Abstract
The five Solas of the Reformation have a complex history and remain sources not only of doctrinal coalition but conflict. This essay examines the traditional five Solas – sola fide, sola gratia, sola scriptura, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria – as present in nascent form in the writings of Martin Luther. While the technical terms themselves and their grouping are a later development, the incipient form of each sola is nevertheless evidenced in Luther’s corpus of writing. Having surveyed their presence and inter-relationship in Luther’s thought, the essay argues for the unity of the Solas and their continuing and valuable ability to express and articulate facets of the one revelatory and salvific economy of God, particularly when their function is seen not only as serving polemical ends of rejection and negation, but also and more beneficially outlining positive and properly ordered relations between faith and works, grace and gratitude, Scripture and tradition, Christ and the church, and God and the world. The essay concludes that if one of the Solas serves as the first among equals and the interpretive key to the others, it is that of Christ alone, and thus argues for a Christological interpretation of them all.
Published Version
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