Church History: Examining the Creeds and Confessions of the Church Through the Ages and Why They Matter.
Lesson 9: The Battle Cries of the Reformation
Today, we come to a portion of this series which is obviously very near and dear to my heart as a teacher of Reformed Theology: The Protestant Reformation.
As we have noted in our last lesson, the Middle Ages brought with them a tremendous flood of false teachings into the church.
The Pope had risen to a level of authority wherein he had basically been deified.
The teaching regarding the bread and cup of communion had been perverted to establish the priest as the one who is again performing Christ’s sacrifice.
The church of Rome had risen to a position of almost absolute power and along with that power came severe corruption.
There were dissident groups which had attempted to stand against Rome, such as the Waldensians and the Paulicians, but these were just the early embers of the coming inferno which would be the Reformation.
The Morning Star of the Reformation
150 years before the Reformation would see its birth, there was a man who was opposing the excesses of Rome named John Wycliffe.
Wycliffe was a brilliant student of the Bible.
He had entered Oxford at the age of 16 and spent 12 years studying for his doctorate.
In 1371, he was acknowledged as their leading theologian.
Yet, his knowledge of scripture made apparent to him the failures of the Roman Church.
He began teaching against them, in particular the false teachings of transubstantiation which, by his time was a relatively new doctrine.
This would eventually lead to him being forced out of his teaching position at Oxford and moving to Lutterworth, where he would undertake the most important work of his life: translating the Bible into the common english tongue.
This was a difficult time in history, wherein many priests did not know their Latin, and yet Scripture was only allowed to be printed in Latin.
Because of this there was widespread ignorance in the church.
Wycliffe desired to see the people know the Scriptures, so he went about translating the Scripture into English.
This translation was not from the original language, but was from Latin, so it was a translation of a translation.
Yet, it was a masterful work, and the later translator William Tyndale would refer to it for his own translation.
Wycliffe died in the church during worship on New Years Eve, 1384.
Years later, the Council of Constance would condemn him as a heretic and as a result, his bones were unearthed and burned. His ashes were cast into the river Swift.
A later Chronicler recounted this event:
“They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighboring brook running hard by. Thus the brook conveyed his ashes into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas and they into the main ocean. And so the ashes of Wyclif are symbolic of his doctrine, which is now spread throughout the world.” (http://www.prca.org/books/portraits/wycliffe.htm)
The Goose Was Cooked
John Hus was a rector and preacher at the Church of the Holy Infants of Bethlehem in Prague.
He was heavily influenced by the teachings of John Wycliffe and it lead to him become more and more desirous to see reformation in the church.
Prague was also a center for early reformed thinking.
The chapel where Hus was appointed was raised in 1391 by a rich merchant to be a center for reformed preaching (http://www.prca.org/books/portraits/hus.htm).
Because of his preaching, Prague was put under an interdict of the church, so no religious services could be held there.
This means no weddings, no last rites, nothing.
These were all considered necessary by the people, so they demanded he leave.
Through a series of events, he was finally forced to face the Council of Constance in 1414 (the same where John Wycliffe had been posthumously condemned for his teachings).
He was promised Safe Conduct by the Emperor Sigismund, which means he had legal protection from punishment.
However, the leaders demanded that a heretic was not worthy of safe conduct and they pushed for his execution.
The name Hus means “Goose”, and it was a common nickname for him.
Thus, now when a person says, “Your goose is cooked” they are actually making reference to John Hus.
As it was by fire that he was executed
He died singing, “Christ, Thou Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me.”
Luther, the great Reformation leader, would later be called a Hussite because of his teachings.
The Magisterial Reformers
What do we mean “Magisterial Reformers”?
The term “Magisterial Reformers” refers to movements within the Reformation which were supported by magistrates or ruling authorities.
The three which maintain this title are Luther, Calvin and Zwingli.
Luther was supported by Frederick the Wise, and Calvin by Geneva and Zwingli by Zurich.
The term magisterial also can refer to the authority of their teaching.
A Magister is a teacher,
This term, then, would reference the fact that the teachings of these men was considered to be prominence as they were leaders within the reformation.
Martin Luther
Most people consider Luther to be the one who was primarily responsible for the Protestant Reformation.
Yet, as we have seen, Luther is in a line of men who had already been creating upheavels within the church because of these teachings.
“A 16th-century Bohemian Psalter pictures Wyclif’s influence on the Reformation. Wyclif is striking the spark, Jan Hus is kindling it into a coal, and Martin Luther is blowing it into a great flame.” (http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/200302/200302_104_john_wyclif.cfm)
There is no doubt that Luther was profoundly influential and responsible for the growth of the Reformation.
His conviction regarding justification by faith alone was to make a lasting impact on all his students.
Likewise, his repudiation of the sale of indulgences and the posting of his famous 95 thesis would make his the scourge of the church.
It is interesting to note that he never desired to be a revolutionary.
His goals early on were to live the quiet life of a monk.
Yet, God had other plans.
John Calvin
Often what is now referred to as “Reformed Theology” is given the nickname Calvinism.
The reason for this is that Calvin had a tremendous influence on Reformation thinking.
He was a brilliant expositor and effective pastor.
Calvin’s scholarship was hugely influential on the Reformation and on Christianity as a whole.
He enunciated the truth of Scripture so clearly in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, his sermons and his commentaries.
To be associated with him is not a bad thing, even though his detractors often seek to defame him by accusing him of being a tyrant.
Interestingly, he never desired to be the Pastor of Geneva; he was passing through there when William Farel, a fellow Frenchman, told Calvin that if he left that he would take the curse of God with him.
This frightened Calvin and he stayed on as Pastor of Geneva.
Calvin preached verse by verse through the Bible.
At a point he was expelled from Geneva and ousted from his position because of a political issue.
When he was brought back, years later, he picked up at the very verse wherein he had left off.
NOTE: In recent times, those who seek to repudiate Calvin try to accuse him of murdering Michael Servetus.
This is an entirely false accusation. Servetus had been teaching heresies regarding the Trinity, something which was a capital offense at the time.
When Servetus came to Geneva, he was taken into custody and put to death. Calvin did agree that Servetus should be executed, and he did take the stand against him in court, and some say that makes him a murderer.
What must be understood is that the time in which Calvin lived was much different than our modern day. Heresy was serious business and it incurred serious consequences. There is no doubt that Michael Servetus was a heretic.
Probably the most controversial teaching of Calvin which many people have difficulty with is the Doctrine of Predestination.
Interestingly enough, it could be argued that Luther taught more regarding this doctrine than did Calvin.
In either event, the doctrine is biblical and to vilify him for teaching biblical doctrine would be wrong.
Ulrich Zwingli
Zwingli began his ministry in Zurich on January 1, 1519, on his 35th birthday.
He preached systematically through the New Testament (with the exception of Revelation) and the Psalms.
In 1520, the plague caused the death of approximately 2,500 people and Zwingli made every attempt to minister to the needs of his flock.
In the midst of this, he fell ill and almost died.
It was after his recovery that he would seriously begin seeking reformation in his teachings.
He went on to make great strides in his teachings and garnering significant influence.
One of the most interesting events was the Marburg Colloquy.
This was an attempt to unite the reformers behind a common cause.
Luther and Zwingli met together and were in agreement on 14 out of 15 doctrines.
The 15th was the one that would ultimately divide the two, and it regarded the place of Christ in the Eucharist.
Luther held that the literal interpretation of the body and blood within the elements should stand, but rejected the false teachings of Transubstantiation. His view because known as “Consubstantiation”.
Zwingli held what would become known as the Memorial view. He argued that Christ is “in body” at the right hand of the Father, and could not be also within the elements of the supper.
NOTE: The Reformed and Presbyterian view derives from the teachings of John Calvin: Christ is not present literally in the elements, but he is spiritually present.
Personally, I tend to side with Zwingli on this issue.
I believe that when Christ said, “Do this in remembrance of me” that this phrase indicated both the purpose and scope of the elements.
Yet, I would not deny Christ is present with believers in all of their acts of piety, and thus would not repudiate the Calvinistic view.
It truly saddens me that these two great men of faith could not come to a position of agreement on this issue and stand together during the Reformation.
NOTEWORTHY: There were certainly others within the Reformation who should be mentioned, yet time does not allow us to recall them all.
William Tyndale, called God’s Outlaw, was responsible for translating the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew, and he died at the stake as a result.
Also, the radical reformers known as the Anabaptists were very influential and their works still survive today in the Mennonite movement.
This was a tremendous time of revival in the history of the church.
Many people gave their very lives for their belief in reformation teachings.
And to them we owe a debt of gratitude.
The Five Solas
The doctrines of the Reformation can be summarized by what we call the “Battle Cries” or Five Sola Statements of the Reformation.
Sola Gratia
This is the teaching that salvation is totally an act of grace. As humans, we do not contribute to our salvation, as much as we might like to think we do. During the reformation period, salvation had become a commodity that could be purchased through indulgences and priestly blessings. The Reformers rejected this for the biblical view that salvation is through the sufficient grace of God. Not many denied that grace was necessary, but few believed it was sufficient to save. "Grace has to be added to" was the teaching of the time. But the Reformers taught that grace was totally sufficient to save---it was a perfect gift that needed no additions.
Sola Fide
This is the teaching that man is justified before God not by works, but by faith alone. It was probably the most important, and easily the most controversial argument of the Reformers. This was the sister to the doctrine of Sola Gratia (as expressed in Ephesians 2:8-10), because it relied on the fact that God's salvation was a gift, and not something someone earned. This doctrine was so important to the Reformers that Martin Luther claimed that this was the "article upon which the church stands or falls".
Solus Christus
This means that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. That should be a given. No one could read scripture with any conviction and come away with another doctrine. However there are many who say they are Christians who do not see Jesus Christ as essential for salvation. According to University of Virginia sociologist James Hunter, 35% of evangelical seminarians deny that faith in Christ is absolutely necessary. According to George Barna, that is the same figure for conservative, evangelical Protestants in America: "God will save all good people when they die, regardless of whether they've trusted in Christ," they agreed.
Over one-fourth of the professed "born again" evangelicals surveyed agreed with this statement: "If a person is good, or does enough good things for others during life, they will earn a place in Heaven."
Furthermore, when asked whether they agreed with the following statement: "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God," two-thirds of the evangelicals didn't find that objectionable. Beloved, if these things are true, Jesus is unnecessary. This is why Reformed Theology is based on the foundation stone of salvation being in Jesus Christ alone. No one is good in and of themselves. Everyone needs a Savior, and Jesus Christ is the only Savior.
Sola Scriptura
The holy scripture (the bible) is our sole infallible rule for faith and practice. Nowhere else in the world is God's revelation of Himself so explicitly. In the bible, God is not only described, but His holy will and plan are laid out for people to read and understand. It is the Word of God.
Soli Deo Gloria
Glory is to be ascribed to God alone. This was one of the most profound statements of the reformation, because it said that we should not glorify the pope, the bishops, or the priests. That God alone should receive all praise, all adoration, all glory. He receives all glory for creating us, and for saving us. Some people, who believe that their works aid in their salvation, might come to think they deserve to share in the glory. They might not say this, but it would show in their proclamations of their supposed goodness. The reformed believer understands that any goodness we have is because of God's Holy Spirit, thus God receives the glory even when I do good works. I never deserve to be praise. God alone is worthy to be praised.
CONCLUSION: It is really unfortunate that in our modern time Reformed Theology has become so associated with the Doctrine of Predestination that people often forget just how all-encompassing Reformed Theology actually is.
Reformed Theology is a return to Scripture; it is Biblical Theology.
It encompassing a proper biblical understanding of the nature of God, the nature of man, salvation, sanctification, glorification, church life, ethics and Christian living.
It is not a “one-trick pony”; it encompasses a proper understanding of all of Scripture.
And it begins with an affirmation of the Five Solas.
In them are contained great doctrinal truths which are worth fighting for.
