Reformed Christian Studies

 By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Place for Truth: Most tourists to Rome stop by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, in Piazza Navona. Some drop a coin in the water and make a wish. Hardly anyone is aware that in the same square a young Italian man was boiled in a cauldron of oil, pitch, and turpentine for his religious convictions. And yet, the man’s young age, stubborn refusal to recant, and astonishing composure during that final, agonizing ordeal, have contributed to imprint his name in the history of the Protestant Reformation. Algerio was born around 1531 in Nola, near Naples, Italy - the same birth-place of another famous dissenter, Giordano Bruno. That general area was also where a Spanish Reformer, Juan De Valdes, held a Protestant-leaning conventicle. Quite possibly, Algerio had already been exposed to dissenting ideas by the time he moved to the university of Padova (or Padua, as it is known outside of Italy). In Padova, he lived with other stu

By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Place for Truth: Estifanos of Gwendagwende – Reformer and Martyr Around the time when John Wyclif and Ian Hus shook the western church by challenging its authority and traditions, a lesser-known monk did something similar in Ethiopia. He was known as Abba Estifanos (in English, Father Stephen). Estifanos’s Early Life By the time Estifanos was born in 1380 in the village of Sebuha, northwestern Ethiopia, his father Berhane Meskel had already died in battle. Estifanos was named by his relatives Hadege Anbesa (“likeness of a lion”) and was raised by his uncle to follow in his father’s footsteps as a valiant soldier for their nation. But Estifanos’s interest was only in learning more about God and how to please him. Against the wishes of his relatives, he joined a religious center called Beta Iyyasus (Church of Jesus), where he was consecrated as a deacon at age eighteen. From there, he moved to the Qoyetsa monastery, in the region of Tigray, wher

By Michael Haykin - Posted at Sermon Audio: (Image Source - Wikipedia )

By Dr. R.C. Sproul - Posted at Youtube : Details: Lecture four from Dr. R.C. Sproul's teaching series The Holiness of God . "The Holiness of God examines the meaning of holiness and why people are both fascinated and terrified by a holy God. This series closely explores God’s character, leading to new insights on sin, justice, and grace. The result is a new awareness of our dependence upon God’s mercy and a discovery of the awesomeness of His majestic holiness. R.C. Sproul says, 'The holiness of God affects every aspect of our lives — economics, politics, athletics, romance — everything with which we are involved.'" Own this series on DVD:  https://www.ligonier.org/store/holiness-of-god-dvd/ Learn more about Dr. R.C. Sproul:  https://www.ligonier.org/about/rc-sproul/ Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2StKxMKWfbU

Posted at Place for Truth : Today, the title First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women evokes images of an approaching army of terrifying woman-like creatures. Its author, John Knox, meant something quite different. It was the title of a short treatise on government (regiment = rule) held by women, a concept he found unnatural (monstrous). It was not a controversial idea. At that time, most people believed that government was a male prerogative. The biblical examples of women leaders were seen as an indication of the corruption of times when no man could rise to the task. Most Protestant leaders, however, wouldn’t have expressed their thoughts in such drastic terms. They were concerned about winning rulers – male or female – to their cause, and tempered their words accordingly. But Knox was not a tame man. Read more here.

By Stephen Nichols "Philip Melanchthon is, after Martin Luther, likely the most prominent resident of Wittenberg, Germany. “Master Philip,” as Luther called him, was born on February 15, 1497. He came of age educationally just after Martin Luther did, but in many ways, Melanchthon’s education was very different from Luther’s. Luther was raised in medieval methodology, whereas Melanchthon’s early education was steeped in the new humanism. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Heidelberg and his M.A. from the University of Tübingen." Stephen Nichols Audio Link: https://soundcloud.com/5churchhistory/philip-melanchthon

By W. Robert Godfrey - Posted at Ligonier Ministries : The phrase ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (the church reformed, always reforming) has been used so often as to make it a motto or slogan. People have used it to support a surprising array of theological and ecclesiastical programs and purposes. Scholars have traced its origins to a devotional book written by Jodocus van Lodenstein in 1674. Van Lodenstein, no doubt, had no intention of being a phrase-maker or sloganeer. What was his intention, and what did he mean by this phrase? Van Lodenstein was a minister in the Reformed Church of the United Provinces in what we know today as the Netherlands. This church was born of decades of faithful preaching by ministers—many educated in Geneva—who risked their lives to carry the gospel, first into the French-speaking regions of the Low Countries, and later into the Dutch-speaking regions farther north. Some ministers were martyred for their faith, but they gathered a rich harv

Published on Oct 12, 2015 Almighty God, who gave to your servant John Huss Boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Link: https://youtu.be/0Vr04TNrbt4

By David T. Myers - Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: On November 24, 1572, Scottish clergyman and reformer John Knox died in Edinburgh. God’s Firebrand Finally Extinguished The nickname for John Knox, as used in our title above, was bestowed on him by no less a fellow Reformer than John Calvin. It correctly characterized his life and ministry from the time he strapped on a literal sword to defend the life and ministry of George Wishart to the times of the Scottish Reformation to the very day he went home to receive his eternal rewards. That time came on November 24, 1572 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Oppressed with the infirmities of old age, Knox recognized that in God’s providence his time had come to depart this old earth. Sensing that, he prevailed upon the elders of that church to call as the new pastor the Rev. James Lawson as his successor. Lawson was at that time the professor of philosophy in the college of Aberdeen. Not satisfied with a “mere” letter from the Sess

By Dr. Steven J. Lawson - Preached August, 2014 at the Knox 500 Conference: Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=92914203914

Posted at 5 Minutes in Church History : Martin Bucer was one of the leading lights of the Reformation in Strasbourg. He was born in 1491 and died in 1551, and he, like Martin Luther, was an Augustinian monk. In 1518, he found himself in Heidelberg at the Augustinian chapter house with Luther himself. In October 1517, Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, beginning the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s brothers in the Augustinian order wanted to take him up on his invitation to debate, so they invited him to the Augustinian chapter house in Heidelberg. Luther arrived in April 1518, and rather than presenting the Ninety-Five Theses, he drafted a new set of twenty-nine points for debate. Bucer was just a young monk in the audience. Seeing the debate had a significant impact on Bucer, and sometime in the next year or two, he was converted. He was one of the first Reformers to leave the monastery and get married. In 1523, he was invited to Strasbour

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : No Wonder He Was Weary. Our post today, an account of the death of John Knox, is taken from the essential biography written by Thomas McCrie:— Monday, the 24th of November [1572], was the last day that he spent on earth. That morning he could not be persuaded to lie in bed, but, though unable to stand alone, rose between nine and ten o’clock, and put on his stockings and doublet. Being conducted to a chair, he sat about half an hour, and then was put in bed again. In the progress of the day, it appeared evident that his end drew near. Besides his wife and Richard Bannatyne, Campbell of Kinyeancleugh, Johnston of Elphingston, and Dr. Preston, three of his most intimate acquaintances, sat by turns at his bed-side. Kinyeancleugh asked him, if he had any pain. “It is no painful pain, but such a pain as shall, I trust, put end to the battle. I must leave the care of my wife and children to you (continued he,) to whom you must be a husband

By Dr. Steven J. Lawson - Posted at Sermon Audio: (59 minutes) Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=924131452591

By Gervase N. Charmley - Posted at The Banner of Truth : Of all the major Reformers, John Knox is the one about whose early life we know the least – a fact that may come as a surprise since he wrote a History of the Reformation in Scotland . 1 We cannot even be certain of the year in which he was born; it was either 1514 or 1515, but the day is completely unknown. Until the last century, it was generally believed that he was born in 1505, the date given by Thomas M’Crie, an error that serves to illustrate how little we know of Knox before he became a Reformer. The mistake was in part the result of mistaking another man of the same name, who was a student in Glasgow in 1522, for the Reformer. The place of his birth we do know for certain; it was in a house, long since vanished, in Giffordgate, a street in the then thriving and prosperous town of Haddington, across the river Tyne from the great church of St. Mary, which was called ‘The Lamp of the Lothians.’ When he called himself ‘

Posted at Tolle Lege: “At the time when divine truth lay buried under this vast and dense cloud of darkness; when religion was sullied by so many impious superstitions; when by horrid blasphemies the worship of God was corrupted, and His glory laid prostrate; when by a multitude of perverse opinions, the benefit of redemption was frustrated, and men, intoxicated with a fatal confidence in works, sought salvation anywhere rather than in Christ; when the administration of the sacraments was partly maimed and torn asunder, partly adulterated by the admixture of numerous fictions, and partly profaned by traffickings for gain; ... Read more here...

Posted at Continuing Reformation: John Knox – Preaching at St. Giles Cathedral – Stained Glass from St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland. John Knox stands as a giant of the Protestant faith. A former sword-bearing body guard and a former slave captured by the French; a man who sparred with a Queen, accused of heresy, and lived to tell the tale. John Knox lived a life as turbulent and fierce as the highlands of Scotland itself. Knox’s life serves as an example of how the actions of a few good men can change the fortunes of an entire nation. Read more here...

Posted at Continuing Reformation : A student and friend of many great Protestant Reformers, Zacharias Ursinus is remembered along with his mentors for his work as the principle author of the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the best-loved catechisms within the Reformed Protestant tradition. Ursinus, born Zacharias Bear (he later Latinized his name to Ursinus) was born in the town of Breslau, modern-day Wrocaw, Poland in the year 1534. His father was a tutor, and Ursinus grew up surrounded by learning and education. (“Ursinus and Olevianus”) At the age of 15, Ursinus entered Wittenberg University, the great institution at which Martin Luther had ignited the first sparks of Reformation in Europe. Here he befriended Phillip Melanchthon and studied under his teaching, opening his mind to a moderate view of the Lord’s Supper, which eventually led him to a Reformed way of thinking. Melanchthon recommended Ursinus to the finest minds in Protestant Christendom, and he met with Jean Mercie

By Robert Rothwell - Posted at Ligonier Ministries : (Oct. 29, 2014) On Friday, much of the culture will be focused on candy and things that go bump in the night. Protestants, however, have something far more significant to celebrate on October 31. Friday is Reformation day, which commemorates what was perhaps the greatest move of God’s Spirit since the days of the Apostles. But what is the significance of Reformation Day, and how should we consider the events it commemorates? At the time, few would have suspected that the sound of a hammer striking the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany, would soon be heard around the world and lead ultimately to the greatest transformation of Western society since the apostles first preached the Gospel throughout the Roman empire. Martin Luther’s nailing of his ninety-five theses to the church door on October 31, 1517, provoked a debate that culminated finally in what we now call the Protestant Reformation. Read more here...

By Michael Pursley - Posted at Regeneration, Repentance and Reformation : This is a short biography of Pierre Viret (1511 – 4 May 1571), a Swiss Reformed theologian, who is as obscure now as his tiny native village. However, he was without a doubt, the most sought after Reformed minister of the Sixteenth Century. As, one great scholar and professor has pointed out.. No tourist in Geneva can miss the impressive Reformation Monument with its four towering figures: John Calvin, Guillaume Farel, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. Some visitors might even notice a series of reliefs on the statue’s base, which depict various scenes from the Genevan Reformation. Yet only a sharp-eyed observer is likely to spot in one of the reliefs a spare man with a long beard preaching to a crowd of intent listeners: that man is Pierre Viret. Viret is now virtually forgotten among the major reformers. But if we can say that Calvin systematized the theology of the Reformation, it would be equally just to

Posted at Continuing Reformation : Heinrich Bullinger – 1550 – Geschichte des Kantons Zürich Heinrich Bullinger served as the glue that held the reformation together. The slaying of Zwingli at the Battle of Kappel on October 11th 1531, created a void in Zürich. Who would take over the Grössminster? Uncertainty clouded the day, but when Bullinger took the pulpit “on [that] first Sunday he ‘thundered a sermon…[so] that many thought Zwingli was not dead, but was resurrected like the phoenix.” (Ives) Bullinger stands as a giant of the reformation. Not only did he write prolific works that are utilized in reformed churches in the modern day, he was also instrumental the creation of an international “reformed” identity. Read more here...