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Julius J. Kim, Ph.D.
Dean of Students
Dear Students,
My six-year old daughter continues to surprise me. Last night
at the dinner table, she proudly proclaimed that she would
like to pray for dinner. Now, this declaration to pray was
not what was surprising—she actually likes to pray for meals
and does so quite often. It was the content of the
prayer that surprised my wife and me with both joy and
pride.
After asking us to close our eyes, she began with some of her
routine lines: "Dear God, thank you God for this food, thank
you God for our family, thank you that Jesus died on the
cross for our sins," and so forth. What came next was far
from routine. She stated (quite matter-of-factly), "Thank
you God that today is Reformation Day and Martin Luther
nailed the 95 theses on the church door so we can have a
good church." What? (Eyes open now.) Did I hear that
correctly? This from a girl who couldn’t wait for dinner to
end so she could put on her costume and go trick-or-treating
for candy! Glancing at my wife, I noticed that she was
desperately trying not to giggle for fear that she would
discourage our daughter and her ever-maturing prayer skills.
As I found out later, my daughter had learned about the
importance of Reformation Day at her private Christian
school.
So why is this day so important? On this day in 1517,
Augustinian monk Martin Luther posted his list of "95
Theses" on the doors of the Wittenburg Church in Germany to
debate the idea and practice of indulgences. He felt that
the church, through the selling of these merits by Johan
Tetzel, amounted to the purchase and selling of salvation
itself. While this act of posting the theses did not in and
of itself launch the Protestant Reformation, it nevertheless
provided a major impetus for the eventual controversy
between Luther and the Pope over a variety of doctrines and
practices that would lead to the birth of Protestant
churches.
The controversial doctrines that were debated are best summed
up in what has become known as the Five Solas of the
Reformation: sola scriptura, sola gratia, solus Christus,
sola fide, and soli Deo Gloria. Thus, contra the
Pope and the Catholic Church, Luther and his supporters
believed that Scripture alone (not Scripture plus the
Church’s tradition), as the only authority for faith and
life, taught that a believer is saved from spiritual death
by God’s grace alone, through the meritorious work of Christ
alone, by the instrument of faith alone, for the glory of
God alone.
And this is what Westminster Seminary California stands for as
well. We are proud heirs to this Protestant tradition as it
has now been summarized in the confessional documents from
that Reformation era that under gird the life and ministry
of this institution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and
the Three Forms of Unity (Canons of Dordt, Belgic
Confession, and the Heidelberg Catechism). Why is this
important? Because we’re convinced that as accurate
summaries of what the Bible teaches, the confessions help
connect us to the wisdom of the church in ages past. (Read
more about our doctrinal commitment and why that’s
important to us.)
So, on this Reformation Day, not only did this proud father
hear his daughter give thanks for this special day in the
history of the Church, he was also overjoyed to have this
daughter conclude their family devotions by leading the
family in singing the first verse of Martin Luther’s
immortal hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. Soli Deo
Gloria indeed.
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 September
07: Senior Reflections
May
07: Senior Reflections
March
07: CWiPPThink
January
07: Winter Term
November 06:
Reformation Day
September 06:
Welcome Back
August 06:
Summer Greek
July
06: CPR
June
06: Sign Up and Gear Up
May
06: Reflection by Michael Schout
April
06: den Dulk Lectures
March
06: Student Association
February
06: Preaching Christ
December
05: Mentors
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