The Protestant Reformation was one of the most important theological, social, religious, and political episodes in Western history. It is reasonable to divide all Western history in two: before the Reformation and after. Nevertheless, in our time, the Reformation is not well . . . Continue reading →
Because the Reformation began 500 years ago, because the Reformers are larger than life, because we often think of them as heroes, we might forget that they were once young men, college students, who were excited by new books, new ideas, and . . . Continue reading →
John Piper, “Does God Really Save Us By Faith Alone?” (September 25, 2017)
It is ironic that, as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the Reformed-ish wing of evangelicalism is having a controversy over salvation. It has been proposed by a leading evangelical pastor that we are initially justified by grace alone, through . . . Continue reading →
It is October 2017. 500 years ago this month Martin Luther wrote 95 theses against the abuse of indulgences in the Western church. We have traced the Reformation to this date for a long time but as you and I have discussed . . . Continue reading →
Presently, the confessional Lutheran churches and the confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches represent two distinct traditions and several different denominations. There is a gulf between them. Apart from a few cooperative enterprises the two traditions are not actively engaged in any major . . . Continue reading →
More information.
In April 1521, when Martin Luther stood before the powers of this world at the Diet of Worms, he did so on the basis of the sole, unique, and final authority of God’s Word. Luther confessed that his conscience was bound by . . . Continue reading →
In confessional Protestant circles we use some short hand Latin phrases that we might not all understand, even though we use them frequently. Sola gratia is one of those. These expressions go back to the very beginning of the Reformation. Andreas Bodenstein . . . Continue reading →
This is season 8 of Office Hours and we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This is part 2 of a three-part introduction to the Reformation. In part 1 we looked briefly at the background to the Reformation in the . . . Continue reading →
Lex Lutheran and Calvinist Coulson (it’s a Twitter thing) were gracious to invite me to talk about the Reformation. Continue reading →
This is season 8 of Office Hours and we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In this episode we look at the background to the Reformation in the medieval church, how the medieval church set the stage for the Reformation . . . Continue reading →
You can catch up with the flow of the discussion via Derek Rishmawy’s interesting essay but the short story is that Carl Trueman published an essay at First Things properly cautioning American evangelicals about re-making Luther into their own image and challenging . . . Continue reading →
For many Christians around the globe the Reformation may never have seemed quite as remote as it might seem today but never has it been more needed and relevant. At the moment the Reformation was inaugurated, the Scripture had been displaced by . . . Continue reading →
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Peter Berger has been an influential and important sociologist of religion for more than 50 years. He is presently Professor Emeritus of Religion, Sociology and Theology and Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs at Boston University. To review a . . . Continue reading →
Before the modern Word-Faith (“name it and claim it” or “health and wealth”) preachers there was a huckster named Johann Tetzel (1465–1519). He is famous for his marketing of the medieval practice of selling indulgences with the jingle, “When the coin the . . . Continue reading →
Planning is under way for the celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. I have my doubts about 1517 as the best date to remember (but apparently Protestants were talking about 1517 as the beginning of the Reformation in the 17th . . . Continue reading →
