sola scriptura

noun

The Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.

OriginLatin sōlā scrīptūrā →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsola scriptura (uncountable)
  1. uncountableChristianityThe Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.

    In spite of the difficulties arising from this character of the Wittenberg Doctor, early orthodox Lutheranism taught that he had set up the “sola scriptura” as the “formal principle” of the new doctrine.

    1913, E. M. Lamond, transl., edited by C. L. Dessoulavy, Luther, volume 4, translation of original by Hartmann Grisar

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
biblism

Origin

  1. Latinsōlā scrīptūrā“by scripture alone”
  2. Englishsola scriptura

Borrowed from Latin sōlā scrīptūrā (“by scripture alone”) (ablative).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sola scriptura. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sola%20scriptura

MLA

“sola scriptura.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sola%20scriptura. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sola scriptura,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sola%20scriptura.

Source: sola scriptura on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.