EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth column in a year-long series leading up to the 500th anniversary of the 16th-century Reformation on Oct. 31, 2017. When Martin Luther proclaimed the truth that God justifies sinners by faith alone, he declared also that Christians must follow Jesus amid the joys and storms of day-to-day life in the world. There was no place, any longer, for secluding oneself to seek a holy life in a cloister. Whereas medieval religion placed monastic solitude and celibacy … [Read more...]
Luther’s declaration of Christian liberty
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth column in a year-long series leading up to the 500th anniversary of the 16th-century Reformation on Oct. 31, 2017. * * * In 1505, the young man Martin Luther, cowering before a thunderbolt, vowed to become a monk and a devout servant of the Catholic church under the headship of the Roman pontiff. Fifteen years later, in the summer of 1520, Pope Leo X launched his own thunderbolt at Luther in the form of an edict that denounced Luther as a … [Read more...]
Renaissance meets Reformation
Less famous than the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome owes at least some of its brilliance to the same man: Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. Through windows at its base, light pours into the dome of St. Peter’s from every direction, bringing to life its manifold frescoes and its gold and blue rays, which lead the eye upward to heaven. Below the windows, written in Latin with blue letters painted on gold, are words from Matthew 16:18-19: “You are Peter and upon this … [Read more...]
A roasted goose, a singing swan
“…. The bishop gathered what he could. Beside the River Swift, he lit a pile of wood and tossed the bones on one at a time, cursing the heretic from limb to limb. Afterwards, they shoveled ash into the water and no one even thought the word martyr.” – Poet Thom Satterlee, “Burning Wyclif” * * * In the summer of 1519, nearly 15 years after a thunderbolt had knocked him into the monastery and nearly two years after he publicly criticized the pope in his 95 … [Read more...]
‘The end of the world was long ago …’
“For the end of the world was long ago, When ends of the world waxed free ….” – G.K. Chesterton, “The Ballad of the White Horse” * * * “On a sultry day in July of the year 1505 a lonely traveler was trudging over a parched road on the outskirts of the Saxon village of Stotternheim. He was a young man, short but sturdy, and wore the dress of a university student. As he approached the village, the sky became overcast. Suddenly there was a shower, then a crashing storm. A … [Read more...]
The Reformation, the conscience, election day
“Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the 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. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” The German Reformer Martin Luther spoke these words in 1521 at the Diet of Worms, where he had been called to testify about his controversial … [Read more...]
‘Reversed Thunder’
Living as a child in the plains of Western Oklahoma, I could often watch from a safe distance as a line of storms approached. Especially at night, I could see the flash and hear the crack of recurrent thunderbolts. Even after so many years, as I recall watching those nighttime storms, I’m amazed by such power and immediacy. Within milliseconds, 15 million volts of electricity cut across the sky and reach up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit—that is, five times the sun’s surface … [Read more...]
Walking through the fog with Christ
In The Horse and His Boy, the third book in his Narnia series, author C.S. Lewis tells the story of a boy fighting through the fog—much as we do while trying to discern God’s will for our lives. Shasta, the boy in Lewis’ tale, walks blindly through the fog and over a mountain pass into the land of Narnia. As he does so the great lion, Aslan, approaches and speaks to him, but he doesn’t make himself known. In response to the lion’s questions, the boy lists his many misfortunes: He’s an … [Read more...]
Can Baptists talk to babies?
Several years ago, Presbyterian pastor and scholar Peter J. Leithart posed a question that could cause problems for Baptists who have young children or grandchildren: Can Baptists talk to babies? According to Leithart, it is logically inconsistent for Baptists to speak to their infants while also denying the validity of infant baptism (aka, paedobaptism). His argument is worth a brief summary and response. Summary “Protestants have always insisted that the sacraments bring no benefit … [Read more...]
With ‘feeling faith’ come hope and tears
Once he feels its flame, a child will never doubt the candle’s heat. Likewise, the English Reformer William Tyndale once wrote, those who “feel” their faith will stand firm in the truth of Scripture and the promises of God. Convinced that Englishmen and women needed to hear God’s Word in their own language, Tyndale published in 1526 the first English New Testament translated from the Greek text. Throughout the 10 years of ministry that followed, he often spoke of “feeling” – a term that he … [Read more...]
The historical Jesus
Nearly a decade ago, an article in Popular Mechanics reported that forensic scientists had reconstructed the “real face of Jesus.” Their reconstruction differed sharply from the typical portraits of Jesus that portrayed Christ with graceful features, light skin and flowing, brown hair. Instead, these scientists gave Jesus large dark eyes, black hair and tawny skin; bushy eyebrows and a short, frizzed moustache, beard and hair; as well as strong cheek bones and a bulbous nose. However … [Read more...]
Do you believe that Mary is the mother of God?
Do you believe that the virgin Mary is the mother of God? Baptists have prudently avoided describing Mary in this way, since the biblical writers never call her the “mother of God” and since this description has too often led to an idolatrous adoration of Mary. Nevertheless, this question goes to the heart of what we celebrate during the Christmas season – namely, the birth of Jesus Christ, who was both fully God and fully man. Let me explain. In the first five centuries following … [Read more...]
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