Ears Alone: A Neglected Reformation "Sola"?
Use of the "five solas" -- sola
scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solo Christo, and soli Deo
gloria -- to collectively summarize Reformation theology is apparently a
twentieth-century thing. The reformers, to be sure, used these phrases (or very
similar ones) to communicate distinct truths about Scripture's authority, God's
initiative in salvation, the sufficiency of Christ's work for sinners, and
faith's role in appropriating Christ and his benefits. They just never listed
them the way we do today (or referred to them as the "five solas") to summarize
the content of their objections to both Roman Catholic and radical perspectives
of their day. Employed thus in our day, the solas -- like
most summaries of the teaching of a given thinker or movement (think TULIP) -- can
be simultaneously useful and misleading. Such summaries can, of course, lead us
to overlook important aspects of a thinker or movement's teaching. The five
most commonly noted solas, for example,
fail to reflect in any substantial way Reformation gains made in ecclesiology
and/or sacramentology. Noting as much, some recent persons have argued that sola ecclesia (at the very least) should
be included in recitations of the solas,
thus acknowledging the reformers' joint commitment to the (true) visible church's
indispensability for salvation (see for example WCF 25.2).
If voting on who or what might make the solas cut is still open, I'd like to nominate "ears alone" for
inclusion in the cast. I base this on Luther's observation in his biblical
commentaries that "the ears alone (solae aures) are the organs of a Christian man." Such a claim might initially surprise
present day evangelical Christians, since ears can neither read the Bible, nor
pray, nor perform positive works of service towards others, things Christians
presumably do. Why honor the ears thus?
Luther's privileging of the ears rested on his recognition
that "faith comes through hearing" (Rom. 10.17). It rested, in other words, on
his observation that God has appointed preaching as the peculiar means
of creating and sustaining faith in those whom he has purposed to save. After
all, the very same God who spoke the world into existence (Gen. 1.1-2.7) brought
life to dead bones through the instrument of his prophet's proclamation (Ez.
37.1-14). That same God brings life to dead hearts, thereby creating faith, in
our age of redemptive history through the proclamation of properly ordained ministers
(those "sent" to "preach" in Rom. 10.15). "For if you ask a Christian what the
work is by which he becomes worthy of the name 'Christian'," Luther's comment
reads in context, "he will be able to give absolutely no other answer than that
it is the hearing of the Word of God, that is, faith. Therefore, the ears alone
are the organs of a Christian man."
The slogan "ears alone," then, emphasizes the critical role
that preaching occupies in God's economy of salvation. It also, however,
reinforces the truth that salvation is God's gift, not something we earn or
seize through any endeavors of our own. Luther contrasts the ears not primarily
with the eyes (by which we read) or mouth (by which we pray), but with the
hands and feet, by which we work. "God
no longer requires the feet or hands or any other member; He requires only the
ears." Hearing is a passive enterprise, at least in comparison to the things we
do when we put other body parts to use (hands, feet, mouth, etc.). The
(relatively) passive posture we assume when God's word is preached is most
appropriate, since that word's content is a stark reminder that we
contribute nothing to our salvation.
In sum, then, "ears alone" -- with its emphasis upon the method God employs (and the
corresponding posture we should assume) in translating sinners into the Kingdom
of his Son -- stands to complement the others solas
with their emphases upon the message
(namely, that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone, to God's glory alone) and Scripture's unique status as the source and norm of that message. Solae aures
may not, admittedly, roll off the tongue quite so smoothly as sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solo
Christo, and soli Deo gloria.
But, if added to the solas roster, it
would serve to preserve important Reformation emphases that are ever
susceptible to neglect or abandonment.