My interest in the Protestant Reformation is longstanding: I see it as significant time when the “traditions of men” were stripped away, the Bible was rediscovered and translated into the lingua franca, and the Gospel was widely preached throughout Europe. Many individuals came to faith in Jesus Christ, and indeed many nations were profoundly affected. These two quotations sum-up much of what I have come to believe about the importance of the Reformation. Both are pointed and powerful. Enjoy!
Dr. Roland Bainton, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale University: “The Reformation was above all else a revival of religion. So much is this the case that some have looked upon it as the last great flowering of the piety of the Middle Ages.” (Roland Bainton, The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, 3)
Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University: “The abiding validity of Reformation theology is that, despite the many varied emphases it contains within itself, it challenges the church to listen reverently and obediently to what God has once and for all said (Deus dixit) and once and for all done in Jesus Christ. How the church will respond to this challenge is not a matter of academic speculation or ecclesiastical gamesmanship. It is a question of life or death. It is the decision of whether the church will serve the true and living God of Jesus Christ, the God of the Old and the New Testaments, or else succumb to the worship of Baal.” (Timothy George, Theology of the Reformers, 310)
The beautiful City of Prague in the Czech Republic
Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they do” (cf. Luke 23:34). Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke these passionate words of forgiveness for the sake of the soldiers who gambled for his possessions at the foot of the Cross. Jesus prayed for those who crucified him and thereby showed future generations of his followers that Christianity was not only a faith of the persecuted, but it was also a faith of those who forgive. Over the centuries there have been many disciples of Jesus who have given up their lives for the cause of Christ. But, perhaps none have so closely paralleled the awful circumstances of our Lord as that of the fiery Bohemian reformer—Jan Hus (1373-1415). Like Jesus, Hus was blatantly betrayed, unjustly accused, and mercilessly killed. Of the many known statements uttered by Jan Hus approaching his death, these best exemplify the forgiving spirit of Christ, “Lord God, pardon my enemies. Thou knowest that I have been falsely accused, and unfairly sentenced. I pray Thee, Thine unspeakable mercy, not to lay it to their charge.”
Jan Hus
In 1373 Jan Hus was born to a poor peasant family in southern Bohemia from the village of Husinec (from which he received his name “Hus”). His father and mother struggled financially to send their son to the best local schools and eventually, at age thirteen, they sent him away from home to the Elementary School at Prachatice. Although he greatly missed his family he diligently applied himself to his studies and performed well in his examinations. Following his graduation in 1390 Hus enrolled at the University of Prague. In that rarified academic environment he excelled in every subject, distinguishing himself in classical languages, Greek philosophy, and the early Church Fathers. In 1394 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree and after a few additional years of study he received a Master of Arts degree (1396). Because of his fine academic record he immediately began teaching philosophy at the University in the faculty of arts. But, Hus also had strong religious interests and became an ordained Roman Catholic priest in 1400. After several years of teaching Hus was honored in 1401 by being appointed Dean of the philosophy faculty and in 1402 he became the Rector of the University. Jan Hus had risen far from his lowly beginnings to great heights in his chosen field at the University of Prague—human philosophy. He had every reason to be proud of his accomplishments, but God would soon begin to humble him so that he would become an accomplished preacher of the Word of God.
Unknown to Jan Hus there was a significant event which took place when he was nine years old (in 1382) that would greatly shape his emerging world—the marriage between Princess Ann of Bohemia and King Richard II of England (1367-1400). Traveling with the Princess’s entourage from Bohemia was Professor Faulfash from the University of Prague. While in England the learned professor purchased numerous copies of John Wycliffe’s books and after many years returned with them to Bohemia in 1401. He was greatly stirred by Wycliffe’s writings, agreeing with many of their key tenants. Over time Professor Faulfash began teaching about the abuses and ignorance of the priests in his lectures at the University. He boldly challenged the authority of the priests to represent God at the Mass (i.e. Sacerdotalism), and the power of the priests to give forgiveness to the people (i.e. the absolution of sins). The Czech Roman Catholic priests angrily reacted to these charges by accusing Professor Faulfash of heresy and eventually they appointed a bright young Czech priest and University professor to study his doctrines in order to find their weaknesses—this man was Jan Hus.
John Wycliffe
Throughout 1401 to 1403 Jan Hus became thoroughly acquainted with Wycliffe’s books during his study of the teachings of Professor Faulfash. As a result, he was forced to turn to the Bible to dispute this heretical propaganda. But, God did not allow Jan Hus to oppose these new found “doctrines of grace,” but instead softened his heart to the gospel bringing Hus to the point of conversion. Aware of his own sin for the very first time, Hus repented and placed his faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning work on the cross. The Bible took on new importance in his life and he adopted many of the views of John Wycliffe and Professor Faulfash as his own. In his enthusiasm Hus began to preach in various churches about his new-found faith and a popular following arose amongst the common people who in turn thronged to his sermons.
Bethlehem Chapel, Prague
Following the completion of his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1402 Hus was providentially appointed Rector and Preacher at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. In his new role as an established preacher Hus began to systematically expound the Word of God teaching the people of Bohemia the great doctrines of the Bible. His fervent sermons became a lightening rod that attracted both enthusiastic approval from the masses and vehement criticism from the offended clergy. He preached with an urgency that contended for the soul of each one of his listeners. As a result, he became the “point man” of the incipient Bohemian reform movement. Specifically, Hus achieved notoriety for preaching the Bible in the common language of the people and for his popular writings against corrupt Church authorities. He stressed the Scriptures over Church canonical law and thus elevated the practice of expounding the Word of God. As a result of his teaching, many other reformers boldly rose up throughout Bohemia.
Jan Hus and the fledgling Bohemian reform movement enjoyed five years of nurture under the benevolent protection of Bohemian Archbishop Zbynek. At this time the clerical leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were preoccupied by a controversial split between three rival Popes (one in Rome, a second in Pisa, and a third in Avignon, France). When Pope Alexander V was finally able to depose all “anti-Popes” at the Council of Pisa in 1409 a renewed interest in cleansing all heresies within Roman Catholicism arose. Unfortunately for Jan Hus, this zeal to purge the Church of errant teachings focused on the doctrines of Wycliffe and anyone who taught them. Archbishop Zbynek had previously supported the reform movement in Bohemia; however when the Pope prohibited any “Wycliffite” preaching in chapels to take place the Archbishop changed his loyalty and sought to remove Hus. The final assault against Hus came in the form of a charge of heresy by the Archbishop. Ultimately, Hus did not bow to his authority and in 1410 was excommunicated. The people of Prague arose in anger supporting Jan Hus and his right to preach the Word of God. Eventually, the entire city was placed under a Papal interdict, forbidding any religious services and burial of the dead in consecrated ground. In 1412 Jan Hus fled Prague in order to lift the Papal interdict and to spare the people any further persecution.
Although Jan Hus was removed from his pulpit, he was not silenced. For two years Hus lived in exile in Southern Bohemia where he wrote several powerful treatises: On the Church, On Simony, Expositions of the Faith—on the Decalogue and the Lord’s Prayer. Here is a brief quotation on the subject of heresy and the supremacy of the Bible from Jan Hus’ work On Simony (1413). He cogently argues,
…I affirm that heresy is a stubborn adherence to an error contrary to the Holy Scriptures. I say “adherence to an error,” for without that one could not be a heretic. And since there can be no adherence without consent, no man can hold a heresy without consenting to the error. Hence heresy, equally with every mortal sin, has its nest and basis in the heart, that is, in the hearty will. As the Savior said, it is out of the heart that evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, robbery, false witness, and blasphemy proceed. Thus, no man, not even God, can make anyone a heretic without his consent. Secondly, you perceive that heresy can exist in none but a rational spirit which willfully opposes the truth of the Holy Scriptures. For as every mortal sin is found only in a rational spirit, and every heresy is a mortal sin, hence all heresy exists only in a rational spirit. Furthermore, it is stated that heresy implies a stubborn adherence [to the error], such as when a man refuses, temporarily or permanently, to give up. For when a man, holding an error as truth, recognizes that what he has held for truth is an error, and immediately acknowledges it to be such, he is not a heretic…Why? Because they did not perish in the error, but were willing to forsake it and gladly to accept the truth. Accordingly, every faithful Christian should be so minded as not to hold anything contrary to the Holy Scriptures.
Hus, “On Simony,” in Advocates of Reform, 196-197
With closely reasoned treatises like this, Hus continued to promote the authority of the Bible and to encourage the reading of Wycliffe’s works. In addition, he preached throughout Bohemia always encouraging the efforts of reform into whatever pulpit he was welcomed.
The long-standing rift between the rival Catholic Popes, however, was not completely solved by the Council of Pisa (1409) and therefore in 1414 Emperor Sigismund called for the meeting of the Council of Constance. Since the followers of Wycliffe, such as Jan Hus and several others, were perceived to be a growing problem within Roman Catholicism this issue was also made an agenda of the council. Hus was summoned by the Emperor Sigismund to defend his views and was given a “certificate of safe-passage” to and from the council. After much hesitation, and at the encouragement of the Bohemian King Wenceslas, Hus began his long journey on foot to Constance on October 11, 1414. All throughout his travels in Germany Hus was hailed by the local populace and reform-minded princes as a great preacher and spiritual reformer. He arrived in Constance on November 3, 1414 and was left alone by the papal authorities for one month. However, once he was put at ease, he was treacherously lured into the papal residence one day where he was quickly arrested and imprisoned inside a Dominican monastery.
The accusers of Hus filed thirty-nine charges against him based on his most popular work, On the Church. Here is a revealing selection from On the Church that demonstrates the kind of stinging rebuke that aroused the ire of the Roman Catholic clergy. Hus boldly declares,
It is one thing to be of the church, another thing to be in the church. Clearly it does not follow that all living persons who are in the church are of the church. On the contrary, we know that tares grow among the wheat, the raven eats from the same threshing floor as the dove, and the chaff is harvested along with the grain. Some are in the church in name and in reality—such as predestined Catholics obedient to Christ. Some are neither in name nor in reality in the church—such as reprobate pagans. Others are in the church in name only—such as, for example, reprobate hypocrites. Still others are in the church in reality and, although they appear to be in name outside it, are predestined Christians—such as those who are seen to be condemned by the satraps of the Antichrist before the church.
Hus, “On the Church,” Chapter 3, in A Concise History of Christian Thought, 138
Finally on June 5-6 and 8, 1415 the council heard charges against him. Hus was not allowed to be present to defend himself, nevertheless, the council found him to be a heretic. When Hus finally did appear before the council on July 6th, he refused to recant of the charges against him since they did not truly represent his teachings. While on the judgment seat Hus looked to Emperor Sigismund, who had the power to free him instantly, to see if he would abide by the promise of “safe-passage” that he had given to Hus. But, the Emperor had been deceived into thinking that he was not obliged to keep faith with a “heretic.” Emperor Sigismund quietly spoke the death sentence, “Let him be accursed of God and man eternally.” Whereupon Hus replied, “I am willing to suffer for the truth in the name of Jesus Christ.” A tall paper cap was placed upon his head with figures of the devil upon it and the inscription “A RINGLEADER OF HERETICS” emblazoned across the front. Thus, Jan Hus was declared to be an “obstinate heretic” and “a disciple of Wycliffe.” Consequently, he was deposed from the priesthood and sentenced to death.
