Dr. Godfrey concluded his first article by describing Luther’s theology as a “personal theology.” Luther began as a monk, a devotee of the church; he became a student of Scripture and subsequently became strongly convicted of the truth of salvation was to be found only by grace through faith. LUTHER’S WRITINGS Now that experience led Luther into a public path […]
Around October 31, Martin Luther is remembered far and wide in the United States among evangelical protestants as a hero of the faith. We look back at Luther as a pioneer, as a profound theologian, as a heroic reformer. Some of us gather in Reformation Day services on October 31st to remember the great beginning […]
This article is an edited transcription of an address give during the annual meeting of the Reformed Fellowship on October 6, 1994, in the Beverly Christian Reformed Church (Independent). I divide what I want to say to you now into two parts. The first I call a diagnosis, an analysis. The second is a proposed […]
In the last issue Dr. Godfrey discussed Martin Luther’s writings about right doctrine and law and gospel. He concludes the series by reviewing Luther’s writings on faith, and on the law as a spiritual guide. LUTHER’S WRITINGS (continued) On faith Now as a corollary to this distinction between law and gospel, Luther discussed faith. Faith […]
450 years ago, a request came to John Calvin to write on the character of and need for reform in the Church. The circumstances were quite different from those that inspired other writings of Calvin, and enable us to see other dimensions of his defense of the Reformation. The Emperor Charles V was calling the […]
1997 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Philip Melanchthon. Philip was Luther’s right-hand man, trusted and loved by Luther. He was 14 years younger than Luther, but was with him from the beginning in the reforming work that Luther led from the university and the pulpit of Wittenberg. […]
The Latin phrase Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda “The church reformed must always be reformed”—originated in 17th-century Holland. Its use in that context makes our contemporary habit of quoting it to justify significant change in the church seem not just questionable, but incorrect. Among the Dutch theologians who first expressed this thought, it spoke of the […]
In the Patmos model of revival and reformation all the outer garments of Judaism and institutional Christianity had been removed. Five essentials were there. John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. There was a Christian, the Spirit of Christ, the Word, the lampstands and the Lord’s Day. (This is not a model for […]
Many, not all, of the Biblical principles which are applicable to revival have been reviewed in previous articles. Is there revival in North America? Review the principles and apply them to what you have seen, experienced, or heard about. It may very well be that one group of people is experiencing revival and another is […]
Modern France is dominated religiously by skepticism or Roman Catholicism. As one scholar put it. all modern Frenchmen seem to be followers of either Descartes or Pascal. But four hundred years ago France was experiencing a powerful reformation in its religious life and many Frenchmen were followers of John Calvin. France produced some of the […]