It Is Written

In Genesis 28 Jacob dreams of a stairway linking heaven and earth—a vision that reveals a profound biblical principle: true religion does not arise from humanity’s attempt to ascend to God but from God’s gracious decision to descend and reveal himself. In this lecture commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, I explore how Jacob’s “stairway from heaven” anticipates the Reformers’ doctrine of sola Scriptura and stands in sharp contrast to the “theology from below” exemplified by the Tower of Babel and later by aspects of medieval scholasticism. While the builders of Babel—and later philosophical theology—attempt to construct an intellectual ladder to heaven through human reason and natural theology, Genesis 28 reminds us that saving knowledge of God comes only through God’s own self-revelation. This 35-minute audio excerpt applies Jacob’s dream to the Reformation principle that Scripture alone must serve as the church’s ultimate authority, calling us back to a theology that begins not with human speculation but with God speaking from above.