Happy Reformation Day!
Posted: October 31, 2010 Filed under: Reform Theology, Reformation Church History 2 Comments“I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.” Martin Luther
Eph. 2:8-10: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – The Apostle Paul
Happy Reformation Day!
Posted: October 31, 2009 Filed under: Reform Theology, Reformation Church History Leave a commentReformation Heroes Back in Print at RHB
Posted: August 14, 2009 Filed under: Joel Beeke, Reformation Church History Leave a comment
NEW SECOND EDITION Reformation Heroes with Study Guide
The Reformation did not happen instantaneously; it was something God patiently arranged over a number of years.
As you read this book, you will learn how the Lord used some people to plant the seeds of church reform long before October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther published his ninety-five theses. Luther’s story is well-known; we trust you will find it interesting and instructive to read about him and about forty others (John Knox, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Zacharias Ursinus, Willem Teellinck, etc.) who contributed to the Reformation – some well known and others not so – most of whom are Reformation heroes.
To provide a more full picture of the many sided Reformation, chapters are also included on the Anabaptist and Counter Reformation movements. The book concludes with a brief summary of the influence of the Reformation in different areas of life.
Diana Kleyn with Joel R. Beeke Diana Kleyn is a member of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the mother of three children, and has a heart for helping children understand and embrace the truths of God’s Word. She writes monthly for the children’s section in The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth magazine, and is co-author with Joel R. Beeke of the series Building on the Rock. Dr. Joel R. Beeke (Ph.D. Westminster Theological Seminary) is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Serminary, pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, editor of The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, and author of numerous books.
Reformation Day Article: VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR
Posted: October 31, 2008 Filed under: Reformation Church History 8 CommentsI. Repainting or Restoring?
Rob Bell states:
There are endless examples of this ongoing process, so I’ll describe just one. Around 500 years ago, a man named Martin Luther raised a whole series of questions about the painting the church was presenting to the world. He insisted that God’s grace could not be purchased with money or good deeds. He wanted everyone to have their own copy of the Bible in a language they could read. He argued that everyone had a divine calling on their lives to serve God, not just priests who have jobs in churches. This concept was revolutionary for the world at that time. He was articulating earth-shattering ideas for his listeners. And they heard him. And something big, something historic, happened. Things changed. Thousands of people connected with God in ways they hadn’t before.[1]
Although there is no apparent problem within this statement made of Luther and the beginning of his reformation, Bell goes on and adds:
But that wasn’t the end of it. Luther was taking his place in a long line of people who never stopped rethinking and repainting their faith. Shedding unnecessary layers and at the same time rediscovering essentials that had been lost. Luther’s work was part of what came to be called the Reformation. Because of this movement, the churches he was speaking against went through their own process of rethinking and repainting, making significant changes as a result. And this process hasn’t stopped. It can’t.[2]
Would Luther agree with Bell’s analysis of the situation? Luther would assuredly see himself rethinking the faith, but it is highly unlikely that he saw himself repainting the faith for indeed he did not. To clearly understand Bell’s statement one must know his definition of “repainting.” It appears that by “repainting” he means to change, correct, or bring something new in to the situation. Bell’s following comment supports this theory.
By this I do not mean cosmetic, superficial changes like better lights and music, sharper graphics, and new methods with easy-to-follow steps. I mean theology: the beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation, the future. We must keep reforming the way the Christian faith is defined, lived, and explained.[3]
Bell’s idea of repainting faith is to change doctrines, theology, and truths. Arguably, however, if one changes the truths of God he ends up with a different God. If one repaints Jesus, there is a different Jesus. If one changes the truths of the Bible, the natural consequence is the doctrines of God and Jesus are changed. And to repaint salvation causes the gospel to be something of man’s own making. Luther would disagree vehemently with such actions.
VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR: Part Five
Posted: May 25, 2007 Filed under: Emergent Church, Martin Luther, Reformation Church History, Rob Bell, Scripture Alone Leave a comment
Concluding Thoughts of Their Differences
Bell and Luther do not have much in common when it comes to the Scriptures. Bell sees that time shifts in culture should lead to a change in Scriptural revelation. He may use trendy terms or ways that may seem cool or hip to today’s audiences, but a man without Scripture alone, or a substandard view on the doctrine of Scripture alone, leads to a different gospel. Believing that culture may change interpretation and meaning certainly changes the gospel. Looking for changes in the doctrines of God, Jesus, the Bible, theology and future, change the good news told of in the Scripture. And to alter doctrines and deconstruct the Bible from its original intentions is disdainful to the Lord. You cannot bend the picture too far before it is distorted. One cannot change the message of the gospel in any way, shape, or form. If the message of the gospel has been changed, truth has been changed. In John 14:6, Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If we have changed the basic doctrines of Jesus, truth, Scripture, and what is the way and the truth, then how can man even come to life? False saviors, false views of the Bible and false systems of theology lead to a false gospel.
Luther started the Reformation when he saw the importance of Scripture and its authority. He did not change doctrines that were good but rather he revised bad doctrines back to their original truths and greatness. From the beginning of the Reformation Luther placed Scripture first and foremost before all of his work. Luther states in the beginning of his studying in Scripture:
The writings of all the holy fathers should be read only for a time, in order that through them we may be led to the Holy Scriptures. We are like men who study the sign-post and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished, by their writings, to lead us form the Scriptures, but we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.[1]
A correlation between Bell and Luther’s view of Scripture alone is not visible. It would seem that they do not come from the same tradition. Luther dealt sternly with liberal theologians such as Erasmus, saying, “I read our Erasmus and my enthusiasm for him decreases daily… I fear he does not sufficiently exalt Christ and God…; things human count more with him than things divine.”[2] The same can be said for Rob Bell. “I read our Bell and my enthusiasm for him decreases daily… I fear he does not sufficiently exalt Christ and God…; things human count more with him than things divine.” [1] Hugh T. Kerr, ed. A Compend of Luther’s Theology, 13.
[2] Luther, Luther’s Works, 12.
Bell and Luther do not have much in common when it comes to the Scriptures. Bell sees that time shifts in culture should lead to a change in Scriptural revelation. He may use trendy terms or ways that may seem cool or hip to today’s audiences, but a man without Scripture alone, or a substandard view on the doctrine of Scripture alone, leads to a different gospel. Believing that culture may change interpretation and meaning certainly changes the gospel. Looking for changes in the doctrines of God, Jesus, the Bible, theology and future, change the good news told of in the Scripture. And to alter doctrines and deconstruct the Bible from its original intentions is disdainful to the Lord. You cannot bend the picture too far before it is distorted. One cannot change the message of the gospel in any way, shape, or form. If the message of the gospel has been changed, truth has been changed. In John 14:6, Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If we have changed the basic doctrines of Jesus, truth, Scripture, and what is the way and the truth, then how can man even come to life? False saviors, false views of the Bible and false systems of theology lead to a false gospel.
Luther started the Reformation when he saw the importance of Scripture and its authority. He did not change doctrines that were good but rather he revised bad doctrines back to their original truths and greatness. From the beginning of the Reformation Luther placed Scripture first and foremost before all of his work. Luther states in the beginning of his studying in Scripture:
The writings of all the holy fathers should be read only for a time, in order that through them we may be led to the Holy Scriptures. We are like men who study the sign-post and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished, by their writings, to lead us form the Scriptures, but we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.[1]
A correlation between Bell and Luther’s view of Scripture alone is not visible. It would seem that they do not come from the same tradition. Luther dealt sternly with liberal theologians such as Erasmus, saying, “I read our Erasmus and my enthusiasm for him decreases daily… I fear he does not sufficiently exalt Christ and God…; things human count more with him than things divine.”[2] The same can be said for Rob Bell. “I read our Bell and my enthusiasm for him decreases daily… I fear he does not sufficiently exalt Christ and God…; things human count more with him than things divine.” [1] Hugh T. Kerr, ed. A Compend of Luther’s Theology, 13.
[2] Luther, Luther’s Works, 12.
Disclaimer:
I had e-mailed Mars Hill about contacting Rob Bell on this topic. After my first email, his sectary emailed back saying, that I could e-mail the question(s) to her and Rob Bell would answer them. After I had sent the question of, what is Rob Bell’s stance and view on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. I was given back an e-mail stating, that Rob Bell was now unable to meet. Although, I could send an e-mail to a committee and they would be able to answer my question. At this point I sent my question to them, and this idea that they had proposed now would not be able to happen. From there Rob Bells sectary e-mailed me back saying, if you would like, all I can do is lead you in the direction of one of Rob Bell’s associate pastors. After 2 weeks Nate Dawson, e-mailed me back with their stance. And he stated:
“I realize that you are particularly asking the question of “sola scripture” but as you know that is a reformed doctrine and we have no statement on that specifically.”
Number one, “that is a reformed doctrine”, what in the world is this guy thinking! “Reformed doctrine” Rob stated in the beginning of his book Velvet Elvis, that he was a part of this tradition in his introduction.
Number two, if you have no statement about that “specifically”, then why claim to be a part of what Martin Luther started! This is quite upsetting to me, due to the fact that he claims one thing and then says another!
Number Three, he ended the e-mail to me with this verse:
Is. 1:17 – Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow.
I’ll assume that he is referring to just seek after God and do not worry about troubling issues or doctrine’s in this case. And to this, I am absolutely speechless…
I had e-mailed Mars Hill about contacting Rob Bell on this topic. After my first email, his sectary emailed back saying, that I could e-mail the question(s) to her and Rob Bell would answer them. After I had sent the question of, what is Rob Bell’s stance and view on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. I was given back an e-mail stating, that Rob Bell was now unable to meet. Although, I could send an e-mail to a committee and they would be able to answer my question. At this point I sent my question to them, and this idea that they had proposed now would not be able to happen. From there Rob Bells sectary e-mailed me back saying, if you would like, all I can do is lead you in the direction of one of Rob Bell’s associate pastors. After 2 weeks Nate Dawson, e-mailed me back with their stance. And he stated:
“I realize that you are particularly asking the question of “sola scripture” but as you know that is a reformed doctrine and we have no statement on that specifically.”
Number one, “that is a reformed doctrine”, what in the world is this guy thinking! “Reformed doctrine” Rob stated in the beginning of his book Velvet Elvis, that he was a part of this tradition in his introduction.
Number two, if you have no statement about that “specifically”, then why claim to be a part of what Martin Luther started! This is quite upsetting to me, due to the fact that he claims one thing and then says another!
Number Three, he ended the e-mail to me with this verse:
Is. 1:17 – Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow.
I’ll assume that he is referring to just seek after God and do not worry about troubling issues or doctrine’s in this case. And to this, I am absolutely speechless…
VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR: Part Four
Posted: May 24, 2007 Filed under: Emergent Church, Martin Luther, Reformation Church History, Rob Bell, Scripture Alone 1 Comment
Sola Scriptura and Bell
In chapter two of Velvet Elvis Rob Bells tries to relay how difficult it is to come to grip with and interpret the Scriptures. Bell’s view of Scripture seems to encourage all people to believe what they want. His interpretation of Scripture tends to lend itself to multiple meanings. His use of epistemology ends up deconstructing the text. This ends up leading to a pluralistic relativism view of Scripture. Luther would never have agreed to this way of hermeneutics, nor did he ever practice this in his preaching or teaching of the Scriptures. Bell comments like this:
But let’s be honest. When you hear people say they are just going to tell you what the Bible means, it is not true. They are telling you what they think it means. They are giving their opinions about the Bible. It sounds nice to say, “I’m not giving you my opinion; I’m just telling you what it means.”[1]
Bell’s view here is that men can have many views of the way people teach the Scriptures. Which one is right is left up to the individual. Bell implies that Scriptures cannot have just one meaning or interpretation. Bell’s view of people giving opinions leads to nobody ever being able to hold to a truth as absolute. Previous to this statement he says, “When we are serious about dealing with the Bible as the communal book that it is, then we have to be honest about our interpretations. Everybody’s interpretation is essentially his or her own opinion. Nobody is objective”. Although the Bible may be a “communal book” its purpose is to glorify God by the work and redemption of the Savior Jesus Christ through the enabling of the Holy Spirit. It is not a subjective book left to each reader’s or preacher’s interpretation. All believers must adhere to the truths of the Bible. They should know what they believe and know with surety the truths contained in its pages.
Lastly, Bell’s view of Scripture so sharply contradicts Luther’s view that clearly Luther would not have worked with him. Luther would not work with individuals that differed with him in anyway. Luther refused to work with men of God like Zwingli and Bucker. And it could be argued that Luther would have not worked with Calvin either due to the differences on the Lord’s Supper. One can conclude, therefore, that Luther would have never worked with a man that would say such remarks as this:
This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that “Scripture alone” is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible form the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s Word, in the same breath I have to affirm that when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true.[2] [3]
Bell’s remarks bring into question what truth is and what its origin is. Bell, as a postmodernist, has a fixed view. After the church has stood on truth and the Bible for nearly 2000 years the postmodernist now believes it is not true. Bell contradicts himself on this view of Scripture. After he says Scripture does not have to be a part of the Christian faith, he makes this remarkable statement: “At some point we have to have faith. Faith that God is capable of guiding people. Faith and God has not left us alone. Faith that the same Spirit who guided Paul and Peter and those people in a room in the 300’s is still with us today. Guiding us, showing us, enlightening us.”[4] Bell seems to not have a Scripture alone mind-set, but it is likely that he believes he will find new truths or a new meaning in the Scriptures. Again, this contradicts the tradition he claims to be a part of. Luther never found Scripture to change over time based on the culture. Rather, Luther stood for one truth, one interpretation, and one meaning. Not only has Bell left truth up for grabs but he has completely become a deconstructionist.[5] And that is something that Luther never was.
In chapter two of Velvet Elvis Rob Bells tries to relay how difficult it is to come to grip with and interpret the Scriptures. Bell’s view of Scripture seems to encourage all people to believe what they want. His interpretation of Scripture tends to lend itself to multiple meanings. His use of epistemology ends up deconstructing the text. This ends up leading to a pluralistic relativism view of Scripture. Luther would never have agreed to this way of hermeneutics, nor did he ever practice this in his preaching or teaching of the Scriptures. Bell comments like this:
But let’s be honest. When you hear people say they are just going to tell you what the Bible means, it is not true. They are telling you what they think it means. They are giving their opinions about the Bible. It sounds nice to say, “I’m not giving you my opinion; I’m just telling you what it means.”[1]
Bell’s view here is that men can have many views of the way people teach the Scriptures. Which one is right is left up to the individual. Bell implies that Scriptures cannot have just one meaning or interpretation. Bell’s view of people giving opinions leads to nobody ever being able to hold to a truth as absolute. Previous to this statement he says, “When we are serious about dealing with the Bible as the communal book that it is, then we have to be honest about our interpretations. Everybody’s interpretation is essentially his or her own opinion. Nobody is objective”. Although the Bible may be a “communal book” its purpose is to glorify God by the work and redemption of the Savior Jesus Christ through the enabling of the Holy Spirit. It is not a subjective book left to each reader’s or preacher’s interpretation. All believers must adhere to the truths of the Bible. They should know what they believe and know with surety the truths contained in its pages.
Lastly, Bell’s view of Scripture so sharply contradicts Luther’s view that clearly Luther would not have worked with him. Luther would not work with individuals that differed with him in anyway. Luther refused to work with men of God like Zwingli and Bucker. And it could be argued that Luther would have not worked with Calvin either due to the differences on the Lord’s Supper. One can conclude, therefore, that Luther would have never worked with a man that would say such remarks as this:
This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that “Scripture alone” is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible form the church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God’s Word, in the same breath I have to affirm that when those people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true.[2] [3]
Bell’s remarks bring into question what truth is and what its origin is. Bell, as a postmodernist, has a fixed view. After the church has stood on truth and the Bible for nearly 2000 years the postmodernist now believes it is not true. Bell contradicts himself on this view of Scripture. After he says Scripture does not have to be a part of the Christian faith, he makes this remarkable statement: “At some point we have to have faith. Faith that God is capable of guiding people. Faith and God has not left us alone. Faith that the same Spirit who guided Paul and Peter and those people in a room in the 300’s is still with us today. Guiding us, showing us, enlightening us.”[4] Bell seems to not have a Scripture alone mind-set, but it is likely that he believes he will find new truths or a new meaning in the Scriptures. Again, this contradicts the tradition he claims to be a part of. Luther never found Scripture to change over time based on the culture. Rather, Luther stood for one truth, one interpretation, and one meaning. Not only has Bell left truth up for grabs but he has completely become a deconstructionist.[5] And that is something that Luther never was.