The execution of Jan Hus in Constance, Germany
When face to face with the executioner Hus spoke these prophetic words, “You are now going to burn a goose (“Hus” signifying “goose” in the Bohemian language), but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil!” Unknown to Jan Hus the great German reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) would claim the swan as his own symbol. In the midst of the flames Jan Hus bravely sang Kyrie Eleeson (a Christian prayer, meaning “Lord, have mercy”). The influence of the life of Jan Hus, even in death, was significant. Hus was declared a national hero and became the catalyst of an even greater reform movement in Bohemia. Although Jan Hus died in 1415, the entire Czech nation aligned itself with the efforts of reform until 1620 when they were conquered and were forced to return to Roman Catholicism. To this day both the doctrines John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are considered to be heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. Consider this revealing entry in The Catholic Encyclopedia:
Heresies – Forerunners of Luther, taking their cue from the anarchists, were the Wyclif heresy and that of John Huss. Wyclif, a Yorkshireman, born about 1326, became a well-educated reformer who maintained among other teachings that God is sovereign but man in the state of grace becomes sovereign over the entire universe through God; hence the Papacy lost its power. The Hussites following John Huss who was born in 1369, came forward with a strange collection of teachings such as: the scriptures alone are the source of truth, the papacy is only an institution in which Christ has no part, all superiors of religious orders lose their authority if they fall into sin, and that the Church is made up only of the predestined, and that predestination is infallible. Some of these ideas were to recur later when Luther took up his reform.
Broderick, ed., The Catholic Encyclopedia, 261
The animosity that leaders in the Roman Catholic Church have against both John Wycliffe and Jan Hus has not diminished despite the fact that five hundred years have now passed. As some wise men have noted, “Hatred dies a hard death.”
These somber words, however, were not the end of the story—for God was at work in raising-up other men who would carry forth the truth of the gospel in the years ahead. Merle D’Aubigne summarizes the impact of Jan Hus’ ministry in this way,
John Huss preached in Bohemia a century before Luther preached in Saxony. He seems to have penetrated deeper than his predecessors into the essence of Christian truth. He prayed to Christ for grace to glory only in his cross and in the inestimable humiliation of his sufferings. But his attacks were directed less against the errors of the Romish church than the scandalous lives of the clergy. Yet he was, if we may be allowed he expression, the John-Baptist of the Reformation. The flames of his pile kindled a fire in the Church that would cast a brilliant light into the surrounding darkness, and whose glimmerings were not to be so readily extinguished.
D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, vol. 1, 92
Thus, Jan Hus became the preeminent catalyst of reform in central Europe during the 15th century. What John Wycliffe initiated in England, Jan Hus carried on in Europe, and Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, Melanchthon, Calvin, Bullinger, Knox, and many others would carry throughout the entire world.
Resources for Further Study:
Broderick, Robert C. ed. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Revised Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987.
D’Aubigne, Merle. The History of the Reformation in the 16th Century. Volume 1. Dublin, Ireland: James M’Glashan, 1849; Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2001.
Douglas, J.D. ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
“Avignon,” by James Taylor
“Bohemian Brethren,” by Peter Toon
“Constance, Council of,” by Robert G. Clouse
“Czechoslovak Church,” by J. G. C. Norman
“Great Schism, The,” by C. T. McIntire
“Hus, Jan,” by Matthew Spinka
“Luther, Martin,” by Carl S. Meyer
“Reformation, The,” by Robert D. Linder
“Wycliffe, John,” Robert G. Clouse
Christy-Murray, David. A History of Heresy. London, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Coffin, Charles C. The Story of Liberty. Originally published in 1879. Reprint, Gainesville, FL: Maranatha Publications, 1987.
Douglas, J.D. ed. Who’s Who In Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Dowley, Tim ed., The History of Christianity. Revised Edition. Oxford, Great Britain: Lion Publishers, 1990.
Fox, John. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967.
Houghton, S.M. Sketches from Church History. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980.
Hus, John. “On Simony” in Advocates of Reform: From Wyclif to Erasmus. Edited by Matthew Spinka. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Library of Christian Classics, no. 16. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1953.
Hus, John. “On the Church” in A Concise History of Christian Thought. Revised Edition. Edited by Tony Lane. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity. Volume 1. Revised Edition. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.
Woodbridge, John D. ed. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
Wylie, James A. The History of Protestantism. 3 Volumes. Kilkeel, N. Ireland: Mourne Missionary Trust, 1990.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved
Each Thursday morning I have the joy of teaching four men from our church: Albert, Rick, David, and Boyd. We call ourselves the Theology Study Group or “TSG.” Currently we are investigating the Attributes of God–and this is a BIG subject to be sure! Besides rooting everything in the Bible I am trying to help each man apply these truths as they go about shepherding others. Jesus commissioned his followers to “make disciples,” and that is what we are seeking to do. Here are some of our study materials–all very fine books!
“People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for the decisions…most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what world view is true. When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, ‘not many men are in the room’—that is, although world views have many variations, there are not many basic world views or basic presuppositions.” (Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, 20)
John Knox preaching at St. Andrew’s Cathedral while under threat of death
Written by Dr. Marcus Serven
“A man with God on his side is always in the majority.” John Knox
Introduction:
Jesus Christ instructed his disciples in the Great Commission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…baptizing them…and teaching them.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Why, then, should we as modern day disciples of Jesus Christ who are keenly interested in obeying that commission look back five hundred years to the time of the Protestant Reformation? We do this for a number of important reasons. First, because the gospel became more and more obscured by the “traditions of men” throughout the Medieval Period and the later Middle Ages. Thankfully, God raised-up a number of key men, such as John Knox, who rediscovered the gospel during the Reformation and widely taught it throughout Europe. Second, because this rediscovery of the gospel brought about a renewed interest in the Bible and as a result Europe was thrust out of its extended period of spiritual darkness into the light. Third, because the Reformation was not just a short time of revival, but it was an extended period of spiritual blessing that lasted approximately one hundred and fifty years in length. Let us pray that God would bring forth another extended period of gospel expansion during our own era. Fourth, because during the Reformation the gospel penetrated many differing classes of people, some of whom had been largely ignored and brutally oppressed by the Roman Catholic Church. During the Reformation these people were Christianized and entire cultures were transformed by the application of the gospel. Fifth, by studying church history we can learn what we should be doing in our own time to obey the Great Commission.
Let me give an illustration. In many ways, the church of the Medieval Period and the later Middle Ages had become like a giant ship whose hull was so encrusted with barnacles and seaweed that it could barely move through the water. Instead of racing through the ocean at top speed, this ship (i.e. the church) had gotten lower in the water and slower in its speed. In essence, it had become so burdened with the excessive weight of the “traditions of men” that the gospel was completely obscured. The only way for this situation to change for the better was for the Lord to raise-up a number of godly men (e.g. the Reformers) who would metaphorically take the ship (the church) into a dry dock and scrape its sides getting rid of all that encumbered it. Once this was done, then the church—like a freshly cleaned and painted ship—would be able to race through the water at top speed once again. This is what happened during the time of the Reformation.
Now, let me make one qualification before I go any further in this historical article; several scholarly men have been searching for the source of John Knox’s rousing cry that I have used in my title—“Give me Scotland, or I die!”—but the direct source of this quotation has eluded us. Nevertheless, Knox’s exclamation wonderfully summarizes his passion to spread the gospel throughout his own home land—and no one who has studied his life disputes that! Therefore, I believe that it is safe to attribute this quotation to John Knox even though the precise location of it remains unknown.
A Brief Sketch of John Knox’s Life:
John Knox (1514-1572)
John Knox was born in 1514 to the family of a middle-class farmer in southern Scotland. Although John’s father was not well off, he did have enough money to send him to study at St. Andrews University. It was planned by his father that John would become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. At St. Andrews, John studied under a well-known critic of the Roman Catholic Church, John Major (c.1467-1550). In his lectures Professor Major encouraged the return of the Roman Catholic Church to a simplified form of ecclesiastical government, which he argued was practiced by the New Testament Church. Church leadership was to be in the hands of the local elders and deacons and only when there were weightier matters to resolve were these men gathered together into presbyteries and synods. He also spoke with favor of students familiarizing themselves with the rediscovered truth of “justification by faith alone” which was coming out of Germany from the prolific pen of Martin Luther (1483-1546). No doubt John Major had a powerful impact on the bright young Knox, exposing him to many of the arguments supporting the growing reform movement.
Nevertheless, upon his graduation from St. Andrews University in 1540 Knox followed the wishes of his father and took up orders as a Roman Catholic priest. In addition to his priestly duties, which were few, Knox also served as a Papal notary authenticating legal documents. In many respects, Knox had accomplished all that his earthly father had dreamed about for his son: he had the endorsement of the church, the prestige of higher education, and sufficient money from his work as a notary. However God, his heavenly Father, would not let John Knox be content with all of his worldly accomplishments, but would instead, draw him to a living faith in Christ. The spiritual revolution that was currently spreading like a flood throughout Germany, France, and Switzerland would soon burst onto the spiritually-dry shores of Scotland and England. God was on the move revitalizing His church with rediscovered New Testament truth.
At the time of John Knox’s ordination in 1540, King Henry VIII (1491-1547) ruled England. Against the wishes of the Pope, Henry divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in 1534 and started his own national church, the Church of England. Without really knowing it, Henry had aligned England with the Protestant cause. As to religion, the popular maxim of the age was this: “As the King believes, so does the nation”. Thus, England became a country where Protestant ideas were tolerated within the framework of the Anglo-Catholic theology of the Church of England. The Scottish lands, on the other hand, were separated from England politically and ecclesiastically being ruled by Roman Catholic monarchs. As a result, the growth of Protestant ideas in Scotland was often regarded as rebellion against the political authorities. Scotland seemed destined to remain Roman Catholic, unless, of course, God raised-up a champion of the Protestant cause in Scotland. This man was John Knox.
