Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

...A Concern for the Protestant “Solos”: Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia
Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 06-07-18 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on 06/08/2018 8:54:57 AM PDT by Salvation

Beware the “Soloists” - A Concern for the Protestant “Solos”: Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia

June 7, 2018

There are a lot of “solos” sung by our Protestant brethren: sola fide (saved by faith alone), sola Scriptura (Scripture alone is the rule of faith), and sola gratia (grace alone). Generally, one ought to be leery of claims that things work “alone.” Typically, many things work together in harmony; things are interrelated. Very seldom is anyone or anything really “alone.”

The problem with “solos” emerges (it seems to me) in our mind, where it is possible to separate things out; but just because we can separate something out in our mind does not mean that we can do so in reality.

Consider, for a moment, a candle’s flame. In my mind, I can separate the heat of the flame from its light, but I could never put a knife into the flame and put the heat of the flame on one side of it and the light on the other. In reality, the heat and light are inseparable—so together as to be one.

I would like to argue that it is the same with things like faith and works, grace and transformation, Scripture and the Church. We can separate all these things out in our mind, but in reality, they are one. Attempting to separate them from what they belong to leads to grave distortions and to the thing in question no longer being what it is claimed to be. Rather, it becomes an abstraction that exists only on a blackboard or in the mind of a theologian.

Let’s look at the three main “solos” of Protestant theology. I am aware that there are non-Catholic readers of this blog, so please understand that my objections are made with respect. I am also aware that in a short blog I may oversimplify, and thus I welcome additions, clarifications, etc. in the comments section.

Solo 1: Faith alone (sola fide)For 400 years, Catholics and Protestants have debated the question of faith and works. In this matter, we must each avoid caricaturing the other’s position. Catholics do not and never have taught that we are saved by works. For Heaven’s sake, we baptize infants! We fought off the Pelagians. But neither do Protestants mean by “faith” a purely intellectual acceptance of the existence of God, as many Catholics think that they do.

What concerns us here is the detachment of faith from works that the phrase “faith alone” implies. Let me ask, what is faith without works? Can you point to it? Is it visible? Introduce me to someone who has real faith but no works. I don’t think one can be found. About the only example I can think of is a baptized infant, but that’s a Catholic thing! Most Baptists and Evangelicals who sing the solos reject infant baptism.

Hence it seems that faith alone is something of an abstraction. Faith is something that can only be separated from works in our minds. If faith is a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot enter into that relationship while remaining unchanged. This change affects our behavior, our works. Even in the case of infants, it is possible to argue that they are changed and do have “works”; it’s just that they are not easily observed.

Scripture affirms that faith is never alone, that such a concept is an abstraction. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Faith without works is not faith at all because faith does not exist by itself; it is always present with and causes works through love. Galatians 5:6 says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love. Hence faith works not alone but through love. Further, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:2, if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

Hence faith alone is the null set. True faith is never alone; it bears the fruit of love and the works of holiness. Faith ignites love and works through it. Beware of the solo “faith alone” and ask where faith, all by itself, can be found.

Solo 2: Grace alone (sola gratia) – By its very nature grace changes us. Again, show me grace apart from works. Grace without works is an abstraction. It cannot be found apart from its effects. In our mind it may exist as an idea, but in reality, grace is never alone.

Grace builds on nature and transforms it. It engages the person who responds to its urges and gifts. If grace is real, it will have its effects and cannot be found alone or apart from works. It cannot be found apart from a real flesh-and-blood human who is manifesting its effects.

Solo 3: Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) – Beware those who say, “sola Scriptura!” This is the claim that Scripture alone is the measure of faith and the sole authority for the Christian, that there is no need for a Church and no authority in the Church, that there is only authority in the Scripture.

There are several problems with this.

First, Scripture as we know it (with the full New Testament) was not fully assembled and agreed upon until the 4th century.

It was Catholic bishops, in union with the Pope, who made the decision as to which books belonged in the Bible. The early Christians could not possibly have lived by sola scriptura because the Scriptures were not even fully written in the earliest years. And although collected and largely completed in written form by 100 AD, the set of books and letters that actually made up the New Testament was not agreed upon until the 4th century.

Second, until recently most people could not read.

