I am posting this question that was posed in my seminary coursework today. What do you think? It is a great question!
Of the five phrases that marked the Reformation (faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone, and glory to God alone), which represents the area where the church today needs to be “re-Reformed”? In other words, where has today’s church departed from the great principles of the Reformation?
There are five Latin phrases used to describe the view Protestants held with respect to the gospel:
· sola fide (by faith alone)
· sola gratia (by grace alone)
· solus christus (by Christ alone)
· sola scriptura (Scripture alone)
· soli deo Gloria (glory to God alone)
4 comments:
Since the four previous can be summed up in the 5th "soli deo Gloria" this is where the church needs reformation in my opinion. In doing so all areas would consequently be reformed.
In our culture we so easily are enticed to seek glory for ourselves. We are taught from young ages that we "have rights" and "needs".
In order to justify them however we find ourselves leaving the authority of scripture - "Sola Scripura", leaving our first love and the one to be exaulted above all else - "Solus Christus" and forgetting it is only by His mercy and grace that we can attain faith that leads us to salvation "Sola Gratia" and "Sola Fide".
So anytime we find that we are not doing all for and to the glory of God we slipped into idolatry in some form or fashion.
Ben - the reformation of Luther was a reformation of theology. What is needed today is to finish what Luther started and reform the experience of the faith.
Most of the corruptions of the Roman Empire and the Emperical church where kept in tact after Luther's reformation. (Professional clergy, services led from the stage, Logic leading over Spirit, lack of interactive sharing of gifts during the worship service, etc...) We have yet to return to the picture of the church we see in Scripture.
I will keep this short as it may be off topic from your original post. The problem is not in what we profess to believe but rather in the way in which the experience of those professions affect the way we live and worship. Christians as a whole in America live a life disconnected from their theology. their secular life experience rules over their professions. Their faith experience is not sufficient to change their worldview.
Terry Goodwin
Angela and Terri, thank you for the responses! Angela, idolatry is definitely and issue. Terri, you mentioned that, "secular life experience rules over their profession," and that is sadly spot on. I'm going to continue this with some more thoughts from my coursework..
The teaching of Christ alone (solus christus) encouraged people to look solely to Jesus Christ for salvation. (needed)
The Protestant teaching of faith alone (sola fide) demonstrated that the Catholic Church could not function as the mediator between God and man.
The teaching of grace alone (sola gratia) also challenged the idea of meritorious salvation. “The gospel is not ‘give me your virtue and I will crown it with grace’ but ‘despise your sin and I will shower you with mercy’”
The next phrase – sola Scriptura – reveals that the Reformers were being asked “On what basis do you believe that your understanding of salvation is correct?” Thus, sola scriptura meant that the final authority in matters of religion was the Bible – not tradition, as claimed by the Catholic Church.
The teaching of glory to God alone (soli deo Gloria) meant that God should receive all the praise for one’s salvation and out of thankfulness one should dedicates his or her entire life to God.
Church History is rather amazing. It reveals a lot of things that many know nothing about.
To me the answer is rather simple and needs be complicated. Sola Scriptura is the area that needs to be looked at.
Here is the simple reason why, if one has that issue resolved then the other areas fall automatically in place since Scripture teaches on those issues.
One of the most dangerous quetions asked today in churches around the world is this "What do YOU think the passage is saying?" What should be asked is "What IS Scripture saying?" On the outskirts it looks like a slight difference but in reality it is a huge difference.
To many read their personal views into scripture, thus forming scripture to read what they want it to read. We should strip away any preconceived notions and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through as it teaches it truth to us in a raw manner.
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