On
October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis (reasons against
selling indulgences) to the
north door of the Castle Church in Whittenburg, Germany. While the world
celebrates ghosts, goblins, and ghouls, we can take time to remember reformers like Peter
Waldo, Jan Huss, Martin Bucer, William Tyndale, Philip Melanchthon, Hieronymus
Zanchius, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Guillaume Farel, John Calvin, William
Perkins, Michael Satteeler, Matthius Illyricus, Theodore Beza, Heinrich
Bullinger, John Knox, Urich Zwingli,
Peter Vermigli, and Johann Oecolampadius
who bravely called for the Church to return to the pure and undefiled
New Testament gospel of Christ.
I. Bible Only
Christianity
2 Peter
1.20-21
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that
shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but
holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 1
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we
have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to
you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
C. William
Tyndale 1494-1536
Early Controversy
Surrounding Tyndale
William
Tyndale First Prints The Scripture in English
The Betrayal
and Death of William Tyndale
86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?"
B. Scripture says...
While the five “solas” are the classic
explanation of what the reformers taught, these three “Pillars of the
Protestant Reformation” also capture the heart of the movement.
I. Bible Only
Christianity
A. Summary:
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that
the Bible and the traditions of the Church, as expressed in the decrees of
popes and councils, etc. are authoritative.
The reformers believed that the Scriptures, not church traditions, were
the final authority for faith and practice.
Martin Luther proclaimed that “...unless I am convicted of error by the
testimony of Scripture or...by manifest reasoning I stand convicted by the
Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by
God’s Word ...”
B. Scripture says...
2 Peter
1.20-21
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that
shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but
holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 1
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we
have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to
you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
C. William
Tyndale 1494-1536
Tyndale was a theologian and scholar
who translated the Bible into an early form of Modern English. He was the first
person to take advantage of Gutenberg’s movable-type press for the purpose of
printing the scriptures in the English language.
Early Controversy
Surrounding Tyndale
Around 1520, William Tyndale became a
tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh, at Little Sodbury in Gloucestershire. He
became attached to the doctrines of the Reformation, devoted himself to the
study of the Scriptures, and was open about his beliefs in the house of Walsh.
A clergyman hopelessly entrenched in
Roman Catholic dogma once taunted Tyndale with the statement, “We are better
to be without God’s laws than the Pope’s”. Tyndale was infuriated by such
Roman Catholic heresies, and he replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws.
If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow
to know more of the scriptures than you!”
William
Tyndale First Prints The Scripture in English
Unable to translate and print the
Scriptures in England, he set out for the continent (about May, 1524), and
appears to have visited Hamburg and Wittenberg. The place where he translated
the New Testament, is thought to have been Wittenberg, William Tyndale’s Biblical translations included
the Pentateuch, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Samuel,
First and Second Kings, First Chronicles.
The Betrayal
and Death of William Tyndale
Tyndale was betrayed by a friend,
Philips, the agent either of Henry or of English ecclesiastics, or possibly of
both. Tyndale was arrested and imprisoned in the castle of Vilvoorden for over
500 days of horrible conditions. He was tried for heresy and treason in a
ridiculously unfair trial, and convicted. Tyndale was then strangled and burnt
at the stake in the prison yard, Oct. 6, 1536. His last words were, "Lord,
open the king of England's eyes." This prayer was answered three years
later, in the publication of King Henry VIII’s 1539 English “Great Bible”.
II. Salvation by grace through faith alone.
A. Summary:
The Roman Church had placed the merit
of good works alongside faith as a requirement to obtain salvation. The reformers taught the Biblical doctrine
that salvation comes by the free and undeserved grace of Christ. Good works are the product and evidence of
justification, not a requirement for justification.
B. Scripture says...
Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by
faith."
Galatians 3:11
But that no one is justified by the
law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by
faith."
Ephesians 2.8-10
8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
C.
Martin Luther 1483 – 1546
“Even if you attend church twice every
Sunday without fail, give most of your income to the poor, read your Bible and
pray every day, and live a rigorously moral life, this will not earn you
acceptance with God and entrance into heaven. That only comes as a free gift
from God, apart from all of your religious dedication.”
Lightning strikes
Martin Luther was headed for a career as a lawyer. On July 2, 1505, he was caught in a violent thunderstorm. Lightning struck close to him. Thrown to the ground and fearing for his life, he prayed to St. Anne that, if she would save him, he would become a monk.
Martin Luther was headed for a career as a lawyer. On July 2, 1505, he was caught in a violent thunderstorm. Lightning struck close to him. Thrown to the ground and fearing for his life, he prayed to St. Anne that, if she would save him, he would become a monk.
Monkery not enough
Through his laborious studies of the Scriptures, Luther came to see that the guilt that consumed him could not be lifted by more religion, and the God he dreaded so much was not the God that Christ has revealed. Shooting forth from the book of Romans (1:17), another thunderbolt crossed his path: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 'the just shall live by his faith.' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which, through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
Through his laborious studies of the Scriptures, Luther came to see that the guilt that consumed him could not be lifted by more religion, and the God he dreaded so much was not the God that Christ has revealed. Shooting forth from the book of Romans (1:17), another thunderbolt crossed his path: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 'the just shall live by his faith.' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which, through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
Indulgences light the fuse
Luther was also a pastor at the city church in Wittenberg and began to preach his newfound faith to his congregation. But at the same time a representative of Pope Leo X, a monk named John Tetzel, was selling indulgences to raise money to finance the building of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Indulgences were letters of pardon which guaranteed forgiveness of sins.
Luther was also a pastor at the city church in Wittenberg and began to preach his newfound faith to his congregation. But at the same time a representative of Pope Leo X, a monk named John Tetzel, was selling indulgences to raise money to finance the building of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Indulgences were letters of pardon which guaranteed forgiveness of sins.
Luther saw this as a perversion of the
Gospel. He wrote up 95 theses in Latin and posted them on the door of the castle
church inviting scholars to debate the issue of indulgences. But the printing press had recently been
invented and Luther's theses were printed up. Within weeks copies were in
demand and stimulating debate across Europe.
A few samples from Luther's 95 theses
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
52. The assurance of salvation by
letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the
pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?"
III. The Priesthood of all believers
A. Summary:
The reformers argued that there was
not precedent in the early church for the priest as a mediator between the lay
people and Christ. Each believer could
confess his sins to and receive forgiveness from Christ without the aid of a
priest. Each believer had the right and
duty to read the Scriptures and trust the Holy Spirit to lead them into the truth.
1 Peter 2:5-9
5 you
also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
"Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who
believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 7 Therefore,
to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The
stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and
"A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being
disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 9 But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now
the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Seeing
then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not
have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need.
C. JOHN WYCLIFFE (1320-1384)
The plague led Wycliffe to search the Scriptures and find salvation in Christ. As a professor at Oxford University, Wycliffe represented England in a controversy with the Pope.
The plague led Wycliffe to search the Scriptures and find salvation in Christ. As a professor at Oxford University, Wycliffe represented England in a controversy with the Pope.
Wycliffe then attacked the
corruptions, superstitions and abuses of the friars and monks. He also declared
the monasteries unbiblical and exposed their supposed powers to forgive sins as
fraudulent. "Who can forgive sins?" Wycliffe taught: "God
alone!"
Wycliffe mobilized lay preachers
(Lollards) to travel throughout the land to read, preach and sing the
Scriptures in English.
Summoned to appear before a council
Wycliffe rebuked the bishops for being "priests of Baal," selling
blasphemy and idolatry in the mass and indulgences.
