Editing Five solae (section)

==The three ''solae''==
In most of the earliest articulations of the solae, three were typically specified: scripture over tradition, faith over works, and grace over merit. Each was intended to represent an important distinction compared with teachings claimed in Catholic doctrine.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}<ref name="engelder 1916" />{{page needed|date=January 2022}}<!--THE LACK OF PAGE NUMBERS TO A 341 PG  BOOK IS, FROM A WP:VERIFY PERSPECTIVE, AS GOOD AS NO SOURCE AT ALL. "MOVE IT [TOWARD COMPLIANCE], OR LOSE IT [AS A SOURCE]."-->

===''Sola scriptura'' ("by scripture alone")===
{{Main|Sola scriptura}}

''Sola scriptura'' <!--(Latin ablative, ''sōlā scrīptūrā'', meaning "by scripture alone") NO WHERE SOURCED, NOT AT MAIN ARTICLE EITHER, AND SO PURELY WP:OR--> is upheld by Lutheran and Reformed theologies and asserts that scripture must govern over church traditions and interpretations which are themselves held to be subject to scripture. All church traditions, creeds, and teachings must be in unity with the teachings of scripture as the divinely inspired [[Authorship of the Bible|Word of God]].<ref name=solascriptura>{{cite web |url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090927214527/https://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=39&cuItem_itemID=12132 |title=Sola Scriptura? |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=15 May 2006 |website=WELS Topical Q&A |publisher=Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod |access-date=26 May 2024 |quote=[M]any passages...state sola scriptura, such as Revelation 22:18-19. If we cannot add anything to the words of Scripture and we cannot take anything away from them, that is Scripture alone.}}</ref>

The doctrine of ''sola scriptura'' affirms that scripture is the only source of normative, apostolic, infallible revelation and that “all things necessary for salvation and about faith and life are taught in the Bible with sufficient clarity so that the ordinary believer can find it there and understand it.”<ref>Reformed Dogmatics, 2:209–10.</ref>

This particular sola is sometimes called the [[formal principle]] of the Reformation, since it is the source and norm of the [[material principle|material cause or principle]], [[the gospel]] of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] that is received ''sola fide'' (Latin ablative, sōlā fidē, meaning "by faith alone") and ''sola gratia'' (Latin ablative, ''sōlā grātiā'', meaning "by grace alone" or by God's favor). The adjective (''sola'') and the noun (''scriptura'') are in the [[ablative case]] rather than in the [[nominative case]] to indicate that the Bible does not stand alone apart from God, but rather that it is the instrument of God by which he reveals himself for salvation through faith in Christ (''[[solus Christus]]'' or ''[[solo Christo]]'').

It should be emphasized that this doctrine in no way denies tradition, reason, or experience as sources of truth. There is nothing in Sola Scriptura that eliminates other authorities. What it does say is that there is only one authority that can absolutely bind the conscience, that authority is holy scripture and that all controversies about doctrine and theology must be resolved in the final analysis by scripture.

===''Sola fide'' ("by faith alone")===

{{Main|Sola fide}}
{{Lutheranism}}
{{Calvinism}}
Sola fide is summarized in the [[Thirty-nine Articles]] of the [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] church, specifically Article XI "Of the Justification of Man":

{{blockquote|We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort...|[[Thirty-Nine Articles|''Thirty-nine Articles of Religion'']] (1571)}}

Bishop [[Scott J. Jones]] in ''United Methodist Doctrine'' writes that in [[Methodist]] theology:

{{blockquote|Faith is necessary to salvation unconditionally. Good works are necessary only conditionally, that is if there is time and opportunity. The thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43 is Wesley's example of this. He believed in Christ and was told, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." This would be impossible if the good works that are the fruit of genuine repentance and faith were unconditionally necessary for salvation. The man was dying and lacked time; his movements were confined and he lacked opportunity. In his case, faith alone was necessary. However, for the vast majority of human beings good works are necessary for continuance in faith because those persons have both the time and opportunity for them.<ref name="Jones2002">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Scott J.|title=United Methodist Doctrine|year=2002|publisher=Abingdon Press|isbn=9780687034857|page=190}}</ref>|author=Scott J. Jones|title=United Methodist Doctrine|source=page 190}}

For Luther, baptism is a work of God by which the forgiveness of sins and salvation earned by Christ's death, and confirmed by Christ's resurrection, are given to the baptized person who believes God's Word that says He is doing exactly that in baptism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luther's Small Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther |url=http://catechism.cph.org/en/sacrament-of-holy-baptism.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=catechism.cph.org}}</ref> [[Paedobaptism|Infant baptism]] is not only appropriate, but urged: "We bring the child in the conviction and hope that it believes, and we pray that God may grant it faith; but we do not baptize it upon that, but solely upon the command of God."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Holy Baptism |url=https://bookofconcord.org/large-catechism/holy-baptism/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=bookofconcord.org |language=en}}</ref>

The Bible talks about the idea of being justified by faith opposed to "works of the law":<blockquote>For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Romans 3:28 ESV

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17</blockquote>

===''Sola gratia'' ("by grace alone")===
{{Main|Sola gratia}}
''Sola gratia'', or "only [[Grace in Christianity|grace]]", specifically excludes the merit done by a person as part of achieving salvation. ''Sola gratia'' is the teaching that [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] comes by [[divine grace]] or "unmerited favor" only, not as something merited by the sinner. A famous verse used to back up this doctrine is:<blockquote>For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9</blockquote>

Protestant [[Arminian]]s, such as [[Methodists]], are synergists but may also claim the doctrine of ''sola gratia'', though they understand it quite differently than [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] and [[Calvinists]] do.<ref name="Olson2009">{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Roger E.|title=Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities|date=20 September 2009|publisher=InterVarsity Press|language=en|isbn=9780830874439|page=95|quote=Arminians do not think so; they hold a form of evangelical synergism that sees grace as the efficient cause of salvation and calls faith the sole instrumental cause of salvation to the exclusion of human merits.}}</ref> Arminians believe that God saves only by grace and not at all by merit, but man, enabled by what is referred to as "[[prevenient grace]]", is enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand the Gospel and respond in faith. Arminians believe that this is compatible with salvation by grace alone, since all the actual saving is done by grace. Arminians believe that humans are only capable of receiving salvation when first enabled to do so by prevenient grace, which they believe is distributed to everyone. Arminians therefore do not reject the conception of ''sola gratia'' expounded by Lutheran and Reformed theologians, although their interpretation of it is quite different.<ref>See "Myth 7: Arminianism Is Not a Theology of Grace" in Roger E Olsen, Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities, 2006.</ref>

John Owen, in ''A Display of Arminianism'', rejects the implied belief that the understanding of the Reformed theology has any alliance between the two doctrines and Arminianism is but another form of [[pelagianism]], known as [[semipelagianism]].