Bridge of Reason

  So far we have given a brief description of the five solas, which underpinned the Protestant Reformers dispute with the Roman Catholic Church. The five, namely Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia and Soli Deo Gloria were all important pillars but it is to be noted, that four of these five principles flow from the one. Sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone Sola S criptura, known as the formal cause of the Reformation , is the doctrine that the Scriptures are the unique , final , supreme authority for the life and faith of the Christian . And it is this foundational doctrine that upholds and supports the other ‘solas’. Martin Luther said: We must make a great difference between God's Word and the word of man. A man's word is a little sound, that flies into the air, and soon vanishes; but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, greater than death and hell, for it forms part of the power of God, and endures everlastingly. 1 The

Hermes Jesus is no-one’s Hermes, a strange title, but stick with me and we’ll see what we can make of it. Hermes was the Greek god of translators and interpreters. More clever than all the other gods, he was the messenger of the gods. The Roman equivalent is, of course, Mercury. God’s have messengers, other gods who run errands for them. Oberon, king of the faeries in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, sent the mischievous Puck on an errand to find a special plant with magical qualities. More prosaically, human kings have messengers, such as the character Herald, in Shakespeare’s Henry V, who passes through the battlefield unscathed because of his role carrying messages between the French king and England’s Henry. God’s Messengers The God of the Bible has messengers, human prophets and apostles, but also angels. ‘Angel’ comes from the Latin angelus ; Greek aggelos ; from the Hebrew for "one going" or "one sent," a messenger. These messengers from the throne-

  In Part 2 we continue to consider the five solas of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Fide – Faith Alone "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema." 1 Just as the RCC taught that it is Jesus and, they also taught that it is Faith and. They teach that faith in Christ alone is not enough to be justified, to be made right with God. As a Catholic, Martin Luther also believed this until the Lord used Scripture to show him differently. When Luther read Romans 1 his eyes and his heart were opened: For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) R.C Sproul speaking about this momentous event in Luther’s life comments:

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 1 This statement though true in general is especially true for the Christian Church. How quickly we forget, or should I say ignore, those who have gone before us. But then why should we who live in the twenty first century be in any way concerned about what was happening in the Christian Church hundreds and hundreds of years ago? What on earth can they teach us, that we do not already know? Aren’t we far more educated than they were? Sadly, such folly exists amongst the people of God; and such ignorance in turn leads to an embracing of the very same errors that our forebears fought and taught against. Standing up for truth cost many their lives; but what has that got to do with us? It is my contention that it has everything to do with us. In this first article we will take a trip back in time to the sixteenth century and consider why the five solas were of vital importance to the Protestant Reformers. What are the