Sola fide and the Early Church Fathers

Sola fide and the Early Church Fathers

·       There are several Church Fathers whom Protestant apologists believe taught the doctrine of Sola Fide. Here are some of them:

·       Clement of Rome (c. 30-100) - “And we [Christians], too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”^[37]

·       Justin Martyr (d. 165) - in his Dialogue with Trypho: “No longer by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer . . . are sins purged, but by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death, who died on this very account.”^[38]

·       Didymus the Blind (c. 313-398) - “…a person is saved by grace, not by works but by faith. There should be no doubt but that faith saves and then lives by doing its own works, so that the works which are added to salvation by faith are not those of the law but a different kind of thing altogether.”^[39]

·       Hilary of Poitiers (c 315-67) on Matthew 20:7 - “Wages cannot be considered as a gift, because they are due to work, but God has given free grace to all men by the justification of faith.”^[40]

·       Basil of Caesarea (329-379) - “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption. This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been) justified solely by faith in Christ.”^[41]

·       Ambrose (c. 339-97)- “Therefore let no one boast of his works, because no one can be justified by his works; but he who is just receives it as a gift, because he is justified by the washing of regeneration. It is faith, therefore, which delivers us by the blood of Christ, because blessed is he whose sins are forgiven, and to whom pardon is granted.”^[42]

·       Jerome (347-420) on Romans 10:3 - “God justifies by faith alone.” (Deus ex sola fide justificat).^[43]

·       Chrysostom (349-407) - For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me, does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent.^[44]

·       Augustine (354-430) - If Abraham was not justified by works, how was he justified? … Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6). Abraham, then, was justified by faith. Paul and James do not contradict each other: good works follow justification.

·       Augustine (354-430) - Although it can be said that God’s commandments pertain to faith alone, if it is not dead [faith], but rather understood as that live faith, which works through love.^[27][28]

·       Augustine (354-430)- “When someone believes in him who justifies the impious, that faith is reckoned as justice to the believer, as David too declares that person blessed whom God has accepted and endowed with righteousness, independently of any righteous actions (Rom 4:5-6). What righteousness is this? The righteousness of faith, preceded by no good works, but with good works as its consequence.”^[45]

·       Ambrosiaster (4th century), on Rom. 3:24 - “They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God.”

·       Cyril of Alexandria (412-444) - For we are justified by faith, not by works of the law, as Scripture says (Gal. 2:16). By faith in whom, then, are we justified? Is it not in him who suffered death according to the flesh for our sake? Is it not in one Lord Jesus Christ?^[46]

·       Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) - Therefore the hope of justification is not found in them [the moral and ceremonial requirements of the law], but in faith alone, Rom 3:28: We consider a human being to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.^[27][28]