by Dean M. Erickson
We celebrate this year the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses, which is commonly accepted as the start of the Protestant Reformation.The principles of the Reformation are no less significant because centuries have passed. They capture the heart of the gospel Alliance messengers proclaim around the world.
Soli Deo gloria—“glory to God alone”—is a late-comer to the list of five solas (or solae). Never clearly stated or connected to the other solas in the Reformation, soli Deo gloria was not a reaction against the Catholic Church of Martin Luther’s day. In fact, the motto of the Jesuit order, founded in 1540, is ad majorem Dei gloriam, “to the greater glory of God.” The phrasing became iconic in the 1700s as J. S. Bach (1685–1750) often added soli Deo gloria to his original musical scores to acknowledge the true Source of all creation and worship.
This notation is fitting as Genesis 1 begins Creation and Scripture with God alone. Recognizing God alone as the Creator compels the observer to see and hear God revealed as “[t]he heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). When Christ was revealed in His incarnation, a heavenly choir of angels announced: “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14).
Glory to the Only God
Soli Deo gloria can be understood in two ways. First, “glory to the only God” is the declaration of Genesis 1 to an ancient polytheistic world. In contrast to the cultures around the early Israelites, God revealed himself at Mt. Sinai in an earth-shaking theophany (Exodus 19:18) and spoke the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). God further clarifies the reason for this command in Isaiah 45:5. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.”
In our contemporary culture, many “gods” vie for our worship. In a world perpetually looking down at our phones, soli Deo gloria invites us to look up and proclaim “glory to the only God” worthy of our whole-hearted attention.
Glory to God Alone
Second, soli Deo gloria is commonly translated “glory to God alone.” The first four solas affirm that God alone can provide salvation by grace, through faith, revealed through Scripture, made possible through the sacrificial death and life-giving resurrection of Christ alone. Our very lives depend upon God alone; therefore, we give glory to God alone.
It is common in our day for people to admit the need for a “higher power,” but the dominant humanistic worldview today identifies that power as “inside you” or “your true self or potential.”
The solas proclaim the truth that God alone saves and is therefore worthy of glory. In our modern narcissistic age this message is liberating, and it compels us to share this good news. In this way we multiply our soli Deo gloria by inviting a multitude “from every tribe and language and people and nation” to proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:9, 12).
In this way, soli Deo gloria pulls together all of the solas into a single expression of praise to God alone. It also calls us to commit with Paul: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
The Reformation revived the simple yet profound truth of the gospel that Jesus commissioned us to proclaim. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21).
Dean M. Erickson is the department chair and professor of Old Testament Studies at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota.