Sola Scriptura: The Book that Reads You
By Rev. Dr. Bruce K. Modahl
The metal sculpture pictured here depicts the Bible as the book that reads us. Each of the 49 pages in the sculpture is imprinted not with words but with eyes. The eyes seem ominous in my viewing. One could say they read us like a book. Nothing is hidden from their inspection. They pry under the cover of respectability with which we clothe ourselves.
The Book that Reads You: Sola Scriptura by Romanian artist, Liviu Mocan is dedicated to Johannes Gutenberg. The sculpture is one in the series of “The Five Solas.” It was placed initially in the courtyard outside Cambridge, England, where Martin Luther’s writings were burned in 1520 by order of Cardinal Wolsey. Currently, the sculpture housed in the Armerding Center for the Arts at Wheaton College.
These eyes seek to place us in the narrative unfolding within its covers: in Jephthah’s shadow, making unholy bargains with God. In being called out for lusting after other gods by prophets from Isaiah to Malachi. In hearing the cock crow with Peter in the courtyard of the high priest. These eyes see beneath the surface to our hard hearts.
But there is more than harsh judgment in their field of vision. The eyes seem to look past us. What would they have us see? They would have us follow their gaze to the Christ. Jesus, after all, is the point of this book.
Unlike the persons of the Trinity, the Five Solas in our Lutheran tradition — fide, scriptura, gratia, Deo gloria, and Christus — are not coequal. We say sola scriptura because we first say solus Christus.
Ed Schroeder writes that solus Christus, sola gratia, and sola fides are three ways of referring to the one righteousness of God. God declares us righteous by our faith in Jesus Christ. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, God the Father “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
The Lutheran Confessions do not base the authority of Scripture on a doctrine of inspiration. Rather, the authority of Scripture is founded on its testimony to Jesus Christ.
The gracious righteousness of God manifest in Jesus is the key to the Holy Scripture. And that key comes from Scripture. For example, Jesus says in John 5:39 regarding the Old Testament, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.”
At the end of John’s Gospel we read, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).
In his November 2024 and February 2025 Table Talks on this subject, Robin Lütjohann said the Bible is the Word of God in a tertiary sense. First, the Word of God is Jesus, God’s incarnate Word. Second, the Word of God is the proclamation about Jesus. Third, the Bible is the Word of God because it is the source, rule, and norm of our proclamation of the gospel. As Ed Schroeder phrases it, “We have no access to the Word of God (Him) except the Word of God (it).”
In his Table Talk presentations, Lütjohann highlighted Werner Elert’s observation that the New Testament contains the testimony of those closest to the events. The New Testament canon developed organically through the usage of the church. By the end of the second century, 90 percent of the New Testament canon was established.
Regarding the Old Testament, on the road to Emmaus Jesus taught Cleopas and his companion all the things about himself in all the Scriptures from Moses to the prophets. In addition, Elert points out that from Galatians we know the Christian interpretation of the Old Testament legal content can only be derived from the New Testament.
Some interlopers came from Jerusalem and told the Christians in Galatia that to be righteous before God they must submit to the law of Moses. Paul was appalled that they would choose to live under the curse of the law and abandon the freedom Christ bestows. Elert concludes by pointing out that Paul knew the Old Testament very well. but he understood it only through Christ.
Look again at the eyes on the pages of the book that reads us. Yes, they pry under the cover of respectability with which we cloth ourselves. However, they also see us clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In our baptism our lives are joined to Christ. God has woven us into Scriptures’ narrative of a new creation.
We say sola Scriptura because the Scriptures reveal that righteousness comes to us as God’s free gift. We say sola Scriptura because the Scriptures testify that we grasp this righteousness by faith in Jesus.
Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture by R.W.L. Moberly.
Available at the Crossings website are the following:
- Robin Lütjohann’s translation of chapter 6 “On the Authority and Hermeneutics of Scripture” in Werner Elert’s book The Christian Faith.
- Two Table Talks (November 2024 and February 2025) on the subject led by Robin Lütjohann.
- Ed Schroeder’s essay “Is There a Lutheran Hermeneutics?”
- The Word Made Words: A Lutheran Perspective on the Authority and Use of Scriptures by Kathryn (Kit) Kleinhans
Research Scientist is Longtime Writer for Crossings
The two founders of Crossings would have been pleased to see that the weekly text studies are, in some cases, written by lay people. Both Bob Bertram and Ed Schoeder were advocates of lay theology. For them, the weekly lectionary readings were robust resources for engaging daily life.
One lay writer of text studies is Peter Keyel, whose “day job” is associate professor of biological sciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He is noted for his research in cellular and molecular biology. His work has significant implications for treating lupus and other chronic diseases.
Peter Keyel
Like many, Ed Schroeder was Peter’s first connection to Crossings. In 2006, after completing his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh, Peter served a three-year post-doctorate at Washington University. He began attending Bethel Lutheran Church in St. Louis, where Ed was a member. Of course, Ed didn’t sit still in the pew but preached and taught at Bethel — and “interrogated” those he met on Sundays.
“Somehow I ended up on the Crossings email list,” Peter said, “and I started to see what I thought were random postings from Ed called Sabbatheology.” He appreciated the structured way to think about a biblical text. After reading several, Peter said, “I decided to try my hand at a text study and sent it to Ed.”
Peter notes that Ed was pleased to receive the study and was “very encouraging.” Then, as many others experienced, “Ed told me that I did it all wrong. Then he gently corrected my mistakes.”
This back-and-forth process helped Peter become one of the premier writers of Crossings text studies. And when Ed began posting Thursday Theology essays, Peter began “opining” to him, and Ed responded with extensive comments.
After his time in St. Louis, Peter returned to the University of Pittsburgh. In 2013, he left for a position at Texas Tech.
Peter has done some reading on his own about the historical Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but credits Crossings as his most explicit theological training. A regular reader of Thursday Theology, he has contributed essays that have been welcomed by Jerry Burce, editor of Thursday Theology.
About “crossing” his text studies with his vocation as a university professor, Peter says, “I can’t infringe on the First Amendment rights of students, but in my instructor talk — the non-content part of my teaching — I do talk about values. David Zahl, in his book, Seculosity, describes the secular ways we seek to get right with God.
“Especially with pre-med students, I see that for many of them their value is wrapped up in their grades. Being ‘good enough’ is very difficult for them. I try to suggest that their fixation on grades may be an idolatry problem.”
Peter sees his scientific research as fitting under the “left-hand rubric” — our calling to make society better and make advances in preserving life.
“I like to get things done, and my temptation comes from getting my value from work. But there are parts where I fall short, failures in my work.”
Peter describes the value of Crossings: “It articulates the Gospel so that it is useful to people in their daily lives. The Gospel deals with things that matter here and now in people’s lives.”
Peter hopes Crossings will continue to explore older theological issues and why they were important at the time. “How is the Augsburg Confession still relevant? How does it make sure we don’t miss the Gospel?”
The Rev. Dr. Michael Hoy, editor of the weekly Crossings text studies, comments, “Peter is a dedicated lay person and one with a most interesting career to help people. All the text study writers have their own unique creativity, and Peter is no exception. Whatever Peter sends my way is always a surprise! Come to think of it, isn’t that where the Eastered Christ is leading us?”
That creativity — and the Eastered Christ — is evident in Peter’s text study for Trinity Sunday. There he offers the prognosis that “Jesus is about to upend all of these hard truths, not with words or explanations but through death on the cross. Jesus has all that His Father has, which means death will not be the last word for Jesus. And what’s more, Jesus will be glorified in the declaration that His resurrection is also for us.”
“Crossings articulates the Gospel so that it is useful to people in their daily lives. The Gospel deals with things that matter here and now….”
In Christ for GOOD: the Gospel and Christian Behavior - January 11–14, 2026
In our baptisms, we have been joined with Christ for good—for once and for all. As we hear the spoken and sacramental Word, the Spirit shapes our behavior for the good of all our neighbors and God’s created world.
The annual Crossings Conference will once again take place at the Pallottine Retreat Center, near the St. Louis airport – with extensive walking and hiking trails, an indoor gym and swimming pool, and a beautiful chapel.[./caption]
The 2026 Crossings Conference will explore how to encourage this in ourselves and in the baptized people we share our lives with.
- Among the speakers will be Kit Kleinhans, dean emeritus of Trinity Seminary (Columbus, Ohio), and Adam Morton of the University of Nottingham, England.
- On Tuesday afternoon, a panel of lay persons will address questions faced in daily life: In Christ, 9 to 5.
- For the Tuesday evening Eucharist, the Rev. Candice Wassell will serve as preacher.
- Participants in the Preaching Mentoring Program will report on their progress.
- The schedule includes free time for rest and recreation—along with evening fellowship for refreshments and conversation.
- Scholarships are available for seminary students, new pastors, and first-time attendees.
For information and registration, visit crossings.org/conference.
Join Us Online for…
- Table Talk, the monthly online discussion forum
- The Crossings Book Club every other week
- Lectionary text studies posted every Sunday
- Thursday Theology with essays, sermons, and other thought-provoking writing
To learn more and sign up, visit crossings.org/join-us
Crossings Newsletter Staff:
Writer/Editor: Bruce Modahl
Board President: Jerome Burce
Executive Secretary: Cathy Lessmann
Executive Director: Sherman Lee
Project and Development Manager: Bethany Dreher
Contributions to Crossings are tax-deductible. Crossings welcomes donor-advised fund gifts and charitable IRA distributions.
