reformation history

Where Was Your Church Before Luther?

by on November 9, 2016 | 5 Comments

Josiah writes to the HB: Often when we think of the reformation we think back to 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg Germany but we describe it in such a way that it’s almost . . . Continue reading →

The Reformation Was Not A “Modern” Event

by on November 16, 2016 | 4 Comments

It is widely held and assumed that the Reformation was a modern event. Reformation studies, where they still happen in state-funded universities, are nearly always categorized as “early modern.” Historians of the 16th and 17th centuries regularly describe themselves as scholars of . . . Continue reading →

Lucca: Cradle Of The Reformation

by on May 8, 2018 | 2 Comments

It was on 18 April 1521 that Luther appeared before the powers of this world and, ostensibly, the next at at the Diet of Worms. It was there he announced publicly the formal cause of the Reformation, sola Scriptura. That doctrine says that . . . Continue reading →

The Ninety-Five Theses: Did Luther Nail Or Mail Them (Or Both)?

by on October 31, 2020 | 2 Comments

It is Reformation Day 2020. As far as I know, magisterial (Reformed and Lutheran) Protestants have been observing October 31 as Reformation Day since the 17th century. Longtime readers of this space will may remember my critique of October 31 as Reformation . . . Continue reading →

Updated Calvin Resource Page

by on April 21, 2021

John Calvin (1509-64) was one of the most significant figures in the history of the West. He was among the major Protestant Reformers in the sixteenth century. He contributed significantly to the Reformed wing of the Reformation. He was an industrious Bible . . . Continue reading →

“Play The Man, Master Ridley”

by on June 9, 2021

One of the most interesting bits of Oxford history is the story of the Oxford Martyrs and the statue by which they are remembered. The history of the monument itself is fascinating. In 1833, John Henry Newman (1801‑90), an Anglican priest, began . . . Continue reading →

A Prison Letter From Huguenot Marie Durand

by on August 19, 2022

The “French Religious Wars” describes a series of eight civil wars fought out between 1562 and 1598. An estimated three million people perished, fifteen percent of the French population. Although the antagonists wore their inherited religious labels of “Protestant” or “Catholic,” social . . . Continue reading →

Review: R. C. Sproul’s Luther and the Reformation

by on September 1, 2022

With his characteristic clarity and story-telling ability,  R. C. Sproul’s Luther and the Reformation: How a Monk Discovered the Gospel reveals the lines of connection between the personal crises of Martin Luther’s life and the development of his theological thought. As the . . . Continue reading →

Reformation Day 2022: The Antidote For A Fearful People

by on October 31, 2022 | 1 Comment

On reflection, it is rather amazing that an obscure Augustinian monk from a German backwater, teaching in an obscure school, was able to turn the Holy Roman Empire on its ear. Just as amazing is the fact that the greatest known powers . . . Continue reading →

Why You Should Care About The Christian Past

Church History Is Family History

by on February 1, 2023 | 8 Comments

The value of church history is not always immediately obvious to everyone. In particular, Americans seem generally allergic to history. This is true of American Christians who are influenced by the American prejudice against history. Look at the History Channel (but only . . . Continue reading →