This is a deep dive on the Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide or Faith Alone. This was one of the two main principles Martin Luther used when separating from the Catholic Church. In 1517 Martin Luther started translating the Bible into German. He first completed the Psalms, then while imprisoned in Wartburg in 1521 translated the New Testament. Ignoring the command of Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelations 22: 18-19 not to add or subtract from the word of God, Luther added a word to Romans 3:28 which originally read, "For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Luther added the German word "allein" which means alone. So the verse then read, "For we hold that a man is justified by faith alone apart from works of the law." When challenged on this addition Luther stated: "If your papist wants to make so much fuss about the word sola [alone] tell him this, 'Dr. Martin Luther will have it so...." Read more about this addition in this article from Catholic Answers.
In this 17 part video series, two former Protestants discuss in great detail sola fide. Use the titles and descriptions for find what is right for you. Episode 17 and 34 give a good summary of both the Lutheran and Catholic view.
Are Catholics Even Christians?
What is the doctrine of "faith alone," and how did Martin Luther come to articulate it? What was he experiencing in his own life as a Catholic monk that led him to feel like he'd found the key to everything when he formulated his doctrine of justification? During their decades as Protestant Christians, Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley both came at the "faith alone" question from different angles. Ken in particular, as a former Baptist pastor, bought fully into Luther's take on justification, assuming it was the normative Christian perspective. In this episode, Matt and Ken take a look at the underpinnings and implications of justification by "faith alone," and why it has been such a divisive issue between Catholics and Reformed Christians over the centuries. This is the first of several episodes about the doctrine of "faith alone," so we realize we're only scratching the surface here!
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of the doctrine of "sola fide," or justification by "faith alone," by looking at the pattern of faith, followed by obedience, followed by blessing, that occurs in the Old Testament, and which is celebrated in the New Testament. Did Abraham "earn" his salvation? Did Noah, or Moses? Or was the model of trusting God, and then obeying him, and then receiving blessing, something that was meant to set the stage for how salvation should be understood in Christianity?
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they wrestled with the doctrine of "sola fide," or "faith alone," on their way into the Catholic Church. Sure, Noah, Abraham and Moses had to believe, and then obey, in order to receive God's promise. But they were in the Old Testament! Surely everything changed with Christ? But as Matt and Ken point out, those very Old Testament figures are held up by none other than Jesus himself, as well as St. Paul, as models for a right relationship with God. In fact, both Jesus and St. Paul are so clear that we must have faith AND obedience in order to be saved, that the only way around it is to twist their words into logical pretzels and claim that what they actually mean is the opposite of what they appear to be teaching.
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss the Reformation doctrine of "sola fide," or justification by faith alone, by digging more into St. Paul, specifically what he has to say about the idea of "works" in Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. When Paul says that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law, what does he mean by "works of the law?" Does he mean that no obedience of any kind is necessary for salvation? Or is it important to understand Paul's experience of trying to implement the reforms of the 1st Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) regarding circumcision of Gentile Christians in order to understand what he means when he speaks about "works" in those letters?
Much of the conversation about this topic between Catholics and Reformed Christians, as well as the debate between Reformed Christians and other branches of Christianity, centers around the question of justification. What does it mean to be "justified," according to Reformed theology? And is the way that the relationship between justification and sanctification, as articulated in the Reformed tradition, consistent with Scripture and the historical Christian teaching on the matter?
As a Baptist pastor, Ken Hensley held to Martin Luther's doctrine of "sola fide," or justification by "faith alone." But what was he supposed to do with the many passages in the Old Testament, as well as the Gospels and the Epistles of the New Testament, that seemed to directly contradict that doctrine? Ken shares with Matt Swaim how over time, he began to realize that maybe it wasn't that the Bible was just full of passages that were problematic in light of the Reformed doctrine of justification; maybe the problem instead was that he had been viewing Scripture through the wrong theological lens.
