the humanists, who were calling for European culture, including Christianity, to return to its roots. His stress on scripture alone was in part an extension of this humanist principle, allied to the Augustinian and Scholastic reverence for the Bible that he learned in the monastery of Erfurt. ~ Jonathan Hill, the History of Christian Thought

Why Sola Fide?

What was new was the claim that salvation comes through faith alone, and the raising of this principle as the linchpin of the Christian faith. He believed that when Paul speaks in Romans about the righteousness of God and salvation by faith, he means a personal, individual relationship between God and the believer. This interpretation of Paul is disputed by modern New Testament scholars; what is certain, however, is that while Paul speaks of ‘salvation by faith’ he never speaks explicitly of ‘salvation by faith alone’. Luther was well aware of this, of course, but argued that his interpretation was what Paul had meant.

Luther’s belief in the supremacy of scripture will seem familiar to modern Protestants and evangelicals, but Luther did not use the Bible quite as many of his spiritual descendents do today. Although he denied that the pope or the church had any authority over and against the Bible, he was aware that the content of the canon had been decided by the church. This meant that he could cast a critical eye over the canon and judge it according to the true supreme authority, Christ himself. So the printed page of the Bible has no authority in itself, not even if we take it as God’s Word; it has authority only inasmuch as it points to Christ. For this reason, Luther’s translation of the New Testament consigned the books of Hebrews, James and Revelation to a sort of appendix, because in his opinion they failed to meet this strict criterion. James, in particular, Luther had little time for, since he recognized that the book contradicted his doctrine of salvation by faith alone. ~ Jonathan Hill, the History of Christian Thought

Whatever reasons Luther had, whatever influenced him, I personally believe that God had a hand in it, for the good of the Church and the world. Yes, Luther’s ideas would lead to wars and atrocities being committed between Protestants and Catholics in the following decades, but I believe that his ideas were necessary at that particular moment in history. But we ‘Protestants’ in this era need to be aware that these ‘solas’ are not the only way of looking at Christianity. We should not judge the Catholics because ‘they do not follow the Bible’ or ‘they believe that salvation comes from works too’. Who are we to say that we are right and they are wrong? We need to be aware also, that our ways of looking at Christianity may change yet again. Who are we to say that what we have and what we believe in is already the finished product? I am open to the possibility that God may move the Church in another direction in the future. We need the humility to admit that we as a Church are not there yet. God will do whatever needs to be done at any particular point in history, and He will continue to do so now and in the future.