This fall marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation; in 1517, Martin Luther nailed the document containing his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. While Luther had multiple concerns about the Roman Catholic church, at root was the question of authority: did ultimate authority come from the pope and church councils or did it come from the Scriptures?
The foundational legacy coming out of the Reformation was the recovery of biblical authority. The Bible—God’s inspired and inerrant Word—provides the ultimate standard for truth. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
At Heritage College and Seminary we base all our teaching on God’s Word. While students read many books for their courses, One Book towers above them all.
We not only get our students reading God’s book, we help them understand and interpret it accurately. That’s because it’s possible to mishandle and misuse Scriptures. Satan did that when tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:6). He quoted from Psalm 91, twisting Scripture to tempt Jesus to jump off the temple.
Our students take a course on hermeneutics—the art and science of biblical interpretation. Our goal is to help each student fulfill Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
We want everyone trained at Heritage to base their lives and ministries on God’s Word. We also want them to “rightly handle the word of truth.”
(Linda and I are reading an excellent book on the authority and sufficiency of Scripture: God’s Word Alone, by Matthew Barrett. We’d encourage you to read it this fall as part of your commemoration of the Reformation. Above all, make sure you are regularly reading God’s Word!)
Rick and Linda Reed 