His Conversion:
George Wishart (c.1513-1546)
While serving as a private boy’s tutor to some wealthy Scottish Lords, Knox became further exposed to Protestant ideas. He taught his three young students grammar, classical languages, philosophy, mathematics, catechism, and the Bible. While teaching through the Gospel of John, specifically the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in chapter 17, God’s Word made a strong impact on Knox. Much later Knox requested upon his death bed that the entire 17th chapter of John’s Gospel be read aloud to him because it was here that he claimed “I cast my first anchor”. His exact conversion is difficult to determine, however in 1545 he began to manifest strong evidence of the New Birth when he became known as the bodyguard for the Scottish preacher George Wishart (c.1513- 1546). When Wishart preached, Knox would stand behind him with a large two-handed sword to defend him from his enemies! When Wishart’s foes grew ever bolder in their threats, the controversial preacher urged Knox to flee saying, “Nay return to your bairns (students), and God bless you. One is sufficient for a sacrifice.” Wishart was eventually captured by the Roman Catholic authorities and burned at the stake as a heretic on March 1, 1546. This was a crucial turning point for Knox. In revenge, several young Scottish Lords assassinated Cardinal Beaton, Wishart’s accuser, oppressor, and judge. As a result, Knox became thoroughly caught up in the Protestant rebellion and took refuge from warring Roman Catholic soldiers in St. Andrews Castle. He continued to teach his students who were also residing in the protection of the castle with their families.
His Call to Ministry:
Knox’s call to the ministry came through the encouragement and exhortation of John Rough, the castle chaplain. One Sunday during a sermon on the election of ministers, Rough preached the following words directing them to Knox,
Brother, ye shall not be offended, albeit I speak unto you that which I have in charge, even from all those here present: In the name of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, and in the name of these that presently call you by my mouth, I charge you, that ye refuse not this holy vocation, but, as ye tender the Glory of God, the increase of Christ His Kingdom, the edification of your brethren, and the comfort of me, oppressed by the multitude of labors, that ye take upon you the public office of preaching, even as ye look to avoid God’s heavy displeasure, and desire that he shall multiply his graces upon you.” In the end, he said to those present: “Was not this your charge to me? Do ye not approve this vocation?” They answered, “It was, and we approve it.”
Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 72
The ruins of St. Andrew’s Castle, Scotland
After hearing these words directed at him, Knox burst into tears and withdrew to his chambers for several days. Yet, God had called him to ministry through the clear exhortation of John Rough and the people of the castle. Shortly after this, Knox assumed his new duties as the chaplain and preached his first sermon. The castle garrison held out for a year. The pro-Protestant English fleet did not rescue them as it was hoped, but instead a pro-Catholic French fleet appeared in the harbor. The defenders of the castle lost hope and eventually surrendered to the French. The Scottish Lords were taken into captivity and the commoners, like Knox, served as galley-slaves on the French ship Notre Dame. Life in the galleys was a miserable existence. Each slave was chained to the ship and sat exposed to the open air day and night. Knox himself tells a memorable story about his personal experiences on the galley-ship Notre Dame. He writes in the third person, but most readers believe he is speaking of himself.
Soon after their arrival at Nantes, their great Salve was sung, and a glorious painted Lady was brought in to be kissed, and, amongst others, was presented to one of the Scottishmen then chained. He gently said, “Trouble me not. Such an idol is accursed; therefore I will not touch it.” The Patron (Skipper) and the Arguesyn (Lieutenant), with two officers, having the chief charge of all such matters, said, “Thou shalt handle it”; and they violently thrust it to his face, and put it betwixt his hands. He, seeing the extremity, took the idol, and advisedly looking about him, cast it into the river, and said: “Let our Lady now save herself. She is light enough; let her learn to swim!” After that was no Scotsman urged with that idolatry!
Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 94-95
There were also times of desperation and severe sickness on the galley-ship. Knox, relates one episode where he was near death and only recovered by the intervention of the Lord. He relates,
Master James Balfour and John Knox being in one galley, and being wondrous familiar, Master James would sometimes ask Knox’s judgment, “If he thought that ever they should be delivered?” Whose answer was ever, from the day they entered into the galleys, “God will delver us from this bondage, to His glory, even in this life.” Lying betwixt Dundee and St. Andrews, the second time the galleys returned to Scotland, the said John Knox being extremely sick that few hoped his life, Master James willed him to look to the land, and asked him if he knew it; who answered, “Yes; I know it well. I see the steeple of that place where God first in public opened my mouth to His glory, and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever I now appear, I shall not depart this life till my tongue shall glorify His Holy Name in the same place.” This reported Master James in presence of many famous witnesses many years before ever John Knox set his foot in Scotland this last time to preach.
Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 95-96
It was ten years later before this prophetic desire came to pass. Finally at the appeal of the English King, Edward VI (1537-1553), Knox and a few others were released by the French. Knox returned to England where he was offered a position as preacher at Berwick in northern England. Several years of fruitful ministry followed and he became well known throughout England as a great preacher. Here he also met his future wife, Marjorie, and her influential mother, Elizabeth Bowes. Subsequently, Knox served a church in Newcastle and as one of the King’s chaplains in London.
His Flight to the Continent:
When Mary I (1516-1558), the infamous “Bloody Mary”, came to power in 1553 after the untimely death of Edward VI many Protestant leaders had to flee for their lives. Queen Mary I was determined to restore the Roman Catholic faith to England and sought to accomplish this through the severe persecution of Protestants. Under her reign such notable reformers as Thomas Cranmer, Nicolas Ridley, and Hugh Latimer were executed. Knox first fled to the continent, then secretly returned to marry Marjorie Bowes in 1555 and returned to Geneva. While there, Knox studied at the academy under John Calvin.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
Knox described Geneva in this way: “[it] is the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the Apostles. In other places, I confess Christ to be truly preached; but manners and religion so sincerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place.” (Sefton, John Knox, 22) He kept busy by pastoring a church of English speaking refugees and his wife bore him two sons, but his mind was often on Scotland. His controversial tract “The First Blast of The Trumpet Against The Mostrous Regiment Of Women” delivered a torrid criticism against the woman rulers of his day, notably “Bloody Mary” of England, Catherine de Medici of France, and Mary of Guise (the Queen Mother) in Scotland. Each of these women Knox identified as “Jezebels.” He passionately wrote,
Such as have more pleasure in light than in darkness may clearly perceive that Deborah did usurp no such power nor authority as our Queens do this day claim; but that she was indued with the spirit of wisdom, of knowledge, and of the true fear of God, and by the same she judged the facts of the rest of the people. She rebuked their defection and idolatry, yea, and also did redress to her power the injuries that were done by man to man. But all this, I say she did by the spiritual sword, that is, by the Word of God, and not by any temporal regiment or authority which she did usurp over Israel, in which, I suppose, at that time there was no lawful Magistrate, by the reason of their great affliction…And so I doubt not but Deborah judged, what time Israel had declined from God, rebuking their defection, and exhorting them to repentance, without usurpation of any civil authority: And if people gave unto her for a time any reverence or honour, as her godliness and happy counsel did well deserve, yet was it no such empire as our monsters claim; for which of her sons or nearest kinsmen left she ruler and judge in Israel after her? The Holy Ghost expresseth no such thing: whereof it is evident, that by her example God offereth no occasion to establish any regiment of Women above men, realms, and nations.
Knox, The First Blast of the Trumpet, quoted in Sefton, 92-93
Some have unjustly accused Knox of being overly hateful toward women, however, his passion for the Protestant cause out-weighed his allegiance to the rulers of his day whether they were male or female. It was obvious to all that he had very tender attitudes toward his young wife, and carried on a large correspondence with other women in the reform movement.
His Return to Scotland:
Finally, with the death of Mary I in 1558, and the beginning of a renewed Protestant insurgency in Scotland, Knox returned to Edinburgh in 1559. Five days after his arrival the Scottish authorities placed a price on his head. One of his first letters to his congregation in Geneva asked for additional funds so that he could buy a faster horse! But God spared his life on numerous occasions and he was used as a great recruiter for the Protestant cause. One critic complained that Knox’s preaching could “put life into them more than 500 trumpets.” Thinking back to previous days in the galley-ship, Knox then resolved to fulfill the prophetic statement he had uttered by faith,
John Knox minded to preach in St. Andrews on Sunday [4th June 1559]. The Archbishop, hearing of the Reformation to be made in his Cathedral Church, thought time to stir, or else never; and therefore assembled his colleagues and confederate fellows, besides his other friends, and came to the town upon the Saturday at night, accompanied with a hundred spears, of mind to have stopped John Knox…The Archbishop affirmed that he would not suffer it, considering that by his commandment the picture of the said John was before burnt. He willed, therefore, an honest gentleman, Robert Colville of Cleish, to say to the Lords, “That in case John Knox presented himself to the preaching-place in his town and principal Church, he should gar (cause) him be saluted with a dozen of culverins (muskets), WHEREOF THE MOST PART SHOULD LIGHT UPON HIS NOSE!” This was the Bishop’s good mind towards John Knox!
Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 175-176
Many of his friends and supporters strongly urged him not to preach, but Knox would hear nothing of this caution and replied in the following manner,
After long deliberation, the said John was called, that his own judgment might be had. Many persuasions were made that he should delay for that time, and great terrors given in case he should enterprise such a thing, as it were in contempt of the Archbishop. He answered, “God is witness that I never preached Christ Jesus in contempt of any man, neither mind I at any time to present myself to the place, having either respect to my own private commodity, or yet to the worldly hurt of any creature. But to delay to preach on the morrow, unless the body be violently withholden, I cannot of conscience. In this Town and Church began God first to call me to the dignity of a preacher, from which I was reft by the tyranny of France, and by procurement of the Bishops, as ye all know. How long I continued prisoner, what torment I sustained in the galleys, and what were the sobs of my heart, is now no time to recite. This only I cannot conceal, which more than one have heard me say, when the body was far absent from Scotland, that my assured hope was, in open audience, to preach in St. Andrews before I departed this life. Therefore, My Lords, seeing that God, above the expectation of many, hath brought the body to the same place where first I was called to the office of a preacher, and from which most unjustly I was removed, I beseech Your Honours not to stop me to present myself unto my brethren. As for the fear of danger that may come to me, let no man be solicitous. My life is in the custody of Him whose glory I seek. Therefore I cannot so fear their boast or tyranny, that I will cease from doing my duty, when of His mercy He offereth me the occasion. I DESIRE THE HAND OR WEAPON OF NO MAN TO DEFEND ME. ONLY DO I CRAVE AUDIENCE. WHICH, IF IT BE DENIED HERE UNTO ME AT THIS TIME, I MUST SEEK FURTHER WHERE I MAY HAVE IT.”
Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 175-177
As might be expected, Knox preached and all of the threats against him proved to be hollow words.