Given this, it seems strange that God would make, as the sole rule of faith, a book that people had to read on their own. Even today, large numbers of people in the world cannot read well. Hence, Scripture was not necessarily a read text, but rather one that most people heard and experienced in and with the Church through her preaching, liturgy, art, architecture, stained glass, passion plays, and so forth.

Third, and most important, if all you have is a book, then that book needs to be interpreted accurately.

Without a valid and recognized interpreter, the book can serve to divide more than to unite. Is this not the experience of Protestantism, which now has tens of thousands of denominations all claiming to read the same Bible but interpreting it in rather different manners?

The problem is, if no one is Pope then everyone is Pope! Protestant “soloists” claim that anyone, alone with a Bible and the Holy Spirit, can authentically interpret Scripture. Well then, why does the Holy Spirit tell some people that baptism is necessary for salvation and others that it is not necessary? Why does the Holy Spirit tell some that the Eucharist really is Christ’s Body and Blood and others that it is only a symbol? Why does the Holy Spirit say to some Protestants, “Once saved, always saved” and to others, “No”?

So, it seems clear that Scripture is not meant to be alone. Scripture itself says this in 2 Peter 3:16: our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, Our Brother Paul speaking of these things [the Last things] as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures. Hence Scripture itself warns that it is quite possible to misinterpret Scripture.

Where is the truth to be found? The Scriptures once again answer this: you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15).

Hence Scripture is not to be read alone. It is a document of the Lord through the Church and must be read in the context of the Church and with the Church’s authoritative interpretation and Tradition. As this passage from Timothy says, the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. The Bible is a Church book and thus is not meant to be read apart from the Church that received the authority to publish it from God Himself. Scripture is the most authoritative and precious document of the Church, but it emanates from the Church’s Tradition and must be understood in the light of it.

Thus, the problems of “singing solo” seem to boil down to the fact that if we separate what God has joined we end up with an abstraction, something that exists only in the mind but in reality, cannot be found alone.

Here is a brief video in which Fr. Robert Barron ponders the Protestant point of view that every baptized Christian has the right to authoritatively interpret the Word of God.sss


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; solopopeus; soylo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 761-779 next last
To: Luircin

“The Roman view is that works earn extra grace.”

I know lot of Protestants who believe that. “Jewels in the crown”. I had a Pentecostal friend who believed in “levels of Heaven” for the more pious.
For most of our existence, we’ve had a messed up view of Grace. I’m not sure any church really believed in it until just recently. For much of my life, Grace came at a price.
What the Roman church did was monetize Salvation. It was never freely given.
The greatest example of irony was, that for centuries, the Church of Jesus Christ would torture and execute you for speaking against the teachings and practices of the church. Let that sink in for a moment.


121 posted on 06/08/2018 11:28:14 AM PDT by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 107 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM

Well, but the Catholic idea of “faith and works” puts that separation between the two, making them distinct things.

As Protestants, we’re only trying to say, and to explain to Catholics, exactly what you say, that works for us is living our faith. We believe that genuine faith will produce good fruit. But we don’t say we’re saved by “faith AND works” because for us - and as you say here - they are simply not separate things in that sense. So we easily accept what’s said in James 2 as well as Ephesians 2, Titus 3, and many other verses, because we believe we’re saved by grace through faith, and if we really have true faith, we’ll live it out. Someone truly born again in Christ will not always do everything right, but he or she will continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).


122 posted on 06/08/2018 11:34:24 AM PDT by Faith Presses On (Above all, politics should serve the Great Commission, "preparing the way for the Lord.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: metmom; Salvation
What concerns us here is the detachment of faith from works that the phrase “faith alone” implies.

Well what concerns us is the melding of the concept of justification, is tapped into by faith in Jesus, and sanctification, which is works. Two distinctive, both important, but they should never be confused.

123 posted on 06/08/2018 11:36:43 AM PDT by Gamecock (In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: G Larry

Which of these two is Biblical?

For by grace you have been saved through works; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;


124 posted on 06/08/2018 11:43:28 AM PDT by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 111 | View Replies]

To: Flaming Conservative

How do you have faith, if you don’t show it to God?

How do you love God (and neighbor) without a response (action)?

Our acceptance - Baptism, the sacraments and not dying in mortal sin.

