Podcast appearances and mentions of Philip Melanchthon

Join us on a journey through history as we explore the life of William Tyndale, a transformative figure in the Protestant Reformation, whose unwavering dedication to translating the Bible into English changed the course of religious history. Born in Gloucestershire, England, around 1494, Tyndale was a scholar of remarkable ability, studying at both Oxford and Cambridge and becoming proficient in multiple languages. Inspired by Martin Luther and supported by Reformation leaders like Philip Melanchthon, Tyndale believed passionately that everyone should have access to the Scriptures in their own language. Tyndale's momentous achievement came in 1525 when he completed the first English translation of the New Testament directly from Greek. Despite fierce opposition from the Church and State, and the constant threat to his life, Tyndale's resolve never wavered. He continued his work while in exile, translating parts of the Old Testament and writing influential books. Betrayed and imprisoned in Antwerp, Tyndale's final words before his execution in 1536 were a poignant prayer, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." His legacy paved the way for future English translations, including the King James Version, and his work remains a cornerstone of Protestant thought. We invite you to delve into Tyndale's inspiring story with us, reflecting on the enduring impact of his life's work. Support our mission to bring history and literature to life: Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/wanderingpilgrims Patreon: patreon.com/TheWanderingPilgrims Shop: teespring.com/stores/the-wandering-pilgrims Connect with us: Website: www.thewanderingpilgrims.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewanderingpilgrims/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/The-Wandering-Pilgrims-581206039071736/ Podcast: https://anchor.fm/wanderingpilgrims Twitter: @WanderPilgrims

In this episode of Outside Ourselves, Kelsi talks with Theologian Simeon Zahl about his book, The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience. Simeon argues there is a long history of Christian experience, particularly as it's defined by human emotion, not only throughout Christian history but also within the works of the Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. He has worked to reconcile liturgical traditions with this history in order to try and reclaim an emphasis on Christian experience that deepens and broadens our understanding of the faith. Show Notes: ⁠Support 1517⁠ ⁠1517 Podcasts⁠ ⁠The 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts⁠ ⁠1517 on Youtube⁠ More from Kelsi: ⁠Kelsi Klembara⁠ ⁠ Follow Kelsi on Instagram⁠ ⁠Follow Kelsi on Twitter⁠ ⁠Kelsi's Newsletter⁠ Subscribe to the Show: ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ ⁠Youtube⁠ More from Simeon Zahl: The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience Listen to The Brother's Zahl Podcast

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“Character is simply habit long continued.”~Plutarch (c. AD 46-c. 119), philosopher and historian “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist and philosopher “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.”~Helen Keller (1880-1968), author and activist “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”~Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born American actor and politician “Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.”~J. C. Watts, former football player and U.S. Representative “For you can have no greater sign of a more confirmed pride than when you think that you are humble enough.”~William Law (1686-1761) in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”~James 1:5 (ESV) “If you turn at my reproof,behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;I will make my words known to you.”~Proverbs 1:23 (ESV), the voice of Wisdom speaking “The creature who is not filled with love of God necessarily love himself most.”~Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), German reformer in Loci Communes SERMON PASSAGEProverbs 2:1-22 (ESV)1 My son, if you receive my words   and treasure up my commandments with you,2 making your ear attentive to wisdom   and inclining your heart to understanding;3 yes, if you call out for insight   and raise your voice for understanding,4 if you seek it like silver   and search for it as for hidden treasures,5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord   and find the knowledge of God.6 For the Lord gives wisdom;  from his mouth come knowledge  and understanding;7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;   he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,8 guarding the paths of justice   and watching over the way of his saints.9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice   and equity, every good path;10 for wisdom will come into your heart,   and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;11 discretion will watch over you,   understanding will guard you,12 delivering you from the way of evil,from men of perverted speech,13 who forsake the paths of uprightness   to walk in the ways of darkness,14 who rejoice in doing evil   and delight in the perverseness of evil,15 men whose paths are crooked,   and who are devious in their ways. 16 So you will be delivered from   the forbidden woman,   from the adulteress with her smooth words,17 who forsakes the companion of her youth   and forgets the covenant of her God;18 for her house sinks down to death,   and her paths to the departed;19 none who go to her come back,   nor do they regain the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of the good   and keep to the paths of the righteous.21 For the upright will inhabit the land,   and those with integrity will remain in it,22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,   and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Zacharias Ursinius is an important member of the second generation of the Reformation! Studying under men like Peter Martyr Vermigli and Philip Melanchthon he left his mark on the reformation. Big thanks to Richard Roordt for his help narrating this episode!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/revived-thoughts6762/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tick, Tick, Boom. In this episode of Banned Books, we discuss Romans 3 while reading Philip Melanchthon's commentary on Paul's epistle. The main topics of conversation are the limitations of the law, faith that saves, gratuitous forgiveness and the living, and the present tense power of the gospel. SHOW NOTES:  Commentary on Romans by Melanchthon, Philip, 1497-1560 https://archive.org/details/commentaryonroma0000mela Buy: https://www.cph.org/commentary-on-romans Bio: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philipp-Melanchthon   More from 1517: Support 1517: https://www.1517.org/donate 1517 Podcasts: http://www.1517.org/podcasts 1517 on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChDdMiZJv8oYMJQQx2vHSzg 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/1517-podcast-network/id6442751370 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education: https://academy.1517.org/   What's New from 1517: Available Now: Encouragement for Motherhood Edited by Katie Koplin: https://shop.1517.org/products/9781956658880-encouragement-for-motherhood Pre-order: Hitchhiking with Prophets: A Ride Through the Salvation Story of the Old Testament by Chad Bird: https://www.amazon.com/Hitchhiking-Prophets-Through-Salvation-Testament/dp/1956658858 30 Minutes in the NT on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@30MinNT/videos Remembering Rod Rosenbladt https://www.1517.org/dadrod Available Now: Be Thou My Song by Kerri Tom: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Thou-Song-Christian-Seventeenth/dp/1956658890/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1706551944&sr=8-1&utm_source=show+notes&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=General+Shownotes   More from the hosts: Donovan Riley https://www.1517.org/contributors/donavon-riley  Christopher Gillespie https://www.1517.org/contributors/christopher-gillespie   MORE LINKS: Tin Foil Haloes https://t.me/bannedpastors Warrior Priest Gym & Podcast https://thewarriorpriestpodcast.wordpress.com   St John's Lutheran Church (Webster, MN) - FB Live Bible Study Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/356667039608511  Gillespie's Sermons and Catechesis: http://youtube.com/stjohnrandomlake  Gillespie Coffee https://gillespie.coffee   Gillespie Media https://gillespie.media     CONTACT and FOLLOW: Email mailto:BannedBooks@1517.org  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BannedBooksPod/  Twitter https://twitter.com/bannedbooks1517   SUBSCRIBE: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsvLQ5rlaInxLO9luAauF4A  Rumble https://rumble.com/c/c-1223313  Odysee https://odysee.com/@bannedbooks:5 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-books/id1370993639  Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2ahA20sZMpBxg9vgiRVQba  Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=214298  Overcast https://overcast.fm/itunes1370993639/banned-books  Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9iYW5uZWRib29rcy5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw TuneIn Radio https://tunein.com/podcasts/Religion--Spirituality-Podcasts/Banned-Books-p1216972/  iHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-banned-books-29825974/ 

A new MP3 sermon from The Sterling Pulpit is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Voices of the Reformation-Philip Melanchthon Subtitle: Voices of the Reformation Speaker: Brian S. Wright Broadcaster: The Sterling Pulpit Event: Sunday - PM Date: 1/14/2024 Length: 40 min.

About the GuestDr. Brian A. Williams is Dean of the Templeton Honors College, Associate Professor of Ethics & Liberal Studies, and Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. Before coming to Eastern, he was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of Oxford Conversations, a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at Oxford.He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK), where he was a Clarendon Scholar; an MA and ThM in Systematic and Historical Theology from Regent College (Vancouver, Canada); and a BA in Biblical Studies from Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO).His current research examines the tradition of Didascalic Christian Humanism, focusing on the works of Hugh of St. Victor, Philip Melanchthon, and John Henry Newman. Dr. Williams' broader academic interests include virtue ethics, Christian and Muslim political thought, Karl Barth's theology and politics, classical education, and Dante Alighieri's Commedia. He is the author of The Potter's Rib: The History, Theology, and Practice of Mentoring for Pastoral Formation (Regent College Publishing); co-editor of Everyday Ethics: Moral Theology and the Practices of Ordinary Life (Georgetown University Press); and General Editor of Principia: A Journal of Classical Education.Dr. Williams is also a National Alcuin Fellow and a Research Fellow with the Institute of Classical Education.He is married to Kim Williams and has three children: Ilia, Brecon, and Maeve.Show NotesWonder and great questions about Classical Education are beautifully described in this interview with Dr. Brian Williams. Adrienne Freas presents the questions that parents are asking. What exactly do we mean by the Tradition of Classical Education? Some Topics and Ideas in this Episode Include: Frescoes can be used to vividly describe the Classical Tradition and why Classical Education is beautiful. The spirit of inquiry and how scholars benefit from an education rooted in questions Great questions bring about compelling conversations.  How to find a classical school that reflects the Tradition?-- What are we looking for that reflects the tradition? What is beauty?-- How materials and culture provide a way to flourish as human persons Resources MentionedPrincipia: A Journal of Classical Education: Volume 2, Issue 1, 2023: Editor's Introduction: Principia Tradition & Classical EducationCair Paravel Latin School, founded in 1980Templeton Honors CollegeThe Great Books of the Western WorldRaphael Frescoes discussed that are in the Vatican: Scuola di Ateni or School of Athens La Disputa or Disputation of the Holy Sacrament II Parnaso or Parnassus Chris Hall (the bird expert)... here is the episode we interviewed him on in Season 1.KierkegaardDostoevskyPoetic Knowledge by James TaylorDivine Comedy by Dante_______________________________________________________Want to learn more about Classical Education?  Check out our NEW Snapshots Series! ________________________________________________________Whether you are a teacher or a parent, ask yourself… What is the purpose of education?   What is the beginning of education, AND does it ever come to an end?  What type of education is best, and what type of education might I or my child pursue in the future?  Let us help you discover what a beautiful education should look like. Where Should I Start? Subscribe to this Podcast on your favorite podcast app! Meet our Team, Explore our Resources and Take advantage of our Services! This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast: ★ Support this podcast ★ _________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2023 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved

Disagree, agree, or have a question: Contact us through the contact page on our website; http://www.biblebulldog.com The Book of Concord. The Book of Concord (1580) or Concordia (often referred to as the Lutheran Confessions) is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century. Martin Luther's quirky quotes. “May God punish you, I say, you shameless, barefaced liar, devil's mouthpiece, who dares to spit out, before God, before all the angels, before the dear sun, before all the world, your devil's filth.” From Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil, pg. 349 of Luther's Works, Vol. 41 “For you are an excellent person, as skillful, clever, and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut tree or a sow on a harp.” From Against Hanswurst, pg. 219 of Luther's Works, Vol. 41 “You are like a magician who conjures gulden into the mouths of silly people, but when they open their mouths they have horse dirt in them.” From Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil, pg. 264 of Luther's Works, Vol. 41 The Book of Concord is a collection of 10 writings: The Apostle's Creed The Nicene Creed The Athanasian Creed. The Augsburg Confession: The Augsburg Confession is a key document of the Lutheran tradition that outlines the basic beliefs of the Lutheran Church. It was written in 1530. e Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles that cover a range of topics. Some of the key points of the Augsburg Confession are: Justification by faith: The Augsburg Confession emphasizes that salvation is a free gift of God that is received through faith alone. The authority of scripture: The Augsburg Confession affirms the authority of scripture as the final authority in matters of faith and practice. The sacraments: The Augsburg Confession affirms the importance of two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and rejects the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation. The priesthood of all believers: The Augsburg Confession emphasizes that all believers have direct access to God through Christ, and that there is no need for a mediator between God and humanity. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession: The Apology of the Augsburg Confession is a document written by Philipp Melanchthon, a German reformer, in 1531. It was written as a response to the Roman Catholic Church's rejection of the Augsburg Confession. The Smalcald Articles: The Smalcald Articles are a Lutheran confession of faith that was written by Martin Luther in 1537. The Smalcald Articles were written in response to the Council of Trent. They are a statement of faith that outlines the key beliefs of the Lutheran Church. The Smalcald Articles affirm the Lutheran belief in salvation by grace through faith alone and reject the Catholic belief in salvation through good works The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope: The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope is a document written by Philip Melanchthon, a German reformer, in 1537. The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope was written to clarify the Lutheran position on the role of the Pope in the Church. It affirms the Lutheran belief in the authority of the Bible as the sole source of Christian doctrine. The Formula of Concord: The Formula of Concord is a Lutheran confession of faith that was written in 1577. It was a response to divisions within the Lutheran Church and aimed to unify Lutheran beliefs and practices. Final thought from Martin Luther: “I'm fed up with the world, and it is fed up with me. I'm quite content with that. The world thinks that if it is only rid of me everything will be fine, and it will accomplish this. After all, it's as I've often said: I'm like a ripe stool and the world is like a gigantic anus, and so we're about to let go of each other.” (Martin Luther, Table Talk, 5537). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/biblebulldog/message

Among the many remarkable Gregories of the early church, the one from Nazianzus stands out to such an extent that he has earned the simple epithet: "The Theologian." In this episode, we explore why! In particular, Gregory's five famous theological orations (plus two letters to neighborhood priest Cledonius) present one of the best and most formative accounts of the doctrine of Trinity, emphasizing the priority of Person over Nature and the distinction among the Persons residing in their relationships, not their being. If you've ever felt defeated by the doctrine of the Trinity, this episode is for you. Notes: 1. See my issue of Theology & a Recipe on Basil the Great entitled "The Trinity Is Not an Egg" 2. A nice little compendium of Gregory's writings can be found in the charming Popular Patristic series under the (unfortunately awful) title On God and Christ 3. Hall, Philip Melanchthon and the Cappadocians What do you think five years of top-quality theology podcasting is worth? Register your vote by joining our highly select band of Patrons. Get some cool swag and support your favorite podcast in remaining stridently independent and advertising-free!

Episódio com o tema "Filipe Melâncton". Apresentação e Produção: Samuel Mattos  Filipe Melâncton. Ele colaborou com o trabalho da reforma durante os primeiros anos da reforma, escreveu a Confissão de Augsburgo em 1530 e se tornou o principal líder do luteranismo após a morte de Marinho Lutero. Confira!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is It True, Or Is It Truly True? In this episode, we discuss election, true and false church, law, mercy, and why we can't stop judging the Gospel as we read Philip Melanchthon's 1541 commentary on Paul's letter to the Romans. SHOW NOTES:  Commentary on Romans by Philipp Melanchthon https://a.co/d/bY23Uqv   SUPPORT: 1517 Podcast Network https://www.1517.org/podcasts/   Support the work of 1517 https://www.1517.org/donate Warrior Priest Gym & Podcast https://thewarriorpriestpodcast.wordpress.com   St John's Lutheran Church (Webster, MN) - FB Live Bible Study Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/356667039608511  Gillespie's Sermons and Catechesis: http://youtube.com/stjohnrandomlake  Gillespie Coffee https://gillespie.coffee   Gillespie Media https://gillespie.media   Tin Foil Haloes https://t.me/bannedpastors The Withertongue Emails: A Pastor's Satanic Temptation, with Apologies to C.S. Lewis https://shop.1517.org/products/the-withertongue-emails-a-pastor-s-satanic-temptation-with-apologies-to-c-s-lewis   SUBSCRIBE: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsvLQ5rlaInxLO9luAauF4A  Rumble https://rumble.com/c/c-1223313  Odysee https://odysee.com/@bannedbooks:5 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-books/id1370993639  Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2ahA20sZMpBxg9vgiRVQba  Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=214298  Overcast https://overcast.fm/itunes1370993639/banned-books  Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9iYW5uZWRib29rcy5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw TuneIn Radio https://tunein.com/podcasts/Religion--Spirituality-Podcasts/Banned-Books-p1216972/  iHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-banned-books-29825974/    CONTACT and FOLLOW: Email mailto:BannedBooks@1517.org  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BannedBooksPod/  Twitter https://twitter.com/bannedbooks1517

Love Amongst The Cling-Ons. In this episode, we discuss Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes, focusing our attention on justification, faith, love, and prayer. — SHOW NOTES: Melanchthon and Bucer (Library of Christian Classics) by Wilhelm Pauck amzn.to/3Qh671w  The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia https://youtu.be/mY0xM26fCPA SUPPORT 1517 Podcast Network https://www.1517.org/podcasts/ Support the work of 1517 http://1517.org/give Warrior Priest Gym & Podcast https://thewarriorpriestpodcast.wordpress.com St John's Lutheran Church (Webster, MN) - FB Live Bible Study Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/356667039608511 Gillespie's Sermons and Catechesis: https://stjohnrandomlake.org/church/media/ Gillespie Coffee https://gillespie.coffee Gillespie Media https://gillespie.media Tin Foil Haloes https://t.me/bannedpastors CONTACT and FOLLOW BannedBooks@1517.org Facebook Twitter SUBSCRIBE YouTube Rumble Odysee Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Overcast Google Play TuneIn Radio iHeartRadio

Philip Melanchthon was considered the right hand man of Martin Luther. His work in theology and education helped ensure that the Reformation would continue past the first generation.Special thanks to Clay Kraby. Check out his podcast Reasonable Theology: Sound Doctrine in Plain LanguageJoin Revived Studios on Patreon for more!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Saint Athanasius ChurchContra Mundum SwaggerVideo Version

Text:Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4Show Notes:- Albrecht Peters episodes on the Catechism - https://higherthings.org/?s=albrecht+peters- A Mind like Sherlock Holmes - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201301/mind-sherlock-holmes—Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text:Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4—Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text:Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon, p. 81f - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4—Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text:Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon, p. 84 - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4Show Notes:- Luther's Swan - http://lutheranpress.com/the-swan/- Vacation - https://amzn.to/2MWw7m0- Christmas Vacation - https://amzn.to/2XiTQkp- “Fell in Love with a Girl” White Stripes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM- The Last Kingdom - https://www.netflix.com/title/80074249- Good Omens - https://amzn.to/2L0TSXx—Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text:Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon, p. 86 - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text: Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon, p. 86 - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Text: Commonplaces: Loci Communes 1521 by Philip Melanchthon, p. 117 - https://amzn.to/2VCRFD4—Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Luther's close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.

Caleb and Scott answer two listener questions. The first question is about addressing or using worldviews as a methodology for engaging culture as a Christian. The second question is about the lack of time spent discussing Philip Melanchthon in Lutheran churches. Support the Show 1517 Podcast Sermon by Bob Hiller Meeting Melanchthon

Dr. Paulson and Caleb discuss Philip Melanchthon and the 1521 Loci Communes. Melanchthon was instrumental to the Lutheran Reformation and established an evangelical systematic theology with his Loci. Support the Show Melanchthon Nerds  1517 Podcasts 

Are you sedating your pain with leisure instead of healing yourself with a true Sabbath rest?  In this episode, we explore the importance of entering into true obedience that leads to the recharging of the soul and physical rest.  From the beginning of creation until our current chaotic reality few things have remained the same, but one is constant, the Sabbath was created for us.  Lean in and be challenged as we continue to journey through the Gospels.  

Dr. Paulson closes out chapter five of Luther's Outlaw God. As chapter five comes to a close, Paulson reads a portion of Luther's introduction to the Bondage of the Will. Including Luther's harsh comments against Erasmus and his praise of Philip Melanchthon.  Show Notes Support the Show The 1521 Loci The Bondage of the Will

In this first part of This Week in Tudor history for week beginning 15th February, Claire is going to tell you about the last monk to become Archbishop of Canterbury; the man who wrote one of the most important documents of the Protestant Reformation, and an earl who wept when he had to imprison Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:https://youtu.be/2ws9gUi9Kbo 15th February 1503, in the reign of King Henry VII - The death of Henry Deane, the last monk to become Archbishop of Canterbury. 16th February 1497, in the reign of King Henry VII - The birth of famous Protestant Reformer and writer of the Augsburg Confession, Philipp Melancthon, at Bretten in Germany.  17th February 1557, in the reign of Queen Mary I - The death of Henry Radcliffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, a man who was loyal to Mary I but who wept when he had to take her half-sister, Elizabeth, to the Tower. James William Richard’s 19th century biography "Philip Melanchthon, the Protestant preceptor of Germany, 1497-1560" - https://archive.org/details/philipmelanchtho00richuoft Other Tudor events for these dates: February 15 - Dastardly Deeds in Tudor England - https://youtu.be/1NF_7RdLFDgFebruary 15 - Galileo, the Father of Modern Science - https://youtu.be/Ba0Wa_bR7EEFebruary 16 - Sir William Stanley is executed - https://youtu.be/S1myYUnze7oFebruary 16 - The burial of King Henry VIII at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle - https://youtu.be/eKeNITPiQAkFebruary 17 - Love at first sight for Mary, Queen of Scots? - https://youtu.be/dsuimqJz_sIFebruary 17 -  Edward Seymour is made Duke of Somerset - https://youtu.be/teSMa93EF6E

Dr. Brian A. Williams is Dean of the Templeton Honors College and Assistant Professor of Ethics & Liberal Studies. Before coming to Eastern, he was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of “Oxford Conversations,” a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at Oxford. He holds an M.Phil. and D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK), where he was a Clarendon Scholar; an M.A. and Th.M. in Systematic and Historical Theology from Regent College (Vancouver, Canada); and a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO). His current research examines the tradition of Didascalic Christian Humanism, focusing on the works of Hugh of St. Victor, Philip Melanchthon, and John Henry Newman. Dr. Williams' broader academic interests include virtue ethics; Christian and Muslim political thought; Karl Barth's theology and politics; political forgiveness; Dante Alighieri's Commedia; and the intersection of Moral Theology and Social Anthropology. His first book, The Potter's Rib, explores the theology and practice of pastoral formation through mentoring in the history of the church. Dr. Williams has also taught Theology, Philosophy, and Literature at Cair Paravel Latin School (Topeka, KS); was Theologian-in-Residence at First Presbyterian Church PCUSA (Topeka, KS); led Quo Vadis Travel Seminars to destinations throughout Europe and the United States; was the Distance Education Instructor in Theology for Regent College (Vancouver); and has experience in several fields of business. He is married to Kim Williams and has three children: Ilia, Brecon, and Maeve.

When Martin Luther had officiated his first Mass, he was seized with terror at the holiness of God, like a condemned man ascending the pyre for his own burning. Today, Luther relives that memory in a conversation with his colleague, Philip Melanchthon. All the while, another "pyre" is being prepared for Luther in Worms. A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://gift.ligonier.org/1438/luther-in-real-time If this podcast has been a blessing to you, try these other podcasts from Ligonier: Renewing Your Mind: https://renewingyourmind.org/ 5 Minutes in Church History: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/ Ask Ligonier: https://ask.ligonier.org/podcast Open Book: https://openbookpodcast.com/ Simply Put: https://simplyputpodcast.com/ The Westminster Shorter Catechism with Sinclair Ferguson: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster-shorter-catechism/

Mike speaks with Scott about the role of the Law and Gospel in Christian preaching. Dr Keith believes that the Law should first kill any hope of self-righteousness before the gospel brings life, so in a sense, a preacher is both a hitman (killing) and a midwife (bringing life). They also speak about beautiful feet, procrastination, liturgy and the value of forgiveness.Dr. Scott Keith is the Executive Director of 1517 and adjunct professor of Theology at Concordia University, Irvine. He earned his doctorate from Foundation House Oxford, under the sponsorship of the Graduate Theological Foundation, studying under Dr. James A. Nestingen. Dr. Keith’s research focused on the doctrine of good works in the writings of Philip Melanchthon.He is a co-host of The Thinking Fellows podcast, contributor to 1517, Christ Hold Fast and The Jagged Word blogs, and author of Being Dad: Father as a Picture of God’s Grace, and Where Two or Three are Gathered. Dr. Keith resides in California with his wife, Joy, dividing his time between the mountains and the beach. They have three adult children and two grandchildren.The Expositors Collective podcast is part of the GoodLion podcast network, for more thought provoking Christian podcasts visit https://goodlion.io

This week's podcast is a conversation with Rev. Matthew Fenn on the relationship between Philip Melanchthon and Martin Luther's theologies. 

Professor Theodore Hopkins teaches theology at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, where he also serves as Pre-Seminary Director. Verse four the hymn It is Well WIth My Soul says, "O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight..." That's the focus of our conversation with Ted Hopkins today. After a brief intro, you'll hear author Justin Rossow pray, and Dr. Hopkins will read the verses from 1 Corinthians 13 found on page 117 of the hymn journal. They'll discuss those verses and what they mean for us as we follow Jesus. Some vocabulary similarities take the discussion to Luke 24 and the Emmaus Road disciples who will eventually recognize Jesus in Scripture and in the breaking of the bread. Dr. Rossow will read the devotion on page 118. In the course of the discussion that follows, you will hear Hopkins and Rossow talk about how Paul can say that love is greater than faith. Philip Melanchthon comes up as an important figure of the Reformation. Melanchthon wrote the defense of the Augsburg Confession, known as the "Apology of the Augsburg Confession" or just "The Apology." Not the "I'm sorry," kind of apology; rather a "You misunderstood: I meant this!" Article IV of the Apology (on Justification) deals with how Roman Catholic theologians were insisting that salvation comes from knowledge of God (faith) plus love expressed in things like prayer and following the Ten Commandments. Citing the Apostle Paul, Melanchthon and the Lutherans argued that salvation comes through faith (trusting the promise) alone, apart from works of love or works of the law. So Lutherans might naturally think that faith is greater than love; and if you are only talking about how you are saved, that's pretty good theology. But, as Dr. Hopkins points out, "We can be so busy saying Love doesn't justify that we don't listen to Paul say Love is the greatest of these." You can read more of what Professor Hopkins has to say about the ways in which you can say love is greater than faith in this sermon: The Greatest of These Is LOVE? Ultimately, this conversation gets back to a tension: we already have salvation, and we have not yet received salvation as fully as we will when Jesus comes again. This Already/Not Yet dynamic is clearly seen in verses 3 and 4 of It is Well With My Soul. This recording was made possible in part by the generous support of Next Step Patrons. Today we recognize two sisters, Kristi and Scott, for their ongoing support of our mission and ministry. Thank you, Scott and Kristi, for helping us equip others for their next step following Jesus! If now is the right time for you to make a commitment to the mission of resourcing next step discipleship, please consider becoming a Next Step Patron today. To see different options for support, visit https://www.patreon.com/findmynextstep. Like the Emmaus Road disciples, we follow Jesus better when we follow Him together, so we invite you to join The Ponder Anew Facebook Group and share your part of the story Jesus is shaping in your life. Big or small, those stories help us look for Jesus at work in our lives, as well. We'd love to hear from you at Next Step Press. The intro and outro music for Season 2: Ponder Anew was arranged and performed by Brendan Knorp. All rights reserved. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mynextstep/message

Part One of the Augsburg Confession is Philip Melanchthon’s attempt to show that the Lutheran church is in continuity with the historic Christian faith and more importantly in alignment with the teaching of the Scriptures. This document is meant not to cause division but to show the basis for unity in the church. This episode […]

Wittenberg Academy joins the ranks of podcasts.  Episode question: What makes classical Lutheran education so great? Answer: It gives scholars that which endures, by means of that which has endured, that they may endure. Bump music: Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain - Kirk Meyer - Kloria Publishing Books to read: Lutheran Education: From Wittenberg to the Future by Rev. Dr. Thomas Korcok Orations on Philosophy and Education by Philip Melanchthon  

CLASS Online with Pastor Pete Lasutschinkow: The Men Behind Luther and the Reformation (Part 1): Philip Melanchthon

It is said that, when he was tempted to despair, Martin Luther would often say to his friend and co-worker, Philip Melanchthon, “Come, let us sing the forty-sixth psalm and let the devil do his worst!” It is advice we would do well to heed during...

What’s the controversy on Good Works today? What were the controversies and major events leading up to the writing of the Formula of Concord? Where did Philip Melanchthon go off the rails? Find answers to these questions and a deep dive into the history surrounding the Formula of Concord. Download the Venn Diagram and Major Markers at kfuo.org/concordmatters. Rev. Dr. James Baneck, executive director of LCMS Pastoral Ministry joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss Epitome of the Formula of Concord, Article IV: Good Works.

On this day, we remember Philip Melanchthon, b. 1497, and Gaspard de Coligny, b. 1519. The reading is "The Spirit searches everything" by Tania Runyon. We’re a part of 1517 Podcasts, a network of shows dedicated to delivering Christ-centered content. Our podcasts cover a multitude of content, from Christian doctrine, apologetics, cultural engagement, and powerful preaching. Support the work of 1517 today.

Welcome to the second season of Queen of the Sciences! We begin our conversations in 2020 with a deep dive into the foolishness and stumbling block that is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Overfamiliar today as a religious symbol, the cross was once the supreme declaration that the person thereon was trash, subhuman, and beyond redemption—certainly not capable of redeeming others. We try to imagine ourselves back into the shame of crucifixion, examine its uses in Roman political control, and explore how the death of God upon it can possibly become the source of eternal life. Notes: 1. Ernst Käsemann, “The Saving Significance of the Death of Jesus,” in Perspectives on Paul 2. Martin Hengel, Crucifixion 3. Philip Freeman, Julius Caesar (both the quote from Cicero and the description of Caesar’s use of crucifixions) 4. Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion 5. Maasai Creed (“the hyenas did not touch him”) 6. Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906–1945 7. Eberhard Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer 8. Plato, The Phaedo 9. “Alexamenos worships his god” 10. Deuteronomy 21:22–23, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.” 11. Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” 12. “Propitiation” = reconciliation to God by satisfying his wrath. “Expiation” = reconciliation to God by removal of the cause of offense, namely sin. 13. Gerhard O. Forde, “The Work of Christ: Atonement as Actual Event,” in Christian Dogmatics vol. 2 14. Philip Melanchthon, Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Art. 4 on “why Christ is necessary” 15. Calvin, Institutes vol. 1, Book One, Chapter I: “The Knowledge of God and That of Ourselves Are Connected. How They Are Interrelated” 16. Luther, Galatians commentary, Luther’s Works vol. 26, pp. 276–291, on Christ’s taking the world’s sin into himself 17. Romans 3:25b, “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” 18. John Newton, “Amazing Grace” 19. Nietzsche, “God on a cross is the transvaluation of all values,” in The Antichrist 20. George Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine More about us at sarahhinlickywilson.com and paulhinlicky.com!

On today’s episode of Table Talk Radio we dust off the good olde game Don’t Forget The Stanzas To Your Hymns and see if Pastor Wolfmueller can win any points, any points at all. We also play Contemporary or Traditional at the same time.

PIETISMO: https://youtu.be/tHTslC4N28k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHTslC4N28k) MARRÍN LUTERO Y LA PREDICACIÓN: https://youtu.be/6l-Gy7uwbO4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-Gy7uwbO4) La pregunta por la que deberíamos empezar es, ¿qué significa luteranismo? Las iglesias luteranas recibieron su nombre del propio Martín Lutero (1483-1546), aunque ni él ni los reformadores contemporáneos quisieron que se les designara así. El término luterano, que apareció en 1519, fue acuñado por los opositores de Lutero, aunque los luteranos hubieran preferido que se les llamara “evangélicos”. En 1517, cuando Martín Lutero cuestionó las prácticas eclesiásticas en torno a las indulgencias con sus 95 Tesis, no tenía la intención de separarse de la Iglesia Católica, suponiendo que su llamado a una reforma sería escuchado. En cambio, se produjo una feroz controversia. Lutero y sus seguidores fueron excomulgados, lo que los enfrentó con la alternativa de ceder o encontrar nuevas formas de vivir su fe. La división entre luteranos y católicos se hizo clara con el Edicto de Worms de 1521, que condenó a Lutero y prohibió oficialmente a los ciudadanos defender o propagar las ideas reformadas, sometiendo a los defensores del luteranismo a la posibilidad de perder todos sus bienes. En 1530, se exigió a los luteranos que presentaran su confesión de fe ante el emperador en Augsburgo, Alemania. Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) escribió la Confesión de Augsburgo, que fue leída ante la corte imperial el 30 de junio de 1530. En 1546, el emperador Carlos V (1500-1558) inició una guerra contra los principales territorios y ciudades luteranas, de la que salió victorioso en la hoy conocida como Guerra de Esmalcalda. Pero Carlos se extralimitó al agregar objetivos políticos a su propósito de desmantelar las reformas de Lutero. Así que en 1555, se vio obligado a reconocer formalmente a la iglesia luterana. La Paz de Augsburgo, por la cual se resolvió el conflicto entre el luteranismo y el Emperador, marcó un importante punto de inflexión en la historia de la Iglesia luterana. Después de una generación de lucha contra las autoridades católicas e imperiales, los luteranos obtuvieron reconocimiento legal en 1555. A partir de entonces, las iglesias luteranas, en los territorios del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico que se declararon protestantes, fueron libres de desarrollarse sin amenazas políticas ni militares. Luego de la muerte de Martín Lutero, varias controversias surgieron respecto a la organización y a algunos puntos de la doctrina de la Iglesia luterana. Las diferencias fueron resueltas a través de un documento publicado en 1580, titulado Libro de la Concordia. El libro reunía 10 documentos reconocidos como autorizados por los luteranos: el Credo de los Apóstoles, el Credo de Nicea, el Credo de Atanasio, el Pequeño y el Gran Catecismo de Martín Lutero, la Confesión de Augsburgo, la Apología de la Confesión de Augsburgo, los Artículos de Esmalcalda, el Tratado sobre el Poder y la Primacía del Papa, y la Fórmula de la Concordia. Así, los luteranos unificaron su doctrina. FUENTES Lutheranism: http://bit.ly/2MhcOQR (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2MhcOQR&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx) 9 cosas que debes saber sobre el luteranismo: http://bit.ly/30SaF3p (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F30SaF3p&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx) ¿Llegó la Reforma luterana a América Latina?: http://bit.ly/330MEbM (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F330MEbM&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx) _________ Puedes seguirnos en nuestras redes sociales: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biteproject/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fbiteproject%2F&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biteproject/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbiteproject%2F&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx) Inscríbete a nuestro newsletter: http://biteproject.com (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=g2mWaWEAWQg&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fbiteproject.com&redir_token=hrmR7QKAOFzi1puntkMtSQbX-Nx8MTU3MTk1MTI0MUAxNTcxODY0ODQx)

Pastors Gillespie and Riley wrap up their discussion of Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes. This week, Philip's concluding theses on Law and Gospel. Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Pastors Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion with Philip Melancthon on the power of the Gospel from his Loci Communes. This week, what is righteousness? Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

On this day in 1530, June the 25th, the Evangelical theologians of Wittenberg led by Philip Melanchthon presented their confession of faith and the Gospel to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg.

On this day, we commemorate the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, drafted by Philip Melanchthon. We remember on this day the opening of the monastery in Clairvaux by Bernard. Our reading is the poem "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" by Bernard, transformed into hymn form by Gerhardt, and translated by Alexander. We’re proud to be part of 1517 Podcasts, a network of shows dedicated to delivering Christ-centered content. Our podcasts cover a multitude of content, from Christian doctrine, apologetics, cultural engagement, and powerful preaching. Support the work of 1517 today.

Pastors Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion with Philip Melancthon on the power of the Gospel from his Loci Communes. This week, what is grace? Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Pastors Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Philip Melanchthon’s work on the power of the gospel from his Loci Communes. Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

This week, pastors Gillespie and Riley wrap up their reading and discussion of Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes on the power of the law. How does God use his word of law to curb our sinful urges and cravings, drive us to Jesus for salvation, and instruct Christians in their vocations? Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

This week, pastors Gillespie and Riley dive back into Philip Melanchthon's Loci Communes. More on the power the law, how God works through the law to reveal our sin, and distinguishing between afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted in pastoral care.          Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Dr. Mark Vander Ley speaks with Dr. Scott Keith about his book Being Dad: Father as a Picture of God's Grace.  In this episode Dr. Keith explains the connection between the story of the prodigal son and fatherhood.  He describes fatherhood as a shadowy representation of God's grace and explains how fathers can point their children to salvation through Christ. Dr. Scott Keith is the Executive Director of 1517 and adjunct professor of Theology at Concordia University, Irvine. He earned his doctorate from Foundation House Oxford, under the sponsorship of the Graduate Theological Foundation, studying under Dr. James A. Nestingen. Dr. Keith's research focused on the doctrine of good works in the writings of Philip Melanchthon. He is a co-host of The Thinking Fellows podcast, contributor to 1517, Christ Hold Fast and The Jagged Word blogs, and author of Being Dad: Father as a Picture of God's Grace. Dr. Keith resides in California with his wife, Joy and family, dividing his time between the mountains and the beach. Find Dr. Keith at 1517.org Connections Family Counseling, LLC Instagram Join the Facebook group

Martin Luther referred to Philip's Loci Communes as "one of the clearest statements of the Christian religion ever written." With this in mind, pastors Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Philip Melancthon's Loci on the power of the law and the gospel.  What is the power of the Law? What distinguishes God's Word of Law from human definitions of the law? Copyright Higher Things®, Higher Things - Dare to be Lutheran. Support the work of Higher Things.

Between the years 1550 and 1560 the giants of the Reformation are dying. The Fellows discuss the political and theological turmoil that occurred as a result of the Smalcald war. Bookending this episode is the death of Philip Melanchthon and the difference between Reformation catechisms. Sit back, relax, grab a drink, and enjoy the show. Show Notes Christian History Almanac 1517 Academy   

Why is such a great thing trapped in such awful words? We discuss some of the problems with both “justification” and “faith” in contemporary English, then dig into the details of what this perplexing terminology actually refers to, and why Lutherans consider it “the article on which the church stands or falls.” Notes: 1. Scripture verses we discuss include Romans 3 and 4, II Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 2:20, 3:13, and 5:13. 2. J. Louis Martyn, Galatians (Anchor Bible Commentary) 3. Robert P. Eriksen, Theologians Under Hitler 4. Doris L. Bergen, Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich 5. Paul R. Hinlicky, Before Auschwitz: What Christian Theology Must Learn from the Rise of Nazism 6. Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets 7. N. T. Wright, The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology. For a discussion of this book, see Paul R. Hinlicky, Luther and the Beloved Community, pp. 245–248. 8. Some texts by Martin Luther on justification by faith: “The Freedom of a Christian,” “Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee,” “Preface to Romans” 9. Philip Melanchthon, “Ausburg Confession IV” and “Apology to the Augsburg Confession IV” 10. Paul Tillich: “Not faith but grace is the cause of justification, because God alone is the cause. Faith is the receiving act, and this act is itself a gift of grace. Therefore, one should dispense completely with the phrase ‘justification by faith’ and replace it by the formula ‘justification by grace through faith.’” Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, 3:224. See also “You Are Accepted.” 11. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes about “speaking to life at its center” in both Christ the Center and Letters and Papers from Prison. More about us at sarahhinlickywilson.com and paulhinlicky.com!

When Thomas Müntzer arrived in Wittenberg in early 1522, Philip Melanchthon, Andreas Karlstadt and the other reformers had no idea of the radical ideas that had come to fruition within his heart. These ideas, which would ultimately threaten to tear Germany apart, were still hidden from the other scholars in the Wittenberg circle. But they […]

The Life of Philip Melanchthon

October 31, 2017, marks the five hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther's ninety-five theses, which sparked the Reformation. The ripples of the Reformation still can be seen in the Church and society. Law Meets Gospel marks the occasion with Josh explaining the inspiration for several aspects of the podcast. Law Meets Gospel is inspired by Luther's teaching about Law and Gospel within Christian scriptures. Josh's sign-off, "As you work to meet the worlds need, be wise, be bold, and be joyful." is inspired by two quotes. First, Frederick Buechner's writing, "The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Second, Luther's advice in a letter to Philip Melanchthon, "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly." Subscribe to the Law Meets Gospel Podcast iTunes Google Play RSS Support the Law Meets Gospel Podcast Patreon.com Sign up to contribute an amount you choose for each episode the Law Meets Gospel Podcast publishes.

A scholar, theologian, and friend of the Reformation, Philip Melanchthon went almost anywhere Martin Luther went. Dr. Stephen Nichols discusses Master Philip’s life and works on location in Wittenberg.

While Luther was brash, impulsive, and forceful, his brilliant young disciple was a timid, sober-minded unifier.

On episode 126, Traylor and Melody are joined by author and speaker Dr. Scott Keith to discuss fatherhood, what it means to be a Christian man, grace, marriage and thoughts on manhood.  Scott reflects back on mentors, experiences  and the impact they have had on his life and his breaking into manhood.  Scott discusses the desperate need for Christian men needing to be role-models and strong father figures for young men growing up in today’s modern culture. Dr. Scott Keith is the Executive Director of 1517 The Legacy Project and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Concordia University in Irvine, California. He is a co-host of The Thinking Fellows Podcast and a contributor to The Jagged Word, 1517 The Legacy Project, and Christ Hold Fast blogs. Scott earned his doctorate from Foundation House Oxford, under the sponsorship of the Graduate Theological Foundation, studying under Dr. James A Nestingen. Dr. Keith’s research focused on the doctrine of good works in the writings of Philip Melanchthon. Scott’s book, Being Dad: Father as a Picture of God’s Grace, deals with the way father are treated in modern culture and how fatherhood is discussed. Bringing in personal experiences with family, students, mentors and friends to bring to light a subject that is so desperately searching for attention. In addition he brings his scholarly personality, his Christian faith and a passion for story to navigate the reader to a better future.

Dr. Keith is once again joined by Dr. Jim Nestingen, this time to discuss the relationship between Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.  The dynamic between these two reformers is often misrepresented or misunderstood. Melanchthon and Luther worked together not only as colleagues but as friends to bring about the Lutheran Reformation as we know it. Sit back, relax, grab a drink, and enjoy the show.  Show Notes: Hotel Room Here We Still Stand Luther's Small Catechism Loci Communes 1521  

On today's program, I responded to comments from Dr. James White about Lutheranism. I discussed several misconceptions about what Lutherans believe, and addressed the relationship between the Lutheran Confessions and Philip Melanchthon.

Episode 71 of the Thinking Fellows is a continuation of episode 70 where we began talking about the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon. On this episode Dr. Keith talks about Melanchthon's later life and some of the controversies surrounding his work. Sit back, relax, grab a drink, and enjoy the show.  Show Notes: Here We Still Stand Episode 70: Philip Melanchthon Augsburg Confession Episode on the Augsburg Confession 1521 Loci Thinking Fellows Episode 2 Law

The Thinking Fellows talk about one of the most controversial characters in Lutheranism, Philip Melanchthon. Melanchthon is both massively influential to Lutheranism but is often described as a detractor of Lutheranism because of some late writings. On this episode, Dr. Keith outlines the early life of Melanchthon and sets the stage for his theological impact. Sit back, relax, grab a drink, and enjoy the show.  Show Notes: An Uncompromising Gospel The Book of Concord Sources and Context to the Book of Concord Bente Intro to the Book of Concord  Episode: Melanchthon Nerds Episode on Luther Biographies

Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon are the odd couple of the Reformation, inseparable in the religious revolution they inaugurated, and yet in personality chalk and cheese - and there's no doubt that it's Luther who is the cheese: volatile, colourful, impassioned; ripening majestically but also suddenly going off, like one of those goats' cheeses in the middle of France that could easily double up as an explosive device. Luther has priority in terms of being older, and by force of personality. Melanchthon seems monochrome by comparison. It has been easy for history, outside of specialists, to forget him. But if Margaret Thatcher once said of her right-hand man William Whitelaw that "every Prime Minister needs a Willie", this is all the more the case with true revolutionaries. Revolutions seem to need an odd couple: Robespierre and Danton, or Marx and Engels. Melanchthon is hardly a household name these days but he is (if you like) a revolutionary's revolutionary. Intellectual, serious, endlessly patient, he kept clearing up the mess that Luther left around him. Professor Brian Cummings, from the University of York, tells his story.Producer: Rosie Dawson Part of Radio 3's Breaking Free series of programmes exploring Martin Luther's Revolution.

Who was "Master Philip" and what did he contribute to the Reformation? In this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols tells us about the life of Philip Melanchthon.

Why does salvation have to take this form: Rescue, Redemption, and Salvation? Consider Ephesians 2:1,3,4-5. Death and resurrection are the only way to identify in name the form that salvation can take. Why does salvation have to be this extreme? Explore the nature of the human situation. Consider Aristotle on the nature of the human situation. For Aristotle our appetites often drive us and determine us. Aristotle held that through education we are not ruled by our appetites but by the noetic. He believed we rule over the passions through reason. For Aristotle, salvation would mean education. Consider that the heart is what we desire or love, the will is our choosing and the head is the rational. Explore The Thirty – Nine Articles as we read “ X. Of Free-Will." Explore what Philip Melanchthon stated in Loci Communes 1521, "What the heart desires, the will chooses, and the mind justifies." Reason actually perpetuates the problem. This helps us understand what it means when we talk about a free will or a bound will. The will is bound to the desires of the heart. We read in Ezekiel 37:3, “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’” In John 12:24 we read, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Romans 2:29 states, “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” Also in Romans 6:4 we read, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

What happened to the European Christian world after Luther posted his 95 theses. Protestant scholasticism, pietism, Philip Melanchthon, Johann Sturm, Martin Bucer, Primoz Trubar, and Johann Arndt.  

Today you’ll hear the giddy voice of Dr. Keith and the calm demeanor of Dr. Kolb as they go over the details concerning the history, background, and Loci of Philip Melanchthon. If you're even remotely interested in Lutheran theology this is an episode you shouldn’t miss. Sit back, relax, grab a drink, and listen to the show.   Show Notes: Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God Two Kingdoms with Drs. Kolb and Simeon-Netto The Bondage of the Will Dr. Keith Translations  Moonwalking With Einstein  Brand Luther  

The first show of Table Talk Radio, we begin by introducing ourselves and Table Talk Radio, and talk about Lutheranism and the "Solas" of the reformation.

The Great Need for Confidence in God As I begin this incredible section of Scripture, Romans 9-11, I'd like to begin with a question of context. I want to try to establish why Paul wrote these incredible chapters. And I think that understanding the context and understanding what Romans 9:10-11 is meaning to say in the flow of Romans, will be our best opportunity to understand it in its detail as well. This is always my desire to set scripture in context and to try to see it in its place. And as I was thinking about why Paul wrote this, in my discernment of what that reason was, I was taken back to the darkest moment in our economic history. Some call it Black Tuesday. It was October 29th, 1929, the great stock market crash. It had been preceded by Black Thursday on October 24th when millions of shares had already passed hands and the market couldn't really stand another shock, but it received it that day, Black Tuesday, as $16 million shares of stock were sold at an ever downward spiral of value, as people began to look at their stocks and think that they have no value and in fact they didn't. There was a panic and the stock ticker couldn't keep up with what was going on and people were shooting in the dark and guessing as to what to do and they were hearing rumors and terror overtook them. And they just started dumping their stocks and it just went out of control, and it began a slide economically. The stock market bottomed out in July of 1932. The market had peaked out at 381.17 and it bottomed out at 41.22. And it would be 22 years before it would recover all of the ground. This was the period of the Great Depression, a period in which people had no confidence in the economic system of the United States, no confidence in their banks, there would be runs on banks, and people would want all their money out, and the banks would have to close down, shut down because they didn't have all the money. You remember there was one of those in the movie, It's a Wonderful Life, that they show every Christmas time. And there is Jimmy Stewart and he's saying the money is not here, it's in your house and your... But the confidence people were terrorized. They had no confidence in the bank and this was a worldwide problem. It wasn't just happening in the US. It actually had preceded the US in Europe, for example, in Germany, post World War I, Germany was going through a terrible time economically. 1923, unemployment had risen to 6 million in Germany and the value of the Deutsche Mark, and this is really astonishing was 4 trillion Deutsche mark to the dollar. If you had $1, you could get 4 trillion Deutsche Marks if you wanted them. As a matter of fact, the value of the Deutsche Mark was so low, if you held a single Deutsche Mark in your hand, of course, you would need barrels and barrels of these to buy anything of value. The story is told of a woman who had an overflowing basket full of German Deutsche Marks and she went to buy some bread and she left the basket outside, because it was so heavy. She came back to find that someone had stolen the basket and left the Deutsche Marks on the sidewalk. There was absolutely no confidence in the Deutsche Mark, just as in the US, six years later, there'd be no confidence in stock. They looked at it as something of no value, there was nothing behind it. Now, I am not an economist, I'm not able to probe the depths of what caused all of this, but I think it is an illustration of why Paul wrote Romans 9, 10, and 11. If you look at Romans 9:6, I think this gets to the heart of the matter. In Romans 9:6, it says, "It is not as though God's word had failed." Do you see that? That is the key to this whole section. Paul is dealing with the confidence of the people of God in the word of God, confidence that we have, that God will keep his promises, that what God has said he will most certainly do. I. Context: How Does Romans 9-11 Fit In? And so Paul is dealing with a very significant issue, he's dealing with the question of the Jews. What about the Jews? Now, if you look in context of course, Romans 9 comes right after that magnificent Romans 8. In Romans 8 there are incredibly lavish promises of God's undying love for us in Christ and it ends with an incredible crescendo, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors, super conquerors through him who loved us for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the past nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." Does Israel’s Rejection of Jesus Christ Invalidate the Word of God? There it is, the promise of God. Now my questions, what's it worth? What's it worth? It's just words printed on a page. Why? Because look at the Jews, were they not God's people? Were they not his chosen nation? And the experience of Paul and of the early church is that the overwhelming majority of them were rejecting Christ. And if the doctrine is true about the Gospel, if you reject Christ, you are eternally condemned, separated from God eternally in hell. What a tragedy then. Has God's word failed? Did God make promises to Israel that he didn't fulfill? And if the answer to that question is yes, then let me ask you Gentiles, how do you know that God won't renege on his promises to you? Is Romans 8 worth the paper it's printed on? That's the issue. And so he's taking up the situation of the Jews and their manifest rejection of the Gospel, a rejection which for the most part in the same ways they did in Paul's day continues to this very day today. Does it invalidate the Word of God? Does it invalidate the promises of God? That is the question. The Deepest Questions: Divine Sovereignty, Human Responsibility Now, as we look at Romans 9, we come of course to one of the most astonishing chapters in the Bible, it's an incredible thing because here we're going to come to the issues, the deepest issues of God's sovereignty and of human responsibility. We're going to come to the issue of God's sovereign election before the foundation of the world, of the people to believe in him and also the topic of the vessels of wrath and how God's choice fits into that. And it really comes down to the question ultimately concerning our own salvation. Is it up to me? Is it my will, my actions, the inclinations of my heart, my achievements, my will, my faith saves me? Or is it on the other hand, God's will, God's actions, God's sovereign choice? That is the question. And that's the issue that people have wrestled with for centuries and centuries. Now, I recognize that Romans 9 is difficult meat to chew and swallow. I did not come here in October of '98 and preach Romans 9. I didn't begin my ministry here even though at the time I believed then what I believe now about this chapter, and I believe many things about this chapter. One of the things I believe is that it's good and helpful and beneficial to the people of God. But there is a sequence and an order. And I feel, as a church we've come to the place where we can together investigate a challenging chapter of Scripture without recriminations and doubts and anger and frustration. But I do not imagine that everybody sitting here today is in exactly the same place and that everybody sitting here today is exactly eager and open to accept the full doctrine of God's sovereignty over all aspects of salvation. I feel that we are probably all in a different place, and I believe there's not a person in here that respects and honors the sovereignty of our God sufficiently. I think, all of us are going to have a big step up on that topic when we see God enthroned, when we see him at last. So all of us have a journey to travel. So what I'm going to urge you to do here at the beginning of the message and then again at the end is take it slowly, take it piece by piece, take it in. Read the scriptures. Be the noble-minded Bereans who take Romans 9 back home and read it for yourself and see if it's so. I'm going to be preaching, I'm going to be doing the best I can to explain it as I do other passages of Scripture, but take it slowly, and chew it, and swallow it, and think about it. Let it transform the way you look at God, but don't reject it out of hand. Try to understand it. Now, as you look at Romans 9-11, there is the question of, is it just an addendum, an insert, something that Paul stuck in there? Some might say, yes, it's an insert, and it's a dangerous one, it'd be better if we just went from Romans eight through Romans 12, let's just skip it just, whoosh, the bridge. Alright, go right to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. But we cannot do that. This is God's word, this is not Paul speaking to us. This is not Pastor Andy speaking to us. This is God saying things to us, that we need to hear his Word. And so we can't do that. But some have advised that, people that I respect, for example, Philip Melanchthon who is Luther's right-hand man, a godly man, careful thinker in theology, wrote to John Calvin and advised him not to preach at all ever on predestination and election. It's just going to cause divisions, it's going to cause difficulties, don't do it. And Calvin didn't agree, neither did Luther, for that matter, but preached openly on these things. John Piper, a pastor in a Baptist denomination in the midwest relates that a young pastor in that same denomination was given advice by a denomination official in how to handle Romans 9, and he said, "There is a way to preach Romans 9 so that no one knows what you really believe." Well, I could do that, too, but I don't think that would be beneficial. I'm going to fly my flag and tell you what I really think, but I really want you to do what you should do and that's be the Bereans, they go home and say if it's so, and discern and read through the scripture. The one thing I don't want is for you to ignore Romans 9, that's what I don't want you to do as though it isn't there. Romans 9-11 is not Superfluous Now we need to read it and understand it and take it in. It isn't superfluous, it isn't something extra. It is what God wanted to say through Paul in this matter. Now, this is the middle of a sermon series. You may say, "I've been here for years, and I don't remember Romans 8." Well, unless you were here on that special icy snowy day a few weeks ago when I kind of recapped Romans 8… What I did was I preached through Romans 1-4, and then took a year or so break and then preached Romans 5-8, and I've taken a several year break, and now we're resuming in Romans 9. So do not suppose that I am just choosing Romans 9 now because I really want to preach on Romans 9. I do but it's the next chapter. The Gospel is the Power of God for Salvation And so we need to understand there's been a flow and a development in Romans 1-8, up to this point, let's take a minute and find out what it was. In Romans 1:16-17, the Apostle Paul spoke of the Gospel and that's what we're talking about, the gospel, in Romans 1:16, he says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, for in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith to faith just as is written, the just shall live by faith." That's kind of the theme of the whole Book of Romans, it's the gospel, it's power, righteousness from God as an imputed gift, the just shall live by faith. The Universality of Human Sin But then in Romans 1:18 up through 3:20, he goes through basically the doctrine of the universality of sin. The universality of sin, and he takes on the pagan, the Gentile idolater's in 1:18 through 1:32. These are the ones who exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the creator who's forever praised. Amen. So they make this exchange, they worship idols, they become sexually perverted, they do all kinds of evil things and it culminates in a list of sins at the end of Romans 1, that shows the heart of a lost person. But then Paul takes on the religious person. I think we know that he's predominantly talking about Jews who had received the law in Romans 2, received the law, but they weren't keeping it, therefore they were essentially hypocrites in one sense outwardly looking moral, but inwardly corrupt. They were not keeping the law of God, and so they were under God's condemnation as well. It's not a matter of hearing the law but those who keep it, and no one is keeping it. And so he sums it all up in Romans 3 saying, "What shall we conclude then? Are we [I think Jews, Paul speaking there as a Jewish man] any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one, no one who understands, no one who seeks God, all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one…" That's true of Jew and Gentile alike. So he sums it all up in Romans 3:23 saying, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The Heart of the Gospel But then comes the heated core that just the center of the Gospel, in Romans 3:21-27, and that is the presentation of Christ as a propitiation, a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. God presented Christ in our place. Jesus died on the cross. He took on us, on himself the wrath and the curse of God, and he extinguished it, he drank our cup of wrath on the cross, and by simply believing in Jesus, we can be forgiven of all of our sins. That's the core of the Gospel message Romans 3:21-27. Justification by Faith Alone But then he goes on to talk about justification by faith alone. It is by believing in Jesus alone and not by any good works, not by good works that we are made right with God. Paul takes that on in Romans 4, and he points out that in Romans 4 even the patriarch Abraham discovered the same thing. It isn't a matter of being circumcised. Abraham was justified by simply hearing the promise of God, he heard the promise of God, he believed it, and it was credited to him as righteousness. He was made right in God's sight simply by hearing the Word of God and by believing. Let me stop there for a moment and tell you, can you see why Romans 9 is so important? Because if God's Word can't be trusted, if it's like buying a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge, you know if somebody comes up and offers you full ownership of the Brooklyn Bridge, I would urge you to investigate first, okay? It's not likely to be valid, it's not likely to be worth the paper it's printed on. But God has come to us and has promised us things. And Abraham heard the promise of God, he believed it and it was credited to him as righteousness. That's the way we all get saved, by hearing and believing the promise of God. Can you see why God wants you to have absolute confidence that he keeps his promises? That's the essence of our faith. Sin and Death in Adam – Grace and Life in Christ Then in Romans 5, he talks about assurance, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have this whole assurance in Romans 5:1-11, then he takes on the deep doctrine of original sin and Adam, explaining in a significant way, how it is that all of us are sinful and how Jesus's death is similar to Adam's in that through him, through this one man, all of us, are made righteous, then he wrestles with the question of our daily lives, of struggling with sin, takes on that issue and talks about the doctrine of sanctification and how we grow step by step, walking with Jesus, trusting him, putting sin to death by the power of the Spirit. He then raises the question of the issue of the law and our battle with it and our battle with the flesh in Romans 7, and how much we struggle and will struggle with the flesh, and asking questions about the law. Do we just throw off the law or do we have to keep it and how does it work? The Spirit-Filled Life of the Believer And then culminates with that magnificent chapter, in Romans 8, the spirit-filled life, the role of the Holy Spirit, and the fact that we are free from condemnation, and we have the Spirit of sonship crying, Abba Father, within us, and we have a promise of glory that someday we're going to be as glorious as Jesus and therefore that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We have full assurance that God will keep his promises, and someday we will be glorious, in heaven. Romans 1-8, magnificent. What About the Jews? But now he wants to ask, "What about the Jews? What about the Jews? Has God promised them things as well? And he's going to go over the benefits, the spiritual benefits of the Jews in Romans 9, and he's going to talk about them, but it harkens back to the earlier understanding that the Jews are God's people, his chosen people, for he said, in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, "You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." And so the Jews were his people, his treasured possession and now, overwhelmingly, they are rejecting the Gospel. Now, I want to tell you that this is so beautifully Paul's standard procedure. Paul will lay out doctrine and then he will pause, and he will ask hard questions against the doctrine he's just laid out and then answer those questions. He does it again and again. On the issue, for example, of circumcision earlier in Romans 4, he raises up the question. Do you have to be circumcised in order to be righteous? No. What did Abraham find? He was justified before he was circumcised. He raises up the question, you see. And then later in Romans 5:20, he makes a beautiful statement. There he says, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more." Well, what do our tricky devious little minds do with that statement? Well then, why don't we just go on sinning so that grace may increase? Let's have a grace party. Let's just sin and sin and sin so that grace can just be flowing. We want to see a lot of that grace. So we'll do the sin part and God will do the grace part. So, Paul raises that question against his doctrine and he answers it beautifully in Romans 6, saying that we died with Christ, thus we died to sin. Then he raises up the question about the law. He says, "Well, if we're not under law, then is the law sin?" Is there something wrong with the law? No, he answers that one as well. You see what he does, he's raising questions. He does the same thing at the end of Romans 8 again and again, what then shall we say in response to this question mark? If God is for us, who can be against us, question mark? This is what he does, and we're going to see him do it in Romans 9 as well. We're going to see him raise up the very questions that will be in your mind and then he answer them. II. Paul Faces the Jewish Question What then shall we say, is God unjust? May it never be, he's going to raise up these questions. Well then, why does God still find fault or who resists his will? He answers that one, this is what he does. And what question is he raising against his own doctrine? Well, if in Romans 1-8, it's all based on the promises of God, it's all based on God and his ability to keep his promises. What about his treasured possession? What about the Jews? That is the question he is answering. And so he's bringing this up, he's facing the Jewish question. Now, Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he was a Jewish man, he was a Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews, he called himself, but he was God's chosen instrument to go out to the Gentiles, and so he's going out there and everywhere he's ministering he's dealing with Jewish opposition. He is facing Jews that are in his face, and so therefore he has had to test his doctrine against Jewish questions. He's kind of battle-hardened in this area. He's dealt with these questions and he's going to continue dealing with the question of the Jews, and he does it in a very beautiful way here very winsomely. Look at the beginning of Romans 9, he says there, "I speak the truth in Christ. I'm not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers those of my own race, the people of Israel." Do you see how he identifies himself with the Jews? "…My brothers those of my own race, the people of Israel." Well, he does the same thing at the end of chapter 10, look at that, chapter 10:1-2, he says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." See that? "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, that their zeal is not based on knowledge." So again, identifying himself with the Jews, praying for them, loving them, concerned about them. And then in chapter 11, he does the same thing again. Chapter 11:1, "I ask then, did God reject his people? By no means, I am an Israelite myself a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin." Do you see how he's identifying himself? Chapter 9:1 and following chapter 10:1-2, chapter 11:1 and following, he's identifying himself with the Jews, he's reaching out to them. He wants his people to be saved, but he wants to deal with this question, the question of the Jews. He's also dealing with the possibility of Gentile arrogance. Oh, how wicked are our hearts and how prideful and how ready for us to feel as Gentiles, that we now are God's chosen people and they're out, they've been rejected. And so he's going to bring up and explain how the Jews still fit into God's plan. He's rejecting any sense of arrogance because frankly, arrogance is the very thing that destroyed the Jews anyway, that arrogant sense that they didn't need God. Ultimately, he wants unity in the Roman church, he's going to talk about that in Romans 14 and 15. He wants one church, he wants people together, Jew and Gentile together, concerned, loving each other, so he's facing the Jewish question. III. The Central Issue: The Vindication of God & His Word Now, the central issue as I mentioned in this text is the vindication of God and his word. Let's start with the topic of the vindication of God, look at Romans 9:14. In Romans 9:14, it asked this question, What shall we say then? Is God unjust? Do you see that question? My feeling is that this is going to be the first thought that will come into some people's minds when you get to certain passages of the scripture. You're going to think that's not fair, that's not just, that's not right. And Paul is going to deal with that question. It matters to Paul whether you think or we as the readers of Paul's epistle think that God's unjust, that's why he deals with the question. And so this is what you call theodicy, the justification of God, showing that he is righteous in all the things that he does. That's a concern for Paul. He also as mentioned in verse 6, wants to vindicate God's word. "It is not as though God's Word had failed," so that's the center of it all. God would be justified that he would be shown to be righteous and just in all that he does, and that his word would prove to be trustworthy and worthy of your faith and your confidence. IV. Major Themes Now behind that are some major themes, major themes. What are those major themes? Well, the tragedy of Jewish rejection of the Gospel, we're going to talk about that God willing next week and the week after. It is a great sorrow to Paul, that they're rejecting the Gospel, and it's incredibly important that Paul has that sorrow. It shows you a lot about him and about the nature of what he's talking about. Another theme, of course, is the theme of God's freedom and absolute sovereignty in election. Not just that God is sovereign, not just that he chooses people to believe in him, but that he has the absolute freedom to do so, that he has the freedom and the right as king and creator of the universe to do whatever he wants with what he's made. This is a vision of God that's hard for us to accept, is it not? It's a struggle for us to think of a God that's that free. We like to think of ourselves as the captain of our fate and the master of our soul. Let God have all the rest, but this is mine. But the Scripture says otherwise, the Scripture says that God is the king. So not merely that there is such a thing as predestination, not merely that there is such a thing as election, but that God has the full right to do it without consulting you first. He doesn't need to have a poll. He's not running the universe by an opinion poll unlike some leaders who might seek to do that. God doesn't do that rather he is the king. Thirdly, Paul desires to vindicate his Gospel as rooted in the Old Testament. Now it's remarkable Paul is a thoroughly rooted Old Testament scholar, he's writing these New Testament epistles, but one New Testament scholar went through his 12 epistles and counted all of the open quotations of the Old Testament in those 12 epistles, came up with 89 quotations. Of those 89, 27 are found in these three chapters, that's remarkable over a third in the three chapters we're studying here. Paul is clearly at pains to show that his doctrine is consistent with Old Testament Revelation. He is not preaching a God different than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's preaching a continuation of what they did. It's not an innovation here, it's not a new doctrine. He's teaching the Word of God consistently. Fourth, another theme is the danger of misunderstanding and misusing doctrine. This is a grave danger. The Jews misunderstood and misapplied the doctrine that they were God's chosen people, they thought that simply because they were the descendants of Abraham, they were fine spiritually, and John the Baptist was the one who had to say, "Do not begin to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham." They were misunderstanding their choice, the choice as God's chosen people, they thought it meant that every single individual Jew was safe and sound to live however they wanted and they would be fine spiritually, they misunderstood that. But he's also attacking the Gentile arrogance that says, "Well, apparently we are the people now." That we're God's people now because the Gospel is doing so well among the Gentile, so God doesn't need the Jews. In both cases he's really zeroing in on pride and arrogance, pride and arrogance. The Glory and Mystery of God’s Eternal Purpose Romans 9-11 is the antidote to human pride. It destroys our pride and brings us low. And then finally the glory and majesty of God's eternal purpose. Above all, Paul wants all of us, you and me both alike as we study this to come with a vision of God and his greatness, and his majesty and the mystery of his purposes, and so he ends up with this incredible statement in Romans 11, "O, the depth of the riches, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God, how in searchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." That's where he wants you to end up, glorifying God as he really is, not a pale reflection of God that you perhaps maybe learned in Sunday school, or in a false teaching sort of way, but the real God, the God that there really is, the one who sits on his throne and rules over all things. And you know what that tells me? It tells me never, never think that you have Romans 9 down pat. I got that figured out. Never say, "I've heard some good sermons on Romans 9, I got it down." Well, let me tell you something, the one who wrote it, said, "I don't get it." I mean, that's my take on it, alright. He gets to the end of Romans 9-11, and he says, "O, the depth of the riches, the wisdom, and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out." What does that tell you? Paul's saying in a fancy way, I don't get it, not fully. I don't reject it, I accept it, but I don't get it fully. You're not going to get it all. I won't get it all but we should study it nonetheless, shouldn't we? Should we not take in the meat of the word. Should we not chew it, meditate on it, let it have its work in us? I think we should. V. The Movement of Paul’s Argument: Romans 9-11 Now, what is Paul's argument here briefly? I'll just give you a quick overview of Romans 9-11. It's going to go in six steps. He's going to start with talking about his anguish, his personal anguish for his lost kinsmen, 9:1-5. Secondly, he's going to zero in on what I've told you is the key concept for this whole thing. God's Word has not failed as a key concept, and he's going to explain why it hasn't failed in Romans 9:6-29. Thirdly, he's going to talk about the Jews that they stumble over the Gospel, personal faith in Christ, the simple Gospel, they stumble over it, while the Gentiles are streaming in and have been for 2000 years now. But in Paul's argument in his day the Jews are stumbling while the Gentiles are streaming. Fourth, he's going to make the absolute statement and then explain it that God has not rejected his people, he's not done with national Israel. He's not done with the physical descendants of Abraham. Fifth, he's going to give us a mystery, he's going to tell us that God uses and then ends Israel's hardening in part concerning the Gospel. God hardens Israel in part. He uses it for his ends, and then he will bring it to an end at the end of the world, and this is a mystery. And so the Jews are experiencing a hardening and then that hardening will end. And then six, the proper response as I just mentioned, awe-struck praise of God's eternal plan. Now, as we look at these units, the second one, I think, is probably the one that causes us the greatest interest and concern and that is, that God's Word has not failed. In Romans 9:6, he says, "It is not as though God's word had failed, for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." In effect, what God is going to say in there is, "I never promised, I never made a promise that every single, individual, biological descendant of Abraham would go to heaven, and therefore my word has not failed." And we talked about this the last time when we're looking at Genesis and you have the contrast of Isaac and Ishmael, and then again the contrast of Jacob and Esau, but he's going to go deeper. Paul (or really God through Paul) says, "But why Isaac and not Ishmael? Why Jacob and not Esau?" And that's the very issue that we're going to be looking at over the next few weeks. VI. Applications Now, as we look at this overall, what application can we take to it? Can I just strike to the heart of this matter and ask you, first of all, be patient with yourself and with your preacher, okay? We are going through the deepest strongest texts that there are. I think it's ironic that on Sunday evenings, I'm going through Hebrew 6, which is every bit is difficult and tough on the other side of the issue of God's sovereignty and human responsibility. So if you want like a double dose of meat come tonight to Hebrew 6. I didn't plan that, God seems to have, but there it is. We're doing Romans 9 on Sunday mornings in Hebrews 6 in the evening, but this is incredible stuff. Therefore, I'm asking you if there's something I say or something that seems to be coming out of the text, you know like, "Whoa, that can't be right." I urge you to take it back. Read it over, pray it through, think about it, give yourself time. I'm not expecting that at the end of two weeks, we'll all be on the same page on sovereignty and election. The Benefits of Studying These Difficult Scriptures Second of all, can I urge you to understand the benefits that come from studying this? There are incredible benefits that come from this. Now you say, "Why are we going through this?" Well, some of you aren't. You just know that we're going to go through it, because it's the next chapter in Romans, and that's a delight. We're going through it because all Scriptures is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. We're going through it because we need it, but I think there are three great benefits that come from understanding this. First is an astonishing vision of God as he really is. And I can't tell you how much that's going to help you in life, it's going to help you across the board. It's going to help you when you're facing trials, facing medical issues, facing employment issues, facing relationship struggles, facing anything you may face in this life. The first thing that helps you the most is a sense of God on his throne, ruling the universe, and that vision comes so beautifully out of Romans 9. The second thing, benefit that comes from this is amazing security for the believer. Amen? You look at it and you say, God has spoken life to me. He's promised me in Christ that I will be raised from the dead on that final day, that Jesus will lose none of all that he has given, but raise them up at the last day. I have absolute security, because I am not trusting in myself, but in God who raises the dead and what's the third benefit that comes from studying Romans 9? Total humility. You know when you get to the end of Romans 9 and 10 and 11, you look at that and you take it in, you accept its message, you know what it leaves you? A miserable, wretched, sinner with nothing to offer, saved by God's sovereign grace. And you know what? I think that vision helps you almost as much as the other one does. We were studying in Sunday school this morning talking about Peter's denial and how confident he was in himself. Oh, self-confidence is the enemy of the Gospel. Romans 9 slays self-confidence and we need it done. So what I ask you to do is humble yourself, study carefully, and accept the fact that God wants you to know Romans 9, and let's roll up our sleeves and try to understand it.

This episode is titled, Thrust Into the Game.So far we've marked the rise of 2 of the 3 major branches of the Reformation. We've considered Lutheranism and the Radical Reformers or Anabaptists. Over the next few episodes we'll consider the 3rd branch, called Calvinism, AKA, Reformed Christianity.I begin with a summary of the opening section of Bruce Shelley's excellent, Church History in Plain Language and his chapter of John Calvin.Because the road to Strasbourg was closed by the war between France and Spain, the young French scholar had to pass thru Geneva. His plan was to spend a night. He ended up spending many.The city was in disarray. Immorality was rampant, the political situation a mess, and there was little prospect for help.The fiery reformer, William Farel had preached in Geneva for four years, and masses at the Catholic church were halted. But Geneva's embrace of the Reformation was more out of political ambition than sincere allegiance to Protestant theology. No one had taken the lead in transforming the city's institutions along Biblical lines. Geneva needed a manager; someone who could step into the political and spiritual vacuum and bring order. When Farel heard John Calvin was spending the night, he made it a point to call on him. He found Calvin to be a candidate to meet Geneva's need, and urged him to stay and help establish the work.Calvin begged off, saying he had further studies he needed to pursue. Farel told him, “Bah! You're only following your own wishes! If you don't help us in this work of the Lord, He will punish you for seeking your own interest rather than His.” Calvin was terror–stricken. The last thing he wanted was to offend God. So he stayed and took up the cause of installing the principles of the Reformation in Geneva.Years later, Calvin remarked, “Being by nature a bit antisocial and shy, I always loved retirement and peace.… But God has so whirled me around by various events that He's never let me rest anywhere, but in spite of my natural inclination, has thrust me into the limelight and made me ‘get into the game,' as they say.”Thus >> the title of this week's episode.John Calvin was born in the small town of Noyon, 60 miles NE of Paris. His father was a lawyer and eager to see John and his two brothers become priests. It was clear from an early age John was both intelligent and serious, so a local wealthy family sponsored his education. He entered the University of Paris at 14 and quickly mastered Latin. He then entered the school of philosophy where he showed brilliance in writing and skill in logical argument. People might not like what Calvin said but they couldn't misunderstand what he meant. He left the University in 1528 with a Master of Arts degree. He was 19.John turned to the study of law at the University of Orleans, but after his father's death in 1531, Calvin returned to Paris as a student of the classics, intent upon a career as a scholar. His studies brought him in contact with new and dangerous ideas circulating round Paris. The Reformation had arrived. It wasn't long before Calvin was converted to faith in Christ and the task of Reformation. He gave up his career as a classical scholar and identified with the Protestant cause in France.In the Fall of 1533, Nicholas Cop, rector of the University of Paris gave a strong Protestant address. Many suspected it was Cop's close friend, John Calvin, who'd written it. The University was thrown into such an uproar, Calvin had to flee the city. He took refuge in Basel, Switzerland, where in March, 1536, he published the first edition of his highly influential Institutes of the Christian Religion – the Reformation's first systematic theology.A systematic theology is one that devotes chapters to specific doctrinal subjects. There's a chapter on God …another on Christology = the study of God the Son,one on Pneumatology = the Holy Spirit,Soteriology = Salvation,Scripture,Ecclesiology = The Church,even a theology of Anthropology = Human Beings.Many systematic theologies often conclude with a chapter on what's called Eschatology = the Study of the End Times. Calvin's work was the most cogent, logical, and readable explanation of Protestant doctrine the Reformation produced. It gave its young author overnight fame. Calvin worked on the Institutes for the rest of his life, adding more volumes and editing the existing content. But 20 years later it was essentially the same work though much larger. His core ideas never changed. At first it was a slim volume but five revisions later saw the last in 1559 containing four books of 80 chapters.The preface to the Institutes was addressed to King Francis I of France. It defended the Protestants from the criticisms of their enemies, vindicating their rights to fair treatment. No one had spoken so effectively in their behalf, and with this letter Calvin was assigned the leadership of the Protestant cause after Martin Luther.Speaking of Luther, a comparison between he and Calvin would be proper here. Keep in mind that only about 20 years separated them. Calvin certainly knew of Luther and Luther heard of the young Frenchman in Geneva.While the cornerstone of Luther's theology was the doctrine of justification by faith, Calvin's was the sovereignty of God. They both had a massive sense of the majesty of God, but for Luther that all just added to the richness of the miracle of forgiveness. Calvin's emphasis rested on the unassailability of God's purpose.Calvin shared Luther's four central Protestant beliefs, but he was born a generation after Luther in a different land and was a far different sort of person.Luther was a monk and university professor. Calvin was a scholar and city manager. While both men lived and worked during a time of great social turmoil, their realms of influence were different.Luther saw himself as the point man for an entire movement in the Church, calling it back to what God intended it to be. Calvin followed in Luther's train but to a highly specialized work in it – to implement Biblical principles in the civil sphere.The differences between Calvin and Luther are reflected in their portraits. As Luther aged, he filled out and his face softened, though his tone became more acerbic. As Calvin aged, though thin to begin with, he lost weight. His face became angular and lined. He looks as if he's cut from stone.Calvin's exceptional administrative abilities enabled him to build on the work of Ulrich Zwingli. The reform he started at Zurich spread rapidly in German-speaking Eastern Switzerland. The Swiss Reformation spread to the important German city of Strasbourg where Martin Bucer was more sympathetic to Zwingli than Luther.When Zwingli died at the Battle of Kappel, the Reformation in Switzerland was left without a leader. Zwingli's student Heinrich Bullinger did a fine job of leading the church in Zurich but that was pretty much the limit of his ability. The success of what Calvin was doing in Geneva shifted the focus away from Eastern Switzerland to the West, French-speaking Swiss city of Geneva.When Calvin fled Paris for Strasbourg in the Summer of 1536, his brother, sister and 2 friends went with him.  They put up for a night at an inn in Geneva. But word spread quickly that the author of the Institutes was in town. Farel was ecstatic. Desperate for help, he rushed to the inn and pleaded with Calvin to stay. Upon his consent, Farel convinced the Geneva city council to appoint Calvin to lead the Reformation there. Interestingly, Calvin never held an official political post and didn't even become a citizen until 1559.Calvin's goal was to make Geneva a “holy commonwealth” where the Law of God became the laws of man. He preached daily and twice on Sunday. He started a school for training young people and arranged for the care of the poor and needy. Under Calvin's direction, Geneva became a model of Reformation belief and practice.And by model, I mean EXAMPLE. Protestant refugees from all over Europe flooded into the City. They sat under Calvin's teaching, and when they returned home, took his theology and Geneva's example with them. This explains the dramatic spread of Calvinism throughout Western Europe.In addition to his strenuous preaching schedule, Calvin was a prodigious writer. He penned lectures, theological treatises, and commentaries on 33 books of the OT, along with the entire NT sans Revelation. Church historian Philip Schaff claims Calvin was the founder of the modern historical-grammatical method of studying the Bible.[1] Calvin also carried on a massive correspondence with people all over Europe.But, Calvin's launch at Geneva got off to a rocky start. A mere 18 months into his new position both he and Farel were banished for disagreeing with the city council. Calvin resumed his prior journey to Strasbourg, where he settled down and pastored for 3 years, married the widow of an Anabaptist and became the adoptive father to her two children.By 1541 Calvin's reputation had spread. He wrote three more books and revised his Institutes. He'd become good friends with leading Reformers Martin Bucer and Philip Melanchthon. He was asked to return to Geneva by the authorities, and spent the rest of his life establishing a theocratic society there.Calvin believed the Church should faithfully mirror the principles laid down in the Bible. He argued that the NT taught four orders of ministry: pastors, elders, deacons, and doctors, by which he meant ‘teachers.' Geneva was organized around these four offices.Pastors conducted church services, preached, administered the sacraments of Communion and baptism, and cared for the spiritual welfare of parishioners. In each of the three parish churches, two Sunday services and a catechism class were offered. The Lord's Supper was celebrated every three months.The Doctors or as we would call them, teachers, lectured in Latin on the Old and New Testaments; Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. Their students were mostly older schoolboys and ministers, but anyone could attend.Elders kept an eye on spiritual affairs. If they saw someone was often snockered from too much ale, or that Mr. Smith beat his wife, or Mr. Jones and Mrs. Faraday were seeing a little too much of each other, they admonished them in a brotherly manner. If the behavior continued, they reported the matter to the church's governing body, which would summon the offender for an inquiry. Excommunication was a last resort and remained in force until the guilty party repented.Finally, social welfare was the charge of the Deacons. They were the hospital-management board, social-security executives, and alms-house supervisors. The deacons were so effective, Geneva had no beggars.The system worked so well for so many years, when the Scotsman John Knox visited Geneva in 1554, he wrote a friend that the city “is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the Earth since the days of the Apostles.”We have a lot more to look at with Calvin and Geneva, but we'll get too it in our next episodes.[1] Schaff, 8:118–119

This episode is titled “Cracks.”One of the great concerns of the Roman Church at the outset of the Reformation was just how far it would go, not so much in terms of variance in Doctrines, although that also was a concern. What Rome worried over was just how many different groups the Faith would split into. After all, division wasn't new. There'd already been a major break between East and West a half century before. In the East, the Church was already fragmented into dozens of groups across Central Asia.But up till the Reformation, the Western Church had managed to keep new and reform movements from splitting off. Most had eventually been subsumed back into the larger reach of the Church structure.The Reformation brought an end to that as now there were groups that defined themselves, not by the Roman Church, but by more local and national churches and movements. It didn't take long till even some of the early Reformers began to worry about how far the break from Rome would go. The cracks that formed in the Church kept spreading, like a nick on a car windshield sends out just a tiny crack at first, but keeps spreading.The Reformation ended up spinning out dozens of groups; some big, many small.There were Lutherans, Presbyterians, Huguenots, Swiss Brethren, dozens of Anabaptist groups, Mennonites, Hutterites, etc. etc. etc..In Episode 90, we touched briefly on the tragedy that struck at Munster when the Anabaptist movement strayed from its moorings in God's Word and replaced it with the lunacy of a couple of its leaders who went way off the rails in an apocalyptic frenzy that ended up destroying the town.Munster became a cautionary tale for other Anabaptists and Reformers. The explanation given for the tragedy was Munster's abandonment of the pacifism preached and practiced by other Anabaptists. Anabaptists regarded the Sermon on the Mount as their guiding ethic and said it could only be followed by a Faith that was committed to the practice of a love that resigned consequences to God's hands.A leading figure among the Anabaptists was Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest.Simons was moved to reconsider the rightness of infant baptism when he witnessed the martyrdom of an Anabaptist in 1531. Five years later, the same year the leaders of Munster were executed, Simons left his position as a parish priest and embraced Anabaptism. He joined a Dutch fellowship, where his followers came to be known as Mennonites.Although persecution was fierce, Menno survived and spent his time traveling through Northern German and Holland, preaching and encouraging his followers. He also wrote a large number of essays of which Foundations of the Christian Doctrine in 1539, became the most important.Menno was convinced pacifism was an essential part of true Christianity, and refused to have anything to do with Anabaptists of a revolutionary flavor. He also held that Christians ought not offer any oaths, and shouldn't take occupations requiring them. But he maintained Christians should obey civil authorities, as long as they weren't required to disobey the Lord.Menno preferred to baptize by pouring water over the head of adults who confessed their faith publicly. He said neither baptism nor communion confer grace, but rather are outward signs of what takes place inwardly between God and the believer. Mennonites also practiced foot-washing as a reminder of their call to humility and a life of service.Even though the Mennonites were so manifestly harmless, they were classed as subversive by many governments simply because they wouldn't take oaths and as pacifists refused to join the military. Persecution scattered them throughout Eastern Europe and Western Russia.Many Mennonites eventually left for the New World where they were offered religious tolerance. In both Russia and North America they ran into trouble when the authorities expected them to serve in the military and they declined yet again. Though the US and several other countries eventually granted Mennonites an exemption from military service, before that exemption came, many Mennonites moved to South America where there were still places they could live in isolation. By the 20th C, Mennonites were the main branch of the old Anabaptist movement of the 16th C, and now they are highly-regarded for their determined pacifist stance and on-going acts of social service for the public good.As the Reformation carved up Europe into a seemingly hopeless hodge-podge of political and religious factions, different attempts were made to resolve the tensions, either by war, by treaty, or alliance.I have to say, the history of 16th C Europe is a tangled mess. If we dive into the details, what you'll hear are a lot of names and dates that's the very kind of history reporting we want to avoid here. A part of me feels like we're leaving out important information. Another part gives an anticipatory yawn at all the historical minutiae we'd have to cover. Things like The Peace of Nuremberg, The League and War of Schmalkalden, Philip of Hesse, Duke George of Saxony, Henry of Brunswick, Emperor Charles V staunchest ally in northern Germany.Hey, I can already hear the yawns out there.But there's some interesting tidbits and moments scattered all through this that move me to say maybe we should dive into it.Like the fact that Philip of Hesse, leader of the League of Schmalkalden, got permission from Martin Luther, his protégé Philip Melanchthon, and Martin Bucer, the Reformer of Strasbourg to commit polygamy! Yes, you heard me right.Philip of Hesse's marriage was a mess. He and his wife had not been together for years, but were still married. Philip wanted companionship and asked these three Reformation giants if he could quietly take another wife. They agreed, saying the Bible didn't forbid polygamy, and that Philip could take a second wife without setting the first aside. But, they said, he needed to do it in secret, because while polygamy wasn't a sin in the eyes of God, it was a crime in the eyes of man. So Philip married another woman, but was unable to keep it secret. When it became public, the scandal toppled Philip from his place at the head of the League of Schmalkalden and put the three Reformers in hot water.And that's just one little vignette from this time. è Fun stuff.While the Lutherans and Catholics wrestled over the territories of Germany, further North in neighboring Scandinavia, Lutheranism was making inroads. In Germany, it was the nobility that embraced Protestantism as a lever to use against the predominantly Catholic monarch. In Scandinavia it was the opposite. There, monarchs took up the Reformation cause. Its triumph was theirs.At that time, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were technically a united kingdom. I say technically, because the king ruled only where he resided, in Denmark. His power in Norway was limited, and Sweden was virtually independent due to the powerful house of Sture who acted as regents. But even in Denmark, royal authority was limited by the fact the king was appointed by electors who managed to gain ever more power by cutting deals with the next would-be monarch.When the Reformation began in Germany, the Scandinavian throne was held by Christian II, who was married to Isabella, Emperor Charles V's sister. The Swedes refused King Christian's control of their land, so he appealed to his brother-in-law and to other European princes for support. Time for a royal smack-down of those uppity Swedish Stures!With a sizeable foreign force, Christian II moved into Sweden and had himself crowned at Stockholm. Although he'd vowed to spare the lives of his Swedish opponents, a few days after his coronation he ordered what's known now as The Massacre of Stockholm, in which Sweden's leading nobles and clerics were murdered.This engendered deep resentment in Sweden, Norway; even back home in Denmark. Lesser rulers feared that after destroying the Swedish nobility, Christian would turn on them. He claimed he only sought to free the people of Sweden from oppression by its aristocracy. But the treacherous means by which he'd done it and the now intense religious propaganda against him, quickly lost him any support he might have won.King Christian then tried to use the Reformation as a tool to advance his own political ends. The first Lutheran preachers had already made their way into Denmark, and people gave them a ready ear. People were savvy enough to recognize the King's embrace of Lutheranism as merely a political ploy and reacted strongly against him.Rebellion broke out, and Christian was forced to flee. He returned eight years later with the support of several Catholic rulers from other parts of Europe. He landed in Norway and declared himself the champion of Catholicism. But his uncle and successor, Frederick I, defeated and imprisoned him. He remained in prison for the rest of his 27 years.Frederick I was a Protestant and ruled over a people and nobility which had become largely Protestant. At the time of his election, Frederick promised he'd not attack Catholicism nor use his authority to favor Lutheranism. He knew it was better to be the de-facto king of a small kingdom than the wanna-be ruler of a large one. So he gave up all claim to the Swedish crown, and allowed Norway to elect its own king.The Norwegians promptly turned around and elected him. Frederick consolidated the power of the crown in the two kingdoms in a peaceful manner. He kept his promises regarding religious matters and refused to interfere in Church matters. Protestantism made rapid gains. In 1527, it was officially recognized and granted toleration, and by the time of Frederick's death in 1533 most of his subjects were Protestants.Then came a plot to impose a Catholic king by means of foreign intervention. The pretender was defeated, and the new ruler was Christian III, a committed Lutheran who'd been present at the Diet of Worms and greatly admired Luther both for his doctrines and courage. He took quick measures in support of Protestantism and in limiting the power of bishops. He requested teachers from Luther to help him in the work of reformation. Eventually, the entire Danish church subscribed to the Confession of Augsburg.Events in Sweden followed a similar course. When Christian II imposed his authority, among his prisoners was a young Swede by the name of Gustavus Erikson, better known as Vasa. He escaped and, from an overseas refuge, resisted Christian II's power grab. When he learned of the Massacre of Stockholm, in which several of his relatives were executed, he secretly returned. Working as a common laborer, living among the people, he recognized their hostility toward the Danish occupation and organized a resistance. Deeming the time had come to up the ante, he proclaimed a national rebellion, took up arms with a band of followers, and managed to secure one victory after another. In 1521, the rebels named him the new regent of the kingdom, and, two years later, crowned him king. A few months later, he entered Stockholm in triumph.But Vasa's title carried little authority since the nobility and clergy demanded their ancient rights be recognized. Vasa wisely embarked on a subtle policy of dividing his enemies. He began by placing limits on corrupt bishops no one had sympathy for. Then, he began to carve off the support of the common people for nobles who resisted him. This was easy to do since he'd adopted the life of a commoner for some time,. He was a man of the people and they knew it. Vasa drove an effective wedge between the nobility and the people. Then he called a National Assembly and shocked everyone by inviting not just the usual nobles and clergy, but some of the merchant-class and peasantry. When the clergy and nobility banded together to thwart Vasa's reforms, he resigned, declaring Sweden wasn't ready for a true king. Three days later, threatened by chaos, the Assembly agreed to recall him and give assent to his program.The higher clergy lost its political power and from then on, Lutheranism was on the rise. Gustavus Vasa was not himself a man of deep religious conviction. But by the time he died in 1560, Sweden was a thoroughly Protestant realm.One of the lessons this period of history in Europe makes clear is how influential even the  nominal faith of a ruler has on the political and religious environment of a nation.

This episode is titled, “Wars of Religion”In our review of the Reformation, we began with a look at its roots and the long cry for reform heard in the Roman church. We saw its genesis in Germany with Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon, its impact on Switzerland with Zwingli and later with the Frenchman John Calvin. John Knox carried it to his native Scotland and Thomas Cranmer led it in England.We've taken a look at the Roman Catholic response in what's called the Counter-Reformation, but probably ought to be labelled the Catholic Reformation. We briefly considered the Council of Trent where the Roman Church affirmed its perspective on many of the issues raised by Protestants and for the first time, a clear line was drawn, marking the differences in doctrine between the two groups. We saw the Jesuits, the learned shock-troops of the Roman Church sent out on both mission and to counter the impact of the Reformation in the regions of Europe being swung toward the Protestant camp.Let's talk a little more about the Catholic Counter-Reformation because Europe is about to plunge into several decades of war due to the differing religious affiliations of its various kingdoms.There were at least four ingredients in the Counter-Reformation.The first concerned the religious orders of the Catholic Church. There was a spiritual renewal within older orders like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Benedictines. Reform among the Franciscans led to the founding of the Capuchins in 1528. Their energetic work among the Italian peasantry kept them loyal to Rome.Second, new orders sprang up. Groups like the Theatines [Thee a teen] who called both clergy and laity to a godly lifestyle. The Ursulines [Ursa-leens] were an order for women who cared for the sick and poor. And then of course, there were the Jesuits.The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, were the most important of the new orders. Founded in Paris in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola, the order required total obedience of its members for the furtherance of the interests of the Roman church. While there were good and godly Jesuits, men who worked tirelessly to expand the Kingdom of God, there were also some whose motives were less noble. Okay, let's be frank; they were diabolical. Utterly unscrupulous in their methods, they believed it was permissible to do evil if good came of it. They resurrected the Inquisition in the 16th C making it an effective tool in stomping out the Reformation in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium.Jesuits infiltrated government offices and used every means fair or foul to advance the cause of the Rome. Lest Catholic listeners take offense to this, understand that their power became so great and their methods so immoral, the Pope suppressed the order from 1773 to 1814.Also, it should be noted when Ignatius launched the Society, a counterattack on the Reformation was not in view. His ambition was missionary with a keen desire to convert Muslims. The three major goals of the Jesuits were to convert pagans, combat heresy, and promote education. It was their solemn oath to obey the Pope that led to their being used as a tool of the Counter-Reformation.A third aspect of the Counter-Reformation was the Council of Trent. The cardinals elected a Dutch theologian as a reform pope in 1522. He admitted that the problems Rome had with the Lutherans came because of the corruption of the Church, from the papal office down. As was saw a couple episodes ago, in 1536, Pope Paul III appointed a special panel of cardinals to prepare a report on the condition of the Church. That report gave Luther much ammunition for his critique of  Rome. It conceded that Protestantism resulted from the “ambition, avarice, and cupidity” of Catholic bishops.The Roman Church realized it needed to address the issues raised by the Reformers. The Council of Trent was the answer. It met in three main sessions, under the terms of three different popes, from 1545 to 63. Participants came from Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. The Council decided a wide array of issues.In direct response to Lutheran challenges, the Council abolished indulgence-sellers, defined obligations of the clergy, regulated the use of relics, and ordered the restructuring of bishops.The doctrinal work of Trent is summarized in the Tridentine Profession of Faith, which championed Roman Catholic dogma and provided a theological response to Protestants. Trent rejected justification by faith alone and promoted the necessity of meritorious works as necessary for salvation. It validated the seven sacraments as bestowing merit on believers and their necessity for salvation. It affirmed the value of tradition as a basis of authority alongside the Bible. It approved the canonicity of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament; made official the existence of purgatory; the value of images, relics, indulgences, the invocation of saints; and the importance of confession to a priest. It also defined more specifically the sacrificial aspects of the mass and decided that only the bread should be distributed to the laity.The Tridentine statement made reconciliation with Protestantism impossible.The Council's work constituted a statement of faith by which true Roman Catholics could determine their orthodoxy. No such comprehensive statement existed before. If it had, perhaps the force of the Reformation would have been blunted in some places. What the Council of Trent did, in effect, was to make official dogmas of the Church the various positions Luther had challenged in his break with Rome.A fourth aspect of the Counter-Reformation was a new and vigorous kind of spirituality that bloomed in a remarkable series of writings and movements. Some devotional books from this movement, such as the Imitation of Christ by Thomas a'Kempis and the Spiritual Exercises by Loyola, have received proper attention, but most of have not.This new kind of devout life was characterized by a systemic examination of conscience, prayer, contemplation, and spiritual direction. Its roots lay in the Middle Ages with groups like the Carthusians, who put great emphasis on the contemplative life. It was these works that fueled the calls for reform in the Roman Church before Luther arrived on the scene. They were the reading material of groups like the Brethren of the Common Life and The Oratory of Divine Love which provided many of the best church leaders in the years leading up to the 16th C.The Reformation sparked a series of religious wars across Europe. The last of these was the Thirty Years' War, which last from 1618–48.As we saw in a previous episode, the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 put Lutheranism on a legal basis with Roman Catholicism in Germany. The prince of a region determined the religion in his territory; dissenters could immigrate to another territory if they wanted to.Now, that may seem obvious to highly mobile moderns like many listening to this, but it wasn't for people at that time. Due to feudal rules, people weren't allowed to move without consent of their ruler. The Peace of Augsburg marked a significant change in commoners' mobility. To preserve Catholic domination of southern Germany, the agreement mandated that Catholic rulers who became Lutherans had to surrender rule. The agreement left out Calvinists, Anabaptists, and other Protestants. So for many, Augsburg solved nothing.Beginning in Bohemia, the Thirty Years' War ravaged Central Europe and Germany and involved all the major European powers. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the war in 1648, resulted from long and complicated negotiations. France and Sweden gained large amounts of territory, and German princes gained greater power and influence at the expense of the Emperor. The treaty finally recognized Calvinism, along with Lutheranism and Catholicism, as legal religions and permitted each ruler to determine the religion of his state.The effects of the War were devastating for Christianity as a whole. Religious issues were increasingly treated with indifference by political leaders. Secular, self-serving matters were now the chief concerns of the growing uber-worldly nation-states. The barbarity and brutality of the war left many questioning the Christian Message. How could a Faith that produced such atrocities be true? Doctrine took a backseat to doubt. Faith was met with skepticism. All this coming at the dawn of, and no doubt hastening, The Age of Reason.In reply to those who criticize Christianity for the wars fought at that time, it ought to be recognized that in every case; political, economic, and social considerations were as important as the religious, if not more. Much of the time, there was no real struggle between Roman Catholics and Protestants. And on some fronts of the war, BOTH Catholics and Protestants fought alongside each other as comrades because their conflict was political rather than religious. We call this period the “Wars of Religion,” but in truth it was rarely religion that sparked or drove the conflict; it was political and economic, hiding behind a mask of religion because that tends to stir the people actually doing the fighting better than some prince wanting more land.Nine times out of ten, if you want to know the real cause of something, follow the money.We turn now to the impact of the Reformation on France and one example of how tragic things can turn – ostensibly, because of religion, but really because of politics.As the 16th C wore on, the Roman church in France fell into a progressively deplorable condition. The Concordat of Bologna in 1516 gave King Francis I the right to appoint the ten archbishops, thirty-eight bishops, and 527 heads of religious houses in France. That meant the Church became part of a vast patronage system, and individuals won positions in the Church not for ability or religious zeal but for service to the crown. Simony & bribery was de-rigor.Conditions became genuinely bad. Literacy among priests dropped to a mere ten-percent. Since the king was head of the French Church, and he depended on its patronage system for income, we see why Francis I and Henry II were so zealous in their persecution of French Protestants. They couldn't afford to permit the system to crumble. They certainly weren't zealous for Catholicism except as a tool to achieve their political ambitions.The French Protestant movement was stoked by what was happening in Geneva in Switzerland under Farel and Calvin. The French Bible, Calvin's Institutes, and numerous other Protestant publications fueled the movement. So naturally, the most literate element of the population was won over. Converts were numerous at the universities and among lawyers and other professionals, the merchant class and artisans, lower clergy, friars, and the lesser nobility. The illiterate peasantry was hardly touched and remained firmly Catholic.Politics and economics played into the mix. The Middle-class and lower nobility of France were tired of King Francis' imperial ambitions, funded on their backs. They were urged into the Protestant cause out of a desire to get rid of the King. It's estimated that two-fifths of all nobles joined the French Protestant cause.  Few of them were authentically converted but sought to use the Protestant movement to weaken the trend toward King Francis' oppressive version of royal absolutism.In spite of persecution, Protestants increased rapidly. At the beginning of the reign of Henry II in 1547 they numbered over 400,000. By the end of his reign in 1561 they were known as Huguenots and numbered 2 million; ten-percent of the population. The Presbyterian system of church government gave organization and discipline to the Huguenot movement.In order to understand the course of events the French Reformation took and see why it became embroiled in civil war, it's necessary to look at the political and social conditions of the times.First, that many of the younger nobility joined Protestant ranks is of great significance. Accustomed to carrying swords, they became protectors of Huguenot congregations during troubled times. They often protected church meetings against hostile bands of Catholic ruffians.Second, and this is key; there were four major groups of nobility vying for the rule in France.The ruling house with a tenuous grip on the throne was the Valois.The Bourbons of Western France were next in line should the Valois falter. Their leadership were decided Huguenots.The powerful Guises [Guy-zuhz], were equally committed Roman Catholics with extensive holdings in the East.The Montmorencys controlled the center of France; their leadership divided evenly between Huguenots and Catholics.Third, when Henry II died, he left three sons all dominated by his queen, Catherine de Medici. She was determined to maintain personal control and advance the power of her government. She was opposed by many of the nobility jealous of their rights and wanted to restrict the power of the monarchy.Fourth, as the likelihood of civil war in France percolated, the English and Spanish sent aid to their factions to serve their respective interests.Such animosities provided the tinder to ignite armed conflict. Eight wars were fought between Roman Catholics and Protestants in France. Leading the Protestants early in the conflict was Gaspard de Coligny. But he lost his life along with some 15 to 20,000 Huguenots in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, in August, 1572. After that, Henry of Navarre, of the Bourbon family, led the Protestants. His maneuvers were successful, and eventually, with the death of others in the royal line, he became heir to the French throne. Because he didn't have enough strength to complete his conquest, he converted to Catholicism and won the crown as Henry IV. Judging from his conduct, Henry's religious principles sat his shoulders rather lightly. His switch to the Roman Church was for purely political reasons. Most likely he simply sought to turn off the blood bath drenching France.In 1598, Henry published the Edict of Nantes, a grant of toleration for the Huguenots. It guaranteed them the right to hold public office, freedom of worship in most areas of France, the privilege of educating their children in other than Roman Catholic schools, and free access to universities and hospitals. The edict was the first significant recognition of the rights of a religious minority in an otherwise intolerant age. Though the Huguenots enjoyed a period of great prosperity after that, King Louis XIV revoked the edict in 1685. Thousands were driven into exile, to the benefit of England, Holland, Prussia, and America where they fled for refuge.

