Do You Know the Importance of the Reformation in Church History?

By -
While I may not believe that Baptists are Protestants (while rejecting Baptist Brider theology and Baptist successionism) but the Reformation should be considered as part of Church history. The Reformation celebrated its 500th year last October 31, 2017. Now, it's in the 502nd year. It would be foolish to stop at 500 or stop at any major milestone. The aim has always been to continue the Reformation until Jesus comes again. It's not about Protestantism - it's all about standing by Biblical truth that the pre-Reformation Christians and post-Reformation Christians had.

There were pre-Reformation figures we can think of such as Jan Hus and Girolamo Savonarola. The Dark Ages were not called the dark ages for nothing. The Bible was forbidden from the public for reading. Christian groups going by different names such as the Waldenses and the Baptists were executed for soul-winning people. Roman Catholics got exposed to the Bible and even got a copy. The results were bloody. Many were martyred in the most bloody way possible. Hus and Savonarola were both burned alive. Baptist martyrs also had their heads placed on spikes as a warning. But that didn't stop the Reformation that followed centuries later.

Why are they called Protestants? They protested against the unbiblical teachings of Rome. Martin Luther thought he could reform the Roman Catholic institution but he failed. The life of Luther revealed much about the filth of the Vatican. I remembered reading the now out-of-print book "Babylon: Mystery Religion" by Ralph Woodrow that revealed the apostasy of Rome. I soon felt shivers and said to myself, "There is no way that this institution can be truly Christian if it's built on lies!" I was in the closet about it until I couldn't hide it any longer. At one point I lied to my pastor that a priest told me I didn't need to pray it. The moment he told me it was wrong and asked if the priest said it was wrong - I dropped the curtain telling him I was simply testing his resolve. It turned out that the same person (the pastor) was also formerly a Roman Catholic. I tried to be quiet because the majority of my classmates in a Baptist school were Roman Catholics. I got some pressure from my folks that it's just a different interpretation until I protested. Then I was told, "You are rightly called a Protestant because all you do is protest!" Luther's protest was not a useless one because it was not a matter of intellectual exercise. It was a matter of the truth! The very printing press that Rome condemned (which was invented by one of their own, Johannes Gutenberg) was going to be used to print more Bibles for the people to read.

The Protestant Reformation launched this truth that we can't deny. It exposed the Roman Catholic institution as an organization built on lies. William Tyndale was executed for translating the Bible into English. Luther was persecuted through and through for translating the Bible into German. Later, we had French theologian John Calvin who later entered Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin would be known for his Geneva Study Bible. Calvin would later inspire the Reformed tradition which is also known as Calvinism. Many of the later scholars who would be responsible for many contributions were Calvinists. Do you even know that the King James translation is actually a Calvinist translation done by the Puritans? If it wasn't for the Reformation then there would be no King James translation which was first released in 1611. I think Reformed theologians need to consider using the King James translation as their default translation if they don't want to go King James Only.

The Reformation itself was needed to further spread the Biblical truths during the Dark Ages. One truth was that it all points back to the Scriptures or Sola Scriptura. Why is Rome as well as other so-called "Christian" groups in so much error? It's because of the fact that they don't do Scripture alone as the basis of their tradition. It's the Bible that must dictate tradition and not the other way around. The Reformers affirmed it from the Scriptures that it's Sola Fide or faith alone. This wasn't to talk about getting saved and never change. On the contrary, the Reformation presented that true faith begets works. Although Luther at first found James confusing - he would later recant his statements about it. Calvin himself in a debate with Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto confirmed true faith begets good works and not the other way around. They affirmed that the Christian life is a result of salvation and not the other way around. They also affirmed grace alone which is that it's God's grace that changes the life of the believer and it's something you can't merit. Then you have in Christ alone and glory to God alone. It's a shame how the Jesuits would later disrespectfully say, "Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam" or "Glory to God alone." when they use the phrase for their guilty actions.

The Reformation is not a way to new Christianity. It is the way back to what the Bible says and do it accordingly. Was it Sola Scriptura that led to crazy pastors as we see them today? On the contrary, it's their out-of-context preaching together with establishing their own authority than God's authority that led to the serious mess. Did Sola Scriptura lead to a homosexual marriage inside a Protestant church or a pastor who let his pulpit drink harmful substances? No, it was a deviation from it. To say that Sola Scriptura "condones" evil is dangerous. To those who say it - I'd like to ask just whose words are found in the Scriptures? The Bible is the Word of God and the Bible alone doesn't lead to such evil. Nowhere in the Scriptures is any form of evil condoned. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell me pastors can let their pulpits do all sorts of crazy stuff. Pastors who are crazy are pastors who don't stick to Biblical truth and oftentimes they take passages out of context. It's not Sola Scriptura but rejecting it that resulted in the mess of several "Protestant" denominations which were nothing more than last messenger cults or "divine" revelation cults that rejected the Bible as the final authority. Such people (aside from the Pope in Rome) are antichrists pretending to speak for Christ themselves.

This Reformation - just think that if you have a Bible in your hands then you can also thank the Reformers who fought for it to be read by everyone. Rome didn't give you the Bible - how can Rome who has hidden the Bible from the public or executed people for owning it, give it? Sadly, so many precious Roman Catholics are left ignorant of their real history think Rome gave us the Bible. They are even told that theirs is real history and everything else is revisionism. As Matthew Henry comments on Athaliah that those who are the most guilty are the ones to easily accuse others. The Reformation should still be considered as an important part in the growth of the Church that was founded on 33 A.D. The gates of Hell didn't prevail before the Reformation and it still won't prevail after the Reformation.

The truth of the matter is the Reformation is proof that the gates of Hell can't prevail against the Church. Rome claims the gates of Hell didn't prevail against them but guess what? The Reformation effectively brought Bibles into the hands of the people. The Reformation continued the work of the pre-Reformation martyrs. The bloodier the Inquisition the more Christianity grew instead before and after the Reformation. The Counter-Reformation was established yet it didn't work. We've had other pseudo-Christian cults (especially those obsessed with the last messenger claim), Muslim forces, Communism, and others who tried to crush the Church of Christ. Instead, the Church still continued in the form of many churches. The real head of the Church is Jesus Christ.

Any church or denomination that doesn't subscribe to the biblical truth is not part of the Body of Christ. Protestant Christians (as some Protestants today aren't even truly converted as Christians) don't look up to any earthly head like the Pope or any mission president - they look up to Jesus the true Head of the true Church. I may not consider myself a Protestant but as a Baptist - I still embrace any Protestant as a family member if they show true signs of genuine conversion. Christians today may be divided organizationally (and the Bible doesn't make Peter the supreme pastor) but they are all united in love for Christ.

See also: