Wittenberg Theological Method

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior!

You are welcome to this site where theology will be done following the Wittenberg theological method. Martin Luther (1483-1546), priest and professor at Wittenberg University, proposed the preaching of a radical gospel: Salvation is in Christ and Christ Alone. This "categorical preaching" of Jesus Christ gathered a school of theologians which has persisted through the years as a thin tradition of faith in Christ amidst the broad stream of religious Christianity.

The Wittenberg theological method's distinctive features serve as reflection upon yesterday's proclamation and preparation for tomorrow's--that is, the method serves to get Christ and Christ Alone proclaimed as the sole savior of the world. These distinctive features are:

1. God confronts human beings in Law and Gospel
2. Believers are simultaneously justified and sinful at the same time
3. The true theology is a theology of the cross, not a theology of glory
4. The infinite is mediated or carried by the finite

(George Forell "Why Recall Luther Today?" 1983)

These distinctive features rest on some presuppositions regarding God and theological language. As proposed by Dr. Dennis Bielfeldt of the Institute of Lutheran Theology, the suppositions are:

1. Semantic Realism--Theological language has truth conditions
2. Theological Realism--God exists apart from human consciousness
3. Theophysical Causation--God is a causal force in the universe.

(Bielfeldt, "WordAlone--fundamentalis? No, fundamentals!" 2006)

Under the condition of Semantic Realism, "understanding" means a person's coming to a knowledge of the truth conditions which apply to a given situation. Understanding and using theological language, then, means acknowledging and knowing that theological statements are true or false depending upon conditions which are external to the person and the person's internal state of affairs. The truth of these statements is not dependent upon the person's thinking, doing, or feeling.

Under the condition of Theological Realism, God exists apart from human consciousness in such a way that God is independent of human experience. God has "being" external to the human being. Human "enthusiasm" for an ideal of thinking, doing, or feeling, does not equate to the reality of God.

Under the condition of Theophysical Causation, God is a causal force in the universe in such a way the God's being has "agency"--that is, God creatively influences the universe's states of existance and as an active agent in the universe brings about natural events in their myriad bounty.

In the course of this blog's discussions, a theology following the Wittenberg Theological Method will be worked out so that Christ and Christ Alone can be proclaimed categorically in this the 21st Century.

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