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The city of Wittenberg in 1536,
birthplace of the Reformation.

The Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies has three target audiences: theology, church and world. Since 2022, its work has focused primarily on connecting young researchers interested in the Reformation. In spring 2024, a two-week course on the Reformation for pastors was offered for the first time. In the fall of 2024, the first conference was held with the aim of bridging the gap between theology and sport and making the Reformation useful for the challenges of today’s world. In January 2025, the Wittenberg Center invited a wider audience to a conference aimed at building a bridge between theological scholarship and church practice. At Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida, 100 to 150 listeners from across the United States, from the Northwest to the Southeast, gathered to learn more about the five solas of the Reformation and their relevance today.

On the evening of Friday, January 17, Rev. John Fonville, the US Retreat and Conference Coordinator of the Wittenberg Center, introduced the conference and Dr. Ashley Null (Wittenberg Center) spoke on ‘by scripture alone’. He showed that people are dependent on a transcendent source of energy and that the Bible offers access to divine energy that fills and changes people. With reference to the English reformer Thomas Cranmer, Dr. Null showed that the Bible is a promise book that not only offers revelation, but also initiates a process of inner change. After all, the words of the Bible are accompanied by the Holy Spirit, just as every human word is accompanied by breathing out. The telling side of the Bible (the message) is therefore connected to its life changing side (the Spirit). The promise of the Bible is condensed in the ‘comfortable words’, which are still a core element of the Anglican liturgy today: Matthew 11:28, John 3:16, 1 Timothy 1:15, and 1 John 2:1. Because the Bible testifies to God’s care for man and changes the lives of people who entrust themselves to this God, it was at the center of the Reformation in the sixteenth century and must remain at the center of the church today. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion on the current church situation in the United States and the relevance of the Reformation’s emphasis on the principle of ‘by scripture alone’ for the present.

Prof. Jonathan Linebaugh, Beeson Divinity School
(Photo: Joshua Montez)

The four other lectures took place on Saturday, January 18. Prof. Jonathan Linebaugh (Samford University) kicked things off with a stimulating lecture on grace. A careful look at the present day shows that people often live out of themselves and strive for self-expression and approval. Although this often fails and people are overwhelmed by problems and hardships, failure is not accepted and forgiveness is not granted. The human sighing to be approved and the resulting activism can also be found in Christian churches, where all too often words without comfort prevail instead of comfortable words. What the apostle Paul and the Reformation say about God’s grace is a counter-program to ‘no failure, no forgiveness’. God turns to people who are still sinners, i.e. not worthy recipients of his gift. This is what the New Testament calls ‘charis’ in Greek and the Reformation calls ‘gratia’ in Latin. And here it is only God’s gracious attention to man that counts, not any preceding human achievement or any subsequent change in man. The Reformation principle ‘by grace alone’ states that the approval that people long for comes exclusively from God.

Prof. Scott Clark (Westminster Seminary California) focused on the principle of ‘by faith alone’ and used Luther’s translation of Romans 3:28 to explain what ‘alone’ means. Although Luther did not find this word in the Greek Bible text, he inserted it into the translation in order to emphasize that the justification of the sinner happens entirely without human cooperation. Faith is the empty hand that grasps salvation in Christ. It is not a human activity in the usual sense, but the triad of resting, receiving and trusting. What is important here is not faith as a human effort, but Christ embraced in faith. What Luther had formulated was taken up by the majority of 16th century Protestants and especially by the Reformed churches. The Heidelberg Catechism, for example, contains touching passages that clearly express this principle of the Reformation. Prof. Clark drew the audience’s attention to his forthcoming commentary on this catechism and invited them to follow the Heidelblog and the Heidelcast podcast service on the Internet.

Prof. Scott Clark, Westminster Seminary California
(Photo: Joshua Montez)

In 1529, Martin Luther and Lucas Cranach summarized the Reformation message of “Christ alone” in a woodcut.

Prof. Michael Horton (Westminster Seminary California), who is widely known for his books and podcasts (White Horse Inn), dealt with ‘Christ alone’. He referred to sociological studies, according to which many Protestants today acknowledge the significance of Jesus, but are skeptical about salvation through faith in Christ. Faith and Christ seem to be falling apart, and many Christians follow a therapeutic-moralistic deism that uses Christ as a role model but does not recognize him as the Redeemer. In contrast, Prof. Horton recalled the high esteem in which Jesus Christ was held from antiquity to the Reformation as the mediator of creation and the bringer of salvation. What the Bible and the Reformation testify of justifying faith is inconceivable without a Jesus Christ who is God and who alone brings salvation. Believers come into the closest contact with this Christ and are continually renewed through this union with him. This Christ is the head of the Church, in whom he is incarnate. Christians who live in Christ alone are his members – to be a Christians is to live in Christ alone.

All three presentations on grace, faith and Christ were discussed, focusing on the question of what the heritage of the Bible and Reformation means for Christianity in the USA today. It became clear that, on the one hand, there is a deep need for purpose, especially among young people, but that, on the other hand, many churches do not respond appropriately because they do not take the Reformation’s exclusive statements by grace alone, by faith alone and Christ alone seriously. The speakers emphasized that a return to the Reformation solas could help the churches and the people.

The final lecture was given by a guest from Germany: Dr. Andreas Stegmann (Humboldt University, Berlin) dealt with the fifth sola, which looks somewhat different from the previous four and also means something different. If Christ, the Bible, grace and faith are about salvation and its appropriation, i.e. the movement from God to man, then ‘Glory be to God alone’ is about the human response to this. In a close reading of passages from Luther’s ‘On Christian liberty’, the speaker discussed the relationship between justifying faith and glorifying God, systematized the five solas with the Reformation distinction between descending and ascending movement and illustrated the human response to God’s act of salvation using the example of prayer. For the true honoring of God is faith, which is expressed in prayer. Luther focused prayer on God alone and made it the practical implementation of justifying faith. Parallel to prayer is the ethical practice of the Christian, which also serves to glorify God.

Jacob Trotter attended one of the Wittenberg Center’s courses and shared his experience.
(Photo: Joshua Montez)

On Sunday, January 19, the speakers discussed the outcome of the conference with the conference participants. Numerous individual questions were addressed, but the crucial point was raised again and again: that the Reformation’s focus on justifying faith in Christ not only changed the world back then, but is also important for the church today. The conference concluded with an invitation to attend the following Sunday service at Paramount Church. The Wittenberg Center is grateful to Paramount Church and the Salem Center for hosting this conference and helping to bring the legacy of the Reformation to Christianity today.

Group picture on the final day of the conference
(photo: Joshua Montez)

“Nihil ego feci, ille fecit mihi magna, qui solus operatur omnia, qui solus potens est in omnibus, cuius ob id solius nomen quoque est, ipsi soli gloria, qui solus facit, sanctum videlicet, quod nulli liceat attingere et sibi usurpare.” (Martin Luther, AWA 2:346)

“I have done nothing, while God has done great things for me, [God] who alone does everything, who alone is powerful in every way, who alone therefore has a name (to Him alone be the glory, to whom alone is all agency), namely, a holy name, which no one is allowed to seize and usurp for himself.”