1517-1576
Ulrich Zwingli
1454-1531
Martin Luther
1483-1546
John Calvin
1509-1564
Desiderus Erasmus
1466/7-1536
Felix Mantz
1498-1527
Balthasar Hübmaier
1480-1528
Ignatius Loyola
1491-1556
Marburg Colloquey
10/1-3/1529
Luther’s Small Catechism
1529
Augsburg Confession
6/15/1530
Council of Trent
1546
Formula of Concord
1576
Cocceius (Johannes Koch (1603-1669)
Tolerant Catholic Archbishop Herman of Cologne deposed
4/16/1546
3. Melanchthon vs. Matthias Illyricus Flacius
4. Bullinger and the Ultra-Dispensationalists
5. The Huguenots
5. Menno Simons and the Mennonites
6. Jakob Hutter and the Amish
7. Jacob Arminius
8. The Council of Trent and the Counter Reformation
John Tyndale
The Jansenists
John Knox
The Schism of the Third Rome
Martyrs in the East
The Puritans
(Oliver Cromwell)
powder dry
The Pilgrims
(Cotton Mather)
vaccinations
John Williams
Count Van Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren
John Wesley and Methodism
Jonathan Edwards
Madame Guyon 1648-1717
Other Reformers:
Pietro Martire Vermigli
Gasparde de Coligny Karlstadt (1477/81-1541) no art or
music, clergy must marry, memorial communion,
Sabbath, like Puritans.
First Anabaptist leaders learned, moderate men. After they
were all martyred, many of their successors were unlearned
and radical.
1534 Münster taken by sword; polygamy, Christ's return
Jakob Hutter - Amish 1536
Humanists
Johannes Reuchlin 1455-1522 (humanist)
Lorenzo Valla 1407-1457
At Nickolsburg, Hübmaier strongly opposed
Hans Hut because Hut fixed a time for the last
day. (Justification Anabaptism in Outline p.324)
After a public debate, Hut was expelled. Hut
also believed the church in Nickolsburg was
not disciplined enough.
In the original thirteen colonies, 85% of the churches were
either Puritan or influenced by them (Quaker, Anglican,
Baptist, etc.)
George Fox 1624-1691 (Founder of Quakerism) No minister,
sacraments, liturgy.
Just prior to their massacre, the Huguenots attempted
assassination to forestall persecution (Conspiracy of
Amboise). Calvin condemned that.
In Calvin's Geneva, Catholics had to leave. If anyone who
was excommunicated did not have their excommunication
lifted in six months, they had to peacefully leave or face the
consequences. There were 13K native population and 6K
refugees from France, Italy, Spain, and England.
Pope reluctant to call the Council of Trent because of concilar
movement, strengthened by Constance.
Other Reformers:
Pietro Martire Vermigli
Gasparde de Coligny Karlstadt (1477/81-1541) no art or
music, clergy must marry, memorial communion, Sabbath,
like Puritans.
Both Luther and Melanchthon believed in the death penalty
for Anabaptists.
Anabaptists Hetzer, Denck.
Wolfgang Capito, Lutheran Minister
Melanchthon vs. Matthias Illyricus Flacius
Menno Simons and the Anabaptists
Arminius
John Tyndale
Cardinal Cajetan and the Counter Reformation
The Jansenists
Council of Trent
John Knox
The Schism of the Third Rome
Martyrs in the East
The Huguenots -1562 plundered Bonaventure’s grave
1562
@Toulouse French kill Huguenots
4
1562
Protestants pillage abbey at Tours, France
1570
French Huguenot pirates kill 39 Jesuits enroute to Brazil
1576-1593 @France Catholics & Huguenots fight
------The Puritans
(Oliver Cromwell)
powder dry
The Pilgrims
(Cotton Mather)
vaccinations
John Williams
Count Van Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren
John Wesley and Methodism
Jonathan Edwards

THE REFORMATION

PHILIP OF HESSE
& THE MARBURG
COLLOQUEY
1529 AD.


have the devil teaching in my church." Later
they wrote opposing pamphlets on the Lord's
supper.
A key opportunity, to have Calvinist and
Lutheran Christians be united, was lost.

Philip of Hesse and his guest and landgrave
Duke Ulrich of Wurtemberg, in the presence of
50 persons.
Philip was neither a theologian, missionary,
or church leader of any sort. One may wonder
why we devote any space to him. Perhaps after
reading these pages you may agree that after
Calvin's and Luther's work, Philip's Marburg
Colloquey was potentially one of the most
significant acts of the Reformation. --or at
least, it could have been.
Since Duke Ulrich did not want it to end in a
total failure, he requested that they draw up a
list of essential points of Christian doctrine.
They drew up the Articles of Marburg. This
included the Trinity, faith, justification,
Scriptures, government, tradition, and infant
baptism.
Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Bucer, Hedio, and
Jacob Sturm. Other side Luther, Melanchthon,
Jonas, Cruciger, Menius, Brentz, Osiander and
Stephen Agricola.
The fifteenth point, the Lord’s supper, they
wrote down what they agreed upon. One of the
points was rejection of the Sacrifice of the
Mass.
p.170 Menschrenk at Marburg Melanchthon
said Zwingli did not believe in original sin.
Persecution of Believer's Baptists
Zwingliism dominated Zürich, but it was not
the only movement. There was also an active
The Marburg Colloquey was a meeting
Anabaptist movement. There were
between Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and
"disputations" (debates) between Zwingli and
Zwingli's allies Martin Bucer, Oecolampadius,
the Anabaptists on 1/1525, 3/1525, and
and Capito. They agreed on practically
everything except the Lord's Supper. They tried 11/1525. Finally Zwingli had the Anabaptist
leaders in Zürich imprisoned and later
hard to come to agreement, but the biggest
problem was that the others denied of the real executed. Also in 1529 was the Diet of Speyer,
where Luther agreed to put Anabaptists to
presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper while
death because they practiced infant baptism.
Luther believed in it.
Luther could not get over that Jesus said
"This is my body" taught the real presence of
Christ. So while Zwingli said "is" meant simply
"signifies" in this context, Luther could not
agree.
Zwingli authored many tracts. He wrote On
the Lord's Supper in 1525 to explain the
meaning of the Lord's supper. He wrote Tricks
of the Catabaptists to 1527 to say why infant
baptism was wrong.
At the end, Zwingli tried to shake Luther's
hand even though they could not agree. Martin
Luther refused to shake the hand of Zwingli or
Bucer. Luther later said of Zwingli, "I will not
What Happened to Philip of Hesse?
In all the religious wars of the times, the
Lutherans did not help the Calvinists, and the
Calvinists did not help the Lutherans. Philip of
Hesse was the closest to being a leader both
sides respected. However Philip lost a lot of
support when he married a second wife
without divorcing his first wife. At that time
many rulers had just one wife, but one or more
mistresses on the side. Rather than having an
illicit affair though, Philip probably reasoned
that it was better to just have a second wife.
After all, the Bible gives examples of Abraham,
Jacob, Saul, David, and Solomon. (uh...
perhaps we ought to forget Solomon.) Since
the Bible did not specifically prohibit
polygamy, and the law permitted it (Philip
made the laws), was anything wrong with
Philip marrying a second wife?
Luther made some attempt to justify this,
which
In the wars between the Catholics and
Lutherans that followed, Philip of Hesse was
defeated and captured by the Catholics. After
being imprisoned for many years, he was
finally released. After his release he still was
ruler of Hesse, but showed little interest in
public religious matters.

THE COUNCIL OF
CONSTANCE
1415 AD.

MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANS

The Council of Constance was called in 1415
primarily to settle the division among the three
simultaneous Popes, for all saw that this division, and
even granting indulgences to those who participated in a
crusade against a rival Pope, were harmful to the respect
people had for the Catholic Church. At the Council the
writings of John Wycliffe were condemned, and Jan Huss
was burned to death. The purpose of reading this is twofold; first to expose the character of the leaders who
condemned Huss, and second to lay to rest the assertion
that official church councils can be trusted as used by
God. Just as the Decretals issue proved that Popes have
led many into grave sin, Constance, above all other
official church councils, shows that even some church
councils can be tools of the devil that all true Christians,
Protestant and Catholic, are to repudiate.
The Background on Constance
Constance was a small village of ~1,500 in modern day
western Switzerland. This village was swamped by over
500 official church leaders and princes, about the same
number of scribes and official bull writers, and over
18,000 priests, theological students, and other clergy. The
council was very well organized; accommodation was
built for all, and non-inflated prices and sufficient
quantity were present for all essentials.
Preparations were thorough to meet all the needs of
those attending. In addition to 83 full time sellers of
wine, there were 1,500 "public ladies", to meet all the
needs of those attending. As Huss remarked on the
situation, it would take a hundred years before Constance
is cleansed of the sins committed there.
There was a monastery at Constance, complete with its
own dungeon, where Huss was imprisoned. It was right
next to the latrine, and Huss, arriving in Constance in full
health, was dangerously feverish after spending a few
days there. His quarters were immediately improved,
because it would be unseemly to have a heretic die before
his execution.
In the sin of Constance, one might say Huss stood out
as a man “on fire for God.” As Paul says in Phil 3:15
“...children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the
universe”

THE REFORMATION

ULRICH ZWINGLI
1484-1531 A.D.



While many prior to Zwingli and Martin
Luther tried to reform the church, and many
believed in following the Bible rather than the
church, popes, and councils, it was Luther
and Zwingli that can be said to have started
the Reformation. Luther was born a bit earlier
than Zwingli, and started Lutheranism.
Zwingli was the forerunner of Calvin and
Calvinism. The third movement, the
anabaptists, also started in Zürich.
In this paper, we will focus on four things:
what exactly Zwingli did, the consequences,
why did he do it, and what can we learn about
God, man, and ourselves that is applicable
today. Before learning these things though,
let’s read some background on Zwingli.
Zwingli’s Life
Ulrich (or Huldrich) Zwingli was born in
Switzerland 1/1/1484. He was well-educated,
studying the classics and philosophy and
Vienna, Basel, and Berne. Zwingli had an
affair, but he tried to partially excuse it to a
friend of his by saying “she was only a
common strumpet.” Priests having affairs and
children was common at this time. They often
had to simply pay a small, one-time tax /
indulgence and that was it. At this time the
Swiss were famous a mercenary soldiers, and
Zwingli was a chaplain stationed at Glarus, for
the troops. After seeing the carnage and
suffering of war, Zwingli spoke out against
being used as mercenary troops, especially by
the French. The French party at Glarus got
Zwingli reassigned, and in 1516, when he was
32 years old, he went to Einseideln, a suburb
of Zürich.
1516 was a significant year in Zwingli
forming his beliefs. He visited Italy three times,
which turned many people off to the Catholic
Church, including Martin Luther. He read
much of the early church fathers. Erasmus
had made a fresh translation of the Greek New
Testament into Latin, so one could compare it
with the Latin Vulgate, written by Jerome over
a thousand years earlier. Zwingli must have
thought highly of the New Testament in
general and Erasmus’ translation in
particular; Zwingli memorized the whole thing!
He corresponded with Erasmus, but Erasmus
did not think highly of him. At this time
Zwingli says he discovered Evangelical belief.
He preached the Gospel “openly but
cunningly.” He preached the true Gospel, but
in such as way that the Catholic authorities
would not realize it was radically different than
what they were teaching. However, also at
Einseideln was one of the numerous Catholic
shrines, and Zwingli spoke out against
veneration of saints and shrines, indulgences,
and other “adornments” to Christianity.
In August of 1518 a Franciscan monk,
Bernadin Samson came to Switzerland to sell
indulgences. Indulgences are an “agreement”
where you pay so much to the person the
church authorized to give the indulgence, and
either your sin were forgiven, you had a
shorter stay in purgatory, or someone you
loved had a shorter stay in purgatory. Zwingli
had great influence of the city council of
Zürich. He convinced it to pass a law
forbidding Samson to enter Zürich. Zwingli
became the priest of the Great Cathedral in
Zürich. Pope Adrian VI wanted Zürich to
remove Zwingli as priest; the city council set
up a disputation, in which Zwingli presented
67 theses. One of these was that the bishops
should not allow harlotry, and should allow
priests to marry, or at least wink at their
marriage. (Why not, since they winked at
harlotry?) Also, only the Holy Spirit is required
to make Holy Scripture intelligible, not the
church, councils, or Pope.
In 1519 the city council passed a law
forbidding all religious practice without
foundation in scripture. Zwingli got the plague
in 9/1519, but he recovered.
Zwingli had a style of preaching not seen
since John Chrysostom and the Antioch
Christians in 430 A.D.: expository preaching.
While preaching through books of the Bible
might seem commonplace and natural today,
it was a novel thing then, especially since most
priests had very little knowledge of the Bible.
Zwingli did not accept the Apocrypha as
scripture. He was very “Augustinian” or
“Calvinist” in his preaching. One serious
theological problem Zwingli had though, was
that he believed the book of Revelation should
not be in the Bible.
On 2/2-20/1523, in the Canton of Berne,
there was a public disputation, with 900
people, between Zwingli and Catholic priests.
Berne was won over.
In 1524, Zwingli openly married his longtime secret wife, Anna Reinhard, a widow. Also
in 1524, someone procured for Zwingli a newfangled contraption, a printing press. Zwingli
wrote a tract On the Lord’s Supper, saying it
the Eucharist, saying it was not a repetition of
Christ’s sacrifice but only a remembrance.
Luther wrote bitter tracts to respond to
Zwingli. In 1525 Zwingli said that “Luther was
in a fog.” Unfortunately, there was probably
some jealousy on Zwingli’s part, and unChristian nastiness on Luther’s part. The powerful
Protestant prince Philip of Hesse held a
Colloquy at Marburg in October of 1529
between Luther, Zwingli, and Zwingli’s coworker Martin Bucer, to iron out their differences and have Christian unity between these
two reformers. They agreed on everything except Christ’s presence in the Lord’s supper,
and Luther refused to shake the hand of a
heretic.
Zwingli dominated Zürich, but his was not
the only movement. In 1525 the Anabaptists
challenged Zwingli’s control in Zürich, and on
1/2/1526 there was a public disputation. The
Anabaptists were exiled, primarily because
they believed the church should be independent of the state and because they believed in
baptism of believers, not infants. In 1527,
Zwingli wrote the pamphlet, Tricks of the
Catabaptists, to show why believer’s baptism
was wrong. Later, Zwingli, in a poor showing of
Christian unity, had the Anabaptist leaders in
Zürich imprisoned and later executed. Also in
1529 was the Diet of Speyer, where Luther
agreed to put Anabaptists to death (both the
radical and moderate Anabaptists) because
they practiced infant baptism.
All images were removed from church in
Zürich. After seeing the political consequences
of these results, Zürich prepared for war.
In 1531, at Zwingli’s urging, Zürich and the
Protestant cantons of Switzerland made a preemptive strike against the five Catholic cantons, and won. They imposed lenient terms,
mainly insisting that they be allowed to have
trading posts in the Catholic cantons. However, On October 9, 1531 the five Catholic
cantons struck back. As the 1,500 Zürich
troops went out to fight the 8,000 Catholic
Swiss troops at Kappel, Zwingli was the
standard bearer and chaplain for the army, a
post he knew well. Zwingli was wounded on
the 9th, and found and dispatched by the
Catholic soldiers on the 10th. fighting
continued until the 23rd of the month, and the
Catholics imposed terms on the Protestant
Cantons, and Zürich never did recover its preeminent place.
Zwingli’s Legacy
As Zwingli lay on the field of battle wounded
that day, it would be easy to conclude that all
he worked for was lost. Nevertheless, history
says otherwise. Switzerland is half-Protestant
and half-Catholic to this day.
The traitorous, murderous, lecherous
Council of Constance in 1415 pretty much
destroyed the respect many had for the
Catholic Church. Zwingli’s efforts took them a
step further; they could follow Christ independent of the Catholic Church. When Calvin
came to Geneva, he did not convert half the
Swiss to be Calvinists; in a sense they already
were Calvinists.
The First Helvetic Confession, written by
followers in 1536, after Zwingli’s death,
showed the theology of Zwingliism.
Zwingli’s Protests
Zwingli did not have a problem with the
Catholic Church’s stand on infant baptism,
the power of the church in government, and
torturing people with different beliefs, though
he should have had a problem with these.
Zwingli had a problem with worshipping saints
and shrines, worship of bread and wine as
Jesus, images in churches, prayers to dead
mediators, priest’s celibacy, fasts, Lenten
abstinence of meat, the Apocrypha, and
obeying church leaders when they were not
following God. However, none of these issues
are the root cause of Zwingli’s decision to
formally break with the Catholic church. The
root difference is Zwingli’s teaching that the
Holy Spirit is all that is needed to make Holy
Scripture intelligible, not the church, council
or popes.
Application Today
Christians are in trouble when they forget
some of the these Zwingli presented at Berne:
“(2) that this Church imposes no laws on the
conscience of people without the sanction of
the Word of God, and that the laws of the
Church are binding only in so far as they agree
with the Word; (3) that Christ alone is our
righteousness and our salvation, and that to
trust to any other merit or satisfaction is to
deny Him;”

THE REFORMATION

MARTIN LUTHER
1483-1546 A.D.



It may be surprising to know that Martin
Luther was a reluctant reformer. However, he
studied Romans 1:16-17 and could not get the
verses out his mind. Perhaps we should not
get those verses out of our mind either.
As we briefly glimpse Luther’s life, may we
learn from his dependence for truth on the
Bible, and also learn from his mistakes, where
he did not fully break with wrong tradition.
Luther’s Early Life
Martin Luther had a strict upbringing by his
parents, Margaret and Hans, the latter from
whom he inherited his hot temper. Luther
went to schools with harsh discipline, which
was normal at that time. Later, Luther was
very critical of harshness in raising children.
At 14 Luther sent to Madgeburg to continue
his education, and he earned his living by
singing in the streets. The music of some great
Lutheran hymns, such as “A Mighty Fortress
Is Our God” was actually taken from German
drinking songs. While some might criticize
this, others would respond “why should the
devil have all the good music?”
Luther was a good student, especially in
Latin. In 1501 entered the University of Erfurt,
the most famous university in Germany, where
he studied Latin, philosophy, and Scholastic
theology. In 1505 he began to study Law. After
a near miss by a lightning bolt, in July of
1505, he renounced all this and entered the
(strict) Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
against the wishes of his father. Luther
learned theology as many did, from Peter
Lombard’s Sentences. He received the Master’s
degree Sententiarius (Master of the Sentences).
you sinned, how could you be sure if you
repent sufficiently? Being a priest, how could
you be sure the penitential works you assigned
people who confessed their sins to you was
sufficient? He found comfort in the writings of
Bernard and Gerson, but these and the
counseling he received were not the answer.
Likewise our counseling, pop-psychology, and
wisdom can bandage people’s troubles, when
what they really need is the Lord.
Luther was converted in the winter of 15121513 as he studied Romans 1:16-17. Just as
he was almost struck by a bolt of lightning in
1505, he was struck by another bolt from
heaven, God’s Word, in the middle of winter.
He saw clearly from Romans 1:16-17 that his
core concept of justification by God was all
wrong. We are not justified by God, (in a
retribution sense) on account of our merits
and penitential works. Rather, we are justified
by God, (in an imputed sense) by His mercy
and received by our faith.
Saved by Merit, but Whose Merit?
Merit is there, but it is only Christ’s merit,
not ours, that counts. Catholics in general
completely agree that we are saved by God’s
grace through faith, because of Christ. That
was not the issue. The issue was, and is,
Grace alone, through faith alone, through
Christ alone. This is part of the rallying cry of
the reformation. God’s grace alone means it is
not a combination of God’s merit plus human
merit. Faith alone means it is not a
combination of our faith by our meritorious
works, and Christ alone, means we look to and
depend only on Christ, not Christ plus Mary,
plus saints, plus other sources of merit.
Luther saw that the teaching of the
Scholastics was a poor substitute for the
teaching of God. He wrote 98 theses against
scholastic theology, in Sept., 1517. Luther was
a professor of theology, and one of Luther’s
students defended these 98 theses against the
prevalent theology of Western Europe in a
public debate to get is bachelor’s degree. —
And you thought it was hard to get a
bachelor’s degree today.
In 1510, Martin Luther visited Rome on
church business. He was amazed by the
On October 31, 1517. On that day, Luther
corruption he saw there, but at this time he
nailed
his 95 theses on the door of the Castle
still did figure out the Catholic Church was not
Church
at Wittenberg. This was not an
reformable. Somebody should have counciled
unheard
of practice, to publish a challenge to
Luther that error was too “enTrentched”.
debate on theology on the doors of a church.
Luther was a troubled monk, burdened with To understand what was involved here, we
have to see what Luther was incensed about.
questions about deliverance from guilt. When
Indulgences
Indulgences are based on the Catholic
doctrine that sin has both an eternal (heaven
& hell) punishment and a temporal (for a time)
punishment. God takes away the eternal
punishment, but the temporal punishment
remains to be fulfilled, either in this life, or
else after death in a fiery place Catholics call
purgatory. Thomas Aquinas first taught the
doctrine of the “Treasures of the Church” and
the superfluous merits of the saints that the
Pope could draw on to take care of the
temporal punishment. This was made official
doctrine by Pope Clement VI in 1343.
In Luther’s time, the stated (but not real)
purpose of the Papal Indulgence was to build
St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome (which Michaelangelo was working on). However, the real
reason was so that the Archbishop of Mainz
could pay Rome the large sum of money he
owed them for buying the office of Archbishop.
John Tetzel, marketed these indulgences in a
circus-like atmosphere. From this the slogan
came, “every time a coin rings, a soul from
purgatory springs.”
In July, 1520, Luther “invited” his readers to
wash their hands in the blood of bishops and
cardinals.” (Durant p.431) In 1520, a papal
Bull ordered the burning of all Luther’s works.
On Dec. 10, 1520, Luther publicly burned a
copy of the bull, along with a copy of church
Canon Law. In Jan. 1521 the Pope excommunicated Luther and called on the Emperor
Charles V, to arrest Luther.
Diet of Worms (Not too Appetizing)
Because of the views of Philip of Hesse and a
great many of Charles’ subjects, Charles
instead called a Diet (Parliament) at the city of
Worms from Jan. to May, 1521 to discuss this.
In April, Luther was summoned, under a grant
of safe conduct from the Emperor, to appear.
Luther eagerly accepted, as he would have an
open, public forum to honestly discuss and
debate his views, — or so he thought.
After he arrived, Luther found that the only
issues were 1) if his writings were his, and 2) if
he was prepared to recant. He answered that
he wanted 24 hours to consider. Luther was
haunted by a very sober thought: what if he
was wrong. On April 18, he gave His answer:
“unless I am convinced by the testimony of
Scripture or by an evident reason - for I
confide neither in the pope nor in a council
alone, since it is certain that they have often
erred and contradicted themselves — I am
held fast by the Scriptures adduced by me,
and me conscience is taken captive by God’s
Word, and I neither can nor will revoke
anything, seeing that it is not safe or right to
act against conscience. God help me. Amen.”
After leaving Worms, Luther was taken by
his friends to the Castle of Wartburg and
hidden there until 1522, when he returned to
Wittenberg. While he was at Wartburg, he
“passed the time” by making an excellent,
readable translation of the New Testament into
German, wrote works against Catholicism, and
wrote many letters. In 1525, he married
Catherine von Bora.
Luther’s Later Life
A profound event in the life of most Germans
was the failed Peasant’s Revolt of 1524. 100K
were killed and 50K left homeless. Starting out
originally as a repudiation of noble tyranny
and serfdom, it turned into complete anarchy.
Luther was against the anarchy, and wrote the
warlike commoners should be “exterminated.”
Many commoners turned against Luther. This
marks the beginning of the excesses of Luther
during the latter half of his life.
Luther’s Errors
Luther played such an important role in the
church, one could easily overlook his errors in
theology. Like Augustine, Luther believed in a
dead human will, traducianism, infant baptism, and a wrong view of women and sex.
Luther was wrong on consubstantiation, God’s
total control of everything, some antinomian
tendencies concerning salvation. For the last
point, Luther taught, “Sin boldly, but believe
in God more boldly still.” Luther wrote a tract
against Copernican astronomy, because “scripture says earth is the center of the universe.”
Luther taught five extremely serious errors:
rejecting as Christians those who deny Christ’s
physical presence at communion, downplaying
the book of James, killing all who practiced
believer’s baptism (after 1530), burning Jews
along with their schools and synagogues (after
1537), and savage unChristian mockery of
others. Most Christians would not defend
Luther’s illustrated tract, showing a man with
his pants down mooning the Pope.
Conclusion
Luther, despite his excesses, was used
mightily by God. You cannot rest your faith on
Luther though, only on God.
Luther and Calvin
While Luther and Zwingli had a major “tractwar” between them, Luther had more respect
for Calvin. Like Calvin, Luther believed the
error that fallen man, apart from special grace
to some, had no ability to respond to God.
However, unlike Calvinists, Luther firmly
believed that Christ died for everyone. Actually
though, it is debatable whether Calvin himself
believed in limited atonement or not. Here is
Luther’s beautiful quote on the atonement
mentioned in 1 John 2:2.
“It is a patent fact that thou too art a part of
the whole world; so that thine heart cannot
deceive itself, and think, the Lord died for
Peter and Paul, but not for me.”
Luther’s Legacy
Out of 1 billion nominal Christians, there are
about 330 million Protestants. Of these, 50
million are Lutheran. Many of Luther’s
theology came from Augustine. Luther was an
Augustinian monk, and Augustinian orders
were very common in Europe and North
Germany. However, in Germany the Augustinian hermits were dissolved in 1526, because
most of them had left and joined the
Reformation.
Lutherans today generally hold to three creeds
of earlier times: the Apostles’, Nicene, and
Athanasian Creeds. They also hold to the
Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Shorter
Catechism. They disagree on, the Apology for
the Augsburg Confession, the Schmalkald
Articles, Luther’s Longer Catechism, and the
Formula of Concord.
Since Luther’s time, Lutherans turned away
from Luther’s teaching on man’s will, and now
says that sin had not totally destroyed man’s
sensitivity to God, and there is a synergism
between God’s grace and man’s will.
In the nineteenth century, many Lutherans
turned away from following the Bible; Paul
Tillich, Wellhausen, and others were Lutherans. In America, the Lutheran Church of
America follows this tradition. However, the
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and the
Lutheran Church Wisconsin Synod still follow
the Bible as the Word of God.
Half of all monks in Germany left their
monasteries
Saint Martin Luther
We know all about Luther’s vices; his
detractors made sure we knew.
Luther ate too much and drank too much
beer, though he was never drunk.
Durant p.417 eleven orphaned children
Tract Writer
Durant p.417 death of Luther’s daughter
Magdelena

THE REFORMATION

THE DIET OF
WORMS
JANUARY TO MAY 1521 A.D.



This drama recreates a pivotal event in the history of
Western Europe. Where possible, actual quotes have been
used.
Act 1 Scene 1
Narrator 1: Scene I: A conversation between Frederick the
Wise, elector of Saxony, and John Tetzel, Papal legate
authorized to sell indulgences in Germany.
John Tetzel to Frederick of Saxony: I have been appointed
by the Pope to sell indulgences to save people out of
purgatory. May I have permission to sell indulgences in
Saxony.
Frederick: I don’t think so.
Tetzel: You really don’t want your subjects to hear that you
do not want to get souls out of purgatory, do you?
Frederick: How much of the English proceeds does King
Henry 8th of England get?
goodwill has decreed a special indulgence. Pay your money,
and they will be freed from purgatory. Remember, every time
a coin rings, a soul from purgatory springs. (Pass the hat to the
crowd.) You do not want to be selfish, do you. If you do not
pay, you are committing the ultimate act of selfishness.
Remember, every time a coin rings, a soul from purgatory
springs.
Martin Luther: It makes me angry seeing these poor people
cheated out of their money like that, and by priests at that.
Something has to be done, and I am going to do something
about it. (Nails up his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg
Church.
Narrator 2 motioning to the crowd: (Gasp)
Member 1 of the crowd: Can you believe what the monk
Martin Luther wrote.
The Pope did not have jurisdiction over purgatory, so the
indulgence vendors are deceiving people. If the Pope did have
jurisdiction, why did he not empty purgatory? If the Pope was
filthy rich, richer than Croesus of Lydia why did he not build
St. Peter’s out of his own pockets, instead of wringing money
from the poor?
John Tetzel: Who cares about Luther’s arguments. Within
three weeks I shall have the heretic thrown into the fire.
Narrator 2: Word got back to the Pope about Luther’s
challenge. To this the Pope first said:
Pope Leo X: I will not be concerned with a petty Monkish
squabble.
Narrator 2: However, things later did get out of hand, and
Cardinal Cajetan came to discuss things with Luther.
Tetzel: 1/5.
Frederick: Do King Charles of Spain and King Francis of
France get a cut of the proceeds from their countries?
Act 1 Scene 3
Narrator 3: Scene 3: Meeting between Martin Luther and
Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg, in October of 1518.
Tetzel: Yes.
Frederick: Then how much is my cut from Saxony?
Tetzel: I am not authorized to give you a cut.
Frederick: Then you will not have any cut to deny me from
Saxony. You cannot enter.
Tetzel: We’ll see about that.
Narrator: So John Tetzel set up shop just across the river
from Saxony.
Act 1 Scene 2
Narrator 2: Scene II: Across the River from Wittenberg
John Tetzel: Every time a coin rings, a soul from purgatory
springs. Do you really love your dear departed parents. How
about your dead uncles and grandparents. Maybe you could
not give them much while you were alive, but you can give
them a gift far more precious now that they have died. It is the
teaching of Christ that Christians must go to purgatory to pay
the temporal punishments for there sins. Well, fortunate for
you, and even more fortunate for them, the Pope, out of his
Cardinal Cajetan: “You know, Luther, the theory of
indulgences rest is a matter of Christian doctrine.”
Martin Luther: “I deny that.”
Cardinal Cajetan: “There is no point in talking with a
heretic like you anymore.”
Act 1 Scene 4
Narrator: Act 1 Scene 4: Luther had sent placards to a few
friends. Some of the friends had them printed at a local printer
and distributed it to thousands. In July of 1519, Luther
debated the famous theologian John Eck at Leipzig.
John Eck: “Luther, you are holding to the heresy of Jan Huss,
who was burned at the stake by order of the Council of
Constance in 1415.”
Luther: “The Council of Constance was wrong to condemn a
godly man such as Huss; some of his ideas were thoroughly
Christian.”
Act II
Narrator 3: Act 2 Scene 1: At the Diet of Worms on April
17, 1521. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Fifth is
presiding over the trial. He has been Emperor for a year; he is
20 yrs old.
Aleander Papal Nuncio: As papal nuncio, I request you,
Emperor, to go back on your promise of safe conduct given to
Luther, and send him off to Rome immediately.
Emperor Charles V: When the electors made me Emperor
over Francis I after I paid them 850,000 florins, I had to
promise I would not allow any German to be condemned
without a fair hearing. Thus I risk Papal displeasure by having
the trial for Luther.
Aleander: “All Germany is up in arms against Rome. All the
world is clamoring for a council that shall meet on German
soil. Papal bulls of excommunication are laughed at. Numbers
of people have ceased to receive the sacrament of penance....Martin is pictured with a halo above his head. The
people kiss these pictures. Such a quantity has been sold that I
am unable to obtain one.... I cannot go out in the streets but
the Germans put their hands to their swords and gnash their
teeth at me. I hope the Pope will give me a plenary indulgence
and look after my brothers and sisters if anything happens to
me.”
Prosecutor Johann Eck: Martin, are these all your compositions, and will you retract all heresies contained in them?
Miltitz: As Luther’s lawyer I object. You should mention the
works you are talking about by name.
Emperor Charles V: Objection sustained.
Prosecutor Johann Eck: The works are: The Babylonian
Captivity of the Church, a Treatise on Christian Liberty, An
Open Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation
Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate. etc. Also, on
December 11, 1520, you actually tried to excommunicate the
Pope by saying that no man could be saved unless he
renounced the rule of the papacy. Now Martin Luther, do you
confess that these works are yours?
Martin Luther: (pausing to try to get up his courage). (In a
low voice) The books are mine, but as the second question, I
beg time to consider.
Emperor Charles V: I grant you one day. Adjourned.
Narrator 3: Act 2 Scene 2. That night, in Luther’s room.
Luther to himself: Martin Luther, what are you thinking? Do
you mean to say that all the previous teachers knew nothing”
(pause) “Are you alone the nest egg of the Holy Ghost in
these times? God, help me.
Narrator 3: Act 2 Scene 3, the next day, April 18, 1521, at
the Diet of Worms. the large courtroom is standing room only.
Prosecutor Johann Eck: Martin Luther. I ask you, will you
repudiate, in whole or in part, the works you have written?
Martin Luther: Those portions that dealt with ecclesiastical
abuses were by common consent just.
Emperor Charles V: (loudly) No!
Martin Luther: Should I recant at this point, I would open
the door to more tyranny and impiety, and it will be all the
worse should it appear that I had done so at the instance of the
Holy Roman Empire.” (pause) I agree to retract all doctrinal
passages that should be proved contrary to Scripture.
Prosecutor Johann Eck: Martin, your plea to be heard from
Scripture is the one always made by heretics. You do nothing
but renew the errors of Wyclif and Huss.....How can you
assume that you are the only one to understand the sense of
Scripture? Would you put your judgment above that of so
many famous men and claim that you know more than all of
them? You have no right to call into question the most holy
orthodox faith, instituted by Christ the perfect Lawgiver,
proclaimed throughout the world by the Apostles, sealed by
the red blood of martyrs, confirmed by the sacred councils,
and defined by the Church ... and which we are forbidden by
the Pope and the Emperor to discuss, lest there be no end to
debate. I ask you, Martin - answer candidly and without
distinctions - do you or do you not repudiated your books and
the errors which they contain?
Luther: “Since your Majesty and your lordships desire a
simple reply, I will answer without distinctions.... Unless I am
convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by an evident
reason - for I confide neither in the pope nor in a council
alone, since it is certain that they have often erred and
contradicted themselves — I am held fast by the Scriptures
adduced by me, and me conscience is taken captive by God’s
Word, and I neither can nor will revoke anything, seeing that
it is not safe or right to act against conscience. God help me.
Amen.”
Crowd: (gasp in astonishment)
Prosecutor Johann Eck: No error could be proved in the
doctrinal decrees of the councils.
Martin Luther: I am prepared to prove such errors.
Emperor Charles V: (interrupting) It is enough; since he has
denied councils, we wish to hear no more.”
Narrator 3: Act 2 Scene 4. The next day.
Emperor Charles V: A single friar who goes counter to all
Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong.... After
having heard yesterday the obstinate defense of Luther, I
regret that I have so long delayed in proceeding against him
and his false teaching. ... He may return under his safeconduct, but without preaching or making any tumult. I will
proceed against him as a notorious heretic, and I ask you
[electors] to declare yourselves as you promised me.”
Narrator 3: Two days later, Pope Leo X transferred his
support from Francis I to Charles V.
Aleander: Praise God.
Narrator 3: Act 2 Scene 5. Towards the end of Luther’s life.
Luther: I predict this for your O pope. “In life I was your
pestilence; dying, I will be your death, O Pope.”

