Today is Reformation Day and in celebration of the men who risked their lives for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, we profile four of the greats.

Martin Luther is widely considered the father of the Protestant Reformation and of Protestantism itself. In his studies as a Monk and university professor, Luther began to develop a sense that the Roman Church had abandoned several essential doctrines of the Christian faith; among these was what he considered to be the chief article of Christian Doctrine: Justification by Faith Alone (Sola Fide). This doctrine states that justification is entirely a work of God (monergism) and is received by men through faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah alone. This runs contrary to the understanding espoused by the Roman Church that justification is an act of cooperation between God and man (synergism). His first major contribution to what we now refer to as the Protestant Reformation was his disputation (The 95 Theses) against the buying and selling of Plenary Indulgences. Today’s holiday (October 31st) celebrates the day that Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. In addition to the 95 Theses, Luther also translated the Scriptures into the vernacular (that is, from Latin to German), authored several instructional materials and catechisms, and founded what is now known as the Lutheran Church.

Huldrych Zwingli was a contemporary of Martin Luther and the leader of the Swiss Reformation. Although much less recognized, Zwingli was developing many of the same conclusions concurrently with Luther. In fact, he rejected the Roman Catholic priesthood only a few short years after Luther. Although very similar in much of their doctrine, Zwingli and Luther differed greatly on the issue of the Eucharist. While Luther strongly affirmed the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Zwingli taught a strictly memorial understanding of the sacrament. Zwingli was an accomplished musician on multiple instruments; which stands in stark contrast to the fact that he was one of the first to reject the use of musical instruments in worship. Zwingli was killed in a battle against the Roman Cantons at Kappel am Albis in October of 1851.

John Calvin is the much celebrated and almost equally maligned father of Calvinism and much of what we now call Reformed theology. While Calvin is singled out for his teachings on election and predestination, he was hardly and innovator in the area as many of the earlier reformers held similar views. The overarching theme of Calvin’s teaching was an emphasis on the sovereignty of God, or that God is absolutely sovereign in all things. His book Institutes of the Christian Religion and voluminous commentaries on the books of the Bible (of which I can say that I am happily in possession of) are still widely used as instructional tools today. Calvin envisioned a more powerful magesterium than many today are comfortable with and his tight integration of Church and civil government is viewed by many as an overreaching theocracy. The largest and longest lasting controversy stemming from this was his role in the trial and execution of Michael Servetus, a Spainish physician and heretical anti-Trinitarian theologian, who was the only person put to death for his religious views in Geneva during Calvin’s lifetime. In addition to his enormous doctrinal contributions, Calvin also founded the Academy of Geneva (now the University of Geneva) and the Collège Calvin, opened a hospital for the indigent, and laid the foundation for many Reformed and Presbyterian Churches.

John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland and a student and contemporary of John Calvin. Prior to his instruction in Geneva, he was an influential reformer in the Church of England, serving under King Edward VI and introducing reformed modifications to the newly released Book of Common Prayer. During one of his frequent exiles he settled in Geneva where he was instructed in the particulars of Calvin’s Reformed theology and Presbyterian church government. Upon returning to Scotland, he was influential in the Scottish Reformation and in creating the Kirk (now Church of Scotland), instituted after Scotland’s break with Rome in 1560. His pamphlet (The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women) against the female monarchs responsible for his many exiles is arguably his most famous, and unintentionally won him little regard from Queen Elizabeth I, who severely prolonged his return trip to Scotland by refusing him a passport. Knox’s Kirk was responsible for several social reforms in Scotland and he is recognized as the father of the Presbyterian Church.

Reformation Day goodies from around the net:

Triablogue has an exerpt from David Daniell’s biography of William Tyndale

Tim Challies has a Reformation Day Symposium going on

Tom in the Box has a wonderful bit of satire concerning the state of the Reformation

I’ll see if I can collect a few more later in the day

In the beginning, when I really got started using the web as more than an amusing distraction, there was a limited selection of truly entertaining activities. You could chat on AIM or ICQ provided you had a few friends. You could chat on internet forums or newsgroups provided you had thick enough skin to withstand the onslaught of spamming, flaming, and prank shock-sites links. If you had a hearty dorm LAN you could chat with your friends on the online video game Counterstrike, while you weren’t busy shooting them in the (virtual) face with a (virtual) M-16. All-in-all, the most popular pastimes on the web either involved chatting with friends, shooting them in the face, or various combinations of the two.

