The Reformation, the Bible, and You

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As the anniversary of the five-hundredth year of Martin Luther’s theses comes to an end, what can be learned from the Reformation and applied to the lives of Christians today? The study of history should result in the experiences of the past finding application to the present and future. For this final post of Fellowship Presbyterian Church’s series “The Reformation-500th Anniversary,” the importance of sola Scriptura for today will be considered.

Presbyterians in the United States have at times noted the limited Bible knowledge among their members and officers. Concerned presbyters and their courts have exhorted church members to read the Bible and increase their knowledge of its content. The unsettling truth of the situation is that for many Christians the only Bible content they experience is during their Lord’s Day church services, which in some cases currently include Scripture readings of only a few verses or none at all. If it is true, which it is, that God has revealed his will once and for all in his Word, and its readers comprehend its message through the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, then why is it the case that Christians sometimes know no more about the Bible than they do the content of manuals for their household appliances? It is really a sad representation of the importance of sola Scriptura when Jesus’ few familiar words in John 17:17 are not heeded for growth in grace.

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The Reformation of the Lord’s Supper

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One of the most important doctrinal changes made by Protestants involved the reinterpretation of the Latin words hoc est corpus meum which are found in the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26:26 of the Catholic Bible, the Vulgate. The English translation of what Jesus said to his disciples is “this is my body.” The words Jesus pronounced that evening were few, but by the sixteenth century they had been interpreted into the Mass which is the traditional Catholic word for the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper liturgy. As the Reformers studied Scripture with a critical eye to the Mass it became clear to them that it was based on flawed theology that had been influenced significantly by Medieval philosophy and logic.

In the Mass, Catholicism interpreted “this is my body” in a literal way so that even though the bread and wine continue to appear as such physically, they are in fact in substance the body and blood of Jesus. How does common bread and wine become the Lord’s true body and blood? When the priest pronounces the words of institution given by Jesus, he is, in fact, acting in the person of Christ to consecrate the bread and wine so that they change through transubstantiation into the Lord’s body and blood. Further, the Mass was said to be a sacrifice for sin.

So, if the practice of the Mass was believed to be incorrect, what were the Reformers going to put in its place in the light of sola Scriptura?

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Martin Luther’s Theses, 500 Years Later

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Even though the original manuscript of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses posted on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg five-hundred years ago this October 31st is no longer available, the interest they generated resulted in editions by a number of printers. By the end of 1517, three editions of his challenge to the system of indulgences had been produced by anonymous printers in Leipzig, Nuremberg, Basel, and other locations. When publishing controversial materials, the printers often hid their identities fearing reprisals. In the case of a theological document such as the theses, a publisher might be prosecuted by the papacy and/or a political ruler for having distributed heretical writings. Published in 1517, the Latin copy of the theses shown in the image to the right is held by the Berlin State Library and its printer has been identified as Hieronymus Höltzel of Nuremberg. There are very few early copies of the theses in existence and the one pictured was discovered by the undoubtedly delighted director of the Berlin Museum of Prints and Drawings in a London bookshop in 1891.

Before reading the theses a definition of “indulgence” would be helpful particularly since the practice is foreign to Protestant thinking. A certificate of indulgence was granted by the papacy to a parishioner to reduce time in purgatory. Purgatory is said by Catholicism to be an intermediate state between earth and heaven in which deceased individuals are cleansed of the penalty of sin in preparation for heaven. In Luther’s day, the living could buy indulgences not only for themselves but also for the deceased that were already in purgatory.

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JOHN KNOX, 1514-1572

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It might be thought that one as important to the history of Presbyterians and Scotland as John Knox would have a distinguished place of burial. Hopefully, it would be a pleasant statue, a nice monument or possibly an obelisk marking his grave. But no, the approximate site of his grave is designated with a square surfaced white stone and a descriptive slab set in asphalt. Yes, John Knox is awaiting the resurrection beneath parking space number twenty-three in Parliament Square behind St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. Maybe those who paved over the remains of Knox and his fellow deceased were skeptical descendants of the anti-supernatural Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection. Regardless, if you want to see the burial site of John Knox you will have to stand on blacktop instead of a green church yard lawn.