[1] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 54.
[2] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 67-68.
[3] Bell, Velvet Elvis, endnotes 64-65, 185.
[4] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 68.
[5] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 40-44.
VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR: Part Three
Posted: May 23, 2007 Filed under: Emergent Church, Martin Luther, Reformation Church History, Rob Bell, Scripture Alone 1 Comment
Sola Scriptura and Luther
“By Scripture alone” is the essence of the of the sixteenth-century doctrine. Many scholars see this doctrine as the main principle of the Reformation. For this is where the Roman Catholic Church erred. The Roman Church in their apostasy and perverted popes had distorted this doctrine and tried to find revelation in other means than the Scriptures. Luther by no means tried to repaint this doctrine but rather restore it to its biblical mandate.[1] Keith A. Mathison wrote this about Luther and this key doctrine of the Scriptures:
Men like Martin Luther and John Calvin did not create a new doctrine when they began to combat the tyranny and apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church with a call to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. The classical Reformers were, in fact, calling the church back to its earlier teaching, back to a one-source concept of revelation, back to Tradition. They asserted that Scripture was the sole source of divine revelation, and they denied the existence of a supplementary source. They also asserted that Scripture was to be interpreted in and by the church, in accordance with the ancient rule of the faith, as summarized in the Christian creed.[2]
The reason that Mathison can say this is because Luther himself had said this before. Mathison, as well, uses a letter written on the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, written by Martin Luther himself.
This article moreover has been clearly believed and held from the beginning of the Christian Church to this hour – a testimony of the entire holy Christian Church, which, if we had nothing besides, should be sufficient for us. For it is dangerous and terrible to hear or believe anything against the united testimony, faith, and doctrine, of the entire holy Christian Church, as this hath been held now 1,500 years, from the beginning, unanimously in all of the world. Whoso now doubted thereon, it is even that same though he believed in no Christian Church, and he condemneth thus not only the entire holy Christian Church as a damnable heresy, but also Christ himself and all the powerfully attested this article, where we say, “I believe in a holy Christian Church”; Christ namely, Matthew 28:20:” “Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world”; and Paul, 1 Timothy 3:15: “the Church of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth.”[3]
Luther did not bring about something new to the Christian Church. Luther’s intentions of reforming the church were to bring back what was found in Scriptures. Luther’s passion for Scripture alone is seen all throughout his work. He saw that Scripture was the final authority of the church and made this clear in many of his paradoxes that he used to make known the gospel. He illustrated the paradoxes of Scripture like the hidden God and the revealed God, theology of glory and the theology of the cross, outer man and the inner man, and faith and assurance. But his main two that dealt with Scripture alone were the paradoxes between law and gospel and the distinction between the word and the spirit. Luther saw that separating either of these two from the other led to what had happened to the Roman Church. Luther strongly emphasized the fact that when preaching the Word, you cannot separate the Word and Spirit. He made a point to show that Scripture must be taught in accordance what the Spirit had done in the Scriptures. Luther’s cry for the gospel by Scripture alone was a passion he carried throughout all of his works.
So it is not at all in keeping with the New Testament to write books on Christian doctrine. Rather in all places there should be fine, godly, learned, spiritual, diligent preachers without books, who extract the living Word from the old Scriptures and unceasingly inculcate it into the people, just as the apostles did. For before they wrote, they first of all preached to the people by the word of mouth and converted them.[4]
Luther’s passion of the Word was something he could never separate from the Spirit. He believed that bringing the Spirit and the Word together demonstrated the gospel. Luther states:
Gospel… means nothing but a sermon and a crying out of the grace and mercy of God, earned and won by the Lord Jesus Christ with his death. And it is really not what is in books and composed in letters, but is more an oral sermon or the living word, a voice which sounds in all the world and is publicly cried out so that one hears it everywhere.[5]
Luther saw the importance of Scripture alone. He saw the importance because he lived in a time period in which the Scriptures were not read, practiced, or even heard of. He knew this first hand, and would not back down from making the Scripture clearly shown, so that the gospel would further in its work. Luther believed that the Scriptures were enough to bring man fully to God and that no other book and writer compared to that of the divine writers and books of the Bible. Luther based his doctrines all on Scripture alone. Luther, when writing to Erasmus, shows us not only his beliefs in the sufficiency of Scriptures alone, but goes further in showing his fear of how Erasmus would use other means in revealing the Scriptures.[6] Luther was in fear of men that used the popes’ words as equal standing to the Scriptures. He recognized the pride of men who claimed the Spirit’s name but used their own spirit in interpretation of the Scriptures. He says:
Here is my answer to you. What you say is part truth, but not all of it. It is true that we shall not detect the spirits by appeals to learning, life, abilities, majorities, distinction, or to ignorance and lack of education, or numbers, or standing. However, I do not applaud those who take refuge in bragging about the Spirit. I fought last year, and am still fighting, a pretty fierce campaign against those fanatics who subject Scriptures to the interpretation of their own spirit.[7]
Luther in fear of himself misusing the Scriptures was conscientious of those who would divide doctrines because they were hard to handle. Luther dealt with this much in his time, especially with Erasmus. Erasmus viewed some truths as clear but he was still searching for the wisdom of God in other truths.[8] Luther explains first that God and His Scriptures are two different doctrines. He then goes on to explain how God is incomprehensible to man; many things are hidden.[9] But to speak of Scripture the same way would be incorrect. Luther states this problem in dealing with Scripture in his day. Today dealing with the emergent movement is similar for they are looking to find ideas and doctrines that are not revealed. Luther states this at its best:
But the notion that in Scripture some things are recondite and all is not plain was spread by the godless Sophists (whom now you echo, Erasmus) – who have never yet cited a single item to prove their crazy view; nor can they. And Satan has used these unsubstantial specters to scare men off reading the sacred text, and to destroy all sense of its value, so as to ensure that his own brand of poisonous philosophy reigns supreme in the church. I certainly grant that many passages in the Scriptures are obscure and hard to elucidate, but that is due, not to the exalted nature of their own subject, but to our own linguistic and grammatical ignorance; and it does not in any way prevent our knowing all the contents of Scripture. For what solemn truth can the Scriptures still be concealing, now that the seals are broken, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and that greatest of all mysteries brought to light- that Christ, God’s Son, became man, that God is Three in One, that Christ suffered for us, and will reign for ever? And are not these things known, and sung in our streets? Take Christ from the Scriptures- and what more will you find in them? You see, then, that the entire content of Scriptures has now been brought to light, even though some passages which contain unknown words remain obscure. This it is unintelligent and ungodly too, when you know that the contents of Scripture are as clear as can be, to pronounce them obscure on account of those few obscure words. If words are obscure in one place, they are clear in another.[10]
Luther’s view of Scripture alone is not a new song or a new idea. It is not repainting the Scriptures, but restoring them to their rightful authority in the believer’s heart and then to life. Luther dealt with the Scripture like no other. Luther’s desire was not to repaint a doctrine, but we see from his writings that his goal was to bring the church back to its biblical authority. Scripture was to be the final authority in the Christian life. To say Luther repainted his time or this doctrine is preposterous. It is outrageous to even think that the man called a “reformer” or any of the “reformers” would have wanted to be known for bringing new doctrines to the table of Christendom. Luther attempted to reform the Roman Catholic Church and its theology. He left whatever was not Scriptural. Luther was reforming at the time, and now we say “reformed,” not because he was coming up with something new, but because Luther reformed the church from the corrupt popes, councils, doctrines, and theology that the Roman Catholic Church created and used for its own pleasures. Luther summarizes Sola Scriptura to Erasmus:
But, if many things still remain abstruse to many, this does not arise from obscurity in the Scriptures, but from [our] own blindness or want [i.e., lack] of understanding, who do not go the way to see the all-perfect clearness truth… Let, therefore, wretched men cease to impute, with blasphemous perverseness, the darkness and obscurity of their own heart to the all-clear scriptures of God… if you speak of the internal clearness, no man sees one iota in the Scriptures but he that hath the Spirit of God… If you speak of the external clearness, nothing whatever is left obscure or ambiguous; but all things that are in the Scriptures, are by the Word brought forth into the clearest light, and proclaimed to the whole world.[11]
Rob Bell parallels Erasmus in many ways. If Luther did not even think of Erasmus as a believer, surely a man such as Rob Bell cannot call himself a contemporary of Luther nor claim to be a part of the tradition that Luther started.
[1] Ps. 119:1; Ps. 138:2; II Tim. 3:14-17.
[2] Keith A. Mathison, After Darkness, Light (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2003), 35.
[3] Philip Schaff, The Principle of Protestantism, Vol. I. (ed. Bard Thompson and George H. Bricker, Lancaster Series on the Mercersburg Theology, (Philadelphia: United Church Press, 1964), 117n.
[4] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 33 (ed. by Philip S. Watson Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), 26.
[5] Luther, Luther Works, Vol. 30, p. 3.
[6] Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, (Translated by J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnston. Grand Rapids: Revell, 1957), 123-25.
[7] Luther, The Bondage, 124.
[8] Luther, The Bondage, 70-74.
[9] Matt. 24:36; John 13:18; Acts 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:19.
[10] Luther, The Bondage, 71.
[11] Luther, The Bondage, 25-29.
“By Scripture alone” is the essence of the of the sixteenth-century doctrine. Many scholars see this doctrine as the main principle of the Reformation. For this is where the Roman Catholic Church erred. The Roman Church in their apostasy and perverted popes had distorted this doctrine and tried to find revelation in other means than the Scriptures. Luther by no means tried to repaint this doctrine but rather restore it to its biblical mandate.[1] Keith A. Mathison wrote this about Luther and this key doctrine of the Scriptures:
Men like Martin Luther and John Calvin did not create a new doctrine when they began to combat the tyranny and apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church with a call to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. The classical Reformers were, in fact, calling the church back to its earlier teaching, back to a one-source concept of revelation, back to Tradition. They asserted that Scripture was the sole source of divine revelation, and they denied the existence of a supplementary source. They also asserted that Scripture was to be interpreted in and by the church, in accordance with the ancient rule of the faith, as summarized in the Christian creed.[2]
The reason that Mathison can say this is because Luther himself had said this before. Mathison, as well, uses a letter written on the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, written by Martin Luther himself.
This article moreover has been clearly believed and held from the beginning of the Christian Church to this hour – a testimony of the entire holy Christian Church, which, if we had nothing besides, should be sufficient for us. For it is dangerous and terrible to hear or believe anything against the united testimony, faith, and doctrine, of the entire holy Christian Church, as this hath been held now 1,500 years, from the beginning, unanimously in all of the world. Whoso now doubted thereon, it is even that same though he believed in no Christian Church, and he condemneth thus not only the entire holy Christian Church as a damnable heresy, but also Christ himself and all the powerfully attested this article, where we say, “I believe in a holy Christian Church”; Christ namely, Matthew 28:20:” “Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world”; and Paul, 1 Timothy 3:15: “the Church of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth.”[3]
Luther did not bring about something new to the Christian Church. Luther’s intentions of reforming the church were to bring back what was found in Scriptures. Luther’s passion for Scripture alone is seen all throughout his work. He saw that Scripture was the final authority of the church and made this clear in many of his paradoxes that he used to make known the gospel. He illustrated the paradoxes of Scripture like the hidden God and the revealed God, theology of glory and the theology of the cross, outer man and the inner man, and faith and assurance. But his main two that dealt with Scripture alone were the paradoxes between law and gospel and the distinction between the word and the spirit. Luther saw that separating either of these two from the other led to what had happened to the Roman Church. Luther strongly emphasized the fact that when preaching the Word, you cannot separate the Word and Spirit. He made a point to show that Scripture must be taught in accordance what the Spirit had done in the Scriptures. Luther’s cry for the gospel by Scripture alone was a passion he carried throughout all of his works.
So it is not at all in keeping with the New Testament to write books on Christian doctrine. Rather in all places there should be fine, godly, learned, spiritual, diligent preachers without books, who extract the living Word from the old Scriptures and unceasingly inculcate it into the people, just as the apostles did. For before they wrote, they first of all preached to the people by the word of mouth and converted them.[4]
Luther’s passion of the Word was something he could never separate from the Spirit. He believed that bringing the Spirit and the Word together demonstrated the gospel. Luther states:
Gospel… means nothing but a sermon and a crying out of the grace and mercy of God, earned and won by the Lord Jesus Christ with his death. And it is really not what is in books and composed in letters, but is more an oral sermon or the living word, a voice which sounds in all the world and is publicly cried out so that one hears it everywhere.[5]
Luther saw the importance of Scripture alone. He saw the importance because he lived in a time period in which the Scriptures were not read, practiced, or even heard of. He knew this first hand, and would not back down from making the Scripture clearly shown, so that the gospel would further in its work. Luther believed that the Scriptures were enough to bring man fully to God and that no other book and writer compared to that of the divine writers and books of the Bible. Luther based his doctrines all on Scripture alone. Luther, when writing to Erasmus, shows us not only his beliefs in the sufficiency of Scriptures alone, but goes further in showing his fear of how Erasmus would use other means in revealing the Scriptures.[6] Luther was in fear of men that used the popes’ words as equal standing to the Scriptures. He recognized the pride of men who claimed the Spirit’s name but used their own spirit in interpretation of the Scriptures. He says:
Here is my answer to you. What you say is part truth, but not all of it. It is true that we shall not detect the spirits by appeals to learning, life, abilities, majorities, distinction, or to ignorance and lack of education, or numbers, or standing. However, I do not applaud those who take refuge in bragging about the Spirit. I fought last year, and am still fighting, a pretty fierce campaign against those fanatics who subject Scriptures to the interpretation of their own spirit.[7]
Luther in fear of himself misusing the Scriptures was conscientious of those who would divide doctrines because they were hard to handle. Luther dealt with this much in his time, especially with Erasmus. Erasmus viewed some truths as clear but he was still searching for the wisdom of God in other truths.[8] Luther explains first that God and His Scriptures are two different doctrines. He then goes on to explain how God is incomprehensible to man; many things are hidden.[9] But to speak of Scripture the same way would be incorrect. Luther states this problem in dealing with Scripture in his day. Today dealing with the emergent movement is similar for they are looking to find ideas and doctrines that are not revealed. Luther states this at its best:
But the notion that in Scripture some things are recondite and all is not plain was spread by the godless Sophists (whom now you echo, Erasmus) – who have never yet cited a single item to prove their crazy view; nor can they. And Satan has used these unsubstantial specters to scare men off reading the sacred text, and to destroy all sense of its value, so as to ensure that his own brand of poisonous philosophy reigns supreme in the church. I certainly grant that many passages in the Scriptures are obscure and hard to elucidate, but that is due, not to the exalted nature of their own subject, but to our own linguistic and grammatical ignorance; and it does not in any way prevent our knowing all the contents of Scripture. For what solemn truth can the Scriptures still be concealing, now that the seals are broken, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and that greatest of all mysteries brought to light- that Christ, God’s Son, became man, that God is Three in One, that Christ suffered for us, and will reign for ever? And are not these things known, and sung in our streets? Take Christ from the Scriptures- and what more will you find in them? You see, then, that the entire content of Scriptures has now been brought to light, even though some passages which contain unknown words remain obscure. This it is unintelligent and ungodly too, when you know that the contents of Scripture are as clear as can be, to pronounce them obscure on account of those few obscure words. If words are obscure in one place, they are clear in another.[10]
Luther’s view of Scripture alone is not a new song or a new idea. It is not repainting the Scriptures, but restoring them to their rightful authority in the believer’s heart and then to life. Luther dealt with the Scripture like no other. Luther’s desire was not to repaint a doctrine, but we see from his writings that his goal was to bring the church back to its biblical authority. Scripture was to be the final authority in the Christian life. To say Luther repainted his time or this doctrine is preposterous. It is outrageous to even think that the man called a “reformer” or any of the “reformers” would have wanted to be known for bringing new doctrines to the table of Christendom. Luther attempted to reform the Roman Catholic Church and its theology. He left whatever was not Scriptural. Luther was reforming at the time, and now we say “reformed,” not because he was coming up with something new, but because Luther reformed the church from the corrupt popes, councils, doctrines, and theology that the Roman Catholic Church created and used for its own pleasures. Luther summarizes Sola Scriptura to Erasmus:
But, if many things still remain abstruse to many, this does not arise from obscurity in the Scriptures, but from [our] own blindness or want [i.e., lack] of understanding, who do not go the way to see the all-perfect clearness truth… Let, therefore, wretched men cease to impute, with blasphemous perverseness, the darkness and obscurity of their own heart to the all-clear scriptures of God… if you speak of the internal clearness, no man sees one iota in the Scriptures but he that hath the Spirit of God… If you speak of the external clearness, nothing whatever is left obscure or ambiguous; but all things that are in the Scriptures, are by the Word brought forth into the clearest light, and proclaimed to the whole world.[11]
Rob Bell parallels Erasmus in many ways. If Luther did not even think of Erasmus as a believer, surely a man such as Rob Bell cannot call himself a contemporary of Luther nor claim to be a part of the tradition that Luther started.
[1] Ps. 119:1; Ps. 138:2; II Tim. 3:14-17.
[2] Keith A. Mathison, After Darkness, Light (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2003), 35.
[3] Philip Schaff, The Principle of Protestantism, Vol. I. (ed. Bard Thompson and George H. Bricker, Lancaster Series on the Mercersburg Theology, (Philadelphia: United Church Press, 1964), 117n.
[4] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 33 (ed. by Philip S. Watson Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), 26.
[5] Luther, Luther Works, Vol. 30, p. 3.
[6] Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, (Translated by J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnston. Grand Rapids: Revell, 1957), 123-25.
[7] Luther, The Bondage, 124.
[8] Luther, The Bondage, 70-74.
[9] Matt. 24:36; John 13:18; Acts 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:19.
[10] Luther, The Bondage, 71.
[11] Luther, The Bondage, 25-29.
VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR: Part Two
Posted: May 22, 2007 Filed under: Emergent Church, Martin Luther, Reformation Church History, Rob Bell, Scripture Alone Leave a comment
I. Difference in Theology
When reading the works of both Bell and Luther it seems that there is a clear distinction between the two. Although a multitude of major differences exists between Bell and Luther, looking at one of the major doctrines will be sufficient to reveal that there is no theological unity amongst them. The five solas of the Reformation are “Scripture alone,” “God’s glory alone,” “Christ’s work alone,” “grace alone,” and “faith alone.” To be a part of this “movement” Bell would need to believe all these core doctrines. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura is the doctrine that when addressed will show the differences between Luther and Bell. Luther’s reformation was against the Roman Catholic Church. And to be a part of this Reformation or as Bell puts it, “tradition” one must stand firm on the same core doctrine that had started it all. The question would be if Rob Bell believes in Scripture alone as a core doctrine.
II. A History Overview of the Doctrine of Sola Scriptura
The doctrine of Sola Scriptura means “by Scripture alone.” It is the belief that the Bible is the Word of God and is clear to any reader. Scripture interprets Scripture and it is the sole source of Christian doctrine. Luther above all other theologians during the Reformation and today is known for standing firm on this doctrine. But Luther did not repaint this doctrine of Sola Scriptura but restored it back to its proper doctrine. Although Luther in the sixteenth century was first to bring the doctrine to the forefront, the apostolic and early church fathers held to the same doctrine. The apostolic fathers saw Scripture as their authority because they sat under the feet of the apostles and their writings. Keith Mathison states, “Scripture and tradition were co-inherent concepts.”[1] The apostolic fathers would have not seen a difference in their doctrines because they were strictly all from the apostles and their writings. They did not need a systematic doctrine of Scripture alone, for they already believed in Scripture alone, for that is where their practices came from. During the second and third centuries the church fathers, mainly Irenaeus, fought for the correct view of Scripture and their traditions at the time against the Gnostics.[2] Also in the second century Clement of Alexandria wrote a letter called the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria. In chapters 16 and 17 of this letter Clement defends the absolute authority Scripture has over everything. In addition, men such as Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Athanasius, Hillary of Poitiers, and Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Augustine all believed in the authority of Scripture and that Scripture was the only authority to be given in the life of the Christian faith.[3]
During the Middle-Ages when the development of the papacy had taken over, the need for Scripture declined. Between A. D. 500-1000 the popes and their councils replaced the authority of Scripture. Around A.D. 1300, the doctrine of the papal infallibility was in place, for there was no reason to have Scripture when people believed that the pope could tell them all they needed. With the late Middle Ages, scholasticism and humanism brought a whole new way of looking at Scripture. In the first 500 years of church history, the church was the sole truth of faith for it interpreted the Scripture. Now men like Thomas Aquinas and Duna Scotus began a new way of looking at Scripture. Their view differed in that they relied on extra-scriptural sources of revelation as equal and as authoritative as the Scriptures. This made a number of changes in the late 1300’s to many different areas for the church and empire.
As Scripture’s role changed during the Middle Ages, Martin Luther’s fight was to bring it back to its authority in the Christian faith. His intent was not to repaint the faith. Luther’s first hint of restoring the church’s view of Scripture was stated at the Diet of Worms, when he says:
Since the Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simply reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.[4]
Luther would not die for anything but what he believed to be true in the Word of God. Luther as well as standing firm in his belief stood firm on restoring the Christian Church and reforming it back to its rightful state. Luther wanted to echo that which the ancient church had stood so strongly for. The 1500’s would become the time of this well-known doctrine. During the next 300 years Scripture was seen as the final authority, and not many questions arose.
Since the Reformation the doctrine of Sola Scriptura has been more heavily debated than ever before. The Enlightenment in the late 1800’s brought a philosopher mind-set and led to attacks of the revelation of Scripture. Then with the modern mind-set in America and movements like higher-criticism, people continued questioning what exactly was true in Scripture. In post-modern times we have individuals even asking what “truth” is because many people have been influences by these ideas or lines of thinking. Today’s postmodern culture has led to everyone’s own personal definition of truth. Exactly when the doctrine of Scripture alone came to be an actual doctrine in the churches can be argued. However, the importance is not when the doctrine came in to the church or not when someone repainted the view of Scripture but that Sola Scriptura has actually been a part of the Christian church since its origins.
When reading the works of both Bell and Luther it seems that there is a clear distinction between the two. Although a multitude of major differences exists between Bell and Luther, looking at one of the major doctrines will be sufficient to reveal that there is no theological unity amongst them. The five solas of the Reformation are “Scripture alone,” “God’s glory alone,” “Christ’s work alone,” “grace alone,” and “faith alone.” To be a part of this “movement” Bell would need to believe all these core doctrines. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura is the doctrine that when addressed will show the differences between Luther and Bell. Luther’s reformation was against the Roman Catholic Church. And to be a part of this Reformation or as Bell puts it, “tradition” one must stand firm on the same core doctrine that had started it all. The question would be if Rob Bell believes in Scripture alone as a core doctrine.
II. A History Overview of the Doctrine of Sola Scriptura
The doctrine of Sola Scriptura means “by Scripture alone.” It is the belief that the Bible is the Word of God and is clear to any reader. Scripture interprets Scripture and it is the sole source of Christian doctrine. Luther above all other theologians during the Reformation and today is known for standing firm on this doctrine. But Luther did not repaint this doctrine of Sola Scriptura but restored it back to its proper doctrine. Although Luther in the sixteenth century was first to bring the doctrine to the forefront, the apostolic and early church fathers held to the same doctrine. The apostolic fathers saw Scripture as their authority because they sat under the feet of the apostles and their writings. Keith Mathison states, “Scripture and tradition were co-inherent concepts.”[1] The apostolic fathers would have not seen a difference in their doctrines because they were strictly all from the apostles and their writings. They did not need a systematic doctrine of Scripture alone, for they already believed in Scripture alone, for that is where their practices came from. During the second and third centuries the church fathers, mainly Irenaeus, fought for the correct view of Scripture and their traditions at the time against the Gnostics.[2] Also in the second century Clement of Alexandria wrote a letter called the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria. In chapters 16 and 17 of this letter Clement defends the absolute authority Scripture has over everything. In addition, men such as Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Athanasius, Hillary of Poitiers, and Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Augustine all believed in the authority of Scripture and that Scripture was the only authority to be given in the life of the Christian faith.[3]
During the Middle-Ages when the development of the papacy had taken over, the need for Scripture declined. Between A. D. 500-1000 the popes and their councils replaced the authority of Scripture. Around A.D. 1300, the doctrine of the papal infallibility was in place, for there was no reason to have Scripture when people believed that the pope could tell them all they needed. With the late Middle Ages, scholasticism and humanism brought a whole new way of looking at Scripture. In the first 500 years of church history, the church was the sole truth of faith for it interpreted the Scripture. Now men like Thomas Aquinas and Duna Scotus began a new way of looking at Scripture. Their view differed in that they relied on extra-scriptural sources of revelation as equal and as authoritative as the Scriptures. This made a number of changes in the late 1300’s to many different areas for the church and empire.
As Scripture’s role changed during the Middle Ages, Martin Luther’s fight was to bring it back to its authority in the Christian faith. His intent was not to repaint the faith. Luther’s first hint of restoring the church’s view of Scripture was stated at the Diet of Worms, when he says:
Since the Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simply reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.[4]
Luther would not die for anything but what he believed to be true in the Word of God. Luther as well as standing firm in his belief stood firm on restoring the Christian Church and reforming it back to its rightful state. Luther wanted to echo that which the ancient church had stood so strongly for. The 1500’s would become the time of this well-known doctrine. During the next 300 years Scripture was seen as the final authority, and not many questions arose.
Since the Reformation the doctrine of Sola Scriptura has been more heavily debated than ever before. The Enlightenment in the late 1800’s brought a philosopher mind-set and led to attacks of the revelation of Scripture. Then with the modern mind-set in America and movements like higher-criticism, people continued questioning what exactly was true in Scripture. In post-modern times we have individuals even asking what “truth” is because many people have been influences by these ideas or lines of thinking. Today’s postmodern culture has led to everyone’s own personal definition of truth. Exactly when the doctrine of Scripture alone came to be an actual doctrine in the churches can be argued. However, the importance is not when the doctrine came in to the church or not when someone repainted the view of Scripture but that Sola Scriptura has actually been a part of the Christian church since its origins.
VELVET ELVIS COMPARED TO THE WILD BOAR: Part One
Posted: May 21, 2007 Filed under: Emergent Church, Martin Luther, Reformation Church History, Rob Bell, Scripture Alone 2 Comments
I. Repainting or Restoring?Rob Bell states:
There are endless examples of this ongoing process, so I’ll describe just one. Around 500 years ago, a man named Martin Luther raised a whole series of questions about the painting the church was presenting to the world. He insisted that God’s grace could not be purchased with money or good deeds. He wanted everyone to have their own copy of the Bible in a language they could read. He argued that everyone had a divine calling on their lives to serve God, not just priests who have jobs in churches. This concept was revolutionary for the world at that time. He was articulating earth-shattering ideas for his listeners. And they heard him. And something big, something historic, happened. Things changed. Thousands of people connected with God in ways they hadn’t before.[1]
Although there is no apparent problem within this statement made of Luther and the beginning of his reformation, Bell goes on and adds:
But that wasn’t the end of it. Luther was taking his place in a long line of people who never stopped rethinking and repainting their faith. Shedding unnecessary layers and at the same time rediscovering essentials that had been lost. Luther’s work was part of what came to be called the Reformation. Because of this movement, the churches he was speaking against went through their own process of rethinking and repainting, making significant changes as a result. And this process hasn’t stopped. It can’t.[2]
Would Luther agree with Bell’s analysis of the situation? Luther would assuredly see himself rethinking the faith, but it is highly unlikely that he saw himself repainting the faith for indeed he did not. To clearly understand Bell’s statement one must know his definition of “repainting.” It appears that by “repainting” he means to change, correct, or bring something new in to the situation. Bell’s following comment supports this theory.
By this I do not mean cosmetic, superficial changes like better lights and music, sharper graphics, and new methods with easy-to-follow steps. I mean theology: the beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible, salvation, the future. We must keep reforming the way the Christian faith is defined, lived, and explained.[3]
Bell’s idea of repainting faith is to change doctrines, theology, and truths. Arguably, however, if one changes the truths of God he ends up with a different God. If one repaints Jesus, there is a different Jesus. If one changes the truths of the Bible, the natural consequence is the doctrines of God and Jesus are changed. And to repaint salvation causes the gospel to be something of man’s own making. Luther would disagree vehemently with such actions.
Bell goes further in his view of Luther and the Reformation stating:
I’m part of this tradition. I’m part of this global, historic stream of people who believe that God has not left us alone but has been involved in human history from the beginning. People believe that in Jesus, God came among us in a unique and powerful way, showing a new kind of life. Giving each of us a new vision for our life together, for the world we live in. And as a part of this tradition, I embrace the need to keep painting, to keep reforming.
Bell’s flaw is that he equates “repainting” with “reformation.” Furthermore, he claims the Reformation repainted theology. The Reformation did nothing of the sort. It may be more accurate to say Luther “blew the dust of the painting.” Luther did not bring new doctrines and theology into play, but blew the dust that was covering the church for much of the medieval time period between 650-1400 A.D. Luther brought the church back to life and restored that which had been corrupted during the Dark Ages. Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were not to repaint the faith. His goal was to restore the faith. He was beginning to blow the dust off the church which the Dark Ages had covered; this was the magnum opus of Luther’s life. Luther from the time he stated his Ninety-five Theses to the end of his life never tried to create or bring new doctrines into the church; he did not attempt to repaint but rather restore that which was already written in the Word. In fact, if Luther’s intent was to repaint the faith he would have continued in Catholicism. At the time the Roman Catholic Church had repainted the church. With the tradition of popes, councils, and indulgences over a period of 800 years they watered down doctrines and theology. Biblical truths began to be covered by the dust of popes, councils, the oneness of church and state, and rules regarding sacraments and indulgences. If Luther wanted to repaint God, Jesus, the Bible, theology and the future he would have stayed with what the Roman Church was doing at the time. Luther did not repaint anything. He restored the faith of early church fathers like Polycarp, Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Constantine, Athanasius, Basil, Jerome, Augustine, Patrick and Columba.
Luther stood not only for what he believed to be true at the time, but what had been true throughout time. He did not tolerate new doctrines but restored doctrines that had been covered or forgotten about by the Roman Church. Luther stood firm for the faith that was already revealed. He did not ask questions to lead him to new doctrines or new theological systems. Luther’s work was to restore what had been forgotten. In some ways reform did bring many questions to the table. Some of them would have gone like this: Who is the mediator between man and God? When Christ said, “Repent” is that meaning a one time or constantly? Who is the forgiver of sins? Salvation and grace comes through whom? These could have been some of the questions Luther asked at the time of the Reformation.[4] In contrast, Bell’s outlook on Luther’s reforming the church is quite different than restoration. He states:
In fact, Luther’s contemporaries used a very specific word for this endless, absolutely necessary process of change and growth. They didn’t use the word reformed; they used the word reforming. This distinction is crucial. They knew that they and others hadn’t gotten it perfect forever. They knew that the things they said and did and wrote and decided would need to be revisited. Rethought. Reworked.[5]
Bell makes a point in his statement that the contemporaries of Luther were continually changing. It is important to consider what they are changing. Are they changing theology for theology’s sake or are they changing what had been practiced and taught incorrectly in the Roman Church at the time? The answer is clearer when the difference between the two words “reformed” and “reforming” are meted out. “Reformed” is to change for the better. “Reforming” is simply the process of doing that. The contemporaries of Luther were in the process of changing the doctrines of the church. A key point, however, is that they did not try to make something new to appease the cultural change from the medieval time period to the reformation period. Much change was due to the lack of knowledge of in the Roman Catholic churches. Luther and his contemporaries were in the process of changing doctrines but not in the process of creating new ones. They were in the process of correcting what had been wrong. They were in the process of restoring what the Catholic Church had cleaned out of their churches. These men wanted to right what had been wrong. Their intentions had nothing to do to the changing of doctrines like God, Jesus, the Bible, and theology.
Bell goes on right after his statement about Luther’s’ contemporaries to say, “I’m part of this tradition.”[6] One would conclude, therefore, that Bell must look at the doctrines of God, Jesus, the Bible, and theology the same as Luther did. Furthermore, he must promote change according to Scripture alone. He must desire change for God’s glory alone. He must have a theology of grace alone and faith alone. These are what Luther believed and lived. Luther did not repaint the Reformation with these doctrines but restored them in the churches at the time and so did his followers. Bell’s book Velvet Elvis does not indicate that these are doctrines he holds to.
Luther stood for all these core doctrines in his process of restoring the church during the Reformation. He saw them as an importance in Scripture. For these were not new doctrines of God, Jesus, the Bible and theology. Theses doctrines of the five solas were always in Scripture. Bell’s claims of comparison to Luther are erroneous if he does not agree with Luther. During the Reformation Luther wouldn’t have anything to do with groups that differed from him in beliefs such the Jews, Anabaptist, Catholics, and peasants. Would Luther work with Rob Bell? Zwingli and Luther agreed on almost every doctrine but on one occasion after three days of discussing theology, Luther found his difference in the Lord’s Supper. He henceforth refused to work with Zwingli in the Reformation.[7] It is hard to envision Luther allowing Bell to work with him in these processes of restoring or as Bell says, “repainting” the Christian faith. Bell cannot be compared to Martin Luther, the founder of the Reformation.
[1] Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 11.
[2] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 11.
[3] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 12.
[4] Walther von Loewenich, Luther’s Theology of the Cross (Belfast: Christian Journals Limited, 1976), and Jan D. Kingston Siggins, Martin Luther’s Doctrine of Christ (New Haven and London 1970: Yale University Press, 1970).
[5]Bell, Velvet Elvis, 12.
[6] Bell, Velvet Elvis, 12.
[7] Bernhard Lohse, Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999), 167-77.
John Bunyan
Posted: March 8, 2007 Filed under: Reformation Church History Leave a comment
The greatest Puritan writer of all time, John Bunyan
The Pioneer
John Bunyan was born on the 30 November, 1628 in Elstow, England, near Bedford.[1] All that is told of his birth are the records in the Elstow Church: “John, the sonne of Thomas Bonnion Junr baptized on the 30th of Novemb”.[2] John’s parents were part of the Anglican Church, raising him in the beliefs of their church. His father, Thomas Bunyan was a tinker in trade. Little is known of his mother, Margaret Bunyan. John’s mother passed away in the summer of 1644, followed by his sister Margret a month later. Two months after the death of his wife and daughter, Thomas Bunyan remarried.[3] Because of the devastating loss of his mother and sister, John Bunyan, at the age of 16, entered the Parliamentary Army. Though scholars debate on how long he served in the army, he was discharged June of 1647. After his discharge from the army, John married. Though her name was never recorded, she bore him three children, Elizabeth, John, and Thomas. Neither John nor his wife were well-off. They only had a dish, a spoon, and two books that John’s wife brought with her. These two books were gifts to her from her father.[4] Though they were very poor, John loved his wife dearly. As the years passed, she helped John rise to his full educational potential. Along with education, she showed John her love for the Lord. John began to see his wife’s, spiritual life carried out in her everyday life.
The Conversion
In 1650, Bunyan began to watch and wonder what made his wife’s life so different than the other religious men and women around him. Within the next five years, he converted to Puritanism. During this time Bunyan gave up some of his activities such as, dancing, bell ringing, and sports. He still struggled in many ways with the temptation of spiritual despair. The scriptures of damnation that he had read in the Holy Bible began to mold Bunyan into different beliefs then he believed before. Bunyan found texts that showed him that his sin was not unto death. These passages comforted him; he was able to overcome his depression while making spiritual progress. To his benefit, John became good friends with John Gifford. John Gifford was an associate from the Bedford Separatist Church. He invited John Bunyan into the community of saints, there at the local church.[5] Shortly after John attended the church, he became a member. In 1654 Pastor Gifford would pass away. At this time Bunyan started to preach in many churches in Bedford. During the next five years, Bunyan argued[6] for open communion with the Quakers.[7]
The Preacher
In 1659, Bunyan’s work, The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded, showed the covenant theology and the practice of Calvinism that he believed in. His beliefs, along with his preaching of sermons, were not in conformity with those of the Church of England. This landed would land him in the county jail in 1660. Here, Bunyan stood for his beliefs. He refused to quit preaching against the Church of England. At this time Bunyan was sentenced to three months in jail. He was told to conform or be banished. In 1661 Bunyan was placed in prison for refusing to preach what he believed. Before Bunyan’s imprisonment, he remarried in 1659. While in jail, Bunyan made shoelaces for money to support his family, and he also wrote endlessly during this time. His wife, Elizabeth, requested for his release from prison. She appealed to Sir Matthew Hale and Thomas Twisden who denied it. Over the next 12 years, Bunyan was given the privilege to leave prison and preach in many of the Bedford Churches. He was also allowed to attend church related activities. He was even granted a visit to London in the fall of 1661. He bought with him a copy of the Bible and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to prison. Throughout these years in prison, the threat of the gallows troubled his mind. Though very troubled, Bunyan focused on Rev.21:10-22:4 where he would one day be.[8]
The Liberation
June 21, 1677 John Bunyan was released from prison with the aid of John Owen. John Owen ministered in a church in London. He had appealed Bunyan’s release to Bishop Thomas Barlow. From this day on John Bunyan continued writing even more than before. He wrote books on spiritual areas that he had preached, expositions of texts, and finished his most famous work, Pilgrims Progress in 1685. Within the next three years Bunyan had written ten more books, which were included in his three volume set, Bunyan’s Works.[9]
On August 31, 1688 Bunyan was called home with the Lord. Bunyan had caught a severe cold on his travels. While lying on his death bed, his good friends, George Cokayn, John Strudwick, and Charles Doc asked him what more could be done for him. Bunyan reply, “I desire nothing more than to be with Christ, which is far better.” He was buried in Bunhill Fields next to his good friend John Owen.[10] Bunyan never sought after worldly belongings, nor did he care to become a well-known man. Bunyan was a man that sought after Christ and lived out his convictions. [1] Easy to get information on John Bunyan read: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Edited by John M’Clintock and James Strong, 1867-87; Dictionary of National Biography, 1908-09; Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 1908-28; The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974- ; New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1908-12.
[2] Harrison, 1964, pp.5
[3] Other biographies on John Bunyan’s life, theology and works: John Brown, John Bunyan: His Life Times and Work, 1885; J.A. Froude, English men of letters, 1887; E. Venables, Great Writer’s Series, 1888; W.H. White, Literary Lives Series, 1904; Kerr Bain, two volumes set on The People of the Pilgrimage, 1887; Sir Walter Scott’s review of Southey’s Life in the Quarterly Review, Oct. 1830; Dean Howson, Companions for the Devout Life, 1877; W. Robertson Nicoll, Evangelical Succession Series, 1884. Ola Elizabeth Winslow, John Bunyan, 1961; Monica Furlong, Puritan’s Progress, 1975; Lynn Veach Sadler, John Bunyan, 1979; William York Tindall, John Bunyan, 1934.
[4] The title of these two books are: The Plain Man’s Path-way to Heaven, Wherein every man may clearly see, whether he shall be saved of damned, by Arthur Dent, and The Practice of Pietie, directing a Christian how to walk that he may please God, by Lewis Bayly.
[5] It is best to read John Bunyan’s word’s himself on his conversion to Christ: Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, paragraphs 229-32, pp.105-07.
[6] On John Bunyan’s debates and concerns against other religious practices that he dealt with during his time: Dictionary of National Biography, 1908-09.
[7] Dealing more with the debate between the Baptist and the Quakers: T.L. Underwood, Primitivism, radicalism, and the Lamb’s War: the Baptist-Quaker conflict in the seventeenth century England (1997). For more information on Bunyan and the Quakers (his first printed works): Some Gospel Truths Opened, 1656, and A Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Open, 1657.
[8] This text in Rev.21:10-22:4 would later be what inspired him to write, The Holy City, which was an understanding of the Church and end times. Later its’ sequel in 1665 would be written, The Resurrection of the Dead.
[9] Easy reference guide to Bunyan’s works: J.R. Beeke and R.J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans, pp. 101-12. For more in-depth work on Bunyan’s works: J.R. Knott, Bunyan Studies: John Bunyan and his time, vol. 1, 1998, H. Talon, John Bunyan: the man and his works, 1951.
[10] You can read George Cokayn benediction of John Bunyan’s life in Harrison, John Bunyan, pp.198-99.
John Bunyan was born on the 30 November, 1628 in Elstow, England, near Bedford.[1] All that is told of his birth are the records in the Elstow Church: “John, the sonne of Thomas Bonnion Junr baptized on the 30th of Novemb”.[2] John’s parents were part of the Anglican Church, raising him in the beliefs of their church. His father, Thomas Bunyan was a tinker in trade. Little is known of his mother, Margaret Bunyan. John’s mother passed away in the summer of 1644, followed by his sister Margret a month later. Two months after the death of his wife and daughter, Thomas Bunyan remarried.[3] Because of the devastating loss of his mother and sister, John Bunyan, at the age of 16, entered the Parliamentary Army. Though scholars debate on how long he served in the army, he was discharged June of 1647. After his discharge from the army, John married. Though her name was never recorded, she bore him three children, Elizabeth, John, and Thomas. Neither John nor his wife were well-off. They only had a dish, a spoon, and two books that John’s wife brought with her. These two books were gifts to her from her father.[4] Though they were very poor, John loved his wife dearly. As the years passed, she helped John rise to his full educational potential. Along with education, she showed John her love for the Lord. John began to see his wife’s, spiritual life carried out in her everyday life.
The Conversion
In 1650, Bunyan began to watch and wonder what made his wife’s life so different than the other religious men and women around him. Within the next five years, he converted to Puritanism. During this time Bunyan gave up some of his activities such as, dancing, bell ringing, and sports. He still struggled in many ways with the temptation of spiritual despair. The scriptures of damnation that he had read in the Holy Bible began to mold Bunyan into different beliefs then he believed before. Bunyan found texts that showed him that his sin was not unto death. These passages comforted him; he was able to overcome his depression while making spiritual progress. To his benefit, John became good friends with John Gifford. John Gifford was an associate from the Bedford Separatist Church. He invited John Bunyan into the community of saints, there at the local church.[5] Shortly after John attended the church, he became a member. In 1654 Pastor Gifford would pass away. At this time Bunyan started to preach in many churches in Bedford. During the next five years, Bunyan argued[6] for open communion with the Quakers.[7]
The Preacher
In 1659, Bunyan’s work, The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded, showed the covenant theology and the practice of Calvinism that he believed in. His beliefs, along with his preaching of sermons, were not in conformity with those of the Church of England. This landed would land him in the county jail in 1660. Here, Bunyan stood for his beliefs. He refused to quit preaching against the Church of England. At this time Bunyan was sentenced to three months in jail. He was told to conform or be banished. In 1661 Bunyan was placed in prison for refusing to preach what he believed. Before Bunyan’s imprisonment, he remarried in 1659. While in jail, Bunyan made shoelaces for money to support his family, and he also wrote endlessly during this time. His wife, Elizabeth, requested for his release from prison. She appealed to Sir Matthew Hale and Thomas Twisden who denied it. Over the next 12 years, Bunyan was given the privilege to leave prison and preach in many of the Bedford Churches. He was also allowed to attend church related activities. He was even granted a visit to London in the fall of 1661. He bought with him a copy of the Bible and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to prison. Throughout these years in prison, the threat of the gallows troubled his mind. Though very troubled, Bunyan focused on Rev.21:10-22:4 where he would one day be.[8]
The Liberation
June 21, 1677 John Bunyan was released from prison with the aid of John Owen. John Owen ministered in a church in London. He had appealed Bunyan’s release to Bishop Thomas Barlow. From this day on John Bunyan continued writing even more than before. He wrote books on spiritual areas that he had preached, expositions of texts, and finished his most famous work, Pilgrims Progress in 1685. Within the next three years Bunyan had written ten more books, which were included in his three volume set, Bunyan’s Works.[9]
On August 31, 1688 Bunyan was called home with the Lord. Bunyan had caught a severe cold on his travels. While lying on his death bed, his good friends, George Cokayn, John Strudwick, and Charles Doc asked him what more could be done for him. Bunyan reply, “I desire nothing more than to be with Christ, which is far better.” He was buried in Bunhill Fields next to his good friend John Owen.[10] Bunyan never sought after worldly belongings, nor did he care to become a well-known man. Bunyan was a man that sought after Christ and lived out his convictions. [1] Easy to get information on John Bunyan read: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Edited by John M’Clintock and James Strong, 1867-87; Dictionary of National Biography, 1908-09; Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 1908-28; The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974- ; New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1908-12.
[2] Harrison, 1964, pp.5
[3] Other biographies on John Bunyan’s life, theology and works: John Brown, John Bunyan: His Life Times and Work, 1885; J.A. Froude, English men of letters, 1887; E. Venables, Great Writer’s Series, 1888; W.H. White, Literary Lives Series, 1904; Kerr Bain, two volumes set on The People of the Pilgrimage, 1887; Sir Walter Scott’s review of Southey’s Life in the Quarterly Review, Oct. 1830; Dean Howson, Companions for the Devout Life, 1877; W. Robertson Nicoll, Evangelical Succession Series, 1884. Ola Elizabeth Winslow, John Bunyan, 1961; Monica Furlong, Puritan’s Progress, 1975; Lynn Veach Sadler, John Bunyan, 1979; William York Tindall, John Bunyan, 1934.
[4] The title of these two books are: The Plain Man’s Path-way to Heaven, Wherein every man may clearly see, whether he shall be saved of damned, by Arthur Dent, and The Practice of Pietie, directing a Christian how to walk that he may please God, by Lewis Bayly.
[5] It is best to read John Bunyan’s word’s himself on his conversion to Christ: Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, paragraphs 229-32, pp.105-07.
[6] On John Bunyan’s debates and concerns against other religious practices that he dealt with during his time: Dictionary of National Biography, 1908-09.
[7] Dealing more with the debate between the Baptist and the Quakers: T.L. Underwood, Primitivism, radicalism, and the Lamb’s War: the Baptist-Quaker conflict in the seventeenth century England (1997). For more information on Bunyan and the Quakers (his first printed works): Some Gospel Truths Opened, 1656, and A Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Open, 1657.
[8] This text in Rev.21:10-22:4 would later be what inspired him to write, The Holy City, which was an understanding of the Church and end times. Later its’ sequel in 1665 would be written, The Resurrection of the Dead.
[9] Easy reference guide to Bunyan’s works: J.R. Beeke and R.J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans, pp. 101-12. For more in-depth work on Bunyan’s works: J.R. Knott, Bunyan Studies: John Bunyan and his time, vol. 1, 1998, H. Talon, John Bunyan: the man and his works, 1951.
[10] You can read George Cokayn benediction of John Bunyan’s life in Harrison, John Bunyan, pp.198-99.
Gospel-Centered Musings 