St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh
In 1560 Knox was able to bring his family to Scotland and he settled in Edinburgh becoming the minister at St. Giles Church. Here he was to have a solid and significant pulpit ministry for the next eleven years. He also wrote, along with five others, the Scots Confession which is Calvinistic in doctrine as the official statement of belief for the Scottish Protestant Church. Here are two articles from the Scots Confession,
Even after we are reborn, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth of God is not in us. It is therefore essential for us to lay hold on Christ Jesus, in his righteousness and his atonement, since he is the end and consummation of the Law and since it is by him that we are set at liberty so that the curse of God may not fall upon us, even though we do not fulfill the Law in all points. For as God the Father beholds us in the body of his Son Christ Jesus, he accepts our imperfect obedience as if it were perfect, and covers our works, which are defiled with many stains, with the righteousness of his Son. (Schaaf, The Creeds of Christendom, “Scots Confession”, Article 15)
Schaaf, The Creeds of Christendom, “Scots Confession”, Article 15
The notes, signs and assured tokens whereby the spotless bride of Christ is known from the horrible harlot, the false Kirk, we state, are neither antiquity, usurped title, lineal succession, appointed place, nor the numbers of men approving error…The notes of the true Kirk, therefore, we believe, confess and avow to be: first, the true preaching of the Word of God, in which God has revealed himself to us, as the writings of the prophets and apostles declare; secondly, the right administration of the Sacraments of Christ Jesus, with which must be associated the Word and promise of God to seal and confirm them in our hearts; and lastly, ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered, as God’s Word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed and virtue nourished.
Schaaf, The Creeds of Christendom, “Scots Confession”, Article 18
Unfortunately Knox’s wife, Marjorie, died shortly after her return to Edinburgh leaving him with the burden of raising two young sons (Nathaniel and Eleazar). Four years later in 1564, the fifty year old Knox married the seventeen year old Margaret Stewart the daughter of one of his most ardent supporters. Like his first marital relationship this union with Margaret also proved to be a happy marriage despite the age difference and the Knox’s were blessed with three daughters (Martha, Margaret, and Elizabeth).
His Conflict with Mary, Queen of Scots:
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
In the year 1561 a beautiful, slender, and witty nineteen year old young woman returned to Edinburgh, Scotland full of enthusiasm for her new responsibilities. She was Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), daughter of James V and Mary of Guise. Although she had officially become queen when she was only six days old, she had been shipped away to France for many years so that she could be prepared for her future duties. In the intervening time, her mother, Mary of Guise, ruled in her place. It was in France that Mary became an ardent Roman Catholic and saw herself as one who would eventually restore all of rebellious Scotland to its rightful religious authority—the Pope of Rome. The English ambassador to Scotland said of her arrival that all were enthralled by her presence “saving John Knox, that thundereth out of the Pulpit . . . of him all men stand in fear.” Indeed, people did fear the Protestant preacher John Knox, not because of his sword, but because of his words. Knox was a bold preacher of the Bible and its message of liberty in Christ. Mary, Queen of Scots later said of him, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than the army of ten thousand men!”
John Knox House, Edinburgh
For six long years Mary and John Knox battled with a war of words that occasionally broke over into violence. Specifically, Knox felt that Mary’s celebration of the mass in her private chapel was idolatrous and in violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). Also, she affirmed the “divine right of Kings” (i.e. that God had given her authority over the Scottish people) which Knox felt was in violation of the “divine right of the people” (i.e. to have a Queen who was submissive to God and to biblical law). When Knox’s writings which advocated armed rebellion against godless Kings and Queens were applied by his fellow Protestants to Mary’s reign, then it gave the Queen much to worry about. As a result, Knox and Mary had several stormy interviews where she accused him of open rebellion against her God-given authority. He responded by asking her to point out evidence of his rebellion and reminding her that she had the responsibility to shun all evil and to serve as an example of Christian behavior for the people, which she was not. He was accused of treasonous activity, tried, and acquitted by the Scottish Lords. This was a bitter disappointment for the Queen. Later, her assassins sought his life, but he escaped time after time. Eventually, he outlasted Mary’s reign of terror, which ended with her abdication in 1567, and he became the preeminent leader of the Protestant Church of Scotland.
His Lasting Influence:
One of the practical applications that John Knox developed in his theology was the Bible’s teaching on civil government. He believed that all magistrates served at God’s good pleasure (Rom. 13:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:13-14). Nevertheless, magistrates should be held accountable by the people to actually obey God’s Law (Ps. 2:10-12; Jer. 37:1-21). They are not a law unto themselves, nor are they free to establish their own laws. In essence, there is a “higher law” (i.e. God’s Law) that is above any of the laws which may be legislated and enforced under a magistrate’s authority. Knox argues,
Consider, my lords, that you are powers ordained by God (as before is declared), and therefore does the reformation of religion, and the defense of such as unjustly are oppressed, appertain to your charge and care, which thing shall the law of God, universally given to be kept of all men, most evidently declare; which is my last and most assured reason, why, I say, you ought to remove from honours and punish with death such as God has condemned by his own mouth.”
Knox, Selected Writings, “The Appellation,” 508
Therefore, evil and tyrannical kings, queens, princes, and magistrates can, in certain select circumstances, be resisted by the citizenry if they are led by the lesser magistrates (i.e. the doctrine of “interposition”). Knox insisted that it was the duty of godly citizens to remove evil and tyrannical leaders. Dr. Joseph Morecraft summarizes this position,
The American War for Independence was fought for this very reason — to resist the tyrannical rule of the English King, George III. Knox’s major contribution to the Reformation and to Western Civilization was his teaching on the legitimacy of resistance against tyranny, including the use of armed force by the citizenry, led by a lesser magistrate, against a tyrannical or idolatrous head of state, after all others efforts have failed. Christian citizens and lesser magistrates have the duty to remove tyrants from office. Moreover, armed resistance is justifiable, according to Knox, only if two preconditions have been met: ‘the first of which was the trying of other means, including prayer and patience. The second condition was that armed resistance must be led by legitimate lesser magistrates…’ Knox cited Jeremiah 37 as the scriptural basis for ministers advocating resistance against tyrannical authorities. Knox was not a revolutionary, however, as his life and sermons prove. Although he believed that resistance to tyranny was every Christian’s duty, he could also say, ‘We mean neyther seditions, neyther yit rebellion against any just and lauchfull authorities, but onlie the advancement of Christes religion, and the liberties of this poore Realme’.”
Morecraft, “Calvin’s Influence on Scotland,” in John Calvin: Man of the Millennium, 270-271
It was this kind of practical application of the Bible’s teaching that resulted in the rapid progress of liberty throughout the Western world. Evil and tyrannical governments were resisted and thrown off in Scotland, England, France, Germany, Holland, and in the American Colonies. Other theologians who came later would further develop Knox’s ideas, but the original seed came from Knox as he struggled with how to bring religious liberty to Scotland, his own beloved country.
Conclusion:
John Knox’s final resting place
Knox’s greatest triumph was that he introduced Reformed theology to Scotland and persevered through tremendous personal persecution for the sake of his faith in Jesus Christ. His most important book, The History of the Reformation in Scotland, provides an insightful picture of the difficulties of the Protestant reform movement. At his funeral, in November 1572, the newly appointed Regent of the Scottish government gave this glowing testimony of Knox: “Here lyeth a man, who in his life never feared the face of man; who hath been often threatened with…dagger, but yet hath ended his days in peace and honour.” Yet today, John Knox’s earthly remains lie ignominiously under a Scottish parking lot (space #23) located behind St. Giles Church in Edinburgh. There is little doubt, however, that Knox would shrug this personal slight off and boldly affirm the truth of Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” The legacy of John Knox lives on, if not in Scotland, then throughout the world where the gospel is believed, preached, and taught.
Its a banner day! I just received three rare volumes on John Knox!
Select Bibliography:
Bond, Douglas. The Mighty Weakness of John Knox. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2011.
Cameron, Nigel M. de S., ed. Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1993
“Book of Common Order (1564)”, by H.R, Sefton
“First Book of Discipline”, by J. Kirk
“Kirk Session”, by A.I. Dunlop
“Major (Mair), John”, by J. Kirk
“Reformation, Scottish”, by J. Kirk
“St. Giles”, by G.I. Macmillan
Douglas, J. D., ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
“Beaton, David”, by J.D. Douglas
“Calvin, John”, by W.S. Reid
“Calvinism”, by W.S. Reid
“Common Order, Book of”, by W.S. Reid
“Discipline, Books of”, by Adam Loughridge
“Edward VI”, by P.W. Petty
“England, Church Of”, by John A. Simpson
“Geneva Bible”, by Robert D. Linder
“Genevan Academy”, by W.S. Reid
“Henry VIII”, by Robert Schnucker
“James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England)”, by Henry R. Sefton
“Knox, John”, by Richard L. Greaves
“Mary, Queen of Scots”, by Henry R. Sefton
“Mary Tudor”, by Peter Toon
“Presbyterianism”, by W.S. Reid
“Reformation, The”, by Robert D. Linder
“Scots Confession”, by W.S. Reid
“Scotland”, by W.S. Reid
“Scotland, Church of”, by W.S. Reid
“Wishart, George”, by J.D. Douglas
Knox, John. The History of the Reformation in Scotland. Charles J. Guthrie, ed. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, Reprint 1982.
Knox, John. Select Practical Writings of John Knox. The Committee of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, 1845; Reprint, Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2011.
Lindsay, Thomas M. A History of the Reformation. 2 Volumes. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1949.
MacGregor, Geddes. The Thundering Scot. London, England: MacMillan and Company LTD, 1958.
McEwen, James S. The Faith of John Knox. London, England: Lutterworth Press, 1961.
McFeeters, J. C. Sketches of the Covenanters. Philadelphia, PA: The Second Church of the Covenanters, 1913.
M’Crie, Thomas. The Life of John Knox. Originally published in 1811; Reprint, Glasgow, Scotland: Free Presbyterian Publications, 1991.
M’Crie, Thomas. The Story of the Scottish Church. London, England: Blackie and Son, 1875.
Morecraft, Joseph. “Calvin’s Influence on Scotland” in Volmer, Philip. John Calvin: Man of the Millennium. San Antonio, TX: The Vision Forum, 2009.
Murray, Ian H. A Scottish Christian Heritage. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2006.
Reed, Kevin, ed. Selected Writings of John Knox. Dallas, TX: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1995.
Reid, W. Stanford. Trumpeter of God: A Biography of John Knox. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1974.
Ridely, Jasper. John Knox. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1968.
Schaaf, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom. 6th Edition. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983.
Sefton, Henry R. John Knox: An Account of the Development of His Spirituality. Edinburgh, Scotland: Saint Andrew Press, 1993.
Whitley, Elizabeth. The Plain Mr. Knox. Reprint, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2001.
Wylie, James A. The History of Protestantism. 3 Volumes. Kilkeel, N. Ireland: Mourne Missionary Trust, 1990.
Dr. Marcus Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2013 – All Rights Reserved
“Thou made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.” Augustine, Confessions, Book 1
Augustine (A.D. 354-430) stands as the one of the foremost leaders and thinkers of the early church. He set the direction and tone of theological inquiry for centuries to come. Although Roman Catholics claim him as one of the most profound theologians within their tradition, many people today, especially Protestants, still read the writings of Augustine with great profit. What were the forces and events that shaped the thinking of this gifted and courageous man?
Aurelius Augustine was born in Northern Africa to a pagan father, Patricius, and a Christian mother, Monica. Of Monica’s three children, Augustine was often on her mind and in her prayers. She had a powerful influence upon Augustine’s early life by the example of her sincere devotion to Christ and pious lifestyle. This, however, did not keep her overly adventurous son from falling prey to iniquity. At sixteen he became a thief. He writes at a later date the following confession,
I lusted to thieve, and did it, compelled by no hunger, nor poverty, but through a cloyedness of well-doing, and a pamperedness of iniquity. For I stole that, of which I had enough, and much better. Nor cared I to enjoy what I stole, but joyed in the theft and sin itself. A pear tree there was near our vineyard, laden with fruit, tempting neither for color nor taste. To take and rob this, some lewd young fellows of us went, late one night (having according to our pestilent custom prolonged our sports in the streets until then), and took huge loads, not for our eating, but to fling to the very hogs, having only tasted them. And this, but to do what we liked only, because it was misliked…It was foul, and I loved it…Fair were those pears, but not them did my wretched soul desire; for I had store of better, and those I gathered, only that I might steal. For, when gathered, I flung them away, my only feast therein being my own sin, which I was pleased to enjoy.
Augustine, Confessions, Book 2
In time he gave way to sensuality and immorality, and at the age of eighteen he took a mistress and fathered a son. He also became deeply interested in philosophy and religion, but in not the Christianity of his Mother. The youthful Augustine felt that the moral demands of Christianity were too difficult to follow. Hence, he devoted himself to the Manichaean sect.
The Manichaeans followed the teachings of the ancient Persian philosopher, Mani (A.D. 216-c.277). He believed that the universe was dominated by two coeternal and coequal principles Light and Dark, or Good and Evil. Later this system was merged with Christianity by his followers who taught that the “god” of the Old Testament was evil and the “god” of the New Testament was good. This radical dualism explained for Augustine the conflict between good and evil that raged within the human soul. Each person was ultimately not responsible for their own sin, because in Augustine’s words, “It was not I who was sinning, but some other nature within me.” Eventually, Augustine abandoned the Manichaeans because of unresolved questions within their system of thought regarding the nature of evil. Augustine came to realize that all mankind was responsible before a single holy God for impure thoughts and actions. Although Augustine was slowly moving towards the safe-harbor of Christianity, he still had to travel through the stormy waters of Greek philosophy before he would find the Gospel.
During his period of searching Monica faithfully prayed for her wandering son, of which he gives glowing testimony in his book Confessions. Monica also continued to witness to him while he lived in Rome, where he founded a school of oratory and philosophy, and later in Milan, where he served as a professor of rhetoric (A.D. 384). She constantly kept the Holy Scriptures in front of him, and advocated that he speak personally with Bishop Ambrose in Milan (A.D. c.340-397) about Christianity. One day Augustine was sullenly sitting in the courtyard of his home contemplating his life when he suddenly heard a young boy’s voice (from a nearby home) repeatedly saying, “Take up and read, take up and read!” (Latin: Tolle Lege, Tolle Lege!). Dumbfounded, he reached for a copy of the Bible which his Mother had given him. He expressively writes,
I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell. “No orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy. Take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ; stop giving attention to your sinful nature, to satisfy your desires” (Romans 13:13-14). I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of faith flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.
Augustine, Confessions, Book 8
From that time on Augustine resolved to lead a life of purity and simplicity. The God of the Bible had opened his eyes to his need for the Savior. Great intellectual that he was, though, he felt that he must satisfy his mind that the gospel of Christianity was truly reasonable. And so, he entered into a formal dialogue with a few friends (using the Socratic method of question and answer) in order to satisfy his understanding. As Augustine considered the truth claims for biblical Christianity he became convinced that God had revealed Himself in history through Jesus Christ and that the Bible was, indeed, an accurate and trustworthy guide to spiritual truth. Moreover, faith and reason were compatible and not incompatible. These conclusions were recorded by scribes and became the foundation for many of his future books. It was because of his personal acquaintance with so many of the immoral practices and philosophies of the world that he later became such a formidable spokesman for orthodox Christianity. He had been delivered by the Lord from guilt, sin, and sensuous living. He would never go back to his former way of life.
Immediately after this time of inquiry and discovery Augustine was baptized in Milan by Bishop Ambrose on Easter Sunday, A.D. 387. This was a great answer to prayer, and his mother rejoiced that her son was now a member the family of God. Unfortunately, Monica died soon after his conversion just before they were to return home to North Africa.
After becoming an ordained priest, Augustine put his enormous literary and verbal skills to use and wrote extensively about the major controversies of the day. He defended the doctrine of the Trinity, he preached on humility from the Sermon on the Mount, and he wrote on the concept of original sin and mankind’s fallen nature. In A.D. 396 the people of Hippo Regius, in northern Africa, strongly prevailed upon Augustine to become their Bishop. He humbly agreed and entered a period of life which was especially fruitful. In particular, Augustine distinguished himself by writing against the heretic, Pelagius (A.D. c.354-c.420). Pelagius was a British monk teaching in Rome who denied that mankind was born with the sin and guilt of Adam. He argued that each person became a sinner when they sinned in their own life. Pelagius made the following statements in his teaching,
“Everything good and everything evil…is done by us, and not born with us.” He also taught, “Adam’s sin injured him alone, not the human race.” And, “New-born infants are in the same condition as Adam before the Fall.” And, “That man can be without sin, if he choose.” And finally, “The Law, as well as the Gospel, leads to the Kingdom.”
Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 56-57
Augustine was the main opponent of Pelagius throughout his lifetime and argued that the Scriptures clearly taught the doctrine of original sin and the imputation of that sin through Adam to every human being (see Romans 5:12-21). Pelagius’ heretical views were finally defeated at the council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) primarily through the writings of Augustine.
Augustine is also widely known for his attack on Roman paganism in his book, The City of God. What were the circumstances for writing this lengthy and polemical treatise? The generally accepted explanation is as follows,
When the Germanic Goths captured Rome in 410, it sent shock waves across the empire, with pagans blaming Christians for the disaster. To refute these charges Augustine penned his masterpiece, The City of God. In it he argued that there are two “cities” or communities—the City of Man and the City of God. The former is temporal and transitory; the latter is spiritual and eternal. He also rejected the premillennialism (also known as chiliasm, from the Greek word “one thousand”) of the early church and equated the reign of Christ and his saints with the entire history of the church, thus denying the idea of a literal, future kingdom of God on earth. He was the first orthodox theologian to teach amillennialism.
R. Clouse, R. Pierard, E. Yamaucchi, Two Kingdoms: The Church and Culture Through the Ages, 81
Thus, in this profound treatise Augustine builds a case for Christian involvement in the political sphere (the City of Man), yet not to the neglect of the theological sphere (the City of God). He colorfully writes,
Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly city by the love of self, leading to contempt of God and the heavenly city by the love of God, leading to contempt of self. The former glories in itself, the latter in the Lord…In the one city, the rulers and the nations that it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other city, rulers and subjects serve one another in love—the subjects by obeying, the rulers by caring for all…These two cities are two communities of men. One is predestined to reign eternally with God, the other to suffer eternal punishment with the devil…Citizens are born into the earthly city by a nature spoiled by sin, but they are born into the heavenly city by grace freeing nature from sin.
Augustine, The City of God, 14:28-15:2
Some theologians have erroneously used Augustine’s work The City of God as justification for the overly-authoritarian actions of certain Christian rulers, or for the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church over all other human institutions. However, Augustine’s main point is that “the City of God” (ie: God’s Kingdom) is a present reality in the lives of all believers and that wherever they are involved the influence of God’s Kingdom will be dramatically felt. The final fulfillment of the Kingdom will come at Christ’s return with the creation of the new Heavens and the new Earth. God is the victor, not the political schemes or ecclesiastical endeavors of man.
Augustine died at seventy-five years of age, in A.D. 430, while the Barbarian Vandals besieged his fortified town of Hippo Regius. God’s Kingdom and his Gospel message would prevail despite the uncertainties of the post-Roman age. The precious doctrines of the Bible: the imputation of man’s sinful nature from one generation to another, Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross, and God’s ever expanding Kingdom here on earth had been defined, defended, and documented by this great champion of orthodox theology. Even in death, and the imminent defeat by warfare of his own home town, Augustine was certain of God’s triumph. As Jesus Christ himself boldly affirmed, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18b)
Three of my favorite Augustine books
Resources for Further Study:
Augustine, Aurelius. The City of God. Translated by Marcus Dodds. New York, NY: The Modern Library, 1993.
Augustine, Aurelius. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Translated by E. B. Pusey. New York, NY: The Modern Library, 1999.
Bentley-Taylor, David. The Apostle from Africa: The Life and Thought of Augustine of Hippo. Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2002.
Bettenson, Henry and Chris Maunder, eds.. Documents of the Christian Church. 4th Edition. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1963.
Carr, Simonetta. Augustine. From the series: “Christian Biographies for Young Readers.” Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2009.
Chadwick, Henry. Augustine of Hippo: A Life. London, England: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Clouse, Robert G., Richard V. Pierard, Edwin M. Yamauchi. Two Kingdoms: The Church and Culture Through the Ages. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1993.
Douglas, J. D., ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
Douglas, J. D., ed. Who’s Who in Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Dowley, Tim, ed. The History of Christianity. Revised Edition. Oxford, England: Lion Publishers, 1990.
Elwell, Walter A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
“Ambrose,” by Victor L. Walter
“Augustine of Hippo,” by Norman L. Geisler
“Donatism,” by Victor L. Walter
“Pelagius, Pelagianism,” by Bruce L. Shelly
“Mani,” by W. Andrew Hoffecker
“Manichaeism,” by W. Andrew Hoffecker
Hollingworth, Miles. Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Houghton, S. M. Sketches From Church History. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980.
Lane, Tony. A Concise History of Christian Thought. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity. Vol. 1. Revised Edition. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.
Warfield, Benjamin B. Calvin and Augustine. Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1956.
Woodbridge, John D., ed. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2012 – All Rights Preserved
Authentic Christianity: An Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism, 2nd Edition, in 8 Volumes written by Dr. Joseph C. Morecraft III
Dr. Joseph Morecraft, III
There are some notable theological works that have clearly stood the test of time. You know the authors—Anselm, Augustine, Bavinck, Berkhof, Calvin, Dabney, Hodge, Luther, Machen, Murray, Rushdoony, Turretin, Van Til, and Warfield. The books that these insightful men have written are widely read, constantly reprinted, and lovingly treasured. With the publication of this second edition (2019) of Authentic Christianity: An Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism, I believe that Dr. Morecraft’s work is well on its way to becoming a classic of the same stature.