We believe that salvation is a process by which we come closer to God throughout our whole life as we participate in the sacraments and the grace that comes through them.

But it is not true that man plays as important a role as God. God the Father planned our salvation, not man. God the Son gained our salvation by his death and resurrection; no one else did these things. And God the Holy Spirit infused the very love of God into our hearts by his presence (cf. Rom. 5:5). This is beyond our human ability.

Still, we must cooperate with God’s grace to find eternal happiness with God. If we don’t, we will be cut off from God forever.

God is holy and, if we’re going to live with God forever, we too must be holy. So our entire life should be a pursuit of the holiness that Christ gained for us by his death on the cross. God desires to put this holiness within us, or as Hebrews 12:10 says, “that we may share his holiness.” That is the ultimate rationale behind the Catholic view of salvation: to share in the holiness of God. Nothing less will save us!


125 posted on 06/08/2018 11:44:53 AM PDT by ADSUM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 112 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM
Our acceptance - Baptism, the sacraments and not dying in mortal sin.

The shed blood of Christ either cleanses you or it doesn't.

126 posted on 06/08/2018 11:46:29 AM PDT by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: Faith Presses On

Well, but the Catholic idea of “faith and works” puts that separation between the two, making them distinct things.

One can claim to have faith and not act on it. Just a statement.

Or one can claim to have faith, accept it and act on it. God will see the difference. Faith is accepting God’s love and works is returning that love to God and neighbor by keeping God’s commandments. Perhaps not perfectly, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins.

So if we are in agreement, why the “faith alone” concept?


127 posted on 06/08/2018 12:00:50 PM PDT by ADSUM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: G Larry

“Christ never told his disciples to write anything, he told them to preach.”

We have Gospels from Matthew and John. I would be very surprised to find those weren’t written at least in part according to Jesus’ instructions.

We know, as John said, that Jesus did many things that he, John, didn’t record, and we can be sure that holds for all the Gospels. They have to leave out much considering they’re not very long but cover three years of his ministry.

There’s also no mention at all in the New Testament about how the Gospels came about, but we can be sure they all came from the church and Jesus’ disciples, and that Jesus’ disciples were involved somehow, since they were the actual witnesses — and really the only witnesses to much of what happened.

And I would be very surprised, too, as I said, to find that Jesus didn’t give them at least some instruction about what, if anything, to write about Him, and when and how, and after His Ascension, the Holy Spirit would have led them.


128 posted on 06/08/2018 12:03:58 PM PDT by Faith Presses On (Above all, politics should serve the Great Commission, "preparing the way for the Lord.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: ealgeone

Our acceptance - Baptism, the sacraments and not dying in mortal sin.

The shed blood of Christ either cleanses you or it doesn’t.

Christ does not force anyone to accept Him as God or His teachings or His Church.

So we accept salvation through Baptism, keeping His Commandments and His Church.


129 posted on 06/08/2018 12:08:04 PM PDT by ADSUM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM
I'm saying if you believe Christ is able to cleanse you of your sins, He cleanses you of all sins.....biggies and littl'ins.

There is no purgatory to go "get cleaned up" or "work off" your sins.

If so, those become works needed for salvation.

130 posted on 06/08/2018 12:19:55 PM PDT by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: Fantasywriter

That’s great, because it’s a specific commandment, not a tradition. Do Not murder. Put fringes on the corners...
Don’t cook...
Don’t covet...
Honor mom and dad...
Take branches (of beautiful trees....)


131 posted on 06/08/2018 12:37:37 PM PDT by Phinneous (By the way, there are Seven Laws for you too! Noahide.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: ealgeone

You better read the Bible again and have someone help you understand it.


132 posted on 06/08/2018 12:39:40 PM PDT by ADSUM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Faith Presses On

Interesting thread.

Some things that hadn’t really been fleshed out include:
1. Tradition.
Mar 7:5  And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 
Mar 7:6  And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 
Mar 7:7  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 
Mar 7:8  You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 
Mar 7:9  And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 
Mar 7:10  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 
Mar 7:11  But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 
Mar 7:12  then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 
Mar 7:13  thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” 

2. Calling a man “father” as an honorific:
Mat 23:9  And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 
It’s obvious in context that honoring someone by calling them “father” is what Christ was forbidding.

