Posted on 02/17/2015 8:19:50 AM PST by RnMomof7
On October 31st 1517 Anno Domini a comically tonsured German monk, with an attitude and a mallet posted the Medieval equivalent of a snarky blog post on the castle door at Wittenberg. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses voiced irrefragable concerns about doctrine, ecclesiastical abuses, and unbiblical doctrines. The paper was merely intended to spark debate and reform within the Roman Catholic Church.
However, the spark blew a little further than the intramural playground of the Vatican. The white squall of God’s Spirit (with a little help from Guttenberg’s press and a Latin-German dictionary) ignited the hearts of the masses, as the Theses went viral.
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melanchthon, Bucer, Farel, and countless others lived and died to leave a legacy of passion and proclamation. They showed that when you love Jesus and his word, you would rather die than keep quiet. If they inspire you, here are…
3 ways to make the Reformers proud today:
1. Read more Bible than blogs
Post Tenebras Lux is Latin for “After Darkness Light” which was the tagline motto of the Reformation. After centuries of spiritual darkness which enshrouded the world in ignorance, the Reformers basked in the illumination which dawned with the Scriptures availability in vernacular languages.
When Luther was exiled, and went into the witness protection program of Fredrick the Wise (cool nickname) at Wartburg Castle, instead of languishing in a pity party of impotence, he redeemed the time by translating the Hebrew OT into German [Actually it was the NT, which he did in 11 weeks, later called the "September Testament" (1522); the OT was tackled in 1534]. One of the hallmarks of Reformers was their desire to get the Bible in the hands of everybody. As biblical translator, William Tyndale, articulated in his impromptu mission statement retort to a Greek-snob, “I defy the Pope and all his laws! In fact, if God spares my life, I intend to make it possible for a common farmer, a plowman, to know more of the Scripture than you do!”
You are standing on the shoulders of the Reformers when you savor the taste of Scripture on your native tongue. Enjoy your English/Spanish/Afrikaans/Zulu Bible. Read it, mull over it, memorize it. I’m a fan of Greek and Hebrew, but a translated Bible is a precious gift of God.
Read the part above the study Bible line with more attention than the comments below. Read more Bible than commentaries.
If you quoted Calvin in a debate on Election, he would slap you. Quote Scripture. If you appealed to Luther to back up pedobaptism, he’d grunt a Germanic expletive at you. Appeal to Scripture. (As a Baptist, my guess is that he’s changed his view on baptism, and his use of coarse language!)
And read more Bible than blogs. Make that a personal rule, “Resolved to not check my RSS feed until I’ve checked in with the God-breathed word.”
2. Use Your Latin
Well, not actual Latin. What I mean is that we should be familiar with whatever medium or forum in which doctrine is currently discussed.
Latin was not the lingua franca. It was the medium of the academic elite. Theological debate flowed in Latin. It was one of the ways the Roman Catholic church stopped people thinking for themselves.
Today, there is no way anyone with a modem or smartphone can plead ignorance. To be in the dark today is a matter of negligent stewardship.
If you live in a township in Soweto, you may have an excuse for not having access to sound teaching. But if you are reading this blog post, and still don’t know both sides of the Cessasionist/Continuationist brouhaha, or the Premill/Amill tussle, or the Lordship/FreeGrace debate…it is because you are willfully ignorant (a nicety for ‘stupid on purpose’).
Know who the movers and shakers of Evangelicalism are, read their blogs and books, and listen to their MP3 sermons. Make sure you are not unplugged from the matrix of theological understanding due to laziness. Don’t be the sluggard with his hand in the bowl, too lazy to get the gruel to his lips.
Get familiar with the mediums in which doctrine is discussed today.
3. Don’t go back to Rome
Not that many Protestants are really tempted to become a ECT signatory; but there is a sentiment among those whose libraries are light on church history books, to think of Catholics as “not so far off.” (Sorry to bring this up 2 weeks in a row, but it is Reformation Day.)
Please read Vatican II in your spare time. It will bring tears to your eyes as you see how deviant its view is of what our Savior did on the cross (passages that exemplify this are found in last week’s post, see the former link). It will make you love Jesus more, and it will make you run far from Rome on your way to the cross in gratitude for grace by faith alone.
Understand what the Reformers were willing to die for. Read “Five English Reformers” by J. C. Ryle. That will purge the urge to reconcile with Rome. Don’t give up ground for which the Reformers bled.
Reformation Ping
And for you, too.
Presbyterians rule.
“3 ways to Make the Reformers Proud”
I think Luther and Calvin would cringe at this title. This is not about pride, it is about doing what God commands.
Thanks. I am learning so much.
Maybe you should try one of those "internet exorcisms" next time. I hear those produce great results!
Any things substantive ??
I have seen words attributed to Calvin and Luther declaring the pope Antichrist and the papacy the seat of the Antichrist..
Those may be considered cringe worthy words today..
But parts of Rome has stood the test of time.
It isn’t just catholics who see December 25, easter and Sunday holy..
I knew Lutherans right there with the anti , er, the seat of the, um when it comes to some Roman teachings.. I am guessing some are getting prepared for ‘lent’ too..