My initial copy of Authentic Christianity (1st edition, 2009) is well-worn, and I welcome the prospect of utilizing this new set for future reflection and serious study of the Westminster Larger Catechism. Keep in mind that these comprehensive volumes represent a lifetime of work by Dr. Morecraft. They show his love for the Bible and for the accurate summary of Christian doctrine that is contained in the Westminster Larger Catechism. Here are a few samples from the pages of Authentic Christianity regarding the Lord’s Prayer:
“The First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer as a Prayer for the Conversion of the Whole World: When we pray “hallowed be Thy Name,” we are not praying only for our own personal and individual situation, we are praying for the hallowing of God’s name generally and globally and universally, “that he would prevent and remove atheism, ignorance, idolatry, profaneness, and whatsoever is dishonorable to him.” Throughout the history of the church, men of God have recognized this inescapable implication of the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer. If we are to pray that God would “enable and incline us and others to know, to acknowledge, and highly to esteem,” and glorify God, then we are, by implication, praying that God “would prevent and remove atheism” (WLC 190).”
Morecraft, Authentic Christianity, Vol. 7, 3579
And, here are Dr. Morecraft’s remarks on the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer (And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors):
“We and others are debtors to the Justice of God: Because of our guiltiness before God for disregarding the transgressing His Law, all human beings are “debtors to the justice of God.” God’s justice demands that all sin be punished: “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Why? God’s justice is “that perfection of God by which He maintains Himself over against every violation of His holiness, and shows in every respect that He is the Holy One…Divine justice is originally and necessarily obliged to punish evil…Luke 17:10; 1 Cor. 4:7; Job 41:11” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 74-75). Sin is a real “debt.” It is an offense and insult to the holiness of God. It is a violation of His holy Law, making us deserving of everlasting punishment. We owe God the “debt” of complete obedience to God’s Law, which God demands of all intelligent creatures. We failed in our obedience to Him; therefore, God’s Law denounces us and threatens us with punishment. Thus, we owe God the “debt” of eternal punishment. Therefore, we should pray the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer continually, because, as we shall see, we cannot pay the debt we owe God. If it is not fully paid, we will perish eternally in our sins, because “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men” (Rom. 1:18). Without forgiveness of sins by God, each day of our lives we are “storing up wrath [for ourselves] in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5-6).”
Both citations, I trust, will give the reader a distinct impression of the depth of theological analysis and practical application that flows out of every volume. Dr. Morecraft not only loves the doctrines found in the Bible, but he also loves the people of God that he serves in pastoral ministry. His entire project of expounding the Westminster Larger Catechism is built upon the premise that God wants His people to become mature and stable disciples of Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 1:28-29; Heb. 5:12-14). Hence, there is no better way to accomplish this goal than to steep them in the riches found in the Bible. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Catechisms accurately summarize the teachings of the Bible, that, of course, makes them an extremely valuable resource for all believers to study.
Last of all, it is important to note that Dr. Morecraft cites many great theologians throughout his exposition. You will find beneficial quotes from Augustine, Louis Berkhof, John Calvin, Charles Hodge, Martin Luther, William G. T. Shedd, Cornelius Van Til, and Benjamin B. Warfield, plus many others. This fact adds to the richness of these eight volumes. Where can you get these books? Here is the complete reference info:
Morecraft III, Joseph C. Authentic Christianity: An Exposition of the Theology and Ethics of the Westminster Larger Catechism. 8 Volumes. Second Edition. Centreville, AL: Four Falls Press, 2019.
And a link to a website where copies of Authentic Christianity can be found:
I pray that an entirely new generation of thoughtful pastors, students, and readers will benefit from Dr. Morecraft’s fine exposition of the Westminster Larger Catechism. Soli Deo Gloria!
— Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Talking theology and the current state of the church with Dr. Joe (January, 2024)
The Wartburg Castle sits high on the hills above Eisenach, Germany
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Martin Luther as “George the Knight”
Following the great spiritual conflict at the imperial diet at Worms between Martin Luther and his accusers (1521), the Roman Catholic Church issued a Papal Bull proclaiming Luther’s excommunication. Not only was Luther’s soul threatened, but also his physical life. A supportive German Prince, Frederick of Saxony, providentially arranged for his “kidnapping” from the Roman Catholic authorities. Heavily-armed knights, loyal to Frederick, disguised themselves as common thieves and captured Luther, whisking him off to a castle high in the mountains of Thuringia. For almost a year he lay hidden in “The Wartburg” under the false name “George the Knight,” or Junker Jorg. During this time he grew a beard and carried a large sword to complete the disguise. Although the Reformation went on without him, he did not fall into a period of melancholy and apathy. Instead, he used his time of concealment well, translating the entire New Testament into the German vernacular (1522). He also began work on a translation of the Old Testament which he completed later (1534).
Moreover, during this time of forced detainment he wrote many stirring hymns of which “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is the best known. Based on Psalm 46, the words of verse one were especially powerful to the solitary Reformer–“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” It has been reported that while watching the smoke from the many peasant campfires in the valley below, Luther became discouraged by feelings of loneliness and discouragement. A fresh wind, though, blew the smoke away, and he was greatly encouraged by the thought that the Lord could blow his own fears and doubts away. Roland Bainton writes,
Luther’s manuscript of Ein’ feste Burg
That great battle hymn of the Reformation, “A Mighty Fortress,” appeared only in a later hymnbook. Here if anywhere we have both Luther’s words and music, and here more than elsewhere we have the epitome of Luther’s religious character. The hymn is based on the Vulgate version of the Forty-sixth Psalm, for Luther in his personal devotions continued to use the Latin on which he had been reared. Whereas in this psalm the Hebrew reads “God is our refuge.” The Latin has “Our God is a refuge.” Similarly Luther begins, “A mighty fortress is our God.” Though the Forty-sixth Psalm is basic, it is handled with exceeding freedom and interwoven with many remembrances of the Pauline epistles and the Apocalypse. Richly quarried, rugged words set to majestic tones marshal the embattled hosts of heaven. The hymn to the end strains under the overtones of cosmic conflict as the Lord God of Sabaoth smites the prince of darkness grim and vindicates the martyred saints. Luther’s people learned to sing…A Jesuit testified that “the hymns of Luther killed more souls than his sermons.”
Roland Bainton, Here I Stand, 270-271
When you consider the promises of God contained in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength,” and how Luther lay safely hidden in the Wartburg Castle, then it is easy to understand his powerful lyrics written in the context of his captivity. He rejoiced that the Lord had delivered him from his enemies for a season, and that he was able to continue the spread of the Reformation through his translation of the New Testament, his books, and his hymns.
Here is Luther’s small room and writing desk in the Wartburg Castle. He wrote several hymns and penned many letters to his friends while sitting at this desk
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;his craft and power are great; and armed with cruel hate,on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he,Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same,and he must win the battle.
Luther also industriously translated the New Testament into German from Erasmus’ Greek version of the NT while he lay hidden in the Wartburg Castle
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure;one little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth.Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;the body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still;his kingdom is forever.
–from the Trinity Hymnal
____________________
Sources:
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” in the Trinity Hymnal. Revised Edition. Atlanta, GA: Great Commission Publications, 1990 [page 92].
Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York, NY: Meridian Books, 1950.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright November 2012 – All Rights Reserved
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (c.1330-1384) was born to a propertied family in Yorkshire, England. His parents encouraged him toward service in the English Church and sent him at sixteen years of age to study at Oxford University, which was recognized as one of the most learned centers of education in Europe. Here he excelled in his studies, and in time he became a noted scholar in philosophy and theology. He was profoundly influenced by Augustine’s writings on the sovereignty of God and adopted his view on the doctrine of election. Eventually, he taught at Oxford as a regular lecturer where his preaching and teaching were well received by the students and faculty alike. In 1360 the University rewarded Wycliffe for his academic skills and selected him to become the Master of Balliol College. Clearly, Wycliffe was favored by both God and men. Further studies resulted in a Master of Arts degree in 1361, a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1369, and a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1372. During these years of studying, teaching, and preaching he wrote many important works in the areas of philosophy and theology. He was a prolific writer and preacher. His best known work was his Summa Theologica which was published near the end of his life. In gratitude for his excellent scholarship, the leaders of the English Church awarded him the position of Rector at the parish in Lincolnshire (1361), however he spent very little time there. It was the custom of the day for many scholarly men to hire a local priest to serve as pastor in their absence. In this way they had a financial base for ongoing studies and the prestige of holding a parish title, or an “ecclesiastical living.”
Balliol College at Oxford University
Oxford University had long been troubled by traveling monks (i.e. “Mendicant monks”) who begged for their food and support on school grounds. These monks erroneously reasoned that they were due financial support because Christ, himself, was a common beggar. Wycliffe felt that these men were extremely lazy and he published a treatise against them. Threatened by his formidable opposition, the monks turned against Wycliffe and remained bitter foes throughout the rest of his life. In addition, Wycliffe wrote against the excessive luxury that many English clergy sought for with all their cleverness and industry. He colorfully writes,
Let us see how such prelates are infected by the splendor of the world and by avarice. Certain ones presume to feed the reprobate from the goods of the poor, so that they become rich men in the world’s eye, actors, who proclaim publicly that those curates are generous providers…The king of pride has broken forth to such an extent in superfluous expenditures that he moves priests in five ways to have hunting dogs, fat horses, superfluous ornaments, furnished from the goods of the poor…Even though these five are damnable in a mere rector, they are even more damnable in a bishop or abbot, not only because they exceed simple rectors in these five ways, but because from greater obligation and hypocrisy they do these things more open before the world. And—to increase the gravity of the crime—they take joy in these sins, as if they were confirmed in the service of the devil…”
John Wycliffe, The Pastoral Office
It is not difficult to imagine how offended and outraged the English clergy were under the scourge of Wycliffe’s stinging rebukes! And as a result, they became his lifelong adversaries who at every turn sought to condemn him as a heretic and to scatter his followers.
The Lutterworth Parish Church–it is still standing and being used for worship on a weekly basis!
In contrast, King Edward III (1312-1377) was duly impressed with Wycliffe when he published a well-reasoned tract rejecting the obligation of the English Crown to pay yearly ecclesiastical taxes to the Pope. As a reward from the King, Wycliffe was given charge of the parish of Lutterworth which became his base of operations until his death. Also in 1374 he officially entered the service of the English Crown for a brief time as a negotiator with the papal authorities at Bruges (in modern-day Belgium). He not only successfully defended his position regarding the non-payment of ecclesiastical taxes to the Pope, but also he witnessed first-hand the affluence and corruption of the higher clergy. When he returned to England he unleashed a forceful verbal assault against the power of the Papacy, hereafter referring to the Pope as the “Antichrist.” This practice was later picked-up by many of the Protestant Reformers.
One of the controversies that got Wycliffe into the greatest amount of trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities was when he defended the right of civil authorities to seize the property of corrupt clergy. He wrote, “temporal lords can at their will take away temporal goods from the church, when those who hold to them are sinful (habitually sinful, not sinning in one act only).” Wycliffe argued that an individual person, especially the “temporal lords,” possessed authority through the “dominion of grace” from God, rather than by grace derived from the Pope or church hierarchy. Those church leaders, who disqualified themselves by immorality or theft, he reasoned, should be removed by the “temporal Lords.” This view garnered much favor for him within the English government, but produced great scorn against him within the Roman Catholic clergy.
