Sola...

There are 2 concepts that came out of the reformation of the church in the 1500s (notably led by Martin Luther). One is Sola Fide. The other is Sola Scriptura. Basically, the first means "Faith alone" (with reference to Salvation). The second means "Bible alone" with reference to authority. Unfortunately, this had been a cause of conflict the Protestant church and the Roman Catholic church..

I have my own views of these 2 concept actually..

The issue regarding faith had been quite well talked about during our sermons on the book of James. Basically, Salvation is really Sola Fide, by Faith in Chirst alone. We talked about the Paul - James controversy, how Paul suggests that Salvation is only by Faith and how James talks about how Faith without works is dead. Then we reconciled it by saying that Paul is talking about the "roots" of salvation while James is talking about the "Fruits" of salvation. That is, it is only by Faith in Christ alone that saves - for it is purely by the work of Christ that we are saved. But as a result of this salvation, our salvation would be evident by the things we do. As such, if we do not have "works", then perhaps our "faith" is really non existent in the first place. In that sense, it is dead faith. CS Lewis says that he does not know how exactly it works out, but he knows that those who insists that Salvation is by Faith alone, would also insist that you do good works; while those who believe that you have to do good works, will also insist that you have faith. Somehow, both components are present and necessary.

The other issue is talked about less in church - that of authority. Now, for us as Protestants, we may not really understand what this "Traditions" is when the Catholics (and perhaps the Anglicans) talk about it. If I am not wrong, it is the church practices that are passed down, in a sense, orally, and not necessarily in scriptures. Please don't be too quick to reject that - all churches practice it in some extent or another. That is why we do similar things every week (praise and worship, announcements, communion, sermon), which may deviate from other churches. Another example will probably be the celebration of Christmas, which is of course, not found in scripture. Catholics do have a more extensive and structured tradition, safeguarded by Vatican(if I am not wrong), headed by the Pope. But the difference lies (I think) more in extent than practice.

And that is my stand on it. All Christians should have 3 sources of Spiritual authority. The First is the scriptures. The second is the leading of the Holy Spirit. And the third is the "Traditions" of the church (or the church authorities). And the guiding principle is that they must never contradict each other (won't it be strange?). For this reason, I think the clearest and probably most reliable is the scriptures, because the Written Word does not change (there may be interpretation issues, but these are less controversial than the other 2. Furthermore, interpretation issues actually pose less of a problem than widely thought of - I think). Yet, this is not to reject the other 2. Without the Holy Spirit's leading, we would find it hard to have a "relationship" with God. And without "Traditions", we are left to decide on our own what to do. These should be held in balance..

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Well.. these are mainly opinions (not facts) la.. But anyway.. yup :)