Five Solas

Definition and Meaning

The Latin word sola means "alone" or "only." The five slogans are as follows:

• Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura): The final authority for faith and life is the Bible.
• Faith alone (Sola Fide): A person is declared righteous not by works but by faith (justification).
• Grace alone (Sola Gratia): Salvation is given not through human merit but by God's grace.
• Christ alone (Solus Christus): The only mediator of salvation, the one who bridges God and humanity, is Jesus Christ.
• Glory to God alone (Soli Deo Gloria): All glory belongs to God alone.

Biblical and Historical Background

Protestants cite Romans 1:17, Ephesians 2:8–9, 2 Timothy 3:16, Acts 4:12, and 1 Corinthians 10:31, among other passages, as the biblical basis for these claims. During the sixteenth-century Reformation, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others advanced these principles in their criticism of the sale of indulgences, the notion of merit, and the authority of the pope and church tradition. However, the grouping of the five into a single formula came later and is generally understood to have become established chiefly in the twentieth century.

The Catholic Church rejected the doctrine of justification by "faith alone" at the Council of Trent (1545–1563). The Catholic Church regards both Scripture and Sacred Tradition (the teaching handed down by the Church) as authoritative. In 1999 the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church issued the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, affirming agreement on the basic content of their understanding of justification.

Practice in the Korean Church

Many Korean Protestant denominations frequently take up the Five Solas as a theme for preaching and teaching on Reformation Sunday, observed around October 31. The emphasis differs by denomination, as follows:

• Presbyterians tend to connect the solas with Reformed confessions such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, emphasizing God's sovereignty and "glory to God alone."
• Methodists and Holiness churches, following the tradition of Wesleyan theology, accept "faith alone" while also emphasizing sanctification, the process of growing in holiness after coming to faith.
• Full Gospel churches and others in the Pentecostal tradition confess Scripture alone while also placing importance on the experience and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• The Anglican Church of Korea is described as holding Scripture as the supreme authority while also taking tradition and reason into account.

Critics both inside and outside the church have also argued that "faith alone" has been misused as grounds for neglecting ethical living. Those who raise this criticism contend that the Five Solas must be understood together with a transformed life.