John Wycliffe on trial at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London
In 1377 he underwent a trial at St. Paul’s Cathedral which was orchestrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the vengeful monks. Merle D’Aubigne writes, “But Wycliffe, who never feared the face of man, came before them with a good conscience.” As a result, he was censured by five Papal Bulls (decrees) and condemned as a heretic. It was only by the presence of John of Gaunt, the influential son of King Edward III, that the bishops and monks were prevented from physically harming him. Another trial was attempted at Lambeth Palace in 1378, but this proved to be ineffective because of the support of the Queen Mother and his great popularity amongst the common people. That same year, when Wycliffe was forty-eight years of age, he wearily retired to the relative seclusion of Oxford to study and write. But, the attacks of his opponents increased and his position as a professor at the University was jeopardized. Whereas, other church figures had attacked the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church, Wycliffe attacked the doctrines which were underlying those practices. As a result, many influential friends who had supported him in the past would no longer defend him. He was now utterly alone. Merle D’Aubigne, a preeminent historian of the Reformation, reports,
Day by day the circle contracted around Wycliffe. Some of his chief supporters…departed from him. The veteran champion of the truth with had once gathered a whole nation round it, had reached the days when “strong men shall bow themselves,” and now, when harassed by persecution, he found himself alone. But boldly he uplifted his hoary head and exclaimed: “The doctrine of the gospel shall never perish; and if the earth once quaked, it was because they condemned Jesus Christ.”
Merle D’Aubigne, The Reformation in england, Vol. 1, 94
One of the main tenants of Wycliffe’s faith was that the Holy Scripture was the sole rule of faith and practice. Bible passages were to be interpreted by the careful exegesis of the text alone, rather than by appealing to the tradition of the church as the basis for interpretation. This high view of the Bible eventually led to his greatest achievement—the translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into the common language of the English people. Merle D’Aubigne writes,
Let us imagine him in his quiet study: on his table is the Vulgate text, corrected after the best manuscripts; and lying open around him are the commentaries of the doctors of the church, especially those of St Jerome and Nicholas of Lyra. Between ten and fifteen years he steadily prosecuted his task…At last, some time between 1380 and 1384, it was completed. This was a great event in the religious history of England; outstripping the nations on the continent, she took her station in the foremost rank in the great work of disseminating the Scriptures.
Merle D’Aubigne, The Reformation in England, Vol. 1, 90
With the help of several associates he completed his translation of the New Testament in 1380 and the Old Testament in 1382. Nicolas of Hereford (d. c.1420) assisted him in translating the Old Testament, and John Purvey (c.1353-c.1428) helped him in revising the New Testament. James Wiley, the well-regarded Scottish historian of the Reformation, asserts the following,
The circulation of the Scriptures had arrayed the Protestant movement in the panoply of light. Wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, it was marching on, leaving behind it, as the monuments of its prowess, in many an English homestead, eyes once blind now opened; hearts lately depraved now purified. Majestic as the morning when, descending from the skies, she walks in steps of silent glory over the earth, so was the progress of the Book of God. There was a track of light wherever it had passed in the crowded city, in the lofty baronial hall, in the peasant’s humble cot. Though Wycliffe had lived a thousand years, and occupied himself during all of them in preaching, he could not have hoped for the good which he now saw in course of being accomplished by the silent action of the English Bible.
James Wiley, The History of Protestantism, Vol. 1, 113
Wycliffe also opposed the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation in the Lord’s Supper (Latin: trans = changed + substantia = substance of the elements)and instead favored what would become the Protestant belief that the Lord’s Supper is a “memorial feast” where Christ is “spiritually present.” He rightly asserted, “the material substance of bread and the material substance of wine remain in the Sacrament of the altar.” His followers, known as “Wycliffites” or “Lollards” later wrote,
…the pretended miracle of the sacrament of bread drives all men, but a few, to idolatry, because they think that the Body of Christ which is never away from heaven could by power of the priest’s word be enclosed essentially in a little bread which they show the people; but God grant that they might be willing to believe what the evangelical doctor (i.e. Wycliffe) says in his Triagolous, that the bread of the altar is habitually the body of Christ, for we take it that in this way any faithful man and woman can by God’s law perform the sacrament of the bread without any such miracle.
Henry Bettenson, documents of the Christian Church, 175-176
Moreover, Wycliffe rejected the “power of the priest” to forgive sins as an intermediary between God and man (i.e. the doctrine of sacerdotalism; Latin: sacer = priest + dotal = power) and he resolutely affirmed the “priesthood of all believers.” He was especially opposed to the sale of “indulgences,” which for the payment of a fee a certificate would be granted by a priest to release a person, or their relative, from punishment in purgatory. Wycliffe’s disciples wrote,
They say that they have the keys of heaven and hell, and can excommunicate and bless, bind and loose, at their will, so much so that for a drink, or twelve pence, they will sell the blessing of heaven… (Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 177-178)
Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 177-178
Finally, he repudiated the concept of the Roman Catholic Mass by arguing, “it is not laid down in the Gospel that Christ ordained the Mass.” Due to his rejection of the Mass, there was one last attempt by the opponents of Wycliffe to undo him in 1379. He was called to defend himself in London at a council which was interrupted by a strong earthquake. Wycliffe was convinced that the earthquake was a divine sign of God’s approval of his reforms; however the council sharply disagreed and suggested that the land was simply “breaking wind” because of Wycliffe’s foul heresies and they condemned him anyway. Due to declining health he retired to Lutterworth in 1380 where he lived for the remainder of his life. His adversaries, however, did not forget him, and during the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 he was blamed for inciting an open rebellion against the English Crown. This was not the case, and it eventually became clear that Wycliffe was falsely accused by his enemies.
Wycliffe sends out the Lollards
His influence grew during his confinement by the work of his disciples (i.e. the “Wycliffites”). Over time they were disdainfully called “Lollards” (Dutch: lollen = singers, chanters, or as “mumblers” or “mutterers”). The Lollards were fiercely persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church and the English political authorities. They engaged in spreading Wycliffe’s beliefs and copies of his Bible throughout England. In many respects the Lollards were evangelical missionaries and also political revolutionaries. They not only challenged entrenched church dogma, but also the established ecclesiastical structures of the day—specifically, the temporal authority of popes, cardinals, bishops, curates, abbots, and monks. While they were originally Oxford educated students, the Lollards eventually filled their ranks with many poor commoners. Wycliffe himself called them the “Poor Priests.” The Lollards traveled the roads of England dressed in long reddish gowns made of rough cloth. Some critics complained that the Lollards were so numerous that if you met two people while traveling on the road one was sure to be a Lollard. Their beliefs were codified in 1395 when they presented to the English Parliament, The Twelve Conclusions. The official response of the English Parliament was a written tract entitled On the Burning of a Heretic (1401), which led to much persecution of the Lollards. They were also condemned at the Council of Constance in 1415, along with the Bohemian preacher and martyr John Hus (1374-1415). Their main purpose, however, was not deterred by the persecution and death of their members. They prayerfully wrote, “We ask God then of His supreme goodness to reform our Church, as being entirely out of joint, to the perfectness of its first beginning.” The reforming of God’s church had begun in earnest and nothing that the leaders of the established church could do would prevent its spread.
Wycliffe at work
Wycliffe experienced a stroke in 1382 which limited his study and writing. Even in his sickness he was harassed and tormented. While on his bed during a difficult illness a group of local priests came to him demanding that he recant from his heretical practices and writings. He steadfastly refused saying, “I shall not die, but live to declare the evil deeds of the friars.” In God’s gracious providence, he was raised-up to better health and lived for another two years. He was often in a weakened condition, yet was used by God in a mighty way to influence other Reformers who would come after him. His ideas were especially welcomed in Bohemia where they were embraced by John Hus. Even after his death Wycliffe was so hated by the English clergy that in 1428 (44 years following his death) his bones were exhumed from the grave and publicly burnt. One biographer wrote,
They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighboring brook running hard by. Thus the brook conveyed his ashes into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas and they into the main ocean. And so the ashes of Wycliffe are symbolic of his doctrine, which is now spread throughout the whole world.
John woodbridge, Great Leaders of the Christian Church, 177
The commemorative stained-glass window at Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada
Wycliffe was clearly a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation which would burst forth 133 years after his death. For this reason he is oftentimes referred to as the “Morning Star” of the Protestant Reformation. Although he lost his professorship at Oxford University and most of his friends left him, his influence spread through his writings and fueled a great spiritual awakening throughout England and Continental Europe. Merle D’Aubigne summarizes his life and ministry with these two glowing tributes,
Wycliffe is the greatest of English reformers: he was in truth the first reformer of Christendom, and to him, under God, Britain is indebted for the honor of being the foremost in the attack upon the theocratic system of Gregory…If Luther and Calvin are the fathers of the Reformation, Wycliffe is its grandfather.
merle D’Aubigne, The Reformation in England, Vol. 1, 98
In many respects Wycliffe is the Luther of England; but the times of revival had not yet come, and the English reformer could not gain such striking victories over Rome as the German reformer. While Luther was surrounded by an ever-increasing number of scholars and princes, who confessed the same faith as himself, Wycliffe shone almost alone in the firmament of the church. The boldness with which he substituted a living spirituality for a superstitious formalism, caused those to shrink back in affright who had gone with him against the friars, priests, and popes. Erelong the Roman pontiff ordered him to be thrown into prison, and the monks threatened his life; but God protected him, and he remained calm amidst the machinations of his adversaries. ‘Antichrist,’ said he, ‘can only kill the body.’
Merle D’Aubigne, The Reformation in England, Vol. 1, 98-100
Sadly, John Wycliffe is still labeled a “heretic” by official Roman Catholic Church literature (see the following two articles in the authoritative volume, The Catholic Encyclopedia for verification of that particular charge—“Heresies” and “Lollards”). However, almost all modern-day Christians (e.g. Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals of various types, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Reformed) identify him as an inspirational hero of the faith! It is in this spirit that the Wycliffe Bible Translators, founded in 1934, have honored him as their namesake. They hope that the same zeal that motivated Wycliffe, will also motivate their own translators scattered throughout the globe. It is to John Wycliffe that all English-speaking peoples owe a debt of gratitude. He shook off the blinders of Roman Catholicism and guided this countrymen back to the Word of God, which King David calls “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). For this noble task, we highly esteem John Wycliffe!
Wycliffe’s Bible (1382)
Resources for Further Study:
Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church. Second Edition. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1963.
Broderick, Robert C. ed. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Revised Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987.
D’Aubigne, Merle J. H. The Reformation in England. Two volumes. Edited by S. M. Houghton. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962.
