Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov 1/59

Contributor - Rev. A. A. Schermer

Title - Reformation

Topic - Church History

"...The Just shall live by his faith" Hab. 2: 4b (Rom. 1: 17; Gal. 3: 11; Heb. 10: 38)

The Reformation is not over. It was born and brought forth during the Renaissance, an era when a particular movement among the European races caused them to emerge from the bonds of ecclesiastical and feudal institutions to form distinct nationalities and languages. There was a transition from the middle ages to the modern and characterized by a revolution in the world of art and literature. The study of the antique classical learning was revived; a spirit of exploration developed; new ideas of astronomy were formed, and the invention of printing and of gun-powder had made its appearance.

The driving spirit or power very evidently was the return to Bible reading by some godly monks who shared their discovery with the common people. The religious revolution of the 16th century divided the Western Church into two sections, known as Roman Catholic and Protestant. Prior to this era the Pope exercised absolute authority over the entire Christian Church with the exception of those countries where the Greek or Eastern Church had become established.

Wherever the Pope's spiritual authority was recognized there also he influenced temporal affairs. This absolute authority nurtured various abuses in the church and state. The corrupt practices and cruel disciplines ordered by and permitted by the Pope came to the attention of sincere clerics and awakened laymen - the common people who had begun to benefit from the new learning.

The Bible - The Word of God - had been re-discovered. Wycliffe in England (1324-1384), began translating the Bible into English. John Huss (1369-1415) and Jerome of Prague (1360-1416) and their Bohemian followers developed this movement. It spread into Germany where Martin Luther (1483-1546), an Augustinian monk of Erfurt, was a professor of theology in the University of Wittenburg. Luther had been deeply moved by the teaching of the Word of God. He held many offices in the Roman Church. But he discovered and experienced the spiritual truth which had revolutionized his life: "The just shall live by faith." Hab. 2 :4b.

Soon after Luther's conversion, the church of Rome sent a duly accredited agent, Johann Tetzal, a Dominican Monk of Leipzig to preach and to sell indulgences to the people in Germany. Luther vehemently condemned this practice in a sermon and then followed it with 95 theses or questions which he nailed to the church door in Wittenburg on October 31, 1517.

This aroused much public interest and gained for Luther a number of adherents. Luther appealed to the Pope to put a stop to this evil practice and to reform the church in general.

No reform came. A heated controversy developed. Luther was fiercely assailed, and in 1520 he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the privileges of the church. Luther refused to recant when placed on trial at the Diet of Worms on April 17, 1521.

The fires of Reformation as well as of persecutions gained momentum and made rapid progress in Germany. It spread to other countries. Translations of the Bible appeared in Holland, in France, and in England. And England and France became involved politically. War broke out between England and France. The Peace of Augsburg, 1555, brought about the triumph of the Reformation, when each Prince was permitted to adopt either the Reformed or Roman Catholic faith. Henceforth Protestantism received legal recognition.

Space does not permit a detailed and interesting account of John Calvin (1509-1564), the prince of the Reformed faith who clarified differences of opinion concerning the Lord's Supper, and through his publication of The Institutes formulated the doctrines of a large body of Reformers. Calvin's creed was favorably accepted in the Netherlands, introduced in Scotland, and is still cherished by all who love the Historic Reformed Faith.

Persecutions were fierce and cruel. Calvin found a refuge haven in Switzerland, and the city which most enjoyed and benefitted from his ministry was Geneva. Here the 400th anniversary of his founding of the Academy of Geneva was observed this year.

John Calvin was a brilliant student, a fluent writer, a dynamic theologian, a beloved professor, and a faithful pastor. Though his voice and his pen have been silent for almost four centuries, his works and writings do follow him.

We pay homage to the memory of a great champion of the Historic Reformed faith. The fires of persecution claimed many lives. Calvin's live was often in grave danger. Those who gave their lives to be burned at the stake; to be tortured and tormented; to be cast out as refuse, did so in order that the gospel witness might be preserved, and our religious liberties maintained. We have entered upon a blood bought heritage. Let us beware that now power or ideology rob us of our heritage!

We need to re-evaluate our heritage lest the forces of materialism and humanism rob us of a living, vital, and dynamic Christian testimony. As it was in the days of Luther, even so again, we need to hear and feel anew: "The Just Shall Live By Faith". To God be all glory.

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