This episode of CS is titled, Luther's Struggle.As we saw last time, Luther's situation after appearing before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms didn't look hopeful. The majority of officials there decided to apply the papal bull excommunicating Luther and removing his protection. Some of the nobles knew they could incur the Pope's favor by taking matters into their own hands and assassinating the troublesome priest. But the German prince Frederick the Wise, one of the Emperor's most important supporters, arranged to air-quotes à “kidnap" Luther on his way back to Wittenberg. He secreted Luther to his castle at Wartburg under an assumed identity. Now in hiding, Luther used the time to translate the NT from Greek into a superbly simple German Bible.  He finished it in the Fall of 1522 and followed it up with an OT translation from Hebrew. This took longer and wasn't finished till 1534. The completed Bible proved to be no less a force in the German-speaking world than the King James Version was later to be in the English sphere, and it's considered one of Luther's most valuable contributions.The revolt against Rome sparked by Luther's list tacked to the castle church door at Wittenberg began to spread.  In town after town, priests and town councils removed statues from churches and abandoned the Mass. More priests and monks stepped forward, adding their voice to the call for reform, many more radical than Luther. More importantly, an increasing number of civil officials decided to back Luther in defiance of the Emperor and Pope.By 1522, it was clear to Luther he could safety return to Wittenberg and put into practice the reforms he was convinced the Church needed to install. What he did there became the model for a good part of Germany. He abolished the office of bishop because he couldn't find it in Scripture. Local churches needed pastors who were servants, not a religious royalty.During his time at the Wartburg, Luther gave much thought to the issue of celibacy. He wrote a tract called On Monastic Vows where he expounded on the idea that a sequestered life wasn't really Biblical.  When he returned to Wittenberg, he dissolved the monasteries and ended clerical celibacy. The resources of the monasteries were used to relieve the poor, and marriages between former celibates became the order of the day. Erasmus noted that the tragedy of the break with Rome looked like it would finish as a comedy; with everyone married and living happily ever after.Luther himself took a wife in 1525, the former nun, Katherine von Bora. The story goes she was an eminently practical woman but not all that attractive. When her fellow sisters got married, she was left single and approached Luther, saying it was his fault she was now alone and without support. She suggested it was his duty to remedy her situation. When he asked how he as supposed to do that, she replied marrying her was his best option. So he did.A new image of full-time ministry appeared in western Christianity—the married pastor living like any other man with his own family. Luther later wrote, “There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage. One wakes up in the morning and finds a pair of pigtails on the pillow which were not there before.” By all accounts, while Martin and Katherine's marriage began as a purely pragmatic arrangement, the love between them grew into a rich joy. Luther was deeply affectionate to his wife, who often was instrumental in keeping Luther's frequent dark moods from overwhelming him. They had six children.Martin and Katherine lived in what had been the Augustinian convent. Their house was nearly always full of guests who enjoyed sitting at their table. Some of his students the Luthers had in for meals took down their conversation, now published in a work called Table Talk.Luther understood if Reform was to take root and grow, it had to be fueled by the study of the Bible. Studying Scripture required the ability to read it and to reason logically. So he placed a great emphasis on education and urged parents to send their children to school. To assist in the education of youth, he composed a Large Catechism in 1528, then a more popular Small Catechism a year later. In the Small Catechism, Luther gave a simple exposition of the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the two sacraments. He offered forms for confession, morning and evening prayers, and grace at meals.Keep in mind Luther hadn't begun in 1517 with a fully developed theological position and a plan to Reform the Roman church or break away and start a separate religious franchise.  That was nowhere on the horizon. When he tacked his list on Wittenberg's church door, it was simply a reflection of his desire that church officials begin examining both long-held traditions and more recent innovations by holding them up to the light of Scripture. As things progressed, Luther realized he had to follow his own advice.Many Protestants have heard of Luther's 95 Theses but they've not read them. It's surprising to see what he calls for people to examine there. Turns out, there's little in Luther's List that ended up in the core doctrines of the Reformation. But once Luther embraced the principle of reviewing everything in the light of God's Word, a far more complete doctrinal picture began to take shape. He saw his way clear in the matter of justification by grace thru faith. When he applied this to the issue of indulgences is when he popped up on Rome's radar. His emerging understanding of the priesthood of all believers was a threat Rome couldn't ignore because it threatened their religious hegemony. Soon, everything was being scrutinized in the light of Scripture.Luther translated the Latin liturgy into German. People began receiving Communion in both bread and wine. The emphasis in church services switched from the celebration of the Mass to the preaching and teaching of God's Word.In 1524, Germany got a taste of how far reaching Luther's call for reforms could reach. His insistence that church and society follow the commands of Scripture led to an uprising of the peasants against the nobility.  The people applied the concept of the freedom of the Christian to the economic and social spheres. Long kept under the domineering thumb of the nobility, the peasants revolted against their feudal lords. They demanded an end to medieval serfdom, unless it could be justified from the Bible, and relief from the excessive services demanded of them which kept them in virtual slavery.At the beginning of their protest, Luther agreed with the peasants and recognized the justice of their complaints. What he stridently warned against was the use of violence to enforce their will on a recalcitrant nobility. When violence did break out, he lashed out against the peasants. Since the printing press was already a major part of his work, he employed it again and wrote a pamphlet titled, Against the Thievish and Murderous Hordes of Peasants.  In it, Luther called on the princes to “knock down, strangle, stab … and think nothing so venomous, pernicious, or Satanic as an insurgent.”In 1525, the nobles crushed the revolt at a cost of some 100,000 lives. The survivors now called Luther a false prophet. Many of them returned to Catholicism or turned to more radical forms of the Reformation.Luther's conservative political and economic views devolved from his belief that the equality of all men before God applied to spiritual rather than secular matters. Though these views alienated the common people, they proved a boon to Luther's influence with the German princes, many of whom became Lutheran in part because Luther's views allowed them to control the Church in their territories, thereby strengthening their power and wealth.In 1530, a conference of Reformation leaders convened in Augsburg to draw up a common Statement of Faith. The leadership of the movement had already begun to move beyond Luther. He was still an outlaw and unable to attend. So the task of presenting Luther's ideas fell to his colleague, a young professor of Greek at Wittenberg, Philip Melanchthon. The young scholar drafted the Augsburg Confession signed by Lutheran princes and theologians. And though a growing movement of the German nobility now threw their weight behind the Reform, Emperor Charles V, who depended on their support, was no more inclined to join the movement than he'd been a Worms.After 1530, Charles made clear his intention to crush the growing heresy. The Lutheran princes banded together in 1531 in the Schmalkald League, and between 1546 and 55 there was scattered, on-and-off-again civil war. The combatants reached a compromise in the Peace of Augsburg, which allowed each prince to decide the religion of his subjects, with the only acceptable options being Lutheran or Catholic, and ordered all Catholic bishops to give up their property if they turned Lutheran.The effects of this treaty were profound. Lutheranism became a State religion in large portions of the Empire. It spread north to Scandinavia. Religious opinions became the private property of princes, and individuals had to believe what their prince chose.Luther remained engaged in unending debate with the Roman Church. And it wasn't long before he found himself embroiled in disagreements with other reformers. Outspoken and combative, he often collided with equally fierce opponents. These controversies took on a bitter edge that saw Luther hurling vicious epithets at his opponents. The insults he'd once used for the Pope were turned on fellow Reformers. All this greatly hampered reform.For example, Luther became entangled in a controversy with the humanist scholar and reformer Erasmus. The two had much in common, sharing concerns for scholarship, for opening up the Scriptures, and for doctrinal and practical reform. Still, they differed sharply in character and theological approach. Under pressure to declare himself either for Luther or against him, Erasmus turned to the important issue of the freedom of the will and published a work titled, Diatribe on Free Will in 1524. To this Luther made a scornfully sharp reply a year later in his Bondage of the Will. This work is a powerful statement of the Augustinian position that in matters of righteousness and salvation human will has no power to act apart from God's enabling grace. Erasmus replied to Luther's reply, but Luther ignored it. Erasmus then aligned himself with opponents of the Reformation, although still urging reform and maintaining friendly relations with other reformers.The Lutherans themselves experienced a split over how to understand Communion. Like a bulldog, Luther clung to the words of Jesus "This is my body" as supporting his belief that Jesus was present in the elements. When the Southern Germans and Swiss broke away saying that the elements were meant ot be understood as symbolic, Luther published a couple of scathing responses in 1526 and 7. There's a coarseness to his style in the second of these that may indicate Luther had no desire to win his opponents, only to insult them.Since this is a history and not theology podcast, I'm not going to go into all the nuances of the Eucharistic debate that ensued between the Lutherans and other Reformers. Suffice it to say, it became one of the major issues of controversy between them.Luther ran into other difficulties, too.He hoped at first that the renewing of the Gospel would open the way for the conversion of the Jews. When that didn't pan out, he made virulent attacks on them, planting a deep stain on his record. Philip of Hesse, a champion of the Reformation, became an embarrassment to Luther when he gave assent to Philip's bigamous marriage in 1540. The development of armed religious alliances in the empire worried Luther, for while he accepted the divine authorization of princes and valued their help in practical reformation, he struggled hard for the principle that the Gospel does not need to be advanced or defended by military power. He was spared the conflict that came so soon after his death.Even his sympathetic biographers have found it hard to justify some of Luther's actions in his declining years. By the time of his death in 1546, says biographer Roland Bainton, Luther was “an irascible old man, petulant, peevish, unrestrained, and at times positively coarse.” As chance would have it, his schedule brought him to Eisleben, the town of his birth, where he died on Feb. 18, 1546.Fortunately, the personal defects of an aging rebel don't in any way detract from the greatness of Luther's achievements, which transformed not only Christianity but Western civilization. He took four basic concerns and offered vital new answers.To the question - How is a person saved, Luther replied: not by works but by faith alone.To the question - Where does religious authority lie, he answered: not in the visible institution called the Roman church but in the Word of God found in the Bible.To the question—What is the church?—he responded: the whole community of Christian believers, since all are priests before God.And last, to the question—What is the center of the Christian life?—he replied: serving God in any useful calling, whether ordained or not.

This episode is titled, Taking It Further.History, or I should say, the reporting of it, shows a penchant for identifying one person, a singular standout as the locus of change. This despite the recurring fact there were others who participated in or paralleled that change. Such is the case with Martin Luther and the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli. While Luther is the “historic bookmark” for the genesis of the Reformation, in some ways, Zwingli was ahead of him.Born in Switzerland in 1484, Ulrich Zwingli was educated in the best universities and  ordained a priest.  Possessing a keen mind, intense theological inquiry coupled to a keen spiritual struggle brought him to a genuine faith in 1516, a year before Luther tacked his 95 thesis to Wittenberg's door.  Two yrs later, Zwingli arrived in Zurich where he spent the rest of his life. By 1523, he was leading the Reformation in Switzerland.Zwingli's preaching convinced Zurich's city council to permit the clergy to marry. They abolished the Mass and banned images and statues in public worship. They dissolved the monasteries and severed ties with Rome. Recognizing the central place the Bible was to have in the Christian life, the Zurich reformers published the NT in their own vernacular in 1524 and the entire Bible 6 yrs later; 4 yrs before Luther's German translation was available.Zwingli didn't just preach a Reformation message, he lived it. He married Anna Reinhart in 1522.In one important respect, Zwingli followed the Bible more specifically than Luther. Martin allowed whatever the Bible did not prohibit. Zwingli rejected whatever the Bible did not prescribe. So the Reformation in Zurich tended to strip away more traditional symbols of the Roman church: the efficacy of lighting candles, the use of statues and pictures as objects of devotion, even church music was ended. Later, in England, these reforms would come to be called “Puritanism.”But more than the application of Reformation principles, Zwingli's bookmark in history is pegged to the Eucharistic controversy his teaching stirred. He was at the center of a major theological debate concerning the Lord's Table. Between 1525 and 8, a bitter war of words was waged between Zwingli and Luther. During this debate, Luther would write a tract and Zwingli would reply. Then Zwingli would pen a treatise and Luther would reply. This went back and forth for 3 yrs. It was a war fought with pamphlets as the ammunition.Both sides rejected the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation—that the prayer of a duly authorized priest transformed the elements into the literal body and blood of Christ. Their disagreement centered on Jesus' words, “This is My body.” Luther and his followers adopted the position known consubstantiation, which says Jesus is present “in, with, and under” the elements and taking Communion spiritually strengthens the believer.Zwingli and his supporters regarded this as an unnecessary compromise with the doctrine of transubstantiation. They said Jesus' words had to be understood symbolically. The elements represented Jesus' blood and body, and Communion was merely a memorial.  An important memorial to be sure, but the bread and wine were just symbols.The debate remains to this day.It should be noted that during his last years, Zwingli seems to have moved to a new position in regard to Communion. He came to recognize a spiritual presence of Christ in the elements, though reducing the idea to words is a proposition   far beyond the capacity of this podcast to do. This later position of Zwingli was the position of Philip Melanchthon, Luther's assistant and spiritual heir.Following hundreds of years of tradition, Zwingli, along with many other Reformers, believed the State and Church should reinforce one another in the work of God; there should be no separation. That's why the Reformation became increasingly political and split Switzerland into Catholic and Protestant cantons, and eventually saw all of Europe carved up into differing religious regions. The terrible Wars of Religion were the result.Switzerland at that time was a network of 13 counties called cantons. These were loosely federated and basically democratic. Culturally, the north and east were German, while the west was French, and the south was Italian. The Reformation spread from Zurich, chief city of the capital canton, to the rest of German Switzerland, who were nevertheless reluctant to come under the politic al control of Zurich. Several cantons remained militantly Roman Catholic and resisted Zwingli's influence for largely economic reasons.As political tensions grew, several Protestant cantons formed the Christian Civic League. Feeling pressed and threatened, the Catholic cantons also organized and allied themselves with the king of Austria. A desire to avoid war led to the First Peace of Kappel in 1529. But as often happens, once a treaty was hammered out, the only option left was war. Sure enough, two yrs later, five Roman Catholic cantons attacked Zurich, which was unprepared.  Zwingli fought as a common soldier in the Battle of Kappel in 1531 and died in the field.The Second Peace of Kappel hammered out at the end of the year prohibited further spread of the Reformation in Switzerland. Heinrich Bullinger, Zwingli's son-in-law, took over leadership of the Protestant cause in Zurich and enjoyed great influence across Europe.An important aspect of Zwingli's impact on the Reformation was that he cast it along civic lines, with a view to establishing a model Christian community. He persuaded the city council to legislate various details of the Reformation. He aimed at political reform as well as spiritual regeneration.The inter-canton struggles of this period led to the growing independence of the city of Geneva, which became the home of John Calvin, the other great Reformation luminary. The Swiss Reformation and Zwinglian movement ended up merging with Calvinism later in the 16th C.Often overlooked in a review of the Reformation are those we might call the REAL reformers – better known as the radical reformers.Not all those who broke with Rome agreed with Zwingli, Luther, or Calvin. As early as 1523 in Zurich, there were those whose vision of Reform outstripped Zwingli's. This movement coalesced around 2 leaders: Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz.On the 21st of Jan, 1525, a little group met in the home of Felix Manz. The Zurich City Council had just ordered Grebel and Manz to stop teaching the Bible. Four days earlier the Council ordered parents to baptize their babies within eight days of birth or face exile. But a group of Zurich's citizens questioned the practice of infant baptism. They met in Manz's home to decide what to do. After a time of prayer, they agreed they'd obey what their conscience told them God's Word said and trust Him to work things out. In an immediate application of that decision, a former priest named George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptism him in the fashion modeled in the Book of Acts. So, upon confession of His faith in Christ, Grebel baptized him, then Blaurock and Grebel together baptized the others.Anabaptism, another important expression of the Protestant Reformation, was born.As a term, anabaptist means “to baptize again.” The Anabaptists stressed believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism. But the term “Anabaptist” refers to diverse groups of Reformers, many of whom embraced radical social, political, economic, and religious views. Some Anabaptist groups are known as the Swiss Brethren, the Mennonites, Hutterites, and the Amish. While those names may conjure up images of buggies, overalls, bonnets and long beards, it's important to recognize that the Anabaptist tradition lies at the heart of a far larger slice of the Christian and Protestant world. Many modern groups and independent local churches could rightly be called Anabaptist in the bulk of their theology, though ignorant of their spiritual heritage.While the theology of the Anabaptist groups ended up being widely spread across the doctrinal spectrum, their main stream adhered to the sound, expository teaching of the Scriptures, the Trinity, justification by faith, and the atonement of Christ. What got them in trouble with some of their Reformation brethren was their rejection of infant baptism, which both Catholic and most other Protestant groups affirmed. They argued for a gathered, voluntary church concept as opposed to a State church.  They advocated a separation of church and state and adopted pacifism and nonviolent resistance. They said Christians should live communally and share their material possessions. Counter-intuitively to all this, they preached and practiced a strict form of church discipline. Any one of these would mark them as distinct from other Reformation groups; but taken together, the Anabaptists were destined to run into trouble with Lutherans and Calvin's followers.That's what happened in Zurich. Zwingli's reforming zeal produced an intolerance of his disciples Grebel and Manz who simply wanted to take the reforms further. They tried to convince Zwingli to follow thru into a genuine NT pattern, but all they did was provoke him to urge the City Council to fine, imprisoned, and eventually martyr them and their followers.The rise of Anabaptism ought to have been no surprise. Revolutions nearly always spin off a radical fringe that feels its destiny is to reform the reformation. Really, that's what Anabaptism was; a voice calling moderate reformers to take it further; to go all the way into a genuine NT model.Like most such movements, the Anabaptists lacked cohesion. By lifting up the Bible as their sole authority, they resisted framing a cogent set of doctrinal distinctives. That meant the movement fragmented into several theological streams with no single body of doctrine and no unifying organization prevailing among them. Even the name “Anabaptist” was pinned on them by their enemies and was meant to class them as radicals at best and at worst, dangerous heretics. The campaign to slander them worked well.In reality, the Radical Reformers rejected the idea of “rebaptism” they were accused of because they never considered the ceremonial sprinkling of infants as valid. They preferred to be called simply “Baptists.” But the fundamental issue wasn't baptism. It was the nature of the Church and its relation to civil government.The Radical Reformers came to their convictions as other Protestants had; by reading the Bible. Luther taught that common people had a right to read, understand and apply the Scriptures for themselves, they didn't need some specially-trained church hierarchy to do all that for them. So, little groups of Anabaptists gathered around their Bibles.Picture a home Bible study. They discover in the pages of Scripture a very different world from the one the official church had concocted in their day. There was no state-church alliance in the Bible, no so-called “Christendom.” Rather, the Church was comprised of local, autonomous communities of believers drawn together by their faith in Jesus and nurtured by local pastors. And while that seems like a massive “Duh!” to many non-denominational Evangelicals today, it was a revolutionary idea in the 16th C.You see, though Luther stressed a personal faith for each believer, Lutheran churches were understood as linked together to form THE Church of Germany. Clergy were ordained by a spiritual hierarchy and the entire population of a region were de-facto members of that region's church. The Church looked to the State for salary and support. In those years, Protestantism differed little from Catholicism in terms of its relationship to the civil authority. If the State was society's arm with the strength to enforce, the Church was its heart and mind with the insight to inspire and inform.Or, think of it this way, for 16th C Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism, in society, the State was the body, the Church was the soul. They saw the Radical Reformers insistence that the Church and State were separate as creating a headless monster destined to do great harm.The Radical Reformers, as we'd suspect, responded with Scripture. Hadn't Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world? Hadn't he told Peter to put away his sword? And besides, hadn't history amply proven that secular, civil power corrupts the Church? All true, but it seems reason and evidence didn't endear the Radical Reformers to their opponents.The Anabaptists wanted to reinstall “apostolic Christianity” by which they meant, the Faith as practiced in the NT, where the only members of the Church were those who were genuinely born again, not everyone who happened to be born in a province with a Christian prince.The True Church, they insisted, is always and only a community of dedicated disciples seeking to live faithfully in the midst of a wicked world.So that little group that gathered in Manz's home in January 1525 knew what they were doing was a violation of Zurich's city council. Persecution was sure to follow. Shortly after the baptism they withdrew from Zurich to the nearby village of Zollikon. There, late in January, the first Anabaptist congregation, the first free church in modern times, was born.The authorities in Zurich couldn't overlook what they deemed blatant rebellion. They sent police to Zollikon and arrested the newly baptized and imprisoned them for a time. But as soon as they were released the Anabaptists went to neighboring towns where they made more converts.Time and warnings passed and the Zurich council ran out of patience. A little over a year later they declared anyone found re-baptizing would be put to death by drowning. “If the heretics want water, they can have it.” Another year went by when the council followed thru on their threat and in Jan, 1527, Felix Manz was the 1st Anabaptist martyr. The authorities drowned him in the Limmat. Just 4 yrs later, the Anabaptists in and around Zurich were virtually wiped out.Many fled to Germany and Austria where their prospects weren't any better. In 1529, the Imperial Diet of Speyer declared Anabaptism a heresy and every region of Christendom was obliged to condemn them to death. Between 4 and 5 thousand were executed over the next several years.The Anabaptists had a simple demand: That a person have a right to his/her own beliefs. What we may not realize is that while that seems an imminently reasonable and assumed axiom for us—it was an idea bequeathed TO US by them! It's not at all what MOST people thought in the 16th C. No way! No how! The Radical Reformers seemed to Moderate Reformers like Luther and Zwingli to be destroying the very fabric of society. There was simply little conception of a society that wasn't shaped by the Church's influence on the State with the State's enforcement of Church policy.We hear the Anabaptist voice in a letter written by a young mother, to her daughter only a few days old. è It's 1573, and the father has already been executed. The mother, in jail, was reprieved long enough to give birth to her child. She writes to urge her daughter not to grow up ashamed of her parents: “My dearest child, the true love of God strengthen you in virtue, you who are yet so young, and whom I must leave in this wicked, evil, perverse world. à Oh, that it had pleased the Lord that I might have brought you up, but it seems that it is not the Lord's will.… Be not ashamed of us; it is the way which the prophets and the apostles went. Your dear father demonstrated with his blood that it is the genuine faith, and I also hope to attest the same with my blood, though flesh and blood must remain on the posts and on the stake, well knowing that we shall meet hereafter.”Persecution forced the Anabaptists north. Many of them found refuge on the lands of a tolerant prince in Moravia. There they founded a Christian commune called the Bruderhof which lasted for many years.A tragic event happened among the Anabaptists in the mid-1530's that's another frequent historical trait. The very thing the Lutherans feared, happened.In 1532, the Reformation spread rapidly throughout the city of Munster. A conservative Lutheran group was the first form of the Reformation to take root there. Then immigrants arrived who were Anabaptist apostles of a shadowy figure named Jan Matthis. What we know about him was written by his critics so he's cast as a fanatic who whipped the Munster officials into a fury of excitement that God was going to set up his kingdom on earth with Munster as the capital.The bishop of the region massed his troops to besiege the city and the Anabaptists uncharacteristically defended themselves. During the siege, the more extreme leaders gained control of the city. Then in the Summer of 1534 Jan of Leiden, seized control and declared himself sole ruler. He claimed to receive revelations from God for the city's victory. He instituted the OT practice of polygamy and took the title “King David.”With his harem “King David” lived in splendor, but was able to maintain morale in the city in spite of massive hunger due to the siege. He kept the bishop's army at bay until the end of June, 1535. The fall of the city brought an end to his and the Anabaptist's rule. But for centuries after, many Europeans equated the word “Anabaptist” with the debacle of the Munster Rebellion. It stood for wild-eyed, religious fanaticism.Munster was to the Anabaptists what the televangelist scandals of the 80's were to Evangelicalism; a serious black eye, that in no way reflected their real beliefs. In the aftermath of Munster, the dispirited Anabaptists of Western Germany were encouraged by the work of Menno Simons. A former priest, Menno visited the scattered Anabaptist groups of northern Europe, inspiring them with his preaching. He was unswerving in commanding pacifism. His name in time came to stand for the Mennonite repudiation of violence.As we end this episode, I want to recommend if anyone wants a much fuller treatment of the Munster Rebellion, let me suggest you visit the Hardcore History podcast titled Prophets of Doom. This podcast by Dan Carlin is an in-depth 4½ hr long investigation of this chapter of Munster's story.