The “solae” are the reformed understanding of God’s Word:

-Sola scriptura means we believe in scripture alone, primarily because of Christ’s condemnation of tradition above. And it’s obvious from the Dead Sea Scrolls that scripture HAS survived unchanged for millennia.

-Sola fide means we believe in salvation by faith alone. Works flow from genuine faith. Works don’t save, but rather are proof of salvation. But even works and baptism aren’t absolutely necessary, as shown by the thief on the cross. Faith alone is what saved him.

-Sola Christus means we believe in salvation by Christ alone. Christ is the only mediator.
1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 

-Sola gratia means we’re saved by grace, or unmerited favor, alone. As Isaiah said in 64:6, our righteous deeds are like polluted garments or filthy rags. We can’t work our way into heaven. Just as faith without works is dead, works without genuine faith is also dead.

-Soli Deo Gloria means we’re to give God all the glory. All of it. Neither Mary, the pope nor anyone else is to share in His glory.


133 posted on 06/08/2018 12:39:49 PM PDT by afsnco (18 of 20 in AF JAG)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM

“Well, but the Catholic idea of “faith and works” puts that separation between the two, making them distinct things.”
One can claim to have faith and not act on it. Just a statement.

But the expression Catholics use is “faith and works,” and there’s a difference in meaning between having something and claiming to have it. “Faith” and “claiming to have faith” aren’t the same thing, and the Catholic belief is “faith and works,” not “a claim of having faith and works.” When Catholics say people are saved by faith and works, they mean genuine faith, right, now just a claim of faith? So again, it’s Catholics making faith and works distinct things. What Protestants mean by faith is also genuine faith, not merely a claim, and in turn genuine faith of course can only mean in God’s eyes. He’s the sole judge as He’s the only one who knows perfectly and completely what’s in everyone’s hearts. As you said, God will see the difference.

“Faith is accepting God’s love and works is returning that love to God and neighbor by keeping God’s commandments.”

But again, those are works done in faith and from faith, not outside of it. As you said, FAITH lived out, which, as James says, is what faith truly means. Genuine faith has to produce good fruit.

“So if we are in agreement, why the “faith alone” concept?”

Well, let me turn that around to ask again, why does the Catholic Church make faith and works distinct things, as though the works are separate from faith, when the works are done out of faith and by faith, if they’re works that please God. God’s Word clearly teaches that we are saved by faith alone, but that if we really have that saving faith, it will produce good fruit and we’ll see it making us mindful to please God and to care about what He cares about, which often also means having to turn from our human will and accepting His for us.


134 posted on 06/08/2018 12:41:01 PM PDT by Faith Presses On (Above all, politics should serve the Great Commission, "preparing the way for the Lord.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

“Let me ask, what is faith without works? Can you point to it? Is it visible? Introduce me to someone who has real faith but no works.

The arch-pope is very ignorant of scripture.

James makes the argument that saving faith is shown by a fruitful life after conversion. If there is no fruitful life, there was no saving faith.

So yes, James could see it and point to it.


135 posted on 06/08/2018 12:50:47 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Phinneous

I really need to revise my earlier comment re Jesus wearing tassels. Having reread the OT commands, it’s a virtual certainty that He did wear them. He was perfect in terms of keeping the Mosaic Law, which settles the issue for me.


136 posted on 06/08/2018 12:55:34 PM PDT by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM

“throughout our whole life as we participate in the sacraments and the grace that comes through them.

Scripture to the church never says grace comes to us by Christ’s two sacraments. The other five are not sacraments.

Nor is there a treasury of merit.

All paganism.


137 posted on 06/08/2018 12:55:41 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM
How do you have faith, if you don’t show it to God?

Do you honestly think that God doesn’t already know if we have saving faith or not?

He sees the heart. He already knows. We don’t need to prove nything to HIM.

It’s each other the works are for. God doesn’t need our works.

138 posted on 06/08/2018 1:08:12 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: ADSUM

LOL!


139 posted on 06/08/2018 1:45:34 PM PDT by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 132 | View Replies]

To: Luircin

Works show living faith.

this is pretty much what Msgr Pope said pages ago and everyone here has been arguing about.


140 posted on 06/08/2018 1:46:08 PM PDT by nobamanomore
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 761-779 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson