Reformation
Day is a
religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation.
Some
History of the Reformation
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the
doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of
indulgences. This proposal is popularly
known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the
Castle
Church doors. This was not
an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the
Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door
functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for
posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language
of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a
controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of
doctrines and practices. When Luther and his supporters were excommunicated in 1520, the Lutheran
tradition was born. This in turn would later ease the creation of the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions as
well.
Many scholars would set the dawn of the historical landmark of the
Reformation on the shoulders of Martin Luther. Their focus would fall upon
the nailing of his 95 theses to the door of Wittemberg as the inauguration for
the Protestant
Church and its endeavor to
change the darkness which had settled upon the Roman Catholic church for so
long. I believe this to be an inaccuracy. The Reformation began over
100 years before the Augustinian monk had ever been born.
The first
reformer to be noticed is John Wickliffe. He is known as the morning star
of the Reformation; a star rising upon a new day. Wickliffe was born in 1330
AD and died in 1384. He attended Oxford University, receiving his doctorate in
1372. Most of his life was spent teaching at Oxford, and studying God's Word in Oxford’s extensive
library. He was a brilliant scholar who mastered the late medieval
scholastic tradition, and was recognized by John of Guant (The Duke of
Lancaster) as one who was extraordinarily gifted in theology and
preaching. Not only was he an able clergyman, but he was also involved in
state affairs. Wickliffe performed
diplomatic duties for the crown, and wrote extensively on supporting civil
government.
Wickliffe was well respected and had a wide
influence with his teaching and preaching.
He wrote against the Roman Catholic church on many doctrinal points. He did not believe in the clerical
ownership of land and property, as well as papal jurisdiction in secular
affairs. He also believed that those clergy who lived in open immorality,
as many of the corrupt "popes, bishops, and priests of the time," should
relinquish their positions the moment they came upon unrepentant open sin.
This would have included much of the political corruption found in the Catholic
church, and if Wycliffe’s biblical teachings were heeded, many of the priests,
bishops, cardinals and popes would have stepped down rather quickly.
In
reaction to Wickliffe's open "defiance" of the
Roman Catholic church and the Pope’s authority, a Papal bull was issued against
Oxford to impede
him from teaching. It also noted
that Wickliffe
was to appear before a "hearing" which, unsurprisingly, charged him with heresy
against the mother church. He did attend that hearing and was formally
charged with heresy. The
Catholic church was adamantly opposed to his teachings, especially when he
attacked the Mass. He also rejected all ceremony and
organization not mentioned in the Bible (which would have excluded almost
everything the Romans Catholic church performed), as well as the heretical
doctrines of transubstantiation and the clerical "power" of the
priesthood. His views on doctrines were more and more closely matched with
that of Augustine.
Nevertheless, as a result of his political connections, Wickliffe was not arrested
at this hearing.
Wickliffe's best known work was that of the
translation he accomplished from the Latin Vulgate to English. Though he
did not translate the Bible from the original languages (the Hebrew, Aramaic and
Greek) he still placed the first English Bible into the hands of the
people. The translation was made
available to the English people through the hands of the Lollards (or “poor
preachers”) These Lollards were
Wycliffe’s trained lay preachers who took up the task of spreading the Gospel
even in light of the anathema of the Roman Catholic Church. They traveled with their Bible, and the
clothes on their back, gaining sustenance by those who would take them in.
Wickliffe died in 1384
from two strokes. The Roman Catholic church never caught him to burn him
at the stake. In spite of this, 40 years after his death, they dug up his
bones and burned them to ashes, scattering them in a river, and formally
excommunicated him from the Roman Catholic church.
The next great figure of Reformation thought (which at this time was
simply an adherence to the truths of the Bible) was a Bohemian monk named John
Hus (Jan Hus). He lived from 1372-1415. He studied at the university of Prague, and later became a professor
there. He took priestly vows, and served the Catholic church for a time,
until his conversion through the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Tyndale secretly finished the translation with the help of colleagues,
and smuggled the new translation into English hands. During a dinner
meeting among priests and bishops where Tyndale was present, he said that he
"defied the Pope and all his laws" and vowed that "a plough-boy would know more
of the Scriptures than they" so help him God. That English Bible did find
its way into the hands of the plough-boys, yet, through Roman Catholic
influence, King Henry VIII set his indignation against Tyndale and required the
translation to be burned. Henry did
this because Tyndale, among others, would not consent to the marriage of the
King to Anne Bolin, subsequent to his divorce of Catherine of Argon.
Tyndale had written a treatise on Christian growth which King Henry VIII
read. In it the king saw that Tyndale was "sympathetic" towards "monarchs"
because if priests abused their power, kings had the right of judgment and
justice against them. Henry VIII favored this since the Pope had refused
to annul his marriage with Catherine.
King Henry ultimately set himself as the Defender of the Faith, above the
Pope. So Henry VIII was partial towards Tyndale at first, and desired to
meet him, though ultimately the King found out that Tyndale, because of
Scriptural warrant, could not condone the King's divorce, and in his writings
has stated that divorce was sin. Henry allowed the Roman Catholic
church to arrest Tyndale. Tyndale was caught, arrested, tried, and
sentenced to death. While he was being tied at the stake, Tyndale prayed
that the "eyes of the King would be opened." In 1536, he was strangled to
death and then burned. After his death, the circulation of the English
Bible providentially found its way into the hands of King Henry VIII. In
seeing the masterful work done, Henry issued an edict that every church was to
have one of these Bibles on display in their chapel. Henry did make one
adjustment to the Bible, and that was the insertion of the header which
pronounced him Defender of the Faith on the title page. Although
posthumously, Tyndale's prayer was heard.
Just after
Tyndale came upon the reformation scene, another young monk named Martin Luther
commenced a great stir in Germany. Luther was an
Augustinian monk who, after much study, was persuaded by one of the later
Reformation standards, "Sola Fide" (Faith alone), early in his walk with
Christ. It was during his study of
Paul’s epistle to the Romans where he was consumed by the divine and
supernatural light of conversion.
text read, "The just shall live
by faith" (Romans 1:17 quoting Habakkuk 2:4.) Luther was a monk who
felt the full weight of the Law of God resting upon his shoulders--that Law he
was unable to keep, and thus, he, being a sinful man, was under the wrath of a
holy God who condemned him for his sin. Not until Luther's conversion was
this weight lifted. He had previously attempted to "work" for his
salvation through the vain prayer of the rosary, priestly confession,
contrition, penance and the like. He would often spend upwards of 6 hours
in the confessional trying to account for the days' sins, but the moment he left
the booth, he would remember one more, and fall under great guilt and
sorrow. Only the atoning blood of Christ had the ability to wash the
stains of those sins away.
Luther, after
his conversion, posted his 95 theses to the door of a chapel in Wittemberg on
October 31, 1517. This instigated a great controversy since he attacked
the indulgences of the Roman Catholic church which were the bread and butter of
the papacy. He was branded as a heretic, and was labeled as a conspirator
among the "Hussites", the followers of John Hus--the goose. Luther was the
swan which Hus "prophesied" about. Luther ultimately was forced to
defy the pope, and the papacy, though in the beginning he desired to reform the
church, not break away from it.
However, he found no medium of
compromise.
Luther was not
invited to Strasbourg to debate with Dr. John
Eck. Actually, Luther's colleague, Dr. Carlstadt, was invited as a
representative of these “novel” reformation teachings. The meeting was to
be structured as a debate. Luther was not invited because if he had left
the Wittemberg area, he would not be under the protection of the German Prince
Elector Duke George of Saxony, who was
favorable to Luther. But because the invitation gave Carlstadt and "any
whom he may invite" safe conduct, Luther decided to attend, as well as Phillip
Melancthon. Here Luther had his famous debate with Dr. John Eck.
Luther defied Eck and astounded him with his extensive learning. Though
Eck tried to stand his ground, he was taken back by the reformer's biblical
stance and prowess. Those adhering to biblical truth knew Luther stood
firm. He brought forth the truth of God and stated "The plough-boy
with scripture is mightier than the greatest Pope without." He was
obviously charged with heresy. But was not arrested at that
time.
Luther was
summoned by King Charles and the Bishopric to stand trial for his work.
They beckoned him a summons to appear in the city of Worms before the king
while under the crown’s safe conduct. Luther was under the impression that
he was attending a formal debate to present his views but this was not the
case. Luther was to attend the
meeting, called the Diet of Worms, and defend himself. The King and Roman clergy had his books
strewn upon a table in plain view. Luther was beckoned to come forward,
and was asked two questions, 1) Are these your writings? Luther conceded
they were. Secondly, 2) Will you retract them? Luther's
response was "Most gracious emperor! Gracious princes and Lords. His
majesty asked me two questions. As to the first, I acknowledge as mine the
books that have been just named: I cannot deny them. As to the
second, seeing that it is a question that concerns faith and the salvation of
souls, and in which the Word of God, the greatest and most precious treasure
either in heaven or earth, is interested, I should act imprudently were I to
reply without reflection. I might affirm less than the circumstance
demands, or more than truth requires, and so sin against this saying of
Christ:--whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my
Father in heaven. For this reason I entreat your imperial majesty, with
all humility, to allow me time, that I may answer without offending against the
Word of God." Luther was given one day to reflect on these things.
That night he prayed this prayer:
O
Almighty and Everlasting God! How terrible is this world! Behold, it
openeth its mouth to swallow me up and I have so little trust in Thee! How
weak is the flesh and how power is Satan! If it is in the strength of this
world only that I must put my trust, all is over! My last hour is come, my
condemnation has been pronounced! O God! O God! O God! Do thou help me
against all the wisdom of the world! Do this; Thou shouldest do this Thou
alone for this is not my work, but Thine. I have nothing to do here,
nothing to contend for with these great ones of the world! I should desire
to see my days flow on peaceful and happy. But the cause is Thine and it
is a righteous and eternal cause. O Lord! Help me! faithful and
unchangeable God! In no man do I place my trust. It would be vain!
All that is of man is uncertain; all that cometh of man fails O God! My
God, hearest Thou me not? My God, art thou dead? No!
Thou canst not die! Thou hidest thyself only! Thou hast chosen me
for this work. I know it well! Act, then, O God stand at my side,
for the sake of they well beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield,
and my strong tower." After a moment of silent struggle, he thus
continues: "Lord! Where stayest Thou? O my God! Where art
Thou? Come! Come! I am ready! I am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth
patient as a lamb. For it is the cause of justice-it is Thine! I
will never separate myself from Thee, neither now nor through eternity!
And though the world should be filled with devils,-though my body, which is till
the work of Thy hands, should be slain, be stretched upon the pavement, be cut
in pieces, reduced to ashes, my soul is Thine! Yes! I have the assurance
of Thy Word. My soul belongs to Thee! It shall abide forever with Thee!
Amen! O God! Help me! Amen!"
The reason I
included this at length, is because it is characteristic of the spirit behind
the Reformation. Wickliffe, Hus, Luther, Calvin, Beza, and all the
Puritans had a disposition which trusted in the power of Jesus Christ and the
Lord God alone. They were very
aware of their inherent weakness and their sinfulness.
Luther appeared
before the Diet once more the next day. He gave a long speech in defense
of his works. And in conclusion replied in this way to the question of
recantation:
When he had
ceased speaking, the Chancellor of Traves, the orator of the Diet, said
indignantly: "You have not answered the question put to you. You were not
summoned hither to call in question the decision of councils. You are
required to give a clear and precise answer. Will you or will you not,
retract?" Upon this Luther replied without hesitation: "Since your most
serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and
precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith
either to the Pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they
have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless I am convinced
by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning,- unless I am
persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted,-and unless they thus render my
conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and will not retract, for it is
unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience." And then looking
round on this assembly before which he stood, and which held his life in its
hands, he said: "Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me! Amen!"
Luther spent a great time in hiding after that meeting. As a matter
of fact, his colleagues (friends of Duke George) kidnapped him that night in
fear of his life, threw a sack over him and "stole" him away. This was unknown to Luther, yet, it most
assuredly saved his life. He then spent a great deal of time in
hiding. He took this time to teach,
catechize, preach, and translate the Scriptures into the German
tongue. One of the greatest
Reformational works was written by Luther is called The Bondage of the
Will. Luther believed this was his greatest work. It is still available to buy today and
deals with a refutation of Erasmus’ denial of total depravity and a setting
forth of the biblical picture of man’s total inability to save himself.
Luther died in 1546.
