Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class The Significance of the Reformation This week’s lesson involves more reading, so we have divided it up over four days instead of the usual three. Please begin your study early in the week. On Sunday, Pastor Bret will close out the Elders’ The Five Solas of the Reformation series with a sermon on “The Significance of the Reformation.” During the month of October, Desiring God has been posting short biographical sketches on several of the key individuals involved in the Reformation. For this week’s homework, we will be considering the example of some of the reformers highlighted so far in their “Here We Stand” website posts. We have provided the biographical sketches for this homework at the end of this packet. You can find the full series of biographical sketches at www.desiringgod.org/series/here-we-stand. We encourage you to read the rest of the biographies in the coming days, but our class discussions will focus on the ones listed below. Homework Structure Names like Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli quickly come to mind when thinking about the origins of the Protestant Reformation, but these men were not alone in their convictions. In reading through the brief biographical sketches of some of the other men and women engaged in the leading the Reformation, some consistent themes emerge. Several of these themes are listed on the following pages. As you read the biographical sketches listed for each day (provided at the end of the homework packet), record how you see these people living out these themes, and come to class prepared to discuss your observations. Day 1 Review the themes on pages 2-5. Read the biographical sketches of John Wycliffe, Peter Waldo, Jan Hus, and William Tyndale, then record your observations under each theme. Day 2 Review the themes on pages 2-5. Read the biographical sketches of Philip Melanchthon, Menno Simons, Marie Dentière, and Ulrich Zwingli, then record your observations under each theme. Day 3 Review the themes on pages 2-5. Read the biographical sketches of Johannes Oecolampadius, Wolfgang Capito, Martin Bucer, and Wibrandis Rosenblatt, then record your observations under each theme. Day 4 Review the themes on pages 2-5. Read the biographical sketches of Peter Martyr Vermigli, Thomas Becon, Thomas Cranmer, and Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, then record your observations under each theme. Page 1 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class Reformation Themes THE BIBLE FOR ALL: a conviction that the Bible should be accessible to all people in the common languages, and the amazing things that happened when people began to study the Scriptures THE TRUE GOSPEL: recovering the true gospel from the Scriptures that sinful men are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone Page 2 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class LOYALTY TO CHRIST: the determination to remain loyal to Christ over all other potential loyalties (family, country, etc.) even at the cost of comfort, stability, and life itself TRANSLATING DOCTRINE INTO DAILY LIFE: seeking to live out the implications of biblical teachings in real daily life Page 3 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS: the necessity of believers supporting and encouraging each other COOPERATION AND DISAGREEMENT: working together in areas of common interpretation, seeking to instruct in areas of differing interpretations, and navigating the conflicts that emerge Page 4 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class GOD’S GRACE IN THE MIDST OF MAN’S IMPERFECTIONS: God using these faithful ones in spite of their failings, missteps, and errors GOD’S SOVEREIGN AND POWERFUL HAND: God using their seemingly small faithful actions to reach beyond all expectation In preparation for Sunday, pray that by God’s grace we will be taught by the Scriptures, will live in accordance with them, and will be loyal to Christ above all else. Page 5 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class Biographical Sketches John Wycliffe, c. 1330–1384 The Morning Star of the Reformation, by Stephen Nichols John Wycliffe has been called “The Morning Star of the Reformation.” The morning star is not actually a star, but the planet Venus, which appears before the sun rises and while darkness still dominates the horizon. The morning star is unmistakably visible. Darkness dominated the horizon in the fourteenth century, the century of Wycliffe, who was born in 1330 and died in 1384, almost exactly one hundred years before Luther was born. By his teenage years, Wycliffe was at Oxford. Thomas Bradwardine (known as “Doctor Profundus”) taught theology and William of Ockham (famous for “Ockham’s Razor”) taught philosophy. Before long, Wycliffe took his own place among the faculty. Appointed the Master of Balliol College, Wycliffe lectured and wrote in the field of philosophy. But the tug of biblical studies pulled on him. He applied himself rigorously to the study of theology and Scripture. As he did, he realized how much the church had veered off in so many wrong directions. Setting the Stage In the 1370s, he produced three significant works as countermeasures to the church’s corruption. The first one, On Divine Dominion (1373–1374), took aim at papal authority. Wycliffe was at a loss to find biblical warrant for the papacy. In fact, he argued that the papacy conflicts with and obscures the church’s true authority, Scripture. The second major work was On Civil Dominion (1375–1376). Here Wycliffe targeted the Roman Catholic Church’s assertion of authority over the English crown and English nobility. He saw no reason for England to be obliged to support a corrupt church. In his third major work, On the Truth of Sacred Scripture (1378), he further developed the doctrine of the authority of Scripture. These three works were crucial to setting the stage for the Reformation. Two faculty members visiting at Oxford returned with Wycliffe’s writings to their home city of Prague, which in turn influenced Jan Hus. He would consequently go on to be a second “Morning Star” of the Reformation. Martin Luther’s early writings reveal the fingerprints of John Wycliffe. Yet, as important as these works are, they pale in comparison to his most important contribution, the Wycliffe Bible. Reformation Began with Translation In On the Truth of Sacred Scripture, Wycliffe called for the Bible to be translated into English. According to Roman Catholic law, translating the Bible into a vulgar, common language was a heresy punishable by death. It is almost impossible to imagine why a church would want to keep God’s word from people, unless that church wanted to hold power over the people. Wycliffe was more convinced of the power of the word of God than the power wielded by the papal office. Consequently, he and a group of colleagues committed themselves to making the word of God available. Not only did the Bible need to be translated; it also had to be copied and distributed. This was before the printing press (invented in 1440), so copies had to be made painstakingly by hand. Despite the challenges, hundreds of the Bibles were produced and distributed to Wycliffe’s troop of pastors, who preached across England as the word of God made its way to the people. Wycliffe’s followers came to be called Lollards. They were enclaves of reform not only in England, but across Europe. These efforts in translating, copying, and proclaiming the Bible in English were driven by a singular motive, expressed by Wycliffe this way: “It helps Christian men to study the Gospel in that tongue which they know best.” In his final years, Wycliffe endured falling out of favor with the church and nobility in England. Of course, he had long ago fallen out of favor with the pope. Yet, Wycliffe declared, “I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death.” He remained convinced of the authority and centrality of Scripture and devoted to his life’s calling to help Christians study the Bible. Having suffered two strokes, John Wycliffe died on December 30, 1384. Page 6 of 24 Summit Woods Baptist Church First Corinthians Sermon Study Equipping Class “Heretic” and Hero In 1415, the Council of Constance, which condemned Jan Hus to death, declared Wycliffe a heretic. His bones were exhumed and burned and the ashes were put into the River Swift. But the reforming efforts of Wycliffe could not be quenched by the flames or stopped by a council’s declarations. This Morning Star shone brightly against the horizon, signaling the soon coming of daylight. Peter Waldo, died by 1218 The First Tremor, by Jon Bloom More than three hundred years before Martin Luther was born, an unlikely reformer suddenly appeared in the city of Lyon in southeast France. His protests against doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church were strong tremors foretelling the coming spiritual earthquake called the Reformation. And the movement he launched survived to join the great Reformation. He is known to history as Peter Waldo. Many details about Waldo are not known, including his name. We don’t know if Peter was his real first name, since it doesn’t appear in any document until 150 years after his death. His last name was most likely something like Valdès or Vaudès — Valdo (Waldo) was the Italian adaptation. We also don’t know the year Peter was born or the precise year he died — historians disagree over whether he died between 1205 and 1207 or between 1215 and 1218.