What exactly are the Five Solas of Christianity? These five latin phrases are really just the rally cries of the reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther in the 16th century. They are known by many as the theological pillars of the reformation and began when the reformers saw the corruption throughout the Roman Catholic church. All Five Solas are in response to five doctrines that they believed were the core essentials of Christianity and were being wrongly taught by the church. This movement eventually transformed Christendom and led to the emergence of the churches that you see in your city.
The real question is why should you even pick up a book that is thousands of years old and has things in there that seem absolutely crazy? The first of the Five Solas is Sola Scripture or literally “By Scripture Alone.” This slogan is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and living a Christian life. Now you might rightly say “what about all the truth in this world like engendering and science?” Great question. The Bible does not write off other scholastic writings nor is it a math or science text book. It is there to show us how we might know God and have a relationship with him.
In other words, the Bible is the only final authority in matters of faith and and how that faith applies to our daily lives. There are also many characteristics of the Bible that attribute to this doctrine. The majority of these descriptions are taken from my favorite living theologian and previous professor of mine, Wayne Grudem.
Inspiration
This point is re-iterated hundreds of times within Scripture. It is that the Bible is the very Word of God. If God were to speak, (and he did) it would look exactly like what we have in our hands. Even though the Bible was written by human authors, those human authors were inspired by God himself as they penned what we have today.
Authority
In short, the Bible has the full authority of God. All the words of Scripture are God’s words and to disobey any part of his Word would be to disobey God. The Bible does not contain all knowledge, but it does contain everything that is necessary for salvation.
Clarity
The Bible is also written in such a way that it is able to be understood by ordinary Christians who seek to understand and know more about it. You don’t need a priest or pastor to interpret the Bible, you can go and simply read it yourself. This is in contradiction to Apostolic Authority in the Catholic Church that would see leadership, such as the pope, as a source of authority along with scripture.
Necessity
The Bible is necessary for knowing what the Gospel is and living a spiritual life, but not necessary for knowing that there is a God. The Bible teaches in the book of Romans that every person on this earth knows that there is a God instinctively. It is evident when you look at such things as creation, but a woman or man do not instinctively know how to be at peace with that God without the Bible.
Sufficiency
The Bible contains all the words of God that he intended us to have and also contains everything God needs to tell us to obtain salvation.
Inerrancy
The written words of Scripture, in the original manuscripts, is true in all that it says. As afore stated, the Bible is not a science text book, but everything it says about any topic within it, is true.
All of these characteristics culminate into the Bible that we have today and thus we can trust what it says. So take some time to dust off that old book on the shelf and give it a read, you’ll be surprised at what you see!
Purposeful Theology 