The 5
solas (occasionally,
solae) of the
Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Biblical principles held by theologians and churchmen to be central to the doctrine of salvation as taught by the Western Protestant church. Each sola — from the Latin meaning "alone" or "only" — represents a key belief in Christian faith held by the Protestant reformers in contradistinction to the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church of the day. The Reformers claimed that the Roman Catholic Church, especially its head, the
Pope, had usurped divine attributes or qualities for the Church and its hierarchy.