Not so today, although the former activities still abound in the yet untamed Wild West that is the internet, much of it has evolved a classier and more useful dimension. The web has come into its 2.0 phase, to use the very tired nomenclature of the modern marketing drone. User interactivity has slowly grown from simple chit-chatting and face-shooting to meaningful and lasting collaboration between individuals the world over. In every corner of the web groups of people are collaboratively sharing ideas, building encyclopedias, creating music, designing software, making art, aggregating the news, helping each other build family trees, keep diet commitments, learn useful languages, teaching, learning, and discovering new ways of doing even mundane things. The global web community has even opened new avenues for ministry as Christians young and old engage each other in theological discussion on a level that used to exist only in Bible colleges and seminaries. Because of the public nature of all of this, almost anyone is free to observe and engage or receive these teachings, and interest in apologetics is growing in the ranks of young Christians eager to share their faith with global masses they meet on the web each day.

Now I admit that this is a somewhat idyllic version of what goes on day-to-day in cyberspace, and there is plenty of stuff out there to be critical or even afraid of. There are many predators, abusers, and teenaged anti-social hermits that join in those same activities daily. However, taken as an aggregate, I think the collaborative web is a positive thing. I’ve enjoyed seeing want new avenues for creative expression open up each year and I’ve even joined in on a couple of them.

In a handful of upcoming posts I’ll introduce you some of the modern web services that I have found to be useful and entertaining. If you’ve been living under a rock and somehow missed all of this, I hope this will broaden your horizons a little and introduce you to things that might change the way you interact with friends, family, neighbors, or even perfect strangers on the other side of the world.

The Pope has breathed a bit of clarity into the murky ecumenical waters of the present age. A recent document released by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Defense of the Faith and approved by Pope Benedict XVI, has declared in clear language, that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church instituted by Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Eastern Churches are flawed yet still to be considered “churches” due to their claim of apostolic succession. Lastly, protestant churches, any of those born out of the Reformation, are not to be considered churches at all, but merely “ecclesiastical communities”.

This has come as quite a shock to more ecumenical minded folk, especially ones willing to sacrifice doctrine in favor of unity (unity in what I might ask), but this “revelation” should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the reasons why we are called protestants and how we became that way in the first place. Dr. Albert Mohler has commented on the issue recently and echoes my feelings on the subject exactly.

Evangelicals should appreciate the candor reflected in this document.  There is no effort here to confuse the issues.  To the contrary, the document is an obvious attempt to set the record straight.  The Roman Catholic Church does not deny that Christ is working redemptively through Protestant and evangelical churches, but it does deny that these churches which deny the authority of the papacy are true churches in the most important sense.  The true church, in other words, is that church identified through the recognition of the papacy.  Those churches that deny or fail to recognize the papacy are "ecclesial Communities," not churches "in the proper sense."

I appreciate the document’s clarity on this issue.  It all comes down to this — the claim of the Roman Catholic Church to the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Pope as the universal monarch of the church is the defining issue.  Roman Catholics and Evangelicals should together recognize the importance of that claim.  We should together realize and admit that this is an issue worthy of division.  The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church.  Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church. This is not a theological game for children, it is the honest recognition of the importance of the question.

I think Dr. Mohler’s appraisal of the situation is excellent, and I encourage everyone to read the full article. I also ask you to consider your own doctrinal convictions, do you stand with the Reformers, willing to part with everything to defend truth and sound doctrine. Or do you stand with those who would abandon the truth in order enjoy friendship with all. If you will not stand now, are you sure you can stand under persecution as the Reformers did? Dr. Mohler is right; this is not a game for children, souls, ours and theirs, hang in the balance. This Pope has shown that he will stand up for his doctrine, will you do the same?