In order to seriously talk about any theology, we need to make clear what presuppositions we are bringing with us into the discussion. We can talk for hours about the doctrine of the Trinity, but if I believe that the Bible is God’s word and you do not, we need to talk about something other than the doctrine of the Trinity. Since I often use this blog for theological musings, I think it’s helpful for me to make clear three presuppositions that I have as I talk about the Bible.
Grace Alone
We are saved by grace. Grace is central to what it means to be a Christian, and this will be foundational to everything in our theology. If we are saved by grace alone, this heavily influences what we believe about God’s activity towards man and man’s response to God. The belief that man has any role in his own salvation is dangerous; it is only because of God’s grace that we have salvation.
Faith Alone
Christ died for all people, but not all people are saved. Why? God’s death and ressurection was for all people, but the way that this has been applied to us as individuals is by faith alone. We are saved by grace through faith. There are no lists of 7 principles that will lead us to the gift of faith; faith simply comes from God. And it is only through faith in Christ that we receive the benefit of forgiveness.
Scripture Alone
The place that our theology comes from, is always from scripture. Our theology shouldn’t come from popular opinion or scientific theories, but from the Word of God. The scripture is the authority for any discussions on what we believe; if we are going to make claims about what we believe about things like God, the work of Christ, the creation of the world, or homosexuality, it is going to be based on the authority of scripture. The scripture shapes our theology and is the reason that we are able to have any knowledge of our sin and God’s grace.
What presuppositions do you have when talking about theology?
I would add the other 2 solas:
Christ Alone (Solus Christus)
– Christ is the only mediator between man and God. Is is only through Christ that we have salvation.
&
Glory to God Alone (Soli Deo Gloria)
- God deserves all our honor and glory. Is is only through his grace and mercy that we can be identified as his.
I agree that those are good solas, but I think they are inferred based on the three and because of that not necessary.
I was sticking with the original 5 Solas from the Reformation. All 5 were significant points of disagreement with the Catholic church and thus were part of the reason for the split.
I’m glad I randomly came upon one of your tweets. I’ll enjoy following this series. Some questions/comments.
If faith comes from God, and we are justified through faith, how does this separate Lutherans from the Calvinist belief in predestination? Certainly we have free will to choose to have faith, but I agree from experience that faith is not something we choose in the same sense as other beliefs. It’s strange. Perhaps a paradox. Who knows.
And secondly, avowing sola scriptura can be tough. First, not even Luther practiced Scripture ONLY. I know he said it, but Luther found importance in reason, experience, etc. as well. I think it is important to differentiate between the authority of Scripture and the consideration ONLY of Scripture.
One problem with claiming sola scriptura is that the Word was written within a socio-cultural milieu. We then read it in the midst of a separate and different socio-cultural milieu. Obviously, this opens up the possibilty for some to read whatever they would like into Scripture, but I believe there’s a way to read Scripture keeping all this in mind and yet doing God’s will.
I’m glad you randomly came across it too!
I’ll probably talk about some of these things in the series for sure; I think what separates Lutherans from true Calvinists is their belief in dual predestination. That being said, pre-destination and free-will is certainly one of the paradoxes in our faith.
While Sola Scriptura means “scripture alone,” that doesn’t mean that reason and experience aren’t important or even helpful, but there is a significant difference from using reason and allowing reason to be an authority. Sola Scriptura refers to scripture as being the sole authority because it is God’s written word.