Soli Deo gloria

Main facade of the Dominican Church in Lviv with the Latin phrase "Soli Deo honor et gloria".
"Soli Deo gloria" inscripted in Norwegian cast-iron stove from the 19th century

Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. It has been used by artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Christoph Graupner to signify that the work was produced for the sake of praising God. The phrase has become one of the five solae propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation.

As a greeting, it was used by monks in Cistercian and Trappist monastic orders in written communication.[1]

As a doctrine, it means that everything is done for God's glory to the exclusion of mankind's self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.

  1. ^ P. Cyprian. Vennari, John (ed.). "Father Cyprian Interviewed". Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery.