The "5 Solas were developed in response to specific perversions of the truth that were taught at the time by the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the Roman Catholic Church still says that they are not core principles of the Christian faith.
But in fact, they are clearly found in the Catholic Church's own Nicene Creed which was written more than 1000 years before the Reformation. It is demonstrable therefore that the Christian Faith of the Reformation is the same as that of the early Christian church, and it infers that today's Roman faith is something different.
In the Nicene Creed, some of the Solas are defined tightly, and some more loosely, but they are all evident.
- By faith only: The fact that we even have creeds ("I believe") demonstrates that belief, not works or anything of the flesh) are the summation of our religion. There's no mention of works at all.
- Through Christ only: The second part of the Nicene is about "the ONE... Christ"? There is no other Messiah to save you.
- By Grace only. This Messiah was "begotten before all worlds". That is to say He appointed all your days not just before you were born but rather before all creation so that you could never say that God loved you (or didn't) because of who you are. Everything you are and everything that you believe (or don't believe) is because He appointed it to be so.
- Only for the Glory of God: The fact is that man does nothing throughout the entire Nicene Creed, and God does everything. He is the whole focus.
- Only Scripture: Both the New Testament and the Old Testament are authenticated in the Nicene, the former when it says "he rose according to the Scriptures", and the latter when it says "Who spake by the Prophets". This is the only and the complete documentation of our faith.