the solas

[HomeTeamFamily]

ok ive been listening and pondering some stuff about the protestant idea of sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratis?, and the two others i cant remember their name

my question/problem with that is......how can you have more than one SOLA....isnt the idea that, for example, in sola scriptura, one uses the Bible as the only rule of faith? thereby negating the necessity of anything else? i dont understand how there can be more than one thing that is an ONLY?

can someone help me?

[popestpiusx]

I've often wondered the same thing. I'm sure they have some sort of explanation. It's probably a problem of formulation stemming from an unfortunate lack of logic in prot. upbringing.

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
12/24 - Fourth Friday of Advent

I'm especially baffled by Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura - saved either by faith alone or by Scripture alone.......

I thought we were all redeemed by Christ.

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Pio Nono' date='Dec 24 2004, 04:48 PM'] JMJ
12/24 - Fourth Friday of Advent

I'm especially baffled by Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura - saved either by faith alone or by Scripture alone.......

I thought we were all redeemed by Christ. [/quote]
Not all the solas refer to the same thing. Sola Scriptura refers to the fact that our only infallible (read: there are fallible, subordinate sources) of doctrine is the Scriptures. Sola Fide refers to the instrument of our justification. (In the words of the WCF "Faith is the alone instrument of justification"

[Archangel]

Can a person learn all about the different solas just from reading the bible? Do they need the WCF to learn about them?

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 24 2004, 07:03 PM'] Can a person learn all about the different solas just from reading the bible? Do they need the WCF to learn about them? [/quote]
I would say so - all of them are implicit, if not directly taught, by the Scriptures

Sola Gratia - Eph 2:8-10, et al

Sola Fide - Romans 3

Sola Scriptura - Acts 17:11, 2 Tim 3:16

Solus Christus - 1 Tim 2:5

Soli Deo Gloria - Ephesians (the entire letter), Romans 8...heck..do I really need to prove this one?

[Archangel]

Does a person need the WCF to learn about the solas or could he just use the bible?

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 24 2004, 11:32 PM'] Does a person need the WCF to learn about the solas or could he just use the bible? [/quote]
Answered above. The WCF is a catechism - that is, it a confession of faith that presents an understanding of the Scriptures. It is not infallible, and is subordinate to the Word of God. If something it teaches cannot be proven by the Scriptures, that teaching must be abandoned.

[Archangel]

I'm not asking if it's fallible or not. I'm asking if a person needs it or not.

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 25 2004, 03:19 AM'] I'm not asking if it's fallible or not. I'm asking if a person needs it or not. [/quote]
Then no, it's unnecessary. Martin Luther and John Calvin didn't have the WCF (they predated the 1646 Westminster Assembly that wrote it, actually)

[Archangel]

Which denomination wrote the WCF?

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 25 2004, 04:20 AM'] Which denomination wrote the WCF? [/quote]
English Reformed (AKA Presbyterian)

[Archangel]

Oh. So, it's not from the Anglican Church. Thanks.

[Sammy Blaze]

interesting thread, I always wondered and wanted to research the logic in the 5 solas...

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 25 2004, 04:44 AM'] Oh. So, it's not from the Anglican Church. Thanks. [/quote]
Certainly not! The WCF contains heretical, unhistorical ecclesiology. I wrote a letter to a Presbyterian minister recently (I visited a Presbyterian church) in which I detailed the reasons why I could not join his church permanently, as he invited me to do in a previous letter - in which I quite flatly told him "Your ecclesiastical structure is, I believe, unbiblical and not in keeping with the historical universal church". I doubt I could ever join a church that did not retain the threefold ministry of Bishops, priests, and deacons. As it is, I only went there because I overslept for the service at my home church, and we are commanded by the Holy Scriptures not to abandon the fellowship of believers. (Heb 10:25)

However, some of the definitions it provides on other things are the best, most Biblical definitions I have ever heard penned by mere men (soteriology and the nature and effect of Holy Baptism, for instance)

Edited December 26, 2004 by ICTHUS

[Archangel]

[quote]The WCF contains heretical, unhistorical ecclesiology.[/quote]

[quote]However, some of the definitions it provides on other things are the best, most Biblical definitions I have ever heard penned by mere men[/quote]

So you feel that the WCF contains some truth but not all truth? What about the Anglican church? Does it contain some truth but not all truth? Does it teach about the different solas in any of its documents?

[james]

[quote name='Archangel' date='Dec 25 2004, 09:49 PM']


What about the Anglican church? Does it contain some truth but not all truth? [/quote]
The fact that it's very existance is based upon protesting and exchanging the divine right of alleged corrupt popes for the divine right of even more corrupt and brutal kings reveals to most that it is flawed at the most fundamental level.

Edited December 26, 2004 by james

[Archangel]

Good point, james.