This episode of CS is titled is titled “English Candles.”We've spent the last several episodes looking at the Reformation & Counter-Reformation in Europe. In this episode we'll take a look at how the Reformation unfolded, specifically in England.The story of the Church in England is an interesting one. The famous, or infamous, Henry the VIII was king of England when Luther set fire to the kindling of the Reformation. Posturing as a bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy, Henry wrote a refutation of Luther's position in 1521 titled “Defense of the Seven Sacraments” and was rewarded by Pope Leo X with the august title, Defender of the Faith. Ironic then that only about a decade later, Henry would hijack the church, officially ousting the Pope as head of the Church IN England and making himself head of the Church OF England.What makes the story of these years in England so interesting is the marital & political shenanigans Henry VIII played. The intrigues played out for the thrones of Spain, France & England all make for the best drama and most people don't realize that so many of the famous names of history all lived right at this time and knew each other, at least by reputation. If the story was a movie dreamed up in Hollywood, most would consider it too far-fetched.Without getting into the minutiae of the details of Henry's multiple marriages, it was his lust for power & desire to produce a son & heir that motivated him marry, divorce, re-marry and do it all over again. Henry persuaded the Pope to allow him to marry his sister-in-law, that is, his dead brother's wife, Catherine of Aragon, herself the daughter of Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand of Spain, sponsors of Christopher Columbus. Catherine gave Henry a daughter named Mary but no sons. So Henry put her aside and married his mistress, the vivacious & opinionated Anne Boleyn.In order to set Catherine aside so he could wed Anne, Henry had to persuade the Pope, who had taken some persuading to allow him to marry Catherine in the first place, to annul that marriage, saying he ought never have been allowed to marry her in the first place. The archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was employed by Henry to put pressure on Rome to grant the annulment. But Pope Clement VII wouldn't budge. So in 1531, Henry announced to the clergy they were from then on to look to him as the head of the Church in England. It's at that point we may say that the Church IN England, became the Church OF England.For the next few years, there was effectively little difference between Roman Catholicism and what later came to be called Anglicanism. But under Thomas Cranmer's guidance, the Church of England began a halting process of departure from its Roman past.It seems this departure can be assigned in part to Anne Boleyn. A woman of astute intellect & firm convictions, she found much merit in the Reformed position and had a hand in seeing Thomas Cranmer appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury.Cranmer is an interesting figure. He seems in his early years to vacillate in his opinions and comes off as being anything but the stalwart bulldog of protestant ideals, as a Luther or Calvin. Yet, he went to the stake at the end of his life rather than recant his most dearly held beliefs. And what he did in the Church of England was truly remarkable.Once the break with Rome came, Cranmer quietly set about to install the Reformation ideas of Calvin in England. He didn't really do much while Henry VIII sat the throne but as soon as his reform-minded son Edward became king, he went to work in earnest.Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire and attended Cambridge, where he was ordained a priest. He threw himself into his studies, becoming an outstanding theologian, a man of immense, though not original, learning. In 1520, he joined other scholars who met regularly to discuss Luther's theological revolt in Europe.Cranmer's theological leanings remained merely academic until he was drawn into the politics of the day. In August 1529, King Henry VIII happened to be in a neighborhood Cranmer was visiting, and he ended up conversing with the king. Henry was trying to figure out how to divorce Catherine so he could wed Anne Boleyn. Impressed with Cranmer's reasoning, Henry commanded Cranmer to write a treatise backing the king's right to divorce and then made Cranmer one of his European ambassadors.It was in this capacity that Cranmer made a trip to Germany, where he met the Lutheran reformer Andreas Osiander, and his niece, Margaret. Both Osiander's theology and niece so appealed to Cranmer, despite his vow to celibacy, he married Margaret in 1532. Because of the complex political situation in England, he kept this a secret.In August 1532, the aged archbishop of Canterbury died, and by March of the next year, Cranmer was consecrated as the new archbishop. Cranmer immediately declared the king's marriage to Catherine void & the king's previously secret union w/Anne Boleyn valid.Cranmer advocated the policy of royal absolutism, or what is popularly known as The Divine Right of Kings. Cranmer said his primary duty was to obey the king, God's chosen, to lead his nation and Church. Time and again in Henry's rocky reign, Cranmer was ordered to support religious policies of which he personally disapproved, and he always obeyed the king. And for this, Cranmer has been labeled a vacillator, a waffler – a leader of uncertain loyalty and fidelity to the Lord. Let's hold off judging that judgment till we see his end.In 1536, he became convinced, he said, by questionable evidence, that Anne had committed adultery, and he invalidated the marriage. In 1540, he ruled Henry's proposed marriage to Anne of Cleves was lawful—and when Henry sought a divorce from her just 6 months later, Cranmer approved it on the grounds the original marriage was unlawful!We'd be wise to be careful of assigning the archbishop the title of lackey. Yes, his flip-flopping on Henry's marital life is distressing, but given what we know about the King, what would have happened if he'd opposed his wishes? He'd have quickly been shorted by about 9 inches and Henry would have appointed a replacement bishop who gave him what he wanted. Cranmer had important work to do in reforming the Church of England and understood he was uniquely positioned to do it. Yeah, Henry VIII was a piece of work. But Cranmer was installing reforms in the Church that would make sure future kings couldn't get away with what Henry was getting away with. Though he bent to the king's will regarding his marital state, time and again, Cranmer alone of all Henry's advisers pleaded for the lives of people who fell out of royal favor, like Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, and Thomas Cromwell. He even publicly argued against Henry's Six Articles, which were aimed at moving England back into the Roman Church. Then, in an apparent sign of weakness, when the Six Articles were approved by Parliament, he went along with the king's policies. But again. What else could he do?Some would say he ought to have stood strong, like Luther at the Diet of Worms. But if he had, it's debatable if the Church of England would have become the Anglican Church. And lest we assume that Henry was just an tyrannical spoiled brat who happened to be king, he intervened on Cranmer behalf when court politics threatened the archbishop's position and life. It was Cranmer Henry asked for on his deathbed.With Henry's death & his sons Edward VI ascension to the throne in 1547, Cranmer's time arrived. The young king's guardian, Edward Seymour, began to make the Church of England determinedly Protestant. Cranmer took the chief role in directing doctrinal matters. He published his Homilies In 1547, which required all clergy to preach sermons emphasizing Reformed doctrine. He composed the first Book of Common Prayer which was only moderately Protestant, in 1549, then followed it up in 1552 by a 2nd edition that was more clearly Protestant. Cranmer also produced the Forty-Two Articles a year later. This was a set of doctrinal statements that moved the Church of England even further in a Reformed, and I mean Calvinist direction.These documents became critical to the formation of Anglicanism, and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), though revised over the years, still retains Cranmer's distinctive stamp and is used by millions of Anglicans worldwide.When Edward VI died in 1553, Cranmer supported his cousin, the Lady Jane Grey as the new sovereign. She was even more reform minded than Edward had been. While monarch, Edward had changed the rules of succession to ensure she'd receive the crown, and his older half-sister Mary Tudor, as the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, a staunch Roman Catholic, from gaining the throne. But Lady Jane Grey was deposed in only 9 days, and Mary triumphantly entered London.Parliament immediately repealed Henry VIII and Edward VI acts and reintroduced the pro-Catholic heresy laws. Mary's government began a relentless campaign against Protestants. Cranmer was charged with treason and imprisoned in November 1553. After spending nearly 2 years in prison, Cranmer was subjected to a long, tedious trial. The foregone verdict was reached in February 1556, and in a ceremony carefully designed to humiliate him, Cranmer was degraded from his church offices and handed over to be burned at the stake. He was just one of thousands of Protestants to know Queen Mary's fury, earning her the title Bloody Mary.Cranmer's long imprisonment and harsh treatment combined to weaken his resolve. Hoping to avoid the stake, he became convinced he should submit to a Catholic ruler and repudiate his reforms. He signed a document that said, “I confess and believe in one, holy, catholic visible church; I recognize as its supreme head upon earth the bishop of Rome, pope and vicar of Christ, to whom all the faithful are bound subject.”Even with this confession in hand, the Royal Court & Parliament believed Cranmer had to be punished for the havoc he'd wreaked on the Church. The plan was still to burn him at the stake—but he'd be allowed to make one more profession of his Catholic faith and so redeem his soul though his body would perish in the flames.On the night before his execution, Thomas Cranmer was seated in an Oxford cell before a plain wooden desk, weary from months of trial, interrogation, and imprisonment, trying to make sense of his life. Before him lay the speech he was to give the next morning, a speech that repudiated his writings that had denied Catholic teaching. Also before him was another speech, in which he declared the pope “Christ's enemy and antichrist.”Which would he give on the morrow?The next morning he was led into a church, and when it was his turn to speak, he drew out a piece of paper and began to read. He thanked the people for their prayers, then said, “I come to the great thing that troubles my conscience more than any other thing that I ever said or did in my life.” Referring to the recantations he had signed, he blurted out, “All such bills which I have written or signed with my own hand are untrue.”Loud murmurs sped through the congregation, but Cranmer continued, “And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine. And as for the sacrament—” But no more words were heard by the crowd because Cranmer was dragged from the stage out to the stake. The fire was kindled and quickly the flame leapt up. Cranmer stretched out his right hand, the one who'd written the previous recantation, into the flame and held it there as he said, “This hand has offended.” He died with the words of many of the martyrs, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”Within just 2 years, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne and moved the church back in a Protestant direction, revising Cranmer's 42 Articles to 39, and adopting his Book of Common Prayer as the guide to worship. Today Anglicanism & its New World counterpart in Episcopalianism, is the expression of faith for 50 million worldwide.[1]As we end this episode, I want to mention 2 more who lost their lives in Bloody Mary's purge; Nicolas Ridley & Hugh Latimer.Ridley was Thomas Cranmer's chaplain when Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury. He eventually became the bishop of London. He helped Cranmer write the Book of Common Prayer. Ridley was instrumental in altering the interior of the churches of England. He replaced the stone altars with simple wooden tables for the serving of Communion. He shifted the work of priests from sacramental & sacerdotal work inside the church to pastoral work outside it.Hugh Latimer started out as a passionate preacher of Catholicism. When he received a degree in theology in 1524, he delivered a lecture assailing the German Lutheran heir to Luther's legacy, Philip Melanchthon, for his high view of Scripture.Among Latimer's listeners was Thomas Bilney, leader of the Protestants at Cambridge. After the lecture, Bilney asked Latimer to hear his confession. Believing his lecture had converted the evangelical, Latimer readily agreed. The “confession,” however, was a stealthily worded sermon on the comfort and confidence the Scriptures can bring. Latimer was moved to tears, and to Protestantism.Latimer's sermons then targeted Catholicism and social injustice. He preached boldly, daring in 1530 to give a sermon before King Henry VIII that denounced violence as a means of protecting God's Word. For this he won the king's respect.He became one of Henry's chief advisers after the king's break with Rome. Appointed bishop of Worcester, he supported Henry's dissolution of the monasteries. However, when he opposed the Henry's retreat from Protestantism in the Six Articles, he was put under house arrest for 6 years.Freed during the reign of Edward VI, he flourished as one of the Church of England's leading preachers. But with the ascension of Mary, he was again imprisoned, tried, and along with Ridley & Cranmer, condemned to death.According to Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Ridley arrived at the field of execution first. When Latimer arrived, the 2 embraced and Ridley said, “Be of good heart, brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it.” They both knelt and prayed before listening to an exhortation from a preacher, as was the custom before an execution for heresy.A blacksmith wrapped an iron chain around the waists of Ridley and Latimer. When the wood was lit, Latimer said, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”As the fire rose Latimer cried out, “O Father of heaven, receive my soul!” and he died almost immediately. Ridley however, hung on, with most of his lower body having burned before he passed from this earth into Heaven's waiti ng arms.[2][1] Galli, M., & Olsen, T. (2000). 131 Christians everyone should know (372–374). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.[2] ibid