# 490 Years of Reformation - Happy Reformation Day!



## BobVigneault (Oct 31, 2007)

Except for our corners of reformed think tanks and our modestly attended churches there won't be a lot of celebrating of Reformation Day today. The majority of America will be consumed with the trappings of Halloween.

It's been 490 years since Luther called for a small discussion of some problems in the church. It wasn't as dramatic as portrayed in the movies. A piece of paper tacked to the town bulletin board in Latin - the language of scholars. Somebody thought the 95 theses deserved a larger audience and the new technology of the movable type printing press spread a German translation across the land seemingly overnight.

The spirit of reformation was already building, the words of Hus and Wycliffe were having a residual effect on several within the church. Everyone wanted to see reformation but no one wanted it to be a matter of doctrine until Luther forced the issue.

Most significantly, Luther and the 'protestants' did not split the church. They never wanted to split the church. They called for councils within the church to address the corruption of the church and scripture. In 1563, the council of Trent ended. At times it seemed as if the differences would be successfully addressed and resolved but in the end the Council of Trent stood firmly against the reformers and against Scripture itself.

Here are a few of the canons of Trent:



> CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
> 
> CANON XI.-If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.
> 
> ...



The repeated phrase, "let him be anathema" should sound very familiar to those familiar with the Apostle Paul. He used the same phrase in Galatians.



> Gal. 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.



For Paul, the heart of the Gospel was justification by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. This is the Gospel that was rediscovered and articulated by the Reformers.



> Eph. 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.



It should be clear to see that in invoking an anathema on those who teach 'justification by faith alone' the Roman Catholic Church cursed the great Apostle and the Word of God. In doing so the Roman Church ceased to be part of the catholic church. It had apostatized itself. Luther and the 'protestants' did not split the church, they simply remained faithful to the Word and preserved the Church for the glory of God. So today we DON'T celebrate a church split but the preservation of the Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In as much as the Roman Church continues to uphold Trent, the schism also continues and there can be no agreement with the Roman Church. We have much work to do for the Gospel is under the same attacks today as it was in the 16th century but not so much from the Roman church as from our evangelical brothers and sisters.

Use your opportunity here on the Puritan Board to learn how to defend the faith, present the Gospel and fulfill Christs great commission. This should not be a haven of isolated theological debates but an incubator where we learn to defend, protect and present the Gospel of Christ and to continually reform our minds and our churches 'Soli Deo Gloria'.


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## turmeric (Oct 31, 2007)

Happy Reformation Day to you too! A good day to remember those who have gone before us.


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## JTDyck (Oct 31, 2007)

Thanks for this timely reminder. It is also good to read and review the 95 Theses that Luther posted on this day 490 years ago. They are still useful and good reminders of our liberty in Christ. (#82 is one of my favourites.)



> *Ninety-Five Theses*
> by
> Martin Luther
> 
> ...


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## Theogenes (Oct 31, 2007)

POST TENEBRAS LUX!!!!!!
Happy Reformation Day!


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## BobVigneault (Oct 31, 2007)

Many assume that 'indulgences' is a practice of the Roman church that ended hundreds of years ago. In 1998, John Paul Deux reinstated indulgences in his papal Bull for the Jubilee year. The Bull is quite long but here are a few exerpts from it.



> 9. Another distinctive sign, and one familiar to the faithful, is the indulgence, which is one of the constitutive elements of the Jubilee. The indulgence discloses the fulness of the Father's mercy, who offers everyone his love, expressed primarily in the forgiveness of sins. Normally, God the Father grants his pardon through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.(14) Free and conscious surrender to grave sin, in fact, separates the believer from the life of grace with God and therefore excludes the believer from the holiness to which he is called. Having received from Christ the power to forgive in his name (cf. Mt 16:19; Jn 20:23), the Church is in the world as the living presence of the love of God who leans down to every human weakness in order to gather it into the embrace of his mercy. It is precisely through the ministry of the Church that God diffuses his mercy in the world, by means of that precious gift which from very ancient times has been called "indulgence".
> 
> .......................
> 
> ...



Now, the Romans will be quick to point out that an indulgence is not forgiveness. You cannot buy forgiveness of sins. They teach that a sin, though forgiven, still requires a 'temporal punishment'. These punishments are dealt with through acts of penance and charity. If one dies without doing enough penance to cover the temporal punishment one has earned then purgatory is required to finish the job. Purgatory gets the believer perfect and ready for Heaven.

I know what you are thinking, 'a nods as good as a wink to a blind horse' and you're right. No one in the Roman church is being quite so offensive as Tetzel was in his 'selling' techniques but the mechanism is still in place. When the Bull says, 



> donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor; supporting by a significant contribution works of a religious or social nature



that leaves a lot of room for churches to promote their particular causes and the result can be a hefty and 'filthy' lucre.


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## Raj (Oct 31, 2007)

Happy Reformation Day! Very much reminding of the courage and contribution of Heros of faith.


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## etexas (Oct 31, 2007)

We got a great sermon using Calvn as an imperfect yet still great "hero" of the faith....(actually that was Reformation Sunday....not Reformation Day...but you get my point.)Happy Reformation Day to all!


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## BobVigneault (Oct 31, 2007)

Our denominational historian Dr. John Muether is coming this Saturday to conduct a conference on REFORMATION:
YESTERDAY AND TODAY. I'm pumped. Anyone in the area is sure invited to come.


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## clstamper (Oct 31, 2007)

I think I will dress up like NT Wright and go trick or treating. That costume would scare anybody!


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## Reformed Covenanter (Oct 31, 2007)

clstamper said:


> I think I will dress up like NT Wright and go trick or treating. That costume would scare anybody!


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## D. Paul (Oct 31, 2007)

Someone said to me today "Happy Halloween!" 
I replied, "Happy Reformation Day!"
The response?


To be expected, I guess.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 31, 2007)

Happy Reformation Day! 

The Reformation Polka by Robert Gebel: 

[Sung to the tune of "Supercalifragilistic-expialidocious"]

When I was just ein junger Mann I studied canon law;
While Erfurt was a challenge, it was just to please my Pa.
Then came the storm, the lightning struck, I called upon Saint Anne,
I shaved my head, I took my vows, an Augustinian! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

When Tetzel came near Wittenberg, St. Peter's profits soared,
I wrote a little notice for the All Saints' Bull'tin board:
"You cannot purchase merits, for we're justified by grace!
Here's 95 more reasons, Brother Tetzel, in your face!" Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

They loved my tracts, adored my wit, all were exempleror;
The Pope, however, hauled me up before the Emperor.
"Are these your books? Do you recant?" King Charles did demand,
"I will not change my Diet, Sir, God help me here I stand!" Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

Duke Frederick took the Wise approach, responding to my words,
By knighting "George" as hostage in the Kingdom of the Birds.
Use Brother Martin's model if the languages you seek,
Stay locked inside a castle with your Hebrew and your Greek! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!

Let's raise our steins and Concord Books while gathered in this place,
And spread the word that 'catholic' is spelled with lower case;
The Word remains unfettered when the Spirit gets his chance,
So come on, Katy, drop your lute, and join us in our dance! Oh...

Chorus:
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation -
Speak your mind against them and face excommunication!
Nail your theses to the door, let's start a Reformation!
Papal bulls, indulgences, and transubstantiation!


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## BobVigneault (Nov 1, 2007)

Hey, didn't Rich sing that in his church last year? Wasn't there an audio? Inquiring minds want to know.


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## JTDyck (Nov 1, 2007)

*Reformation Polka Video*



BobVigneault said:


> Hey, didn't Rich sing that in his church last year? Wasn't there an audio? Inquiring minds want to know.



Here is a pretty good video of the Reformation Polka: 

[video=youtube;WU0f_qJLkLg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU0f_qJLkLg[/video]


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## JTDyck (Nov 1, 2007)

*Vatican Rag*

And then there's always the old Vatican Rag:

[video=youtube;3f72CTDe4-0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0[/video]


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