March 11, 2012

Whenever I study the Protestant Reformation, the changes that were wrought never cease to amaze me. For over one thousand years there was one church, one faith, one doctrine (with the exception of Eastern Orthodox; I’m speaking of the bulk of Europe). Then all of a sudden, due to the invention of the printing press, the courage to be different, and the strength of teachers who weren’t afraid to teach something contrary to the norm, there was another choice. Something new. Something that was very liberating for very many people. Christians dared to believe another doctrine for the first time in over a millennium, and suddenly there were two major branches of Christianity vying for control in Europe.

I have always been interested in the sixteenth century for this very reason. What must it have been like when Martin Luther had his “light-bulb moment”? When all of a sudden, new thought was much-sought-after? When “newborn” Protestants could read the Bible in their own language and weep for joy at the prospect of studying Scripture whenever the desire might seize them? Though due to the extreme bloodshed and volatility I would not dare envy those living in that era, it must have been an amazing time to be alive.

Long live the Reformation! May we still be "bitten" by that spirit today, and ride in the wake of the Reformers, proclaiming the ideas and the unshakable faith our ancestors claimed!


(c) 2012 Joyously Saved