John Knox was born in 1514 near Haddington which is located about eighteen miles east of Edinburgh. His father, William, was a freeman and may have been a merchant or craftsman, and what is known about his mother is that her maiden name was Sinclair. After completing his studies in Haddington, Knox finished his educational program at St. Andrews University. He was ordained a priest on April 1, 1536. Even though lads of the day often aspired to be priests, Scotland had too many of them and obtaining a benefice (property and income provided by the church) was difficult. Apparently, the grim prospects for ministry came to fruition for Knox because by 1540 he was a notary in Haddington. Four years later he was living in the household of Sir Hugh Douglas of Longniddry for the purpose of tutoring his two sons.

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JOHN CALVIN, 1509-1564, Concluded

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The first part of our John Calvin discussion can be found in our July post from the Reformation – 500th anniversary series.

 

Guillaume Farel (1489-1565) invited John Calvin to Geneva in 1536. The church sorely needed guidance and leadership. Calvin was first described in Geneva civil records as a “lecturer in holy Scripture.” Early in 1537 his articles composed to govern the church of Geneva were presented. Included in the articles was direction concerning the practice of the Lord’s supper and the associated use of excommunication. Other articles included the importance of instructing children, the need for elders, the importance of singing Psalms, and a twenty-one-article confession of faith which all who joined the church had to affirm. Calvin, Farel, and other pastors believed that one could not take the Lord’s Supper without affirming the confession of faith, but the Geneva government, as represented in its council, disagreed and said all should be able to partake regardless. This tension between the state and the church led to ordering Calvin and Farel to leave Geneva in April 1538. The history of the church is often a history of the confusion of church and state and the council’s ejection of ministers is an example of such a conflict. When the state and church come into conflict, the state inevitably wields its sword against the church.

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JOHN CALVIN, 1509-1564

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The June post for this series pointed out that there are two main lines of confessional Protestant theology that developed from the Reformation. The first was Lutheran, which developed primarily from the writings of Martin Luther, and the second was Reformed, which grew to a great degree from the teaching of John Calvin. The following is the first of a two-part biography of John Calvin.

Jean (John) was born on July 10, 1509, to Gérard and Jeanne Lefranc Cauvin (Calvin) in Noyon, France. Noyon is about sixty miles northeast of Paris and at the time its cathedral was the seat of the bishop of Noyon, Charles de Hangest. Gérard worked as a legal advisor to the cathedral and served in other administrative capacities. John’s mother died when he was young and his father remarried, but John and his stepmother did not get along well. Calvin obtained his early schooling privately in the home of the Lord of Montmor who was the brother of Bishop Charles de Hangest. It was Gérard’s desire that John would become a priest and his educational future was planned for that end. John Calvin was not only schooled in the home of a lord, but he was also trained in manners and proper behavior. The portrait shows dapper gentleman Jean Cauvin ready for the day with his trimmed beard, a fur collar, and a smart hat.

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MARTIN LUTHER, 1483-1546

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There is little in the early years of Martin’s life that would lead one to conclude the lad was destined to spearhead the Reformation. He was born to Hans and Margaret Luder on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Saxony, Germany. His parents were not poor but of sufficient means to have their daily bread. During his first year of life, the family moved to Mansfield where Hans managed smelting furnaces used to extract metal from its ore. Martin went to school in Mansfield, Magdeburg, and Eisenach in preparation for university studies to become a lawyer. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Erfurt and then earned his masters in 1505. As was common in the era, those who knew Latin often Latinized their names, so Martin Luder adopted Luther for his surname. Interest in the practice of law ended when he vowed to become an Augustinian monk after a close encounter with a bolt of lightning during a storm. Practical Hans was not happy with his son’s change of vocation. However, Luther did not yield to his father’s will and was ordained a priest in 1507.

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Reforming Worship Music

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A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing are the familiar opening words of Martin Luther’s great hymn, A Mighty Fortress. It was composed in 1527, which was a particularly difficult year for the Luther household because both Martin and his one-year-old son, Hans, suffered but survived extended illnesses, and then when the plague visited town, the Luthers made their home into a hospital. Making it through the challenging year may have reminded Luther of God’s faithfulness in the past when Frederick the Wise hid him in Wartburg Castle in 1521. Luther found the immense fortification to be a bulwark against agents of Emperor Charles V who sought to arrest him for heresy. Ein’ Feste Berg, the German title of the hymn, was not Luther’s first nor only hymn. His first hymn was A New Song Shall Here Be Begun, which he authored in memory of three Augustinian monks burned at the stake in Antwerp on July 1, 1523. The three were executed for failure to renounce their Protestant beliefs which they had learned primarily from Luther’s writings. In total, Luther composed thirty-eight hymns, six of which are included in the Trinity Hymnal, Revised, which is used by Fellowship Presbyterian Church. Martin Luther said of music that it “has the natural power of stimulating and arousing the souls of men.”

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The Importance of Catechisms for the Reformation

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The books that would most likely come to mind for those with some knowledge of the literature of the Reformation might be Martin Luther’s The Bondage of the Will, his translation of the Bible into German, or his work on the New Testament book of Galatians. In the case of John Calvin one might think of Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was published in several editions and languages, or possibly his commentaries on many of the books of Scripture would come to mind. These works by both Luther and Calvin were written primarily for ministers, teachers, and those involved in the debates about doctrine in their era, but one of the most influential types of publications for reform was the catechism. The word “catechism” comes from the Greek language and it describes a text used for oral instruction which most often followed a question and answer format to teach essentials. In conjunction with Bibles translated into the common languages of the nations, catechisms were used to train believers in the fundamentals of faith, salvation, and Christian living. In the picture accompanying this article, Martin Luther is teaching his catechism to children in a classroom to provide them with doctrinal instruction.

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The Cornerstone of Reform: Sola Scriptura

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Sola Scriptura, “Scripture alone,” was the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation upon which sola fide, “faith alone,” sola gratia, “grace alone,” solus Christus, “Christ alone,” and soli Deo gloria, “glory to God alone,” were built. All that is known about God and his gracious salvation is revealed in his Word. Martin Luther came to understand through sola Scriptura that his attempts to recall each and every sin when asking God’s forgiveness would fail. Luther would complete his prayer asking forgiveness, stand to walk away, and within a pace or two realize he had forgotten to confess a sin. Luther’s sensitivity to sin and his need for the assurance of forgiveness found their resolution in the simple words, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, also, Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). He learned that faith in Christ not only brought justification and forgiveness, but also the grace to live each day to God’s glory. Martin Luther did not stop praying for forgiveness, but distress caused by the gaps in his memory was relieved through understanding that he should live by faith.

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Day to Day Living in the Era of the Reformation

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How much would you be willing to pay for a copy of the Bible? What price for just a New Testament? If you were a contemporary of Martin Luther, a working man on the lower end of the pay scale would have to give a week of his income to buy a copy of Luther’s New Testament in Germany, 1522. A whole Bible would require a month’s wages. Unless you were prepared to make considerable financial sacrifices, purchasing a book of any kind was out of the reach of all but the royals and others at the top of the financial pyramid.

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The Reformation – What of it?

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October 31, 2017 will mark the quincentennial of the Reformation. In 1517, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses contending with the sale of indulgences by the papacy. The words, “theses,” “indulgences,” and “papacy,” seem out of place today and an Augustinian monk with an odd haircut wearing a garment resembling a bathrobe is certainly not stylish. Besides, how could he have “posted” his Theses, he did not have electricity much less social media? However, in his day the bulletin board for religious issues was the local church door, so Luther used a low-tech hammer and tacks to post the theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This action by Luther which is considered the start of the Reformation led to the founding of denominations including not only the Lutherans but also the Presbyterians, Reformed, and Anglicans. In order to better understand the importance of the Reformation, over the course of the next year, monthly articles explaining its significance will be posted—in the modern sense, on the church website, not the church door. These studies will include history, theology, biography, church government, and confessional information that will work together to answer the question, “What of it, what of the Reformation?”

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