- Soli Deo gloria
"Soli Deo gloria" is one of the
five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during theProtestant Reformation ; it is aLatin term for "Glory to God alone". The emphasis was allegedly in contradistinction to the teaching of theRoman Catholic Church of the day.The doctrine states essentially that everything that is done is for God's glory to the exclusion of humankind's self-glorification and pride. The idea is that Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.
"Soli Deo gloria" is the motto of the
Brotherhood of Saint Gregory , a Christian Community of friars of the Episcopal Church founded within theAnglican communion in 1969.The Baroque composer
Johann Sebastian Bach appended the initials "SDG" at the end of the musical manuscripts of each of his cantatas [http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/about_us/sdg.cfm] and, indeed, many other works. This dedication was also used by his contemporaryGeorge Frideric Handel (see image on right).The 16th century Spanish mystic and poet
St. John of the Cross used a similar phrase, "Soli Deo honor et gloria", in his "Precautions and Counsels"."Soli Deo Gloria" is also the motto for Wheaton Academy, a high school located in West Chicago, Illinois, which was founded in 1853.
ee also
*
Apotheosis
*Veneration External links
* [http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Five-Solas/ Articles on the five "sola"s] from a conservative Protestant perspective
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