Douglas, J. D. ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
“Avignon,” by James Taylor
“Bible, English Versions,” by Frederick F. Bruce
“England, Church of,” by John A Simpson
“Great Schism, The,” by C. T. McIntire
“Gregory XI,” by C. G. Thorne, Jr.
“Hus, Jan,” by Matthew Spinka
“Lollards,” Robert G. Clouse
“Mendicant Orders,” by T. L. Underwood
“Nicholas of Hereford,” by Ian Sellers
“Purvey, John,” by J. G. G. Norman
“Reformation, The” by Robert D. Linder
“Sawtrey, William,” by C. G. Thorne, Jr.
“Transubstantiation,” by Robert B. Ives
“Vulgate, The,” by J. N. Birdsall
“Wycliffe, John,” by Robert G. Clouse
“Wycliffe Bible Translators,” by Harold R. Cook
Douglas, J. D. ed. Who’s Who In Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers 1992.
Dowley, Tim ed., The History of Christianity. Revised Edition. Oxford, England: Lion Publishers, 1990.
Elwell, Walter A. ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
“Bohemian Brethren,” by J. D. Douglas
“Hus, Jan,” by A. Paul Kubricht
“Lollards,” by Robert A. Peterson
“Reformation, Protestant,” by David F. Wright
“Wycliffe, John,” by Robert G. Clouse
Fox, John. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967.
Houghton, S. M. Sketches from Church History. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity. Volume One. Revised Edition. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.
Woodbridge, John D. ed. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
Wycliffe, John. “The Pastoral Office” in Advocates of Reform: From Wyclif to Erasmus. Edited by Matthew Spinka. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Library of Christian Classics, no. 16. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1953.
Wylie, James A. The History of Protestantism. 3 Volumes. Kilkeel, N. Ireland: Mourne Missionary Trust, 1990.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright August, 2017 – All Rights Reserved
William Tyndale – Language Scholar and Bible Translator
Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
The full book shelves that most Christians have today contain several copies of the Bible. Bible programs online and dramatic readings of Scripture on CD’s abound with all the latest features. But, this has not always been the case. At the beginning of the Reformation, during the early 1500’s, the Bible was only in the possession of a few wealthy individuals and educated church leaders. Those who did not know how to read or who were unable to translate the text of the Latin Vulgate produced by Jerome in the fourth century, hired private scholars to read and interpret the Bible for them. If it were not for the diligent and pioneering efforts of the pre-Reformer John Wycliffe (c.1330-1384), the German Reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546), and finally the Reformation scholar William Tyndale (1494-1536), the English Bible would have been much later in coming about. As it was, Tyndale’s version of the New Testament was first printed in 1526. Because of this he is recognized as the “Father of the English Bible” and it is his work which is the basis for all modern English translations—even up to this century. Below is a quotation of Romans 12:1-2 from Tyndale’s text (with the original words and spelling retained).
I beseeche you therefore brethren by the mercifulness of God, that ye make youre bodyes a quicke sacrifise, holy and acceptable unto God which is youre reasonable servynge off God. And fassion note youre selves lyke unto this worlde. But be ye changed (in youre shape) by the renuynge of youre witts that ye may fele what thynge that good, that acceptable and perfaicte will of God is.
Tyndales’s New Testament – Romans 12:1-2
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was born in the year 1494 near the Welsh border in western England. Little is known of his early life, however he had an innate gift for languages and it is said that over the course of his life he became fluent in seven different languages—Greek, Hebrew, Latin, German, Dutch, French, and Spanish. He attended Magdalen Hall at Oxford University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1512 and a Master of Arts in 1515. While interacting with his fellow students, he became disturbed by their complete lack of biblical knowledge. Driven by his love for theology he studied through the major themes of the Bible and entered into discussions with other students about the meaning of various texts. He reflected at this time,
In the universities they have ordained that no man shall look on Scripture until he be noselled in heathen learning eight or nine years, and armed with false principles he is clean shut out of the understanding of Scripture.
William Tyndale
All around Oxford Tyndale became known as a man with a vociferous passion for proclaiming the Bible. This ability was not well received by leaders within the English Church who became jealous of Tyndale’s gifts. Eventually, he fled the controversy and sought a quiet corner at Cambridge University in order to continue his studies. During this time of intense contemplation Tyndale became well acquainted with the writings of Martin Luther. He deeply appreciated Luther’s doctrine of “justification by faith” and recognized it for what it was—biblical truth. He also spent many hours mastering the Greek (1516) edition of the New Testament produced by the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus (c.1466-1536). After completing his studies at Cambridge, Tyndale took a position as a private tutor to the children of an English knight—Sir John Walsh of Glouchestershire.
Little Sodbury Manor in Glouchestershire, England
At Master Walsh’s table at Little Sodbury Manor Tyndale had many opportunities to enter into scholarly debate with visiting clergy and scholars. It was Tyndale’s practice to quote the Bible as his only source of authority and to exhort those who were in ignorance or who had gone astray from biblical truth. It is reported that Tyndale once responded to an argumentative clergyman who questioned the reasonableness of giving the Scriptures to the common people with these words, “If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou dost.” With such fiery words it is not surprising that the leaders of the English Church sought to have him tried as a heretic.
Eventually it became Tyndale’s goal to get the Bible into the hands of the common man. He realized that if the people had the Bible in their own language, that many of the false doctrines of Roman Catholicism would be repudiated. He became convinced that, “It was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.” He also reasoned that translating the Bible into English would become a great motivation for the average person to learn to read and write, thereby improving the literacy rate in England. His arguments, however, for an English translation fell on deaf ears. He received no encouragement from the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, or any other ecclesiastical officials. He lamented, “…not only was there no room in my Lord of London’s palace to translate the New Testament, but there was also no place to do it in all England”. Discouraged, yet still determined to complete his project, Tyndale left for continental Europe never to return to the land that he loved.
Tyndale’s New Testament (1526)
With the financial backing of several sympathetic English merchants in Antwerp, Tyndale finished the first edition of his New Testament in 1525. He found a willing printer in Cologne, but before it could be printed the local police made a raid and prevented the work from being completed. Eventually, Tyndale was able to find another printer and had his version published at Worms (1526). With the help of an enterprising merchant Tyndale sold most of the first edition at a very high price to the Bishop of London. However, the Bishop did not purchase the New Testament for public distribution, but for public burning. Providentially, an entire second edition was financed by the Bishop’s purchase so that Tyndale was able to flood England with even more copies of the second edition than the first.
Tyndale also became desirous of producing a copy of the Old Testament Scriptures in English. When he had finished translating the Pentateuch he sought to have it printed and traveled from Antwerp, where he was living, to Hamburg. While journeying on board ship, a great storm came up and sank the ship. All of his books, manuscripts, money, notes, and time were lost and the project had to begin completely over again! Such was the character of William Tyndale—he was a man of great perseverance.
While living in exile throughout Holland and Germany, he fled many times from one town to another seeking a printer who would be supportive of his cause. Oftentimes he had “secret agents” from the English clergy pursuing him and endeavoring to arrest him. In many respects he was “God’s Outlaw” as one recent biographer has called him. Because it was illegal to produce a copy of the Bible without the formal backing of the King, his text (six editions in all) had to be surreptitiously smuggled into England hidden in bales of merchandise and sold on the “black market”. Eventually, he was betrayed by a “false friend” and fellow Englishman, Henry Philips, and arrested. His imprisonment at Vilvorde (9 miles north of Brussels) lasted for seventeen months from which survives the following letter giving a brief view of the suffering that he underwent for the sake of the gospel. He plaintively writes,
I entreat your lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here during the winter, you will request the Procureur to be kind enough to send me from my goods which he has in his possession, a warmer cap, for I suffer extremely from cold in the head, being afflicted with a perpetual catarrah, which is considerably increased in this cell. A warmer coat also, for that which I have is very thin: also a piece of cloth to patch my leggings. My over-coat is worn out, as also are my shirts. He has a woollen shirt of mine, if he will be kind enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth for putting on above; he also has warmer caps for wearing at night. I wish also his permission to have a lamp in the evening, for it is wearisome to sit alone in the dark. But above all, I entreat and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the Procureur that he may kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar, and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend my time with that study. And in return, may you obtain your dearest wish, provided always that it be consistent with the salvation of your soul. But if, before the end of winter, a different decision be reached concerning me, I shall be patient, abiding the will of God to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, whose Spirit, I pray, may ever direct your heart. Amen. W. Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale’s Execution in Holland
Miles Coverdale
Before he was strangled and his body burned at the stake (October 6, 1536) he boldly proclaimed these prophetic words, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” Unknown to Tyndale, his plea was in the process of being answered. While he was languishing in prison his associate, Miles Coverdale (1488-1569), was able to produce an English version of the Bible printed with King Henry VIII’s endorsement. Coverdale utilized Tyndale’s translation of the Pentateuch and New Testament as a foundation for his own translation. Again in 1537, with the help of Archbishop Thomas Cramner, King Henry VIII ordered that every parish should have its own copy of the Bible available for the clergy as well as the people to use. This version was called The Great Bible. Finally, in 1611 King James of England also fulfilled the desire and longing of Tyndale in an even greater way by publishing the popular and prolific King James Version of the Bible. As you enjoy reading daily from the many Bibles in your possession, give thanks to God for the faithful life and work of William Tyndale.
Resources for Further Study:
Christy-Murray, David. A History of Heresy. London, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Daniell, David. William Tyndale: A Biography. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.
Douglas, J.D. ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
“Bible (English Versions)”, by F. F. Bruce
“Coverdale, Miles”, by Harold H. Rowden
“Cramner, Thomas”, by Noel S. Pollard
“Erasmus”, by Robert G. Clouse
“Henry VIII”, by Robert Schnucker
“Reformation, The”, by Robert D. Linder
“Tunstall, Cuthbert”, by Joyce Horn
“Tyndale, William”, by G. E. Duffield
“Vulgate, The”, by J. N. Birdsall
“Wycliffe, John”, Robert G. Clouse
Douglas, J.D. ed. Who’s Who In Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Dowley, Tim ed., The History of Christianity. Revised Edition. Oxford, Great Britain: Lion Publishers, 1990.
Edwards, Brian H. God’s Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale and the English Bible. London, Great Britain: Evangelical Press, 1976.
Fox, John. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967.
Houghton, S. M. Sketches from Church History. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity (Vol. 2). Revised Edition. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.
Lawson, Steven J. The Daring Mission of William Tyndale. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2015.
Loane, Sir Marcus. Masters of the English Reformation. The Church Society, 1954. Reprint. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2005.
O’Dell, Scott. The Hawk that Dare Not Hunt by Day. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1975.
Tyndale, William. Tyndale’s New Testament. Edited by David Daniell. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
Woodbridge, John D. ed. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
Wylie, James A. The History of Protestantism. 3 Volumes. Kilkeel, N. Ireland: Mourne Missionary Trust, 1990.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
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