THE REFORMATION

KATIE LUTHER
1499-1550 A.D.


Reformation, he was content being single, and
thought he would be single the rest of his life.
Apparently God had other plans.
The Need
One time, forty nuns read Luther’s writings
and wrote Martin Luther, because they wanted
to escape from the Catholic Church and join
the Lutheran movement. That was a brave and
It is too easy to read about the great
dangerous thing to do, for the Prince would kill
reformers and think of them as collections of
people for that. One night, some Lutheran men
ideas rather than as real men. Today we are
came to the convent, using the ruse of being
going to see more of Martin Luther’s personal
side and his unusual marriage to a remarkably herrig merchants. The women escaped by
hiding in the empty herring barrels. At that
fitting companion, Katherine von Bora.
time, women could not financially support
themselves without a man, so the practical
It is natural for a Christian to ask before
thing to do was for all of them to get married.
marriage, “could I stand to live the rest of my
Various single Lutheran men married the
life with a person?” “Would I thrive spiritually
nuns; all that is, except one. No one was found
doing so?” “In God’s view, who would be the
willing to marry the hot-tempered, heavybest person for me?”
boned, over-weight, redhead, Katherine von
Bora. Martin prevailed upon a friend of his to
It is not a natural but equally important to
marry Katherine, but at the last moment the
ask before marriage “who could anyone stand
friend backed out. Where could Martin Luther
to live the rest of the life with me?” “Would he
find an eligible Christian bachelor....
or she thrive spiritually?” “In God’s view, who
am I the best person for?”
Luther finally decided to marry her himself.
Luther’s
close friend, Philip Melanchthon, begIf you want advise on how to date and meet
ged
him
not
to do it, because she was so ugly.
a prospective spouse, you do not want to look
The
way
he
put
it was “Marry, yes, but for
at this example. However, if you want more
heaven’s
sake
not
that one.” Martin married
wisdom in discovering God’s will for your life in
her,
not
because
of
his need to be married,
marriage, this paper may help. Now one secret
and
not
because
of
love,
but because of her
of marriage is that the spouse you marry is not
need.
He
was
43,
she
was
27. At the wedding
the same one you have at the end of your life.
his
friends
cried,
and
it
was
not tears of joy.
It may be the same person, but people change.
Who is your spouse turning into, and what
The Results of the Marriage
kind of spouse are you becoming?

Before we glimpse into the private life of a
great man of God, with flaws too, we have to
know a little bit about the future couple.
The Young Katherine von Bora
Katherine was born to a noble but poor
family. She had red hair and a fiery temper. As
a teenager, she entered a convent as a nun. As
a nun, she vowed to remain single and celibate the rest of her life. We have no evidence
that she was discontent with her chosen path.
Her choice did not matter though, because
apparently God had other plans.
Martin Luther the Bachelor
Martin was an Augustinian monk prior to
his conversion. He took his vows seriously,
and there is no evidence that he was
discontent being celibate. After he started the
To the surprise of many, this godly man and
godly woman had a close and wonderful
marriage. Dear Katie, as Luther called her, still
had a quick temper sometimes, but she was
friendly and hospitable toward all, witty, and
wise. She helped Luther much, and ministered
both alongside and independently of Martin
Luther.
Perhaps God "blessed" Katherine with a lack
of beauty so that she would end up marrying
one of the better men and better Christians of
her time. If Katherine had only been more
physically beautiful, if she had only not had
the flaw of a hot temper, then she might have
missed out on her wonderful marriage.
Probably everybody can find something
about their physical appearance they wish was
different. Light skinned people want to be more
tan, even at the potential cost of cancer.
Darker skin people want to avoid the sun, for
the sake of beauty. Instead of wishing we were
physically different for whatever reason, why
not be happy the way God made us for the
plans He has.
Everyone certainly can find something on
the inside that is a spiritual defect. Now we
know that God can use the godly aspects of
our character, but the really amazing thing is
that when we dedicate our lives to God, God
can use all of our lives, even our failings and
shortcomings. God is Holy and does not sin or
tempt us to sin (James 1:13-14), but God even
uses our sin for His purposes. In Gen 50:20
Joseph said to his brothers “You intended to
harm me, but God intended it for good...” We
should avoid sin, and repent of our sins, but
God is great and wise enough to even be able
to use our sins for good. As Rom 8:28 says,
“And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose.”
Do you think that your appearance, personality, or flaws might make you less attractive
to some potential mates. Well that might be
just wonderful. We must not only give God our
strengths and talents, we should give our
failings, shortcomings, and weaknesses to Him
too, for His use. Give these to Him in prayer;
then stand back and see what He can do.
More on the Marriage
There marriage was not calm perfection; it
could not be calm with six children of their
own. In addition, they adopted eleven orphans;
Catherine mourned the lack of attention she
received with all the attention Luther paid
them. Luther taught them almost continuously
about doctrine. Some of the children took
notes, and today we over 6,500 entries.
As Katie put it “Dear husband, you are too
rude” Luther replied, “a twig can be cut with a
bread knife, but an oak calls for an axe”.
The Sad Part of Luther’s Life
As the historian Will Durant put it “Luther
should not have grown old.” It is unclear what
else Katie could have done, but Luther was in
desperate need of firm rebuke as he got older.
 Luther went from toleration for Anabaptists,
to death to all who practice believer’s baptism.
 In 1537 he said Jews were to be forgiven for
keeping their own creed, “since our fools, the
popes, bishops sophists, and monks, those
coarse assheads, dealt with the Jews in such a
manner that any Christian would have preferred to be a Jew. Indeed, had I been a Jew, and
had seen such idiots and dunderheads
expound Christianity, I should rather have become a hog than a Christian... I would advise
and beg everybody to deal kindly with the
Jews...” Yet later in his life he advocated
burning their schools and synagogues.
 Luther said that “He does not receive my
doctrine cannot be saved.” Luther became so
intolerant, that the Reformers Leo Jud and
Carlstadt called Luther another Pope.
If you were Katie or a friend of Luther’s,
what would you do to rebuke this great man of
God? If a godly person starts developing
serious problems, what are things you can do?
The End of Luther’s Earthly Days
We do not know everything Katie and
Luther’s friends did, but at the end of Luther’s
life he returned to toleration. “In his last
Katie was not always submissive, sometimes sermon, he advised abandonment of all
Luther said he bowed to the will of “Lord
attempts to destroy heresy by force; Catholics
Kathe”. Yet Katie was versatile, and Luther
and Anabaptists must be borne with patiently
called her “the preacher, brewer, gardener, and till the Last Judgment, when Christ will take
all things else.”
care of them” (Will Durant The Reformation
p.423)
The Luther family was no stranger to tragedy.
His eleven year old daughter, Magdelena died
We do not know who God used to turn
of illness, and Luther’s heart was broken.
Martin Luther back, but we do know what
James 5:19-20 says: “My brothers, if one of
Luther used strong language; He spoke of
you should wander from the truth and
papal decrees as dung, the Pope as the devil’s
someone should bring him back, remember
sow, bishops as larvae, priest ordination as
this: Whoever turns a sinner away from his
marking a man with the sign of the beast,
error will save him from death and cover over a
Catholic monks as at best, “fleas on the
multitude of sins.”
Almighty’s fur coat.”
Here is an example of the intensity of the
opposition that Martin and Kate Luther faced.
Daughters of the Church p181
“Woe to you, poor fallen woman, not only
because you have passed from light into
darkness, from the cloistered holy religion into
a damnable, shameful life, but also that you
have gone from the grace of to the disfavor of
God, in that you have left the cloister in lay
clothes and have gone to Wittenberg like a
chorus girl. You are said to have lived with
Luther in sin. Then you have married him,
forsaking Christ your bridegroom. You have
broken your vow and by your example have
reduced many godly young women in the
cloisters to a pitiable state of body and of soul,
despised of all men.”
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THE REFORMATION
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JOHN CALVIN
1509-1564 A.D.
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John Calvin started one of the three main
branches of the Reformation: Calvinism. Over
50 million people are a part of churches that
have some form of Calvinist, also called
Reformed, Theology. We will first study this
brilliant man, and then his novel theology.
Life Before Geneva
John Calvin was born on Noyon, France, the
son of an administrator, Gérard, and an
innkeepers daughter, Jeanne le Franc. He
studied hard to be a priest, and was educated
in the household of a noble family Hangest de
Montmor. He was close friends with them and
a number of other people. John first became a
chaplain in May 1521, the same month and
year as the Diet of Worms.
After being curator at a couple places, but at
his father’s urgency, resigned to study Law in
May of 1528. It was prior to this time that he
first disagreed with some Roman teachings.
However, he seems to really been converted
between 1532 and 1533. In 1534 he began
work on His most influential work Institutes of
the Christian Religion. Calvin was a consummate scholar and researcher, but not a leader,
governor, and, lightning rod of the Reformation. That was to change shortly, however.
In 1534, since his life was in danger because
of his faith, he went to Basel, Switzerland.
Francis I of France persecuted the Evangelical
Christians of France, justifying this by calling
them all Anabaptists. In order to refute this
charge, Calvin published The Institutes of the
Christian Religion, first in Latin, and later in
French. He was 26 at the time. The work was
brief, with only six chapters. His choice of the
core essentials of Christianity is interesting:
1. The Law (Ten commandments)
2. Faith (the Apostle’s Creed)
3. Prayer
4. True Sacraments
5. False Sacraments Catholics added
6. Christian liberty, church and civil power
The Institutes was revised later to become a
massive, work, but Calvin never retracted
anything he said in the first edition. It was
first published anonymously, which makes
sense, since there were people who were after
him.
The Theocracy at Geneva
Calvin decided in move to Strasburg or
Basel, but he had to go through Switzerland
because of the war between Francis I and
Charles V. In Geneva in 1536, Guillaume Farel
very strenuously argued with Calvin to stay
and lead Geneva. Calvin argued that he was
too young, inexperienced, and needed more
time for his studies. Farel threatened him with
the wrath of Almighty God if he preferred his
own study to the Lord’s work. So, at the age of
28, Calvin agreed to stay.
Calvin drew up a confession of faith. Each
and every citizen of Geneva had to agree with
it. Those who did not were banished. In March
of 1537 there was a public disputation with
Anabaptists in Geneva. The public was so
excited about it, that the city council halted
the debate, drove the Anabaptists from the
city, and claimed that Calvin was the winner.
Leaving Geneva
Calvin and Farel were not just concerned
with Christian teaching, they tried to reform
the Laws, schools, and enforce Christian
discipline in a theocratic state in Geneva. As a
consequence, had to leave the city. Between
1538 and 1541 Calvin left Geneva, living
mainly in Strasburg. During that time,
Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto tried to bring Catholicism back to Geneva. Calvin stopped him
cold with a letter defending the Reformation.
1539 Charles V had a conference on Christian Reunion. Calvin was there representing
Strasburg. Calvin also met and became close
friends with Philip Melanchthon, the second
most influential man in Lutheranism. This is
interesting, because he had a long-standing
debate with Lutherans over whether or not
Jesus was actually present in the bread and
wine during communion.
Back in Strasburg Calvin married a widow,
Idelette, whom he had converted from Anabaptism. In 1542, their one child, Jacques, died
only a few days after birth.
Calvin was recalled to Geneva in 1541, where
he was permitted to essentially govern the city
through his close allies on the City Council.
Calvin’s Institutes and
Commentaries
While Calvinists rank Calvin’s Institutes were
as the most brilliant work published since
Augustine, many would rank his commentaries a close second. Calvin started with Romans
in 1540 and ended with Joshua in 1564. The
last edition of the Institutes was completed
between 1558 and 1559.
According to Boettner (The Reformed Doctrine
of Predestination p.407, Jacob Arminius, the
name most associated with Christian resistance to Calvinism, exhorted his students to
study Calvin’s commentaries, as of more highly valued than everything handed down to us
excepting scripture itself.
The Killing of Servetus
One event has greatly marred the reputation
of Calvin in the eyes of many: the execution of
a heretic named Michael Servetus. Servetus
vigorously denied the Trinity, and he wrote
virulently against both Catholics and Protestants. He was condemned to death by a
Catholic Court in Vienne, but escaped to Geneva. At this time the Libertine party had power
in Geneva, and Servetus apparently wanted to
join with that party in driving Calvin out.
Calvin had Servetus arrested and accused him
before the Civil Court of heresy. The Court
tried him over two months and ordered him to
be burned alive. Calvin fully approved of the
execution, but Calvin wanted him to be killed
by sword rather than fire. Catholics,
Lutherans, and Calvinists all approved.
Thus people are wrong if they accuse Calvin
of the burning of Servetus. However, Calvin
was instrumental in killing Servetus. The practice of killing heretics was shared by almost all
except moderate Anabaptists, in these times.
However, Forster and Marston, in their
excellent book, God’s Strategy in Human
History p.287 say of this incident, “An appeal
to the times is not convincing. It becomes still
less convincing when we are told, often by the
same apologists, that those like Calvin and
Augustine were the most competent Bible
scholars in history. Surely if Calvin could write
a work hailed as the most systematic treatise
on the Christian faith ever written, it is an insult to suggest that his moral teaching was not
an integral part of his system but was based
on some opinions of contemporary men. Surely
if Augustine had the greatness of mind and
strength of character to overturn all the Christian teaching of the first 300 years, it is absurd
to excuse his advocacy of persecution on the
grounds of a spirit in him of conformity. The
tragic fact is surely that those who deny any
power but God’s, and hence reduce everyone
including Satan to servants of God, may (if
times are ripe) finish by using Satan’s own
weapons of fear, force, pain, and persecution.
Although Augustine initially adopted persecution because of its practical success... he himself directly linked it with his theological
system.”
Calvin’s Distinctive Teaching
Calvinism can be traced back to two core
beliefs: God controls every detail of every event
and action, and all are guilty before God of
things God has not given them any choice or
ability to alter. Calvin himself thought of this
as a “horrible decree” but taught that is the
way God is. As Calvinists quip, God’s justice
would not be divine if we could understand it.
Calvin himself admitted he did not see how
we could be responsible for things we were not
free to do differently. He basically said not to
think about it too much or you will go mad.
Non-Calvinists might quip that perhaps Calvin
thought about it too much.
Calvin’s Legacy
Calvin finally died, a rather poor man, of
plague, on 5/27/1564. It was said, that in
1561, one quarter of all Frenchmen were
Heugenot Calvinists. Later Calvinism became
the dominant religion of Scotland the Netherlands, and half of Switzerland. Christians
came from as far as England, Germany, and
Poland to Geneva to be trained as pastors and
return to their own countries.
Calvin’s influence goes well beyond the 50
million or so people today who belong to Presbyterian and other reformed churches. Calvin
and Luther they showed Christians around the
world the importance of being guided by the
Bible, and not by Popes, Councils, and tradition. Calvinists, Lutherans, and the moderate
Anabaptists also showed that sincere Christians can disagree on interpreting the Bible.
This can be troubling to many Christians. I
believe the resolution is that God made the
essentials of true faith clear in the Bible, and
things Christians agree on. Secondary matters
are less clear. When Christians lose focus and
elevate the secondary things to the level as
primary things, they will divide and not accomplish together all God would have them do.
Knowing all the right doctrine in not good
enough for a Christian. We have to keep
focused on Jesus and His Gospel. Then we can
have unity with genuine Christians who dis-
agree on secondary matters while not compromising with unbelievers. What do you think
are the primary things of the Gospel? Read 1
Cor2:2;15:1-5; 2Cor11:3,Ga6:14,Ac 10:34-43.
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THE REFORMATION
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ERASMUS
1466/67-1536 A.D.
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It is an understatement to say that
Desiderius Erasmus was a complex man. He
was accused to being a Pelagian by both
Catholics and Protestants. He was accused of
being the origin of Luther’s ideas. He greatly
influenced most of the other reformers, who
later criticized him. Anabaptist Menno Simons
quoted him to show the early church fathers
did not believe in infant baptism. Heretic
Michael Servetus asked Erasmus in vain for
help, since Servetus thought Erasmus shared
his views. Finally, he is (correctly) considered a
father of modern humanism.
How can we understand a man whose
theology had similarities with the reformers,
saw clearly the corruption of the Catholic
Church, yet remained a Catholic all his life.
Erasmus had great knowledge, but never
showed much courage. The key words in
understanding Erasmus are “toleration” and
“inconsistency”. In both a good and bad sense,
Erasmus was the consummate compromiser.
In this brief paper we will learn of his early life,
the great weight his opinion carried with
Kings, Popes, and Reformers alike, and learn
from his good points and shortcomings.
The Early Life of Erasmus
Erasmus was the illegitimate son of a priest
and a physician’s daughter. Erasmus thought
he was born in Rotterdam around 1466. He
was uncertain about much in his life. After his
parents died of plague when he was 18, Erasmus and his older brother were sent to an
Augustinian monastery. Erasmus became a
priest and a prolific writer. Due to the printing
press, he was the first person in history to live
off of the profit of publishing his books.
Erasmus’ Greatest Contribution
Erasmus’ greatest works were publishing his
Greek New Testament, and subsequent Latin
translation of the Bible. The Latin work was
dedicated to Pope Leo X, a dedication which
Leo accepted. Additional Greek texts were
available in Erasmus’ time, and so Erasmus’
Greek New Testament was improved over
previous ones. He used the same textual
method Italians used on old Roman texts.
Erasmus’ Latin work became the basis of the
Textus Receptus, which the King James and
other Bibles came from. A second key factor
was the general acceptance that the current
Latin Bible, the Vulgate of Jerome in 400 A.D.,
could be improved. The greatest result of
Erasmus’ Greek and Latin translations was
not the relatively high quality of work, but
rather that everybody was reading the Bible.
The Reformers all developed most of their
beliefs from the Bible - published by Erasmus.
The Penpals of Erasmus
Erasmus wrote over 1500 letters. He had
many famous friends, including Thomas More
Lord Chancellor of England, Pope Adrian VI,
the son of James IV of Scotland, and Melanchthon. Other people he wrote to were King
Henry VIII of England, Pope Clement, Martin
Luther, Bucer, Zwingli, and Calvin.
When Pope Paul III became Pope in 1534,
Erasmus sent him a letter of congratulations,
as he did to all the Popes. Pope Paul hoped
that Erasmus could mediate a unity among
Catholics and Protestants, but Erasmus
turned him down. Do you think he was right?
Erasmus and Pelagianism
Two things that most Protestant Reformers
and Catholics agreed upon was that Erasmus
was a Pelagian, and that Erasmus was for the
other side. His books were banned at the
Catholic Council of Trent in 1546.
Like the heretic Pelagius, Erasmus believed
that we inherited original sin from Adam by
imitation. Unlike Pelagius, Erasmus accepted
that we inherited a liability in our nature, too.
Erasmus, in exalting man’s autonomy and free
will, helped, indirectly, to lay the theological
groundwork for “Christian humanism”, a form
of religion where man, not God is at the center.
Erasmus differed from Pelagius, but he was
more Pelagian than Semi-Pelagians and the
Catholic Church.
Erasmus — The Lutheran???
Because Erasmus heavily criticized the
corruption of the Catholic Church and believed
many Biblical doctrines, he was accused of
being a Lutheran. Even more, he was accused
of being the originator of Luther’s ideas.
Actually Erasmus influenced most of the
reformers, except for Martin Luther. He was
Luther’s friend until Luther spoke at the Diet
of Worms in 1521.
Well, perhaps he influenced Luther after all
by Luther’s strong opposition to him. Erasmus
wrote The Freedom of the Will in 1524 to
oppose Luther’s determinism. Luther viciously
refuted Erasmus’ arguments in one of his most
famous books, The Bondage of the Will. Erasmus was almost a Pelagian. In response to this
error, Luther went too far to the other extreme
that God totally controls every detail.
Erasmus’ thoughts on Free Will
As Will Durant mentions in his book The
Reformation (p.434), Erasmus said that it approached blasphemy to say that God punished
sins that His creatures as made by Him could
not help committing. It made God an immoral
monster. Erasmus acknowledged that man’s
moral choices are fettered by a thousand circumstances over which he has no control; yet
man’s consciousness persists in affirming
some measure of freedom, without which he
would be a meaningless automaton.” He basically concluded, let us admit our incapacity to
reconcile moral freedom with divine knowledge
and choices, but let us shun any hypothesis
that makes man a puppet, and God a tyrant
crueler than any in history.”
Pope Clement VII gave Erasmus about
$5,000 for the conciliatory work. The work
might be credited with influencing Melanchthon the entire Lutheran church to abandon
Luther’s position on men having no part in
their regeneration.
Thoughts of Erasmus
Education was very important. Children at
that time began regular school at seven, and
he believed that children should learn
Christianity and Latin before that time. [Is
Christianity just a learned thing, like Latin??]
Erasmus wished that every plowboy might
whistle the Psalms as he furrowed the soil.
On religion, he urged the reduction of
dogmas to as “few as possible, leaving opinion
free on the rest.” On one hand that is not
exactly a search for truth. On the other hand,
in an age of the Inquisition, here was a voice of
tolerance that was listened to somewhat more
than the martyred Anabaptists.
Toleration Above Truth: Good of
Bad?
Should Christians ever tolerate doctrinal
error in other Christians? The Lutherans who
burned to death the Calvinist Kreel did not
think so. Calvinists, Lutherans, and Catholics
who killed moderate Anabaptists thought not.
Radical Anabaptists, who tore down churches
and killed Catholic priests did not think so,
either. As they saw these ungodly acts in the
name of God, Erasmus and other humanists
did tolerate doctrinal error. They never advocated killing any, except possibly the most
heretical heretics.
So, if we should tolerate error, in that we do
not kill people, does that mean we should
never criticize anything as wrong? Erasmus
criticized the Catholic church, but with
exception of fatalism, never really stood for
truth against anything.
We should warn even friends when they are
making mistakes, but what kind of people
should we actually oppose. We should oppose
in words those the Bible says to in Gal 2:1114, 2 Cor 11:11-12, and Acts 15:2.
Now we know that many oppose Christians,
but as Gal 2:11-14 shows, sometimes
Christians are supposed to oppose Christians,
when Christians are in serious error.
What We Can Learn from Erasmus
As Edith Simon says in the Reformation,
Erasmus had a revolutionary mind, but not a
revolutionary heart. Erasmus had great
learning, and saw many issues clearly, but
never really took a stand. I hope no Christians
today are like that.
Erasmus and the moderate Anabaptists saw
more clearly than the other reformers the
truth that persecuting other Christians is not
what Christ desires. We should be building up
the body of Christ, not tearing it down. He saw
the importance of Christian unity.
However, Erasmus lost focus of what was
important, because he valued toleration and
unity at all costs. Despite all the clever arguments Erasmus and others could muster,
there can be no unity in Christ between those
who trust in God alone for their salvation and
those trusted in church, saints, and merits.
“Truly the yoke of Christ would be sweet, and
His burdens light, if petty human institutions
added nothing to what He Himself imposed. He
commanded us nothing save love for one another.” Erasmus wrote many nice quotes, but it
is too bad he did not have the courage to stand
against ungodly men. Actually, the quote is
false doctrine: man-centered religion. The first
commandment is to love God, and loving
others is the second commandment, not the
only commandment.
Erasmus - verbal
You know American western movies are
rather easy to understand. The bad guys are
totally bad and wear black hats, and the good
guys are totally good and wear white hats.
However, most real people are somewhat more
complicated. — And then there is Erasmus.
Erasmus devoutly wanted unity among
Protestants and Catholics, almost at all costs.
If they both agreed that he as a Pelagian, and
supported the other side, well, at least
Erasmus got the Catholics and Protestants to
agree on something.
People accuse Erasmus of inconsistency, but I
believe he had a consistency, though a strange
one. One can use great learning and skillful
language to say what one thinks best to try to
keep the peace and the status quo.
too high a view of man
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THE REFORMATION
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WHO SAID THIS?
IN THE REFORMATION
1517-1567 A.D.
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Read the quote and guess who made it. There
are 6 choices: Martin Luther, John Calvin,
Philip Melanchthon, Anabaptists, Desiderius
Erasmus, or other Catholics.
Quotes
“I vigorously opposed their publication
because I was afraid of the uproar they might
cause”
Erasmus on Luther’s books (from a letter to
Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz)
“I perceive that the monarchy of the Roman
high priest (as that See now is) is the plague of
Christendom, though it is praised through
thick and thin by shameless preachers.”
Erasmus in 10/1518 in praise of Luther’s 95
Theses
“Do you mean to say that all the previous
teachers knew nothing? Are you alone the nest
egg of the Holy Ghost in these times? God,
help me.” Martin Luther to himself at the Diet
of Worms in 1521
“A single friar who goes counter to all
Christianity for a thousand years must be
wrong” Catholic: Emperor Charles V
“What would I, who am unwilling to battle with
my own particular bishop, hope to gain from
him that I should want to side with him
against the teaching of the Gospel, or against
the Church of Rome, ... or against the Roman
Pontiff, who is chief of the whole Church.”
Erasmus (p.159)
“I am not so irreligious as to dissent from the
Catholic Church, nor such an ingrate as to
oppose Leo,” Erasmus (p.159)
blasphemous man.” Philip Melanchthon in a
letter to Calvin and Bullinger.
“Within three weeks I shall have the heretic
thrown into the fire.” Catholic: John Tetzel
about Martin Luther
“Wash your hands in the blood of bishops and
cardinals” Martin Luther July 1520
“Catholics and Anabaptists must be borne
with patiently till the Last Judgment, when
Christ will take care of them” Martin Luther’s
last sermon
“Whoever shall maintain that wrong is done to
heretics and blasphemers in punishing them
makes himself an accomplice in their crime.”
John Calvin
All should be killed who denied infant baptism,
original sin, the real presence of Christ in the
Eucharist and all who professed a false
religion. Melanchthon
“The inquisitors, constantly urged on by the
Pope, scented heresy in numerous cases where
a calm and circumspect observer would not
have discovered a trace of it.” Catholic
historian
“Idolatry — that is, image worship — is, of
course, a heinous offense which, even though
it has long since disappeared from human
custom, is nevertheless a danger, lest through
the wiles of the evil spirits those who are off
guard bring it back.” Erasmus (Erasmus and
the Seamless Coat of Jesus p.88)
“He does not receive my doctrine cannot be
saved.” Martin Luther
“But to those [God] devotes to condemnation,
the gate of life is closed by a just and
irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment.” John Calvin Institutes 3:21:1.
“It is difficult to believe in God’s mercy and
goodness when He damns those who do not
deserve it, [stop reading here] we must recall
that if God’s justice could be recognized as just
by human comprehension, it would not be
divine.” Luther (Here I Stand p.244-245.)
“No man must debase himself by showing
toleration toward heretics of any kind, above
all toward Calvinists” Catholic: Card. Caraffa.
“There is a certain causality, though not
worthiness, in the recipient [person] subordinate to the Divine Causality. Melanchthon
(Loci 1533).
On the burning of Servetus who “gave thanks
to the son of God for the punishment of this
“free will is a lie.” Martin Luther The Bondage
of the Will p.17
“On the whole, men should define as little as
possible. In definition lies division, a fierce
contention over words when the crying need of
Christendom was agreement upon essentials”
Erasmus (Erasmus and the Seamless Coat of
Jesus p.10)
“by God’s disgrace the King of England....Since
with malice aforethought that damnable and
rotten worm has lied against my King in heaven it is right for me to bespatter this English
monarch with his own filth. Luther to King
Henry 8th in 1525 after Henry’s writing
against Luther abandoning the 7 Sacraments
“My disposition is such that I can love a Jew if
only he is an agreeable dinner companion and
friend, and doesn’t blaspheme against Christ
in my presence.” Erasmus (Erasmus and the
Seamless Coat of Jesus p.11)
“I will not be concerned with a petty Monkish
squabble.” Catholic: Pope Leo X prior to the
Council of Worms
“It lies with you, God helping, to recover those
who have been seduced by [blank] from the
right road.” Catholic: Pope Adrian VI to
Erasmus about Luther
“Even if my own father were a heretic, I would
gather the wood to burn him.” Catholic: Pope
Paul III (Paul was likely suffering insanity from
Syphilis Durant p.921)
“Let us keep a daily count of our sins by
marks on lines that represent the days, and let
us strive each day to reduce the marks.
Kneeling in our darkened room or cell, let us
picture hell to ourselves as vividly as we can;”
Catholic: Ignatius Loyola Jesuit Reformer
(Durant p.909) Loyola was one who urged the
Pope to restore the Inquisition, but we do not
know how many marks he put down for that.
“Sin boldly, but believe in God more boldly
still” Martin Luther
“The rest were hunted from one country and
place to another. Like owls and ravens, which
durst not fly by day, they were often compelled
to hide and live in rocks and clefts, in wild
forests, or in caves and pits.” Anabaptist
historian describing Anabaptists.
“hunt out and kill all priests and monks”
Radical Anabaptists of Speyer.
“I praise those who support the Roman Pope,
whom every devout person does support. Who
would not support the one who in the closest
imitation of Christ devotes himself wholly to
the salvation of Christian people?” Erasmus
(Erasmus and the Seamless Coat of Jesus
p.162)
“If the immoral practices of the Roman Curia
demand some sweeping and immediate reform,
certainly it is not my concern or of those like
myself to take this task upon ourselves.”
Erasmus (p.159)
“The design of the Lord’s Supper is threefold.
1. To aid in confirming our faith towards God.
2. To serve as a confession before men. 3. To
be an exhortation to charity.” Calvin Aphorism
85.
“— Moreover I consider Free-will in this light:
that it is a power in the human will, by which,
a man may apply himself to those things
which lead unto eternal salvation, or turn
away from the same.” Erasmus. Martin Luther
(p.122) quoting Erasmus’ definition of Free
Will
“that you not only by far surpass me in the
powers of eloquence, and in genius,..
I greatly feel for you for having defiled your
most beautiful and ingenious language with
such vile trash; and such unworthy stuff
should be borne about in ornaments of
eloquence so rare; which is as if rubbish, or
dung, should be carried in vessels of gold and
silver.” Luther to Erasmus Bondage p.13-4
“Many think I am too fierce against popery; on
the contrary I complain that I am, alas, too
mild; ... I will curse and scold the scoundrels
until I go to my grave, and never shall they
have a civil word from me.... For I am unable
to pray without at the same time cursing. If I
am prompted to say, ‘Hallowed be Thy name,’ I
must add, ‘Cursed, damned, outraged be the
name of papists.’ I never work better than
when I am inspired by anger.” Martin Luther
“Even unbelievers should be forced to obey the
Ten Commandments, attend church, and
outwardly conform” Martin Luther
John is the new King of Israel, the city of
Münster is the New Jerusalem, and all who are “The sum of evangelical doctrine is, to teach,
not baptized as adults must be or leave the
1. What Christ is; 2. Why he was sent; 3. In
city in the middle of winter. Radical
what manner he accomplished the work of
Anabaptists
redemption.” John Calvin Aphorism 39.

THE REFORMATION

FELIX MANTZ
~1498-1/5/1527 A.D.
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
Most of the Swiss Anabaptists were like
Zwingli; they were first Catholic humanists
under the influence of Erasmus and others.
They became reformers after reading the bible
that Erasmus published. Many of them were
close associates and co-laborers with Zwingli
at Zürich. These included Ockenfuss, As late
as 5/1/1523, Zwingli said he was open to
believer’s baptism as practiced in the Bible.
Zwingli turned against his friends, though.
After having public disputations with
Anabaptists in January, Mary, and November
1525, many were later drowned. In 1529, at
the Diet of Speyer, Luther and Lutherans also
agreed that Anabaptists should be killed.
Felix Mantz was born around 1498 to
Johannes Mantz. Felix had a good education
in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Mantz wrote the
first systematic Biblical defense of believer’s
baptism. He was not an eloquent speaker, but
he wrote better than he spoke. His defense was
a 1,500 word pamphlet; unfortunately, it is
lost today, except for quotes by Zwingli.
This paper will look at arguments for who
should be baptized and why, and also other
things we can learn from Felix’s life.
Arguments for Believer’s Baptism
Believer’s baptism means that an adult or
child should themselves believe before they are
baptized. At one extreme, the early church at
Alexandria made people attend a two-year
class before being permitted to be baptized. I
also know of a Christian man who said he
truly believed when he was four years old, and
he was baptized at four years old.
Gal 3:26 says, “for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have been clothed with
Christ.”
Rom 6:3-5 says, “Or don’t you know that all of
us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead through the glory of the Father, we too
may live a new life. If we have been united with
him in his death, we will certainly also be
united with him in his resurrection.”
1 Pet 3:21 in the context of Noah’s flood says,
“and this water symbolizes baptism that now
saves you also — not the removal of dirt from
the body but the pledge of a good conscience
toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ,”
Believer: The meaning is plain as these are
read, baptism is a sign of the believers rebirth.
Infant: Baptism could allow for vicarious faith,
that is, where the faith of the parents is applied
to the child until the child comes of age.
Believer: Adults were baptized in Acts 2:41.
Infant: If adult converts were unfortunately not
baptized as infants, then they should be
baptized as adults.
Believer: Acts 2:37-41, Acts 8:12,18; 19:1-7,
and Mt 28:19, show that a person must repent
and believe first.
Infant: Baptism is a not a work of man, but of
God. It is a promise by God for adults who are
baptized and infants who remain faithful to the
vows given in their name.
Arguments for Infant Baptism
Infant baptism means the infants of a Christian parent should be baptized, as well as
adult converts who were never baptized.
Augustine taught that baptized infants who die
go to heaven, and unbaptized ones who die go
to hell. Various other reasons given are that
baptism takes infants from spiritual death to
life, releases us from the guilt of original sin in
Adam. Lutheran doctrine says that faith of the
parents is prerequisite for infant baptism to be
effective. The Catholic church says it does not.
(Millard Erickson Christian Theology p.1090.)
Zwingli’s main argument was that baptism
in the New Testament is a type of circumcision
in the Old. Since circumcision was done to
Jewish [male] babies, baptism is appropriate
for Christian infants, that is, not that infants
are Christians per se, but the children of
Christians. There are two verses in support of
this position.
Gal 2:11-12 says, “In him [Christ] you were
also circumcised, in the putting off of the
sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by
the hands of men but with the circumcision
done by Christ, having been buried with him
in baptism and raised with him through your
faith in the power of God, who raised him from
the dead.”
1 Cor 7:14 says concerning a marriage with
one spouse a believer and one not, “Otherwise
your children would be unclean, but as it is,
they are holy.”
Infant: This implies that babies of a Christian
parent are in some way declared holy by God.
Since this is true, baptism seems appropriate
for those declared holy by God.
Believer: Does not say baptism though.
Infant: Other verses, such as Acts 16:31-33,
show were families were baptized. It does not
say that the children were of age or not. The
household of Stephanas is in 1 Cor 1:16.
Believer: The household of Stephanas were
converts in 1 Cor 16:15. Thus, if this supported
infant baptism, then it seems that baptized
infants can be called converts.
Infant: Acts 10:44-48 show that all who heard
the message were to be baptized.
Believer: That is because all who heard the
message received the Holy Spirit, and all who
heard spoke in tongues. (argument given by
Baptist Beasley-Murray Baptism p.315)
Infant: 1 Jn 2:13 shows that John wrote to
the children too. Matt 18:2-6 mentions
children in God’s kingdom.
Believer: So? When the children believe, then
baptize them as believers.
Summary for Infant Baptism
The argument for infant baptism centers on
two things: 1) comparison in Gal 2:11-12 of
circumcision with baptism, 2) and the purpose
of baptism giving remission of original sin
and/or spiritual life to babies, and/or giving
membership in the visible church. In the Old
Testament, circumcision did not guarantee the
boy was saved. Rather, it showed that he was
a part of God’s visible family on earth, the
Jews. You became a Jew by physical birth.
Presumably, you become a part of the
Christian family on earth, the visible church,
by either physical birth or else conversion.
People who hold to infant baptism believe
that an individual’s belief in Jesus is still
essential, but it is a confirmation of the earlier
baptism.
A difficulty is how someone obeys the
command to be baptized when they had no
free will in the matter. Actually, this is not a
difficulty for Calvinists, who believe we have no
free will in any spiritual matter, anyway.
Summary for Believer’s Baptism
The argument for believer’s baptism centers
on two things: 1) the purpose of baptism is a
visible sign of being born again (Gal 3:267 and
Rom 6:3-5), and 2) baptism is a promise of a
good conscience toward God(1 Pet 3:21).
Baptism is for all who are saved, who are
clothed with Christ.
The comparison of Old Testament circumcision with New Testament baptism in Gal 2:1112 actually fits very naturally with believer’s
baptism. One became a Jew by natural birth.
One becomes a Christian by being born again.
A male Jew should be circumcised after he is
born. A Christian should be baptized after he
or she is born again.
A difficulty is what about infants and
children who die without being baptized? Since
most Christians believe that baptism is not
essential for salvation, there is no difficulty
here at all. Abraham in the Old Testament,
and the thief on the cross in the New
Testament were never baptized, and God
saves, through the cross of Christ, all who put
their trust in Him.
Who Believes What
Denominations that hold in believers
baptism include Baptists, Bible church (like
us), Christian and Missionary Alliance, Calvary
Chapels, Mennonites, Assembly of God, and
most Charismatics. Denominations that hold
to infant baptism include Presbyterians,
Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, Orthodox.
The Martyrdom of Mantz
Mantz and a number of other Anabaptists
were imprisoned in 10/1525. They escaped
from prison, but Mantz and Blaurock were
later recaptured. On 1/5/1527, Felix Mantz
and other Anabaptists were taken to the lake
Limat and drowned. Since Anabaptists stressed water baptism of believers, downing was a
favorite way of murdering Anabaptists. As
Mantz was being taken out in the boat, his
aged mother, was standing on the shore
encouraging him to remain steadfast.

THE REFORMATION

BALTHASAR
HÜBMAIER
1480-3/10/1528 A.D.
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
Balthasar Hübmaier was one of the most
out-standing Anabaptist theologians. Despite
prison and torture, given that he wrote
outstanding works, debated Catholics and
Zwingli, refuted infant baptism, refuted total
fatalistic control by God, and pastored 18,000,
one wonders what he would have accomplished if he had been born again for more
than the six years he had until his martyrdom.
Rather than attempt to give a complete
account of his teaching, this paper will just
concentrate on a few small topics of his life.
The Five Stages of Hübmaier’s Life
Catholic Phase (1480-1520): Balthasar grew
up in Friedburg, near Augsburg. He received a
Th.D. under the famous Catholic theologian
John Eck, who later became his bitter
opponent. As a Catholic, Hübmaier was a
popular preacher.
Zwinglian Phase (1520-4/1525): Hübmaier
apparently was born again the winter of
1522/23. From 1522 on, Hübmaier was sympathetic to humanism and Zwingliism. He was
an evangelical Catholic until he went to Waldshut in 3/1523 and converted the entire town
to Zwingliism. On 10/26-28/1523, in Zürich,
he was on the evangelical side during the
debate over images and the mass. Zwingli was
a friend of his at this time.
Zürich Anabaptist Phase (1525-7/1526):
William Röublin first explained the principles
of Anabaptism to Hübmaier in April of 1525,
right before Röublin was exiled from Zürich.
After Hübmaier was imprisoned and tortured,
he recanted on baptism and was exiled. As
soon as he left, he took back his recantation.
Moravian Phase (1527-1528): After Balthasar
left Zürich, he went to Nikolsburg in Moravia.
He persuaded all the evangelicals in the town
to be Anabaptist evangelicals. He was a pastor
to 12,000 Anabaptists. In addition, there were
6,000 baptisms.
Final Phase (1528-∞): Balthasar and his wife
were captured by the (Catholic) authorities
who came to Nickolsburg. Imprisoned in Vienna. He “semi-recanted”, but it did no good. He
was burned at the stake on 3/10/1528.
What are the Key Christian Doctrines
After Hübmaier had a formal hearing in
Zürich on 1/13/1526, the city council told
him he had to either recant or leave town. He
stayed and made an offer to publicly recant his
views. When the time came for him to stand
up and speak and recant, he instead defended
believer’s baptism.
Hübmaier was imprisoned for a month and
tortured on the rack. This has been proven by
a letter by Zwingli himself in Jackson, Huldrich
Zwingli p.250. For good measure, his wife and
other Anabaptists were imprisoned too.
While Hübmaier was in prison, he had time
to reflect on just what the essentials of
Christianity were. Here is a very brief sketch of
his Twelve Articles of Christian Belief; note that
most of the points each have three parts. What
are the three parts?
1) God the Father Almighty, Creator, has for
my sake created heaven and earth and all
that in them is, and has me as your loved
child from your fatherly grace.
1b) Men lost this position through the
disobedience of Adam.
1c) Father, I set all my comfort, hope and trust
in you that certainly this fall will not be
injurious or bring condemnation to me.
2) Jesus Christ, true God and true man, our
Lord and expiation for our sins
2b) You have given us power to become your
child in faith. I hope and trust him wholly
that he will not let his saving and comforting
name be lost on me, a miserable sinner.
3) Jesus was virgin birth by the Holy Spirit.
3b) You were born of the Holy Spirit that we
might by born of the Holy Spirit, you, Son of
God, became man that through you we might
become children of God.
4) Suffering and death of Jesus for our ransom
4b) By pouring out of your rose-red blood, the
greatest and highest love to us poor men is
recognized. You have changed the heavy
cross for you into a light yoke for us.
4c) I will praise and thank you for this, Jesus,
for ever and ever.
5) Christ preached to the spirits in prison and
rose from the dead for our sake.
5b) Christ paid for the sins of all men.
6) After 40 days, Jesus ascended into heaven,
where He is our one and only advocate.
6b) The Father has given to you all power over
his possessions, in heaven and on earth.
7) Jesus will come again to judge the quick
and the dead.
7b) Then we shall see our Savior face to face
and our sinful life will be ended.
7c) Jesus, shorten the days; come down to us.
8) The Holy Spirit, is True God.
8b) Without the Holy Spirit nothing is Holy,
and in Him I put all of my trust.
8c) I pray the you will strengthen my faith and
kindle my heart to love God and my neighbor.
9) The church is the communion of all
believers, with the two bonds to Christ,
water-baptism and the Lord’s supper.
9b) Jesus, your rose-red blood has sanctified
to yourself the church, and you will remain
with her to the end of the world.
9c) I pray that we may be united to hold to
what you commanded, and root out all things
God has not planted.
10) The Christian Church has received
remission of sins and the keys for the
opening of heaven.
10b) Those in sin, after a threefold brotherly
reproof, are excluded from the church.
11) The physical resurrection of the dead.
11b) Even though my body may be eaten by
worms, drowned, frozen, or burned, I will
receive true honor at the joyous resurrection of
my flesh.
11c) Jesus strengthen me; hold me in thy faith
12) eternal life to the faithful and elect.
12b) After the suffering of this life, we will have
joyful eternal life, beholding God’s face.
12c) Please graciously keep me in the faith. If I
be driven from it by tyranny, sword, fire, or
water, raise me up again by the grace of the
Holy Spirit.
The only real error I see if in the first article.
Can you see it?
As he was tortured, Hübmaier was “allured” to
recant, (as Zwingli put it). In his recantation,
he says he erred on believer’s baptism.
However, he never taught the errors he was
accused of, that Christians could not hold
office in government, all property should be in
common, he is without sin. After this, the
Council exiled him from Zürich. A year later,
he published his Twelve Articles. In later years
he deeply regretted his giving in under torture.
Hübmaier’s Teachings
Denying no free will slanders God as a tyrant.
God does not condemn people for reasons
about which they can do nothing.
No free will says one can tell God we rob and
still because we must obey God’s decreed will.
We have guilt for Adam’s actions as well as a
sinful nature. Our body and soul fell, but not
our Spirit. (even Hübmaier made mistakes)
Don’t just be mouth Christians, but action C’s.
Obey and participate in government in all that
is not against God. It rightfully bears the arms.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial.
He also examined and refuted the Calvinist
interpretation of Romans 9 and Proverbs 16:4.
Hübmaier’s Weakness
Balthasar’s twice recanted under torture.
However, it was not Christ he denied, but
believer’s baptism. If this was a sin, certainly it
was lesser than the sin of persecuting him.
Hübmaier’s Legacy
As Henry Vedder puts it (p.153) “In learning,
in character, in eloquence, he was not less
fitted for leadership that Luther or Zwingli;
and had continued opportunity been offered
him, there can be little doubt that he could
have here accomplished that which would
have left his name by the side of the greatest
preachers and reformers of the age. If Luther
had been crushed at Worms as Hus had been
at Constance, we might now read as little of
him as we do of Hübmaier.” Hübmaier had a
tremendous influence for someone who was
only an Anabaptist for three years.
As a side note, as Hübmaier left his defeat in
Zürich on his way to Moravia, he stopped by
Augsburg and talked with Hans Denck. That is
likely how the entire south German branch of
Anabaptists started.
Suggested Reading
Klassan, W. (ed) Anabaptism in Outline. Herald
Press (official Mennonite Press) 1981.
Pipkin, H.W. and J.H. Yoder Balthasar
Hubmaier. Herald Press 1989.
Vedder, Henry C. Heroes of the Reformation :
Balthasar Hübmaier. G.P. Putnam’s Sons1905
Balthasar Hübmaier Supplemental
Material
“May we be one with [the church] in faith and
doctrine, and hold all that you have commanded us in your Word, and root up all that
you have not planted. May we not be led astray
by any human invention, opinion, teaching of
the Fathers or popes, councils or universities,
nor ancient usages, nor be brought into error
by them.” Twelve Articles (Anabaptism in
Profile p.102)
“Faith alone and by itself is not sufficient for
salvation.... With the heart man believes to
righteousness and with the mouth confession
is made to salvation (Rom 10). Now we do not
wish to be mouth Christians only... Rather,
faith must express itself also in love to God
and the neighbor. Faith must be active in love
(Gal 5). Therefore faith by itself alone is like a
green fig tree without fruit, like a cistern
without water, like a cloud without rain....”
“O, we wish to be good evangelical Christians;
we boast about our great faith, but have never
touched the works of the gospel and faith with
the smallest finger. Therefore we are, as stated
above be, nothing but mouth Christians, ear
Christians, an paper Christians, but not action
Christians. ... (Jas 2) I confess this article with
all my strength: that faith by itself alone is not
worthy to be called faith, for there can be no
true faith without the works of love.” p.43-44)
Justification 1526
“Now all the teachings which diagnose
diseases and point to the physician [Jesus] are
only ‘they letter that kills’ before they are
believed. But in faith God makes them to live,
wax green, and bear fruit. One must put on
the rough coat of John the Baptist before one
can receive the soft, mild and meek lamb,
Jesus Christ.” Summary of a True Christian Life
1525
He could also sing. Balthasar was also
involved in mariology and (non-violent) AntiSemitism. He was not so much against Jews,
as against all who charged interest, which
often was 20%.
Hübmaier on Free Will
Whoever denies the free will of man and says
that ‘free will’ is nothing but an empty and
useless term without any reality, the same
slanders God as a tyrant. He charges God with
injustice and gives manifold cause to the
wicked to remain in their sins. Indeed, he
overthrows more than half of the holy
Scriptures. The proof of this article: If man
were robbed of his free will God could never
justly condemn the sinner for his sins. For he
condemns him for reasons about which man
can do nothing. God forbid!
“Indeed, because of your eternal foreknowledge
and judgment we must go with the devil into
eternal fire in order to fulfill your eternal
foreknowledge”
“my stealing and my robbing was not my fault
but God’s will which no one can resist (Rom 9)
Without his will I could not have done it.
Because of my will I had to do it because it is
bound and imprisoned.
If our will is totally bound, who bound it? who
is responsible for it being bound?
Hübmaier on Baptism
In Zwingli’s tract On Baptism, Anabaptism, and
Infant Baptism, he had three arguments. 1)
Since nothing outward, baptism included does
not remit sins, and God commanded baptism,
then baptism is a sign of allegiance of God’s
people and nothing else.
2) Christian children are not less God’s
children than their parents, as circumcised
infants were in the Old Testament.
3) Since Anabaptism has not the teaching,
example, nor witness from God’s word, they
crucify Christ afresh, either from selfishness or
seeking novel religion.
Is baptism a profession of faith?
If people are baptized on the faith of their
parents and grandparents, can people become
a Christian on the faith of their parents and
grandparents too?
Since baptism is a mere sign, like Zwingli and
Leo Jud say, why do we strive over a mere
sign? When Jesus says to let the children
come unto him, he did not baptize them.
Likewise, Hübmaier supported infant dedication, with no more water than Jesus used.
(from p.109)
Hübmaier said that since Zwingli taught that
the children of Christians are certainly and
undoubtedly children of God, that is wrong. He
says “There you attack God’s judgment and
grant to physical birth what belongs alone to
the spirit and the Word of God. For God alone
makes children of God. We were all conceived
and born in sin (Eph 2), nobody since Jesus
has been physically born a child of God. p.45
An Anabaptist Hymn
The Anabaptists wrote a number of hymns.
As one modern writer put, it, what they lacked
in style and rhythm they made up for in
enthusiasm. There is an anonymous hymn
that was very likely written by Hübmaier. The
subject is the last line of each stanza “God’s
word stands sure for ever.” It is 18 stanzas
long. As the stanza works it sway through the
Bible, it speaks of David in the tenth stanza.
The first stanza is appropriate for closing
Rejoice, rejoice, ye Christians all,
And break forth into singing!
Since far and wide in every side
The word of God is ringing.
And well we know, no human foe
Our souls from Christ can sever;
For to the base, and men of grace,
God’s word stands sure for ever.
As oft as ye eat this bread (mark that it is
called bread) and drink this cup you proclaim
the Lord’s death until He comes.
“So it follow that the slayers of heretics are the
worst heretics of all, in that they, contrary to
Christ’s teaching and practice, condemn
heretics to the fire.... A Turk or a heretic
cannot be persuaded by us either with the
sword or with fire, but only with patience and
prayer, and so we should wait patiently for the
judgment of God.... So, to burn heretics is to
recognize Christ in appearance, but to deny
him in reality.” Concerning Heretics and Those
who Burn Them 1524 Anabaptism in Outline
p.292.
Hübmaier’s Writing Style
Hübmaier was a trained writer, debater.
Unlike Luther and Zwingli, Hübmaier was
“scrupulously fair to his adversaries” (Vedder
p.157). The one thing he would do is write
“Debates” with Zwingli and others, in which he
wrote both sides. One would get the
impression that it was an actual debate, not
that he was putting words in the mouths of
others. Balthasar would typically end his
written debate material with phrases like
“Truth is immortal” or “Truth is unkillable”.

THE REFORMATION


THOMAS MÜNTZER
C1480-5/27/1525 A.D.
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Today we will study about someone who was
as crazy as a loony bird. While some say he
was the logical consequence of Lutheranism,
others say he was the founding Anabaptist, we
would like to say he had no influence at all on
the reformation. Or at least, no influence we
would like to admit to.
Most encyclopedias will tell you that Thomas
Müntzer was a radical Anabaptist who was
born in Stolberg, violently captured the city of
Muhlhausen in 1525, and was captured and
soon executed by Philip of Hesse. What they do
not say is why. Why was Müntzer this way.
Even stranger, why did so many people follow
him? Perhaps by examining this thoroughly
crazy man, we can gain some insight into
religious subjectivism and crazy religious
movements of our time as well.
When Müntzer was driven out of Zwickau in
6/1521, he went to Prague, where they initially
considered him a Lutheran. On 11/1/1521,
Thomas wrote a manifesto in Prague, similar
to Luther’s famous 95 Theses. Because he
preached violence, he came and had to leave
Prague, Allstedt, Mühlhausen and Nuremberg.
Finally he returned Mühlhausen and joined
forces with Pfeiffer and Storch who had similar
views. Some think Storch’s preaching was a
little too strong. Read and see what you think.
“Those in authority live only in lust, consume the sweat
and blood of their subjects, eat and drink night and day,
hunt, run, and kill... Everyone therefore should arm
himself and attack the priests in their fat nests, beating,
killing, and strangling them; because once the
bellwethers are removed, the sheep are easier to handle.
Afterward the landgrabbers and noblemen should be
attacked, their property confiscated, and their castles
destroyed.”
After they forcibly took over Muhlhausen,
Philip of Hesse marched with 2,000 trained
troops, artillery, and cavalry. Müntzer went 20
miles away to Frankenhausen, which was
more defensible. In the battle with 10,000
peasants, 5,000 peasants were killed, Müntzer
was captured, and the rest fled. A little fighting
continued, but Müntzer’s cause died with him.
Müntzer’s Life
Müntzer on Baptism and the Bible
Müntzer was born to moderately well-off
parents. He loved learning, studied Greek and
Latin and in 1519 the church fathers. He
attended the famous University of Leipzig in
1506. He was somewhat attracted to
humanism, but was won over by Luther’ s
arguments that for centuries the church stood
just fine without the Popes and Catholicism.
Müntzer was considered a radical Anabaptist by Catholics, Lutherans, and Zwinglians alike. One of the most common misconceptions is that Müntzer believed what Anabaptists believed about their key belief. Müntzer argued that infant baptism is not taught in
scripture. That alone “proved” he was an Anabaptist to some. However, he believed Holy
Spirit baptized, and thus nobody needed to be
baptized at all. His belief was not too deep
though, for he continued to baptized infants.
In 1512, he was involved in some sort of plot
against the Archbishop of Madgebeurg. In
1518 he met with Luther. Much later, Luther
recalled that in the course of talking he
punched Müntzer in the nose once or twice.
Müntzer called Luther a liar, saying he was
never punched. Luther was particularly angry
about those who would turn the Reformation
into a political revolution, and who would
elevate subjective leading of the Holy Spirit
above and against God’s word.
At Zwickau, Müntzer shared the pulpit at St.
Mary’s church with the humanist Egranus,
who strongly opposed him. Müntzer tried to
win the hearts of the people by publishing a
set of wild and extreme propositions - using
Egranus’ name! When Müntzer advocated
violence to overthrow priests and the Catholic
church, he had to leave the city.
On the Bible, even uneducated Anabaptists
surprised their persecutors with their Bible
knowledge, for Bible teaching, not theology,
was central to many of them. Müntzer knew
the Bible well, too. However, Müntzer believed
his revelations direct from the Holy Spirit
superseded the Bible.
Thus, calling Müntzer an Anabaptist is sort
of like calling someone a Christian simply
because they oppose enemies of Christianity.
What Others Felt About Müntzer
Martin Luther after Frankenhausen, wrote, “I
am truly sorry that poor people were so
miserly seduced and lost their bodies and
souls; at the same time I am glad that God
made a judgment and settled the matter.”
ments of today, we should take this criticism
seriously. If we all claim to follow the Bible,
and we do not accept the more traditional or
Conrad Grebel initially praised Müntzer as a
more modern Catholic interpretations of the
Christian brother for his bold stand for truth
Bible as our authority, who is to say that
in a 9/5/1524 letter. He later criticized Münteveryone’s interpretation of the Bible, no
zer for having singing and infant baptism. Afmatter how wild, is equally OK? If there is no
ter knowing more, Grebel rebuked him sharpcheck on everyone’s private interpretation, who
ly for ‘seizing the sword’ to advance the Gospel. is to say that Müntzer would not happen
again, with the likes of David Koresh? There
Like Grebel, our beliefs and ministry can be
are three parts to the answer.
misunderstood when we carelessly praise
those who have very serious theological probI. Arnold of Brescia (1155)____________________
lems. Similar to this, Paul warns Timothy in 1
Tim 5:22 “Do not be hasty in the laying on of
______________________________________________
hands, and do not share in the sins of others.
Keep yourself pure.”
II. 2 Pet 2:1-3; 3:16, 2 Tim 2:1-4______________
Müntzer the Scapegoat
Calvinists: Bullinger started the myth that
Müntzer originated Anabaptism. This slander
was never refuted until 1897.
Lutherans: Luther distinguished between the
radicals, such as Müntzer, and the moderate
Anabaptists. However, other Lutherans perpetrated Bullinger’s lie, and painted all whom
they called Anabaptists with the same brush.
It was not until Lutheran Heinrich Boehmer
work in 1922 that Lutherans stopped believing
that the originator of Anabaptism of Müntzer.
Communists: Marx’s co-author Frederick
Engels specifically pointed to Müntzer as the
great proto-Communist leader who led the
German peasants’ war. Boehmer shredded
that myth. Müntzer was from the middle class.
He was not a political hero, but an idealist who
misled. He only led peasants in a relatively
small area for only three days.
Catholics: John Cochlaeus and other Catholics painted Müntzer as the final stage of
Lutheranism. Never mind the fact that Luther
himself strongly denounced Müntzer: Besides
being the devil incarnate, Cochlaeus claimed
Luther was a traitor for not sticking by
Müntzer. Evan as late as 1965, Catholics still
blamed Lutheranism for Müntzer.
Examining Catholic Criticisms
A Catholic criticism of Müntzer in particular
and Protestantism in particular is that of
“religious subjectivism”, or as they put it,
“every man is a Pope.” One could retort that
having only Popes delude us with fables is not
much better than lots of people delude us with
fables. However, in the case of Müntzer, various cults, and some subjective religious move-
______________________________________________
III. Eph 4:3 Heb 10:24-25 1 Cor 12:14-26
_____
______________________________________________
Why Would Anyone Follow Müntzer?
Seeing that the authority of the Catholic
Church was corrupt and void, one choice was
to learn God’s word and obey it. A more
exciting choice for those who hated authority
was to bypass God’s word and trust in a leader
with great charisma, who promised them blood
of their enemies, glory, and overthrow of tyranny, and a quick return of Christ. It is alluring to follow someone who says the Holy Spirit
is speaking directly to them such that scripture is not needed. People look for sincere religious men who are certain about everything.
The Enemy of My Opponent is...
If nothing else, the lack of immediate, universal condemnation of Müntzer by Anabaptists shows how wrong it is to think that “the
enemy of my opponent is my friend”. A more
fitting saying I have heard is, “Christianity has
more to fear from her supposed friends than
from her avowed enemies.”
Other Lessons We Can Learn
Do not be surprised that the way of truth is
often slandered by false teachers. Otherwise, 2
Pet 2:2 would not be true.
When you teach and give examples of faith,
love, and perseverance of false teachers, take
care that your implicit endorsement does not
come back to haunt you. By the way, aren’t
Mother Theresa, Albert Sweitzer, Rabbi
Kushner, and Pope John Paul really great...
Thomas Muntzer Supplemental
Material
“I, Thomas Muentzer of Stolberg, confess before all the
church and all the world, wherever this letter may be
shown, that I, together with Christ and the elect who
have known me since childhood, can testify that I have
made greater efforts to attain or possess a higher
instruction of the invincible and holy Christian faith
than any other man.”
Some might possibly think Thomas had a
slight problem with pride.
At Allstadt, Thomas wanted to eliminate all of
the godless. “The godless have no right to live
except in so far as they are permitted to do so
by the elect.”
In 1523, Cochlaeus warned Luther that an
uprising would occur, and told him to write
something to stop it.
The City of Münster
While Luther stressed obedience to existing
authority, and Zwingli and later Calvin tried to
set up theocracies on earth, true radical
Anabaptists tried their own hand at theocracy.
In 2/9/1534, John Matthysz, John of Leiden,
and many Dutch Anabaptists took over the
city of Münster. After Matthysz died, John
pronounced himself “King of New Zion” and
became polygamous. Protestant and Catholic
armies combined to destroy the city of Münster
on 6/25/1535. Whenever people have tried to
set up a theocracy on earth, be it Cromwell in
England or the Puritans in America, the
experiment always seems to turn out as a
failure or else be short-lived. I suppose we just
cannot get around the fact that our citizenship
is in heaven.(Phil 3:20,Heb11:15-16, 1Pet2:11)
For Further Reading

THE REFORMATION

CONRAD GREBEL
~1498-1526 A.D.
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
The earliest distinct group of Anabaptists
were the Swiss Brethren, and Conrad Grebel
was one of the four founders. Among other
things, we will see why it is important that we
respect the conscience of others.
Conrad was born into a very distinguished
family of Zürich with five bothers and sisters.
The Grebels were both landholders and merchants, and his father was the magistrate of
Grüningen, outside of Zurich. As a boy, he
grew up in the magistrate’s castle, the same
castle where he would be imprisoned later.
Conrad’s Education
Conrad was a talented student at the school
in Basel, leaving in 10/1514, where he was
briefly taught by Glarean (Heinrich Loriti
1488-1531), one of the most famous northern
humanists after Erasmus The northern (primarily Dutch and Swiss) humanists emphasized high morals and the study of Christianity,
though from a man-centered perspective. The
southern (Italian and Austrian) humanists,
cared little for studying Christianity and had
low morals. Glarean was poetic, and wellstudied in history, music, and mathematics
Erasmus said of Glarean, “With scholasticism
he is familiar but now rejects it. He once
pursued the study of theology at length but
was driven from it by the fruitlessness of the
instruction and the incredible strife among
theologians, and began to study Christ from
the sources.” Erasmus mentioned that Glarean
was bellicose towards Sophists, “nevertheless,
he is free from conceit and haughtiness.”
Nearly all reformers, except for Luther, were
humanists at one point in their life. Due to
Glarean’s plans to go to Italy, Grebel left for
Vienna, where he encountered other kinds of
humanists.
Vienna was a center of humanism, and the
church school Grebel attended had 5,000
students. In Vienna, fighting, prostitution, and
drunkenness were everywhere. Many of the
students carried knives and even short swords
to school, apparently because they needed
them. Conrad himself was involved in a knife
fight in 1518. Never forget, that learning and
knowledge, even head-knowledge of the Bible,
in and of themselves do not lead to a godly life.
Conrad was very close to instructor, Vadian
(Joachim von Watt of St. Gall 1484-1551), a
fellow Swiss and northern humanist. Grebel
wrote 57 letters to him. From 1518 to 1520,
Grebel went to Paris to study with Vadian.
Vadian as well as Conrad became Zwinglians,
and Vadian was a close friend of Zwingli and
the Grebel family. However, Vadian debated
extensively against Conrad and Conrad’s stand
against infant baptism.
Conrad and Parental Authority
Conrad’s parents were strongly against him
marrying his sweetheart, Barbara, probably
because she was from a poor family. After a
year of engagement, he married her anyway in
2/6/1522 when his father was out of town.
His mother wept uncontrollably. Conrad and
Barbara had three children. When we make
choices, even correct ones, without honoring
our parents, the situation can be bad. In
Conrad’s case, the situation was such that he
needed a mediator to negotiate between him
and his father for financial support.
The Main Issues of Contention
Erasmus said of Anabaptists, “The Anabaptists have flooded the Low Countries just as
frogs and locusts flooded Egypt, a mad
generation, doomed to die.” Despite this,
Grebel still respected Erasmus.
What were the main points of disagreement.
There were a hodge-podge of issues, and what
was more important to some was less
important to others. Here are some views.
Hans Krüsi (3rd Swiss martyr executed
7/27/1525) “No one should be obligated to pay
tithes and the like.” “No superior magistrate
but God.”
Jacob Hottinger “For it is not given to any government to dispose over God’s word with
worldly means of force. Is not after all the
Word of God free?(Portraits of Anabapt. p.541)
Vadian wrote to Grebel on 12/28/1524, “The
battle is almost altogether about baptism”
Zwingli’s saw that Anabaptists were
schismatics who would divide the church and
destroy the order of the Reformation.
Grebel thought the main problem was that
Zwingli and other reformers turned from
trusting in God to trust in themselves. Phil
3:20 says our citizenship is in heaven. In
Zürich, and later Geneva, reformers were
trying to build a theocracy on earth.
Strong George
Grebel’s Views
Grebel believe that Christians should never
use the sword to fight. Grebel believed that
everything that is not specifically mentioned in
Scripture, such as all singing in church, is
forbidden to us. Col 3:16 says, “...sing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in
your hearts to God.” However, Conrad interpreted “in your hearts” to mean you were not
supposed to sing out loud. The error, that
everything not specifically mentioned in scripture is forbidden, is briefly answered in Col
3:17, was also held by Mennonites and Amish.
When Grebel endorsed Müntzer before really
understanding him, his poor judgment had
awful future consequences for Anabaptists.
Sometimes divisiveness occurs not only by
what is said, but how it is said. Jorg Blaurock,
nicknamed “strong George” was an Anabaptist
ex-priest who called Zwingli a thief and a
‘murderer’, after the German translation of
John 10. He had the unusual practice of
“storming pulpits.” For example in October of
1525, he entered a church as a worshipper,
run up to the pulpit during the middle of the
sermon and say, “Whose place is this? If this is
God’s place, where the word of God is
The Contribution of Anabaptism
proclaimed, I am a messenger from the Father
to proclaim the Word of God.” He would then
Most Anabaptists believed three teachings
take over the service and say what he wanted
other churches could not tolerate: believer’s
to say.
baptism, separation of church and state, and
free-will. These three views were united by a
The spread of Anabaptism was too slow for
common thread: a belief in conscience and the
Jorg, and by his tactless impatience, he
freedom to make choices.
started the path to its persecution and near
destruction.
While God is the one who provided salvation,
we bear the responsibility if we choose to reject
Imagine how Christians would feel if you
it, and we have a responsibility to respond to
traveled to a country where the Gospel was
God’s offer. This concept was incompatible
suppressed, and you courageously, fearlessly,
with the views of many Calvinists.
tactlessly, rudely, and foolishly preached the
Gospel too openly. The authorities would have
As God does not always coerce people,
an excuse not only to arrest you, but to arrest
neither should the state. We, and not the
many other Christians as well.
state, ultimately bear the responsibilities for
our choices about God. The state and other
Anyway, the authorities in Zürich arrested
authorities should not coerce people to follow
Blaurock, Felix Mantz, Conrad Grebel, and a
God. This is the exact opposite of the
number of other Anabaptist leaders.
argument of Augustine, that since God sends
people to Hell, the state and church have the
The Great Escape
right to torture for heresy.
A number of Anabaptists, including Anthony
Rogganacher, Conrad Grebel, Felix Mantz,
Ockenfuss, and Jorg Blaurock were imprisoned in Zürich on 10/8/1525. The Zürich
council was not sure what to do with them.
Conrad’s father Jacob was on the Council and
was against the death penalty for Anabaptists.
By coincidence, Jacob was Conrad’ father. In
3/1526, Someone, either through carelessness
or else sympathy, left one of the latches on the
shutter to the window undone and also left the
drawbridge down one night. All of them
escaped except for two who chose to remain.
Some of them were recaught, but Conrad
never was. At the age of 28, Conrad died of
plague in August 1526.
Believer’s baptism is a sign that the believer
has made a choice for Christ. Many who hold
to believer’s baptism believe the baptized baby
automatically becomes and remains a part of
God’s family unless he or she chooses to leave.
Does Scripture affirm, deny, or remain silent
about a person’s conscience and freedom to
choose? Rom 14, 2:15, 1 Cor 8:7-12, and 1
Cor 10:25-29 are verses demonstrating the
importance of the concept of conscience. For
our choices, an often-quoted verse, Joshua
24:15, “choose this day whom you will serve...”
However, this only lists the two choices of
previous idols or Amorite gods. What verses
show we are able to choose to follow God?
Conrad Grebel Supplemental Material
Both Zwinglin and Grebel against singing in
the church. Grebel said not to because :1 there
is no example or teaching in the NT
2) It does not edity
3) Paul forbids singing (Eph 5, Col 3)
4. What Sripture does not positively teach and
command is forbidden
5. Christ requires only the preaching of the
Word
6. Human beings may noty add to the Word
7. Singing is not justified as a means to
eliminate the Mass
8 & 9 It was not ordained of God and must
therefore be rooted out by the word and
command of Christ.
1525-1527 Zwinglin banned organ music and
singing

THE REFORMATION

ANDREAS
KARLSTADT
1480-1541 A.D.
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
A papal Bull issued in 10/1520 threatened
excommunication of two men by name: Martin
Luther and Andreas Karlstadt. We have
studied about Luther, but today we will learn
about Luther’s teacher, his one-time ally, his
bitter opponent, someone who Luther assisted,
and Luther’s opponent again. We will look at a
complex man who at various times could be
called a Lutheran, or a Calvinist, but is
classified as an Anabaptist.
Karlstadt’s Early Life
Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (or
Carlstadt) was born in Karlstadt, Bavaria. He
studied in Erfut (1499-1503), and taught in
Cologne, and Wittenberg; he was one of Martin
Luther’s professors and was on the committee
that gave Luther his doctoral degree. Karlstadt
was greatly influenced by Augustine when he
purchased his works in 1517.
Karlstadt was no stranger to debate. Prior to
Luther’s 95 theses, Karlstadt posted a debate
challenge of 151 theses in support of Luther.
In 1518, Karlstadt wrote a set of theses for
Luther and against John Eck. In 1519 there
was a public debate between Karlstadt and
Luther versus Eck. There was disagreement
was to who would be the primary debater
against Eck, and this may have been the start
of the animosity between the two reformers.
Karlstadt, a former cleric, on 1/19/1522
took the bold step of marriage, to a fifteen year
old girl. Karlstadt wrote approvingly of Philip of
Hesse’s polygamous marriage to two women.
Rulers did not usually do that; instead, many
rulers had affairs on the side.
When Luther was in hiding in 1521-1522,
two leaders of the Wittenberg church were
Philip Melanchthon and Karlstadt. Karlstadt
instituted a numbers of reforms. One person
fainted when he was given the communion
wafer instead of having it placed in his mouth.
When Luther returned to Wittenberg, he undid
Karlstadt’s reforms. What were the differences
between the two men?
Doctrinal Differences
Karlstadt’s beliefs were the same as Luther’s
except for the following: Karlstadt did not
believe in oral confession, believed all status
should be take out of churches immediately,
had a higher regard for the book of James,
believed in infant baptism, and later believed
like most Protestants, that the bread and wine
were representative of Christ versus Luther’s
view of consubstantiation.
Karlstadt also taught differently from Luther
on Original sin. Like later Dutch Baptists
(Pater p.267-268), Karlstadt taught that the
effects of Adam’s sin are still with us, but that
Adam’s sin is not imputed to us. (Pater p.110)
The Falling Out
Many times when people disagree there are
stated reasons, but some key reasons can be
unspoken. While both men referred to doctrinal reasons, there was a more fundamental difference: radicalness of reform. They agreed
that images should not be venerated, and that
lay people should receive both the bread and
wine in the Lord’s Supper and not just the
bread. However, Karlstadt wanted these changes immediately. Luther sensed that imperfectly taught people were not ready for this yet,
and wanted a slower pace for reform. Thus
Karlstadt was a “radical” not only because of
infant baptism, but because he wanted more
rapid and radical reform than Luther.
Karlstadt began to teach believer’s baptism
around 1523. He was still concerned about
children though, for citing Elisha’s tormenters
and Eli’s sons, he said that parents who fail to
instruct their children in Christianity are
Christians — just as Judas was an apostle.
Karlstadt vs. Luther
After Luther publicly derided Karlstadt,
Karlstadt left for Orlamünde and started his
own reforms. In 1524 he wrote a diatribe
attacking Luther’s view of the Lord’s Supper.
In 1525 Luther replied, writing that “Doctor
Andreas Karlstadt has deserted us, and on top
of that has become our worst enemy.” Luther
said he approached the task of destroying
images by tearing them out of men’s hearts
first, and that Karlstadt was unfair to call him
a “protector of images” since Luther was
slower since he was orderly and did not have a
factious, violent, and fanatical spirit. Luther
then goes on to unfairly compare Karlstadt
with the violent radical, Thomas Müntzer.
What do you think about tolerating images
in a church? There are four “kinds” of verses
Protestants can use that relate to this issue.
 2 Cor 11:2-4; Col 2:18
 Rom 14:1-16
 Ex37:7-9; 1 Ki 7:25-44; Nu 21:8-9; Jn 3:14
 Ex 32:19-31; 2Ki 18:3-4
Karlstadt himself believed in proper, not illicit,
honoring of saints. However, “all reputed
Christians who love the saints as if they were
gods, call on them and vow to them, commit
adultery with their gods.”
Luther Helps Karlstadt Out
Luther wrote to Frederick asking that Karlstadt be removed as pastor. Frederick went
farther than that, banishing him from Saxony.
Karlstadt suffered greatly from that, and wrote
to Luther asking him to intercede with Frederick to allow him to return. Luther forgave the
past and did so, and Karlstadt returned to
Wittenberg, on the condition that he recant his
views on the mass and did not teach.
Karlstadt’s Later Life
Karlstadt saw no future there. He was asked
to write against Zwingli and others in
Switzerland but refused to do so. In 3/1529
He left for Holstein to be with Melchior
Hoffman, but the situation was dangerous
after Luther wrote to Chancellor Brück that
Karlstadt should be imprisoned for life.
Hoffman broke with Karlstadt, and Karlstadt
went to Calvinist Switzerland, where on
Bullinger’s recommendation he was appointed
to minister in Basel.
In 1536, he went to Strobergh to moderate a
compromise between Lutherans and Calvinists, but the compromise did not come about.
He died peacefully in Basel, on 12/24/1541.
The Bible versus Theology
Karlstadt, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin,
Anabaptists, and other reformers were united
in their cry of “Sola Scriptura”. This does not
mean we should go by scripture, rather, it
means we should go by scripture alone, as
opposed to using often contradictory church
tradition.
But what happens if your theology and
scripture do not agree? You can re-interpret
scripture, or you can change your theology.
While the two are not reconciled, you have to
decide which is higher: theology or scripture.
Luther felt free to add some non-Biblical
teachings that were a part of Catholic tradition
as long as they did not violate the teachings of
scripture. Anabaptists, including Karlstadt did
not. Some Anabaptists, such as the Amish and
Hutterites would not allow anything that was
not in scripture, even if it be modern
technology. A practical approach is that extraBiblical opinions that do not contradict scripture are OK, as long as everyone remembers
they are mere opinions.
Karlstadt viewed Scripture every bit as important as Luther and the other Reformers
(perhaps higher), but he also warned against
bibliolatry, of which he used to be guilty.
“I imagined that I was a Christian when I clove
profound and beautiful sayings out of Jeremiah and
saved them for disputations ... and writings. But
when I came to my right senses, I found that I
neither knew God, nor did I love the highest Good
as Goodness. I saw that I trusted, loved, and depended upon the created letter, and the same was
my god, but I did not perceive what God had spoken
through Jeremiah: ‘Those who keep my law do not
know me,’ and they have not asked for me [Jer 2:9].
Behold, how one can enact and keep God’s law and
still neither know God nor acknowledge him. One
knows the letter or sets one’s desires upon it, but
one does not know God when one’s love and desire
are founded upon the letter. For, those who are
sons of God are driven by God; not the letter.”
While the basis of our faith is not Popes or
church tradition, the basis of our faith should
not be the Bible either, though in its original
manuscripts it is the inerrant word of God.
Rather, the basis of our faith should be God.
We are to trust, obey, and even love God’s
word as Psalm 119 shows, but there is a
problem if we trust it apart from God. We
should not trust in what we can contrive
Scriptural words to say; rather we should ask
what it is God means to say. The Bible was
written for all believers to understand, not just
the erudite few. If we have any “Bible
interpretation” that God was unwilling,
unable, or unsuccessful at communicating to
any believer for over a thousand years, then
we have to choose between our theology and
the plain meaning God sovereignly chose to
communicate.
The Pace of Change
We should never be impediments to God’s
changing peoples lives, but sometimes we can
be too impatient with the pace at which God
changes his elect. When it seems hard to
tolerate fellow believers, with their flaws and
errors, remember, Romans 15:7 “Accept one
another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in
order to bring praise to God.”
Karlstadt believed you should never try to
spread the gospel by force “sticks and whips
do not convert.” It is OK to defend youself, and
it can be compassion to challenge unjust
rules. However, even those who are presecuted
never have the right to presecute others.
Heretics can be exiled and their goods
confiscated, but they should never be killed.”
Magistrates do have the right of the word,
though.
The Mirror
We can look in a mirror and see our physical
reflection (pimples and all), but do you ever
wish to possess a spiritual mirror, to take
stock of your spiritual growth? You already
have one. James 1:23-25 talks of the perfect
law of liberty as a mirror.
One of a number of ways of looking at this
mirror is to ask yourself honestly, is there a
part of the Bible I do not like as much as other
parts? Is there a part I do not see the purpose
for, or I wish was not there? Some of the
reformers spoke about certain books of the
Bible, and we can learn from the comments
more about their own shortcomings than
about the Bible.
In 1520 Karlstadt began preaching a series
on the Book of James. It was as Karlstadt was
preaching on James that Martin Luther
decided to ridicule teaching out of James and
downplaying the book. Martin Luther did not
reject James as scripture; he included it at the
very end. He said that compared to Paul’s
writings, it is an epistle of straw.
Luther’s theology was basically correct about
our righteousness coming from God, but he
went farther than most evangelicals today
would be comfortable with. He compared us
with Christ as snow-covered dung. By nature
it is ugly, but Christ covers us. He left out the
fact that Christ is performing a work to
sanctify us. Luther said, “sin boldly, but
believe in God more boldly still.” Luther was
not a worldly antinomian, but some of his
sayings and theology could encourage such
error. It is easy to see why Luther was critical
of James, because this book of the word of
God was critical of the excesses of Luther’s
theology.
Both Erasmus and Zwingli did not care for
the book of Revelation. Erasmus emphasized
the ethical nature of Christianity, saying little
about Christian devotion or hope for Christ’s
return. Zwingli’s rational mind had little room
for future symbols that did not affect our core
theology and ethics, so he left Revelation out of
the Bible.
In 1520 Karlstadt derided the Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Bible. While
a scribe could have written the words down,
Jesus mentions them as the books of Moses.
Perhaps in Karlstadt’s struggle with others over
infant baptism, the state, images, and other
controversies, he did not appreciate the
Pentateuch as much as Calvinists and other
Christians.
In our day of positive (only) thinking, it does
not seem so popular, to study the warnings of
the Old Testament. While many churches do
study Revelation diligently, others, in the
interest of avoiding controversy, ignore this
part of God’s word and the blessing given in
Rev 1:3 and 22:7. At one liberal church, a
couple of Sunday School teachers were kicked
out for choosing to teach out of Revelation. Are
there parts of the Bible you would rather avoid
studying. If so, then you have been “blessed”
with the opportunity to see you shortcomings
in your spiritual life and ways you can
significantly grow.

THE REFORMATION

MENNO SIMONS
1/1495/6-1/31/1561 A.D.
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
Menno was born around January of 1496 in
Witmarsum in the Netherlands. At that time in
the Netherlands many people did not have last
names, and Simon was apparently his father’s
name. He was a Catholic priest from 1524 to
1/30/1536. As a priest, he had never actually
read the Bible: “Lo, such a stupid preacher
was I!” as he put it. He decided to read the
New Testament, but he had not gone far before
he said of his training, “we were deceived.”
From 1525 on, Menno did not believe the
bread and wine really turn into Christ’s body
and blood, but he continued to practice the
Mass anyway. In 1531 Menno heard of a man
was killed because he was baptized as a
believer. In 1535 Menno’s brother was killed
as part of a cultish movement, and Menno felt
shame. Here his brother died for his erroneous
convictions, and Menno did not have the guts
to stand up for what was true.
In 1536 Menno courageously resigned being
a Catholic priest, married, and started his own
group. After much prayer by the Obbenites, on
1/1537 Menno was anointed by Obbe Philips
as a leader of the Obbenites. Before we go on,
we need to learn more about Anabaptists.
Dutch and North German Anabaptists
The German ex-Lutheran preacher Melchior
Hoffman did much to spread Anabaptism in
Germany, Denmark, and Holland. Among his
later followers were Jan Volkets and later Jan
Matthijs, who died in the Münster movement.
Jan Matthijs had apostles who baptized two
brothers, Obbe and Dirk Philips. The Dutch
Anabaptists developed their ideas independent
of the Swiss Anabaptists, but later found out
about the Swiss Brethren. The two groups
believed the same except for two things: the
Dutch group placed great emphasis on the
books of Daniel and Revelation, and Hoffman’s
teaching on the celestial body of Christ.
Menno was ordained by Obbe Philips as one
of their new leaders. Obbe, perhaps because of
the persecution of Anabaptists, left the movement in 1540 and lived out his days quietly in
Rostock in Germany. Because he left the work,
Menno accused Obbe of being a Demas.
Early Obbenite (Mennonite) Doctrine
Menno wrote 25 works. In them he taught
there was no authority outside of the Bible,
and no church hierarchy. Menno denied the
legitimacy of civil rule, though it was our duty
to obey the civil authorities. He believed in
believer’s baptism, and his followers were
pacifists who abstained from military and
government service. Taking oaths and taking
of life were forbidden. They were uncomfortable with Luther’s teaching on faith, stressing
that faith without works is no faith. They
believed in original sin as the Adamic curse.
They practiced baptism and Lord’s supper,
and understood them as symbols only. A third
prominent ordinance is foot-washing.
Menno did not use the term Trinity since the
word was not found in scripture. However he
believed in the Trinity, as shown by his 8 page
tract, The Triune God. When an Anabaptist
leader, Adam Pastor, denied Jesus’ divinity in
1547, Menno and Dirk first talked with him,
and then excommunicated him.
Melchior Hoffman set a date for Christ’s
return, but the Obbenites rejected this. Hoffman and the Obbenites, in trying to explain
Jesus being born without a sinful nature,
believed Christ was fully human, but with a
“celestial body” that was in Mary but not of
Mary. They were accused of denying Christ’s
humanity, but as Dirk Philips stated, “He who
does not confess the eternal Godhead and true
humanity of Jesus Christ is an antichrist.”
Obbenites believed that believers who did
not repent of sin should be shunned, and that
if a spouse committed adultery and did not
repent, the marriage was broken and the other
spouse was free to remarry.
According to Gerrish (p.206-207) Menno
stressed scripture alone, saving faith, voluntarism, obedience of faith, grace alone, all
believers are true saints, the importance of
being like the early church, and downplayed
ceremonies. Voluntarism is something we take
for granted today, but it was a concept absent
from the Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist
churches at that time. Voluntarism says that
the people who are a part of the church are
those who freely choose to be a part of it. You
cannot be automatically born or baptized into
it without your consent, you cannot be forced
into it by the sword, but you must choose by
your conscience. We can measure the pro-
foundness of this thought by the profound persecution by Christians who failed to see this.
Menno’s Later Life
Semi-nudity is forbidden, along with men’s
beards and mustaches. Neckties are discourThe four main leaders of the Dutch
aged, and life insurance is bad. Musical inAnabaptists were Dirk Philips, Menno Simons, struments are banned from worship, marriagGillis of Aachan (beheaded in 1557), and
es, and funerals. TV is banned and radio is
Leenaert Bouwus. Menno lived in Holland until banned by some, though some have Gospel
1543. In 1539 Tjaert Reynerdson was tortured radio programs. Mennonites should not vote,
on the wheel because he had taken Menno into participate in war, join labor unions or join
his house. In 1542 Charles V issued an edit
patriotic organizations such as the Boy Scouts.
against Menno because he was “endeavoring at Unlike Church of Christ, Mennonites let a
night and other unseasonable times ... to
Christian from another denomination can join
seduce by his false teachings and sermons the without being rebaptized. They baptized by
simple people, our subjects.”
pouring. Mennonites should not support or
join with revivals or other Christian groups
From 1543 to 1536 Menno lived in East
that do not teach separation from the world
Friesland and Cologne, where the Catholic
and pacifism, though I did see a Mennonite
Archbishop Herman was very tolerant toward
table at an Urbana Conference. They believe it
Anabaptists. From 1546 to 1561, he spent
is important to follow the Bible without adding
most of his time in Holstein, then in Denmark. anything to it.
The Wismar Boat
Short History of the Mennonites
In 1553-1554 Menno lived in the Wismar, a
port in Germany. At that time a boatload of
Calvinist refugees arrived fleeing from Bloody
Mary in England. Rather, they almost arrived,
for the boat got stuck in ice just outside of
Wismar. The Lutheran town, knowing they
were Calvinists who disagreed on baptism and
the Lord’s supper refused their plea for help.
Menno and his followers, knowing that
Calvinists tried to extinguish the Swiss
Anabaptists, went out an helped them anyway.
The Mennonite Anabaptists were
instrumental in the formation of beliefs of Baptist churches. English non-conformists such
as John Smyth in 1609 fled England under
Bloody Mary for Holland. These Calvinists
interacted with Mennonites and became Calvinists who believed in believer’s baptism and
were called Baptists. Around 1633, they split
into Calvinistic “particular Baptists” who said
that Christ only died for some, and “general
Baptists” who said that Christ died for all.
There is something very shameful about
Lutheran Wismar here. We can learn that
theology can be a terrible thing, if it takes
precedence over Christ’s commands to love our
neighbor. Theology, even if it were correct
theology, can be horrible if it becomes a god.
The Mennonites were almost eliminated from
Europe except for a few in Switzerland and
Hungary. After a while they were no longer
killed; from 1753 on they were used as galley
slaves in the Venetian and French ships.
Persecution and discrimination of Mennonites
was not lifted in Switzerland until 1810.
Menno requested the privilege of being able
to debate the Calvinist pastor about theology.
Now a public debate between Calvinists and
Anabaptists would be laughable to be allowed
in a Lutheran city, but two private debates
were peacefully held. Another Calvinist was
called in for reinforcement, and the Calvinists
kept returning to the Mennonite doctrine of
the celestial body of Christ, which does not
have Biblical support.
Mennonite Doctrine Today
Mennonites do not emphasize a theology as
much as following the Bible, only the Bible,
and nothing but the Bible. Primarily because
of the differences in practice, the 200K Mennonites are split into 16 different groups, the
largest having 67K people. Here are examples
of Mennonite rules to help follow the Bible.
The first Dutch Mennonites came to America
in 1644, and many more came to Pennsylvania
starting with 1683. The Amish consider themselves the “Orthodox branch of the Swiss
Brethren” and split from the Mennonites because the Mennonites use modern machines.
Hutterites differ from both in that Hutterites
hold all material goods in common. Today
there are a couple hundred thousand Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites in the world.
The story of the Mennonites shows how God
used a body of godly, but not perfect people to
preach His word. When groups of good
Christians choose to isolate themselves from
other true Christians as well as from the
world, their strange beliefs and lack of unity
can make them almost irrelevant. How
relevant are you to God’s work on earth?
Menno Simons Supplemental
Material
My 2 year old wants to have to her socks and
shooes on, and she insists that I have socks
on, too. I cannot explain to her, “why can’t
everyone choose themselves whether or not to
wear socks?”
Of Tjaert Reynerdson. Jesus said that whoever
helps one of his children will get a reward.
Thank goodness this life is so insignificant
compared to the next, because look at the
reward Tjaert got in this life.
Charles V
It is interesting how shallow an excuse can be
and still be acceptable to people. While there is
no evidence that Menno did a lot of teaching at
night, and it did not matter if he did, who did
teach a Pharisee at night?
What other words are not in the Bible?
Pacifism, Triune, Rapture, Believer’s baptism,
infant baptism, sanctification (noun)
justification (noun)
Menno called the Munsterites a “perverted
sect”
“We live with Christ in the heavenly throne, or
die with the devil in the depths of hell”
50% of the ex-Mennonites left because of
restrictions on behavior and thought. 14% due
to marriage, 9% moved away, and 7% spiritual
hunger.
no wedding rings, no life insurance, no labor
unions, no lawsuits (arbitration OK) no secret
societies. No feasting or pleasure seeking on
Sunday.
Expelled for three reasons: flagrant sin, willful
disobedience, missed communion 3 times or
for 3 years. Counseling first.
2,173 Hutterites died for their faith
Mennonites and the Jews
Mennonites differ on the importance of sharing
the gospel with the Jews. Some think that it is
as important to share with Jews as with
others, and other Mennonites think it is more
important to share with Jews. As Paul would
preach the message to the Jews first, they
want to do the same. During World War II the
Mennonites sent letters of condolences to
thousands of Jews, and attached were
evangelistic tracts.
“This is my only joy and heart’s desire; to
extend the kingdom of God, reveal the truth,
reprove sin, teach righteousness, feed hungry
souls with the Word of the Lord, lead the
straying sheep into the right path, and gain
many souls to the Lord through His Spirit,
power, and grace. So would I carry on in my
weakness as He has taught me, Who has
purchased me, a miserable sinner, with His
crimson blood, and has given me this mind by
the Gospel of His grace, namely Jesus Christ.”
(Complete Writings of Menno Simons p.189)

THE REFORMATION

IGNATIUS LOYOLA
AND THE JESUITS
1491- 7/31/1556 A.D.
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
alone in a cave. His excessive fasting and
penance brought him close to death. After this
he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When he
returned to Spain, his dress and gathering
disciples around him caused the Inquisition to
arrest him, but then let him go. He was
arrested a total of five times by the Inquisition.
Loyola was in France in 1534-1535 when in
10/1534 Protestant tracts appeared criticizing
the Catholic Mass. In November some Protestants were arrested and burned at the stake
Today we will look at one of the greatest
after either their tongues were pierced or their
heroes of the Reformation - from the Catholic
hands were cut off. In 1535 laws were passed
perspective. Ignatius founded the Jesuits, and saying whoever tried to hide a Lutheran will
he was declared a saint in 1622, a silver statue share his fate, and whoever turned in a
was put atop his tomb, poems have been
Lutheran will receive a reward. Loyola would
written to him, and Congresses have convened later lobby for extremely harsh laws against
to discuss his work Spiritual Exercises. Very
heretics.
few people have matched Ignatius’ zeal,
discipline, or great cruelty.
Around 1539 his group considered starting a
religious order, and in 9/27/1540 Pope Paul II
Iñigo López de Loyola was born into a noble
issued the papal Bull starting the Society of
Basque family in Azpeitia, Spain, in militant
Jesus, also called the Jesuits.
times. The Moors’ 800 year rule of Spain was
only decisively ended at the battle of Granada
Loyola’s friend and fellow Jesuit Francis Xain 1492. At that time, this seemed much more vier took Catholic teaching to the East Indies,
important than the discovery of America. He
Japan and China. In 9/1534, as penance for
was the youngest of 13 children, and his
participating in athletic games earlier in his
mother died soon after birth.
life, Xavier had his arms and legs bound so
tightly, that gangrene started to set in and he
He was raised to be chivalrous knight, loyal, was in danger of losing his arm. These people
and a staunch Catholic, though not very reliled by example as well as by words and the
gious. Loyola was known as a person not to be force of the inquisition. In contrast, Jesus aid
trifled with. He was involved in gambling, sex,
his yoke was easy and burden light. People
and sword duels. There is little in his early life have to choose which example to follow.
to suggest his later religious zeal and devotion,
except for his loyalty and chivalry.
Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises

In 1517 he entered the military. On 5/20/
1521, Ignatius was wounded, almost mortally,
by a cannon ball in his legs while 1,000
Spanish soldiers were defending the citadel of
Pamplona against 12,000 French. Loyola was
a cripple for the rest of his life. The French
kindly took him back to Loyola castle, where
he slowly recovered. He had several painful
and botched operations, and in his pain and
depression he had a religious conversion. He
came to feel he must imitate the lives of the
saints. He was often depressed, and noticed
that ponder-ing worldly things gave him
pleasure that turned to depression, while
pondering religious things cheered him up.
After Ignatius recovered, in 3/24-25/1522,
he decided to clothe himself with Christ and
dedicate himself to the Virgin Mary at Montserrat, during the Feast of the Annunciation to
the Virgin Mary. For almost a year, from
3/25/1522 to 2/1523 he lived an ascetic life
Loyola’s major work is his Spiritual Exercises. It grew out of his own practices, which
included spending 7 hours a day on his knees
in prayer. His work does not focus on either
theology or ethics, but on spiritual renewal
and discipline. Here are some thoughts from it.
“Let us keep a daily count of our sins by
marks on lines that represent the days, and let
us strive each day to reduce the marks.
Kneeling in our darkened room or cell, let us
picture hell to ourselves as vividly as we can;”
(Durant p.909)
Imaging was important in Loyola’s teaching.
“Imagine Christ our Lord present before you
upon the cross, and begin to speak with him,
asking how it is that though He is the Creator,
He has stooped to become man, and to pass
from eternal life to death here in time, that
thus He might die for our sins. I shall also
reflect on myself and ask: What have I done for
Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What
ought I do for Christ? As I behold Christ in
this plight, nailed to the cross, I shall ponder
upon what presents itself to my mind. (p.28)
“If we wish to proceed securely in all things,
we must hold fast to the following principle:
What seems to me white, I will believe black, if
the hierarchical Church so defines.... For it is
by the same Spirit and Lord who gave the Ten
Commandments that our Holy Mother the
church is ruled and governed.” p.160
The hierarchical Church, our holy mother is
the supreme criteria for discernment of spirits.
(p.170)
Loyola’s Visions
Loyola had a great number of visions, sometimes seeing the Father, the Son, the Holy
Spirit, or sometimes all three together. In one
of his first visions in 1522/23. His autobiography said that “it often happened that on a
bright day he could see something in the air
near him; because it was indeed very beautiful, it gave him great comfort. He could not
discern very well the kind of thing it was, but
in a way it seemed to him to have the form of a
serpent with many things that shone like eyes,
though they were not eyes.”
Also in 1523, “while he was hearing mass in
the church... at the elevation of the Body of the
Lord, he saw with interior eyes something like
white rays coming from above. Although he
cannot explain this very well after so long a
time, nevertheless what he saw clearly with his
understanding was how Jesus Christ our Lord
was there in that most holy sacrament.”
Ignatius also claimed to have seen Christ, as
a white body without distinct members 20 or
40 times. He also saw the Virgin Mary in a
similar form many times.
For Jesuits, one of the most significant visions is called La Storta. In this vision later in
his life, Ignatius learned that “God the Father
had indeed placed Ignatius with His Son”, i.e.
Ignatius would be saved after all.
With all of his visions, there are only three
possible conclusions. 1) By Ignatius’ life, zeal,
visions, and alleged miracles of those who
came to his shrine, the Catholic position made
him a saint. 2) The Catholic church made a
saint out of someone who had demonic
visions. The non-Catholic Christians who were
burned at the stake for their faith would view
him as a demon incarnate. Loyola’s ungodly
cruelty, physically self-destructive practices to
please his god, and total lack of understanding
of God’s grace imply this conclusion. 3) A third
conclusion, on which a massive book has been
written, is that Loyola’s fanatic practices in his
exercises gave him pathological mental
problems. A basic difference between most
Catholics and Protestants is whether Loyola is
a “saint” and a good example for us to follow,
or an evil example of those who kill Christians.
The Catholic Counter-Stroke
“[Paul III] took many other measures to stem
the tide of heresy and disruption and to
restore and revivify religious life. In all these
events Ignatius and the Jesuits were to play
an outstanding part and were to become
perhaps the most important agents of Catholic
revival in this troubled age.” (The
Autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola p.9 in
Intro by John C. Pliz.
The Jesuits became the main forces behind
the Inquisition. They worked untiringly to win
the hearts and bodies of people back to the
Catholic faith. By their austere life, many
regained the lost respect of the Catholic
church, especially in France and Southern
Germany. Those who did not certainly
respected the torturous methods they used.
The harshness of Loyola’s measures were
beyond even the normal standards of these
cruel times. The Inquisition existed before
Ignatius, and it was active in Spain about 50
years before it was active in the rest of Europe.
Ignatius appealed to the Pope to re-institute it
for Europe. The Inquisition had an ?Index of
Prohibited Books in 1547, and a second list in
1551. The 1551 list included Erasmus’ works,
one of Saint Theresa’s works, and the New
Testament in the common language. As the
Inquisition put it, “The reading of scriptures
was an inexhaustible source of heresy.”
(Bataillon 1950 p.715-725).
The Jesuits
The Jesuits were started by Loyola and eight
other men. By 1556 there were 938 Jesuits,
and an equal number of others. By 1574 there
were 4,000, and 8,000 in 1600.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “In
1550, Protestantism seemed on the verge of a
sweeping triumph in Poland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Bavaria, and the Rhineland.
That these sections of Europe, fifty years later,
were finally and overwhelmingly Catholic was
due largely to the Jesuits.”
If we only had to dedication to spread Christ’s
love that Loyola and the Jesuits had to spread
their faith and their Inquisition.
Two reasons for the spread of Protestantism were the
truth that it taught, and in comparison the laxity and
hypocrisy of most Catholic priests. Show a map of
Europe. Most of Europe: the Balkans, Hungary, Poland,
Czech Republic, Bavaria, France, and parts of Italy had
the possibility of turning Protestant. This was effectively
thwarted by what is often called the Catholic CounterReformation. There were two key reasons the spread of
Protestantism was stopped: the Inquisition, and the
Jesuits. The Jesuits were in general extremely dedicated
men who restored Catholic’s confidence in Catholicism.
Imagine what it would have been like if the Pope became
a Protestant. That did not happen, but the highest position
in the orthodox church was held by a Calvinist who
sought to make the Orthodox church Calvinistic. Simon
Lucar studied in Geneva, became the patriarch of
Antioch, and later the Patriarch of Constantinople, the
highest position in the Orthodox church. He was
banished a number of times, mostly at the insistence of
Jesuits. Since most of southeastern Europe was under the
Turks, the Turkish Sultan finally had him killed for
allegedly sitrring up the Cossacks. After his death, the
Orthodox Church convened the Council of Jerusalem, in
which they recognized Protestant teaching and rejected it.
life and doctrine, and for the propagation of
the faith. Pope Julius III (the Warring Pope) on
7/21/1550 added to that “for the defense of
the faith.”
God, Church, and obedience are the measure
of all ethical laws.
The Huguenots -1562 plundered Bonaventure’s grave
1562
@Toulouse French kill Huguenots
4
1562
Protestants pillage abbey at Tours, France
1570
French Huguenot pirates kill 39 Jesuits enroute to Brazil
1576-1593 @France Catholics & Huguenots fight
Life consisted of a struggle between two sides: Christ and
Satan, and each strove to attract all men to their standard.
named himself Ignatius because like Ignatius of Antioch
Autobiography written down by Luis Goncalves da
Camara. Tells of life from1521-1538.
Poema en honor de San Ignacio de Loyola, fundador de
la Compania de Jesus written in 1760
Congress