This post from CRN.com puts on display two of the watchdoggies’ favorite things: false dichotomy and anonymous posting. In this case it takes the form of five sets of two solas that are placed against each other. For example:

Sola Effutio (Only Dialogue) vs. Sola Scriptura (Only Scripure)

Of course the really stunning part here is that the majority of scripture is dialogue. Dialogue between God and humanity, between prophets and Israel, between Jesus and, well, lots of people, between Paul and the churches he founded, and between the other writers of the epistles and the people they are writing to. But, even if you want to say that dialog is ok because it actually is scripture then we can start going to the various creeds and theologies through history, all of which is the result of… that’s right dialog. None of the creeds, or theologies created (including Calvin’s institutes) were created by a single voice. In fact, its fair to say that the creeds and theological works some of which are revered by the watchdoggies are the pieces of dialog about scripture that have occurred through history. Placing scripture and dialog against each other in a false dichotomy isn’t just a logical fallacy, its dishonest. The watchdoggies don’t choose scripture over dialog, they just want to only have a dialog with people who already agree with them.

Sola Tolero (Only Tolerance) vs. Sola Gratia (Only Grace)

Speaking as a gentile Christian, thank God that Jesus didn’t accept this false dichotomy. If anything grace and tolerance are complementary ideas, which makes sense since I haven’t seen either grace or tolerance come from watchdoggies.

Sola Voco in Dubium (Only Calling into Question) vs. Sola Fide (Only Faith)

Now this is one where I paused for a second to make sure that I didn’t accidentally end up on some sort of parody site because this is a bunch of people who take pride in tracing their roots back to the Reformation which by its very nature was calling into question previously accepted and settled theology. Of course today the watchdoggies look a lot like the Catholic church in the way they’ve integrated their tradition with scripture and call them both authoritative, so its only natural that they’d get a bit upset with anyone calling into question what they believe.

Solas Humanitas (Only Culture) vs. Solus Christus (Only Christ)

For a group that thinks organs and pews are just peachy and hymns are the way to go to worship you’d think they’d be a bit more careful in forcing a choice between culture and Christ.

Solas Deo Amor (Only God’s Love) vs. Soli Deo Gloria (Only God’s Glory)

Usually when two of God’s attributes are set against each other its an atheist doing the pontificating. I really hope I don’t have to make a case that Christians can and should choose both.

The entire post I linked to is, yet again, a gigantic smear against those the watchdoggies disagree with, its just a shame the author didn’t have the courage to put his own name on it. For some reason I have a hard time picturing Luther skulking in the night to a church door and quietly tapping the nail that held in the 95 theses. Then again, I’ve always had a hard time seeing any parallels between Luther and the watchdoggies.