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of the question of justification by "faith alone," as articulated by Reformed theology, which Ken once held to as a Baptist pastor. If Noah, Abraham, and others, were "reckoned righteous" by faith ALONE, why were they required to continue in obedience in order to remain in God's favor? And what about the curious case of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, who ran through a rebellious Israelite and his mistress with a spear, and it was "reckoned to him as righteousness?" (Ps. 106:31)
A New Heart I will Give You
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss the Reformation pillar of "sola fide," or justification by "faith alone," by focusing specifically on the idea of the doctrine of imputation. As a Baptist pastor, Ken held to the Reformed belief that righteousness was "imputed," meaning that God credits His own righteousness to our account, and the Christian then wears that righteousness like a cloak. However, throughout the Old and New Testaments, God is shown to deal with his people in terms of actual forgiveness, actual regeneration, and actual transformation. Matt and Ken look at how Scripture shows that God's plan for his people is not to merely credit righteousness to their account, but to transform their hearts and bestow upon them the grace to follow His commandments and live in true relationship with Him.
On the Journey Matt and Ken - Episode 26: A Damning System of Works Righteousness, Part X The Evidence for Imputation
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to look at the Reformation doctrine of "sola fide," or justification by "faith alone." While Ken was still a Baptist pastor, he began to find that the more he searched the Scriptures, the more it seemed that "sola fide" wasn't the best way to articulate how God saves His people. In this episode, Ken shares with Matt the seven key realizations he had along the way that caused him to realize that "faith alone" was an inadequate way of explaining the Biblical understanding of salvation.
If the Reformation doctrine of justification by "faith alone" was, as Protestant scholar Alistair McGrath describes it, a "theological novum," then what did Christians believe about salvation and justification prior to Martin Luther's revolution of 1517? Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of what led them to see that "sola fide" was an inadequate and incomplete description of how God saves His people, and share what picture began to form for them as they began to dive into the Old and New Testaments with a fresh set of eyes.
What is salvation? Is it something that comes from completely outside of us, or is it something we need to cooperate with? Or is it ultimately both? Scripture offers many commands in regard to salvation: "believe," "repent and be baptized," "follow," "abide," "obey," and "love." Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley look at the totality of these statements and share what kind of picture begins to come together when these passages are taken as a whole.
Ken Hensley, a former Baptist pastor, and Matt Swaim, who grew up in the Wesleyan Holiness tradition, look more about how they came to understand the Catholic Church's teaching on justification and salvation. Is justification an event or a process? And what role do we play in our own salvation? Matt and Ken look at the decrees of the Council of Trent, and what they have to say about the interplay of grace and free will. Even the ability to turn to God and place our faith in Christ to be saved by Him is the result of God’s grace working in us.
On the last episode, Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley dealt with how the Council of Trent discussed justification as an event. On this episode, they look at how Trent talks about justification as a process. If the event of justification (when a believer is baptized and enters into the family of God) can be comparable to the Israelites going through the Red Sea, then the process of justification (the lifelong journey of a Christian in relationship with God) can be likened to the journey of the Israelites through the desert to the promised land. The Catholic Church teaches that justification is both an event and a process, and Matt and Ken explore how the Council of Trent discusses salvation in those two ways.
Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their series on Catholic and Protestant views of justification with a look at the concept of divine sonship. In some ways, the Catholic understanding of justification is like a person who owes a large amount of money being forgiven a debt; in other ways, it is like a criminal being absolved in a courtroom. But ultimately, it is most like a wayward child being welcomed back into a family. This concept of divine filiation, held not only by Catholics but also many other Christians, is distinct from the Reformed notion of imputed righteousness; and, as Ken explains, was a key realization that began to lead him closer to the Catholic Church while he was still serving as a Baptist pastor.
Can you lose your salvation? Christians are divided on a number of issues, but the question of "once saved, always saved," is not only one that divides Catholics and some Protestants, but also divides certain groups of Protestants from one another. Ken Hensley, a former Baptist pastor who used to believe in "once saved, always saved," and Matt Swaim, a Wesleyan-tradition Evangelical who definitely did not, look at what the Bible has to say about the possibility of losing one's salvation.
Can Catholic's Earn Eternal Life
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