This October 31st
will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Likely, Martin Luther had no idea that the
actual date of his nailing the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church on
October 31, 1517 would be remembered as the beginning date of a movement.
Certainly, there were other reformers prior
to Martin Luther. John Wyclif (or Wycliffe if you prefer), more than a century
earlier, had defied Church law and translated the Latin Vulgate into English so
that the common people could read God’s word.
He argued that it was the scriptures that were the only truly reliable
guide to our Christian religion and he rejected the Papacy as being
non-biblical.
John Hus, a contemporary to
John Wyclif was tried for heresy and burned at the stake for speaking out
against the worldliness of the church.
More than 150 years later, Pope Paul III would call together the Council
of Trent that ultimately would largely agree with Hus regarding the worldliness of the
church.
Nevertheless, this
500th anniversary of the ‘official’ start of the Reformation has mixed
reviews. For every theologian and
historian that is enthusiastic over the establishment of Scripture as being the
final authority in all matters of faith, there are just as many that look to
what the same Scriptures have to say about divisions and schisms within the
church. The Bible says we are to be
united and that there should be no divisions.
How can we celebrate something that created many lasting divisions in
the Body?
I prefer to think
of the Protestant Reformation more as a revival of the Church.
Revivals are movements that occupy a place
and time and are more like waves than tsunamis.
This revival had an impact as well on what we now know as the Roman
Catholic Church, institutionalizing and formalizing the doctrines of
Transubstantiation and fixing the number of sacraments at seven. The same Council of Trent that rejected the
Reformers teaching on Sola Fide¸ agreed that it was a disgrace to sell indulgences.
While many think
these disagreements over doctrine and practice have created divisions, I prefer
to use the word denominations.
Denominations are not bad necessarily as by definition a denomination is
just a replica, a subset of the whole.
You may think that mine may be an odd definition but look inside your
wallet. Do you have money inside that
has divisions or denominations? The
five-dollar bill is backed by the same faith and confidence of the US Government
as the ten-dollar bill. In fact, if you
have two five-dollar bills they are identical in literally every way to the
ten-dollar bill except in the fact that they are two subsets of the one.
True unity in the
Church happens every time we recognize that if we are clinging to the Vine, and
a believer in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are a full member of the Body of
Christ and not just a member of a group of religious adherents to a
denomination. If you want to lament the
event that marks the beginning of the Reformation on October 31, 1517 you’ll
have trouble reconciling the true history of the church with its many schisms,
changes, abuses and self-centered leaders as well as its triumphs, successes,
reforms and saints.
Let’s embrace
what truly makes us one and celebrate the Reformation that revived the Body of
Christ. Today, 2,000 years after
Pentecost, we have taken the gospel around the world and there are more than 2
billion people that identify themselves with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
