Christian Ministries presents Reformation program, Nov. 27
Oct. 31 marked the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On that day in 1517, German monk and theologian Martin Luther nailed to a church door his “95 Theses.”
The Protestant Reformation was a movement inside the Catholic church that sought to reform the church but ultimately led to the formation of Protestantism. Luther’s primary concern was on how a person is saved. He opposed the church’s practice of selling indulgences, which provided full or partial pardons of sins. Luther turned to the scriptures to discover that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, and that scripture alone is the authority in the lives of believers.
“Second only to the canonization of Scripture, the Reformation stands as the single greatest doctrinal event in the history of mankind,” said Dr. Brett Golson, chair of the department of Christian ministries at William Carey University.
On Nov. 27, William Carey University will host a program about the Reformation with Dr. Daniel Holcomb as guest speaker. Holcomb is a professor of church history at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Refreshments will be served at 8 a.m. with the presentation from 8:30-10 a.m. followed by a Q&A with Holcomb from 10:15 a.m. to noon. The program will be held at the Student Conference Center on the Hattiesburg campus.
Admission is free. To register, email the number of attendees to Dr. Brett Golson at
christianministries@wmcarey.edu. All who attend will receive Dr. Holcomb’s notes on the Reformation.
Dr. Holcomb obtained a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College in 1954 with a major in bible and a minor in English and history. He earned a second bachelor’s degree from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1957, majoring in American and European history. In 1959, he earned a Th.D. in church history from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1969, he became a Doctor of Theology with a major in church history and a minor in philosophy of religion. His doctoral dissertation was titled “The New Church History: The Quest of a Dialogic Approach in American Protestantism Since 1945.” He has been employed at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary since 1979. He was a professor of church history from 1989-1994, and is currently the John T. Westbrook professor of church history and chairman of the division of theological and historical studies.
For more information, please contact the Department of Christian Ministries at (601) 318-6115 or email christianministries@wmcarey.edu.