“I have seen words attributed to Calvin and Luther declaring the pope Antichrist and the papacy the seat of the Antichrist..”
They were not alone. Historically that was so commonly believed that it was simply “The Protestant Position.” The more I study Rome, the more certain of her identity I am.
The Papacy Is The Antichrist: A DEMONSTRATION
By Rev. J. A. WYLIE, LL.D. (1888)
http://www.historicism.net/readingmaterials/thepapacy.pdf
These faithful witnesses all held the doctrine that the Church of Rome is the Babylon of Revelation chapter seventeen and the Pope is the Antichrist prophesied in Scripture.
Reformation Worthies
Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli, Calvin, Beza, Bucer, Knox, Ferrar, Hooper, Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, Ussher, Firth, Barnes, Philpot, Becon, Turner, Cartwright, Barrow, Jewel, Coverdale, Lord Cobham, Hooker, Ainsworth, Dent, Foxe, Fulke, Bradford, Bullinger, Rogers, Hutchinson, Whitgift, Sir Francis Drake and a host of others.
Post-Reformation Worthies
Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Henry Vane, Brightman, Milton, Beard, Baxter, Bishop Newton, John Bunyan, Fleming, Wesley, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, Gill, Clarke, Trapp, Brown, Toplady, Pool, Clarkson, Swimmock, Brooks, Chamock, Sibbs, Goodwin, Owen, Hall, Cunningham, Manton, Smith, Adams, Perkins, Gilpin, Field, Durham, Willet, Rainolds, Cotton, Gauge, Burroughs, Carter, Ames, Bridge, Marshall, Potter, Thomas Fuller, Twisse, Keith, Hales, Chalmers, Spurgeon, Wylie, Elliott, Cumming, Goode, Ryle, Candlish, Albert Bames, Wordsworth, Birks, Hislop, A. J. Gordon often called the Father of Fundamentalism, Moody, Hudson Taylor, Guinness, Salmond, Dinsdale Young, Horn, Close, T. T. Shields, Kensit, Baron Porceli and a host of others.
“It was always the theological Romanists and Liberals in Church History who started the attack on this universally held interpretation of the teaching of Holy Scripture concerning ‘The Great Whore’ and ‘The Antichrist.’”
http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=antichrist_2
The one condition for spiritual progress is that we remain sincere and humble. Let us keep our end in view, let us press forward to our goal. Let us not indulge in pride, nor give in to our sinful passions. Let us steadily exert ourselves to reach a higher degree of holiness till we shall finally arrive at a perfection of goodness which we seek and pursue as long as we live, but which we shall attain then only, when, freed from all earthly infirmity, we shall be admitted by God into his full communion.
So when people debated they were not thinking. Sigh.
Dispensationalists “economize”.
Maybe you should try one of those "internet exorcisms" next time. I hear those produce great results!
Hey now... you'd better get the NetPope's imprimatur and blessing on any internet exorcism. He might not sanction it.
:D
Hoss
Problem was the “ordinary” people were exclusived from the debate just as they were from scripture
The world runs on a Roman calendar named after a Roman pontif.
That is either just an innocent coincidence or incredibly prophetic..
Without the printing press invented by a Catholic, and without the bible which the Catholics preserved thoughout history, you'd still have to go to the big city library, or to a monastary and read a Catholic Hand copied version of the Bible...say Thanks Catholics!!!
It was the press, not the revolutionaries that gave the Bible to the public...
The OT was given to the jews and it was preserved by the Jews..The NT was given to the church ..to be preserved by the church
It is interesting the OLDEST known Bible is in An Orthodox Monastery
In May 1844, Konstantin von Tischendorf visited the monastery for research and discovered the Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the 4th Century, at the time the oldest almost completely preserved manuscript of the Bible. It left the monastery in the 19th century for Russia, in circumstances that are now disputed. It was later bought by the British Government from Russia and is now in the British Library. Prior to September 1, 2009, a previously unseen fragment of Codex Sinaiticus was discovered in the monastery's library.[9][10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine%27s_Monastery
The scriptures are always under the protection of the Holy Spirit..
They were given to the church..you assume mistakenly that the early church was Roman catholic.. no it was Christian ...and early Monistaries hand copied it.. as God ordaned.. We must be cautious never to ascribe the glory to men when it belongs to God ..
And of course you know I will point out that Rome kept the bibles chained to the pulpits and written in the language of Rome... not the "public :)
Of course the O.T. was preserved over the years by the Jews, No one ever denies that. That, however, wasn't the Bible as we know it today. The New testament was given to the church, edited by the church, transcribed by the church, and copied, by hand for 1,500 years before the printing press was invented.
During that entire 1,500 years, the Church was Catholic...there was no one else around.
I'm not certain about the oldest known copy of whatever version that you speak of is, but if it is in an Orthodox church, fine, the Orthodox are Catholic.
The church, in those very early years had no need to keep the Bible from the general public. All copies were hand copied treasures that could only be afforded by the VERY wealthy, royalty, huge city libraries (not lending libraries) monastaries etc.
Because virtually no one could read in the general population, they went to church and learned the Bible there. You don't seem to realize that before the printing press there were few if any books of any kind available to the public. They were rare, expensive, and if you didn't have a book, how did you learn to read.....and why???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.