What is the Reformation?

In a previous post, I commended knowing church history. I am partial to one particular era in church history: the Reformation. I love the Reformers, the history of the Reformation, and the way the Reformation has left a distinctive imprint on my own theology and understanding of Scripture.

The Reformation was a historical movement often traced back to Martin Luther’s nailing of 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church on October 31, 1517. His excommunication, the resultant major schism in the church, similarly minded Reformers across Europe, and total transformation of many churches in Western Europe followed over the next century. There were religious convulsions, political realignments, bloody persecutions, anathemas, and Councils. There was a newfound love for thoroughly Biblical preaching, careful articulation of theology, and the freedom that comes from being justified by faith alone.

What is at the center of the Reformation? This is not always so easy to clarify. In this post, I want to provide seven features of the historical era of the Reformation.

First, the Reformation was the breaking point for protest movements in the Western church. The movement we call the Reformation was constituted by people who viewed themselves in continuity with the history of the Church. Martin Luther did not set out to found a new denomination; he intended to reform the church of which he was already a member. John Calvin saw himself as an heir of the great church fathers of antiquity and, in particular, Augustine. The medieval church had been convulsed by papal abuses, questionable authority structures, and superstitious theology. There were some who fleeced the church, false teachers, and preachers of all things fluffy, sentimental, and superstitious. The Reformers were not the first to notice this. They did, however, come on the scene when many in Western Christendom finally said, “Enough is enough.” We misunderstand the Reformers if we believe they set out to do something novel; they wanted to reform Western Christianity, not refound it.

Second, the Reformation recovered the gospel. At the core of the Reformation message is the recovery of the gospel. The good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension had been minimized by the establishment in their preoccupation with the pope, the saints, purgatory, and superstition. The Reformers were dismayed that most people who called themselves Christians did not know that God justifies the ungodly, that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, that obedience to the law cannot earn a righteous standing before God. The Reformers were flabbergasted that the merits of man were emphasized more than the atoning work of Christ on the cross. In other words, the goal of the Reformers was, first and foremost, to make the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the consequent justification by faith alone in Christ alone crystal clear. Only in this way would God get all the glory which is fitting to him.

Third, the Reformation recovered biblical authority. The Reformation is often known by the phrase “sola scriptura.” The phrase does not imply that Christians never make use of creeds or confessions or church tradition. Anyone who has spent any time around convinced Calvinists or Lutherans knows that is far from the truth. The phrase sola scriptura means that Scripture is the norm which norms tradition. In other words, it is the criterion, the measuring stick, the standard by which we judge creeds and confessions and church history. God has seen fit to speak to his people through a book. We ignore that book at our own peril.

Fourth, the Reformation recovered biblical preaching and ministry. Protestant preachers believed that Christian preachers needed to recover preaching that was thoroughly Biblical. Some traditions which emerged from the Reformation, namely Lutheranism and Anglicanism, did not depart from the tradition of reading from the lectionary and utilizing the liturgy. They did, however, believe that it was incumbent upon preachers to emphasize the gospel from the passages which were read in the lectionary. The Reformed wing of Protestantism favored the ancient approach of lectio continua, namely preaching through books of the Bible passage by passage. They believed in the importance of right interpretation and the plain sense of a passage. They believed in the importance of the regulative principle for worship. They believed in the importance of understanding biblical polity. What unites all these, however, is the profound conviction that the church’s witness and ministry must be marked by the Bible and submitted to the biblical text.

Fifth, the Reformation recovered God-centered theology. The Reformation believed that the way the medieval church construed theology, the Christian life, and the Church’s worship often robbed God of his due glory. This is why one of the slogans of the Reformers was soli Deo gloria—glory to God alone. The first generation of the Reformers, Lutheran and Calvinist alike, believed the decisive act of salvation must be God’s. They believed that God is totally sovereign. Certainly, they believed God works through means. This must not obscure, however, the fact that God is totally sovereign and mighty. However Christians articulate salvation and the world, they must not lose sight of this central fact: all the glory is due to God alone.

Sixth, the Reformation was not uniform. One of the greatest chastenings I received at a Lutheran seminary was for assuming that all Protestants think alike. There is actually a fair amount of disagreement about some fairly central doctrinal issues between Lutheranism and Calvinism.¹ While we agree about much, in particular, the features of justification as a forensic declaration of God over sinners that takes place by grace alone and through faith alone, we do not see eye to eye on other important aspects of the Christian faith. This is to say nothing of the diversity which is found in Anglicanism. While there were certain priorities and convictions which were common to all early Protestants, this must not obscure the important theological differences between the various traditions which emerged.

Seventh, the Reformation never ended. It is sometimes commonplace to think about the Reformation as a historical era which has been concluded in our day and age. This is simply untrue. The Reformation is still ongoing. Official Papal dogma still disputes the central priorities of the Reformation. In our day of Pelagian man-centered individualism, the convictions of the Reformers, their theology, their preaching, is as relevant today as it ever was. Our protest never ended. We must not give an inch; the world needs Protestants who care about God-centered theology, justification by faith alone, and Biblical authority as much as it ever has.

1. I will surprise no-one when I say the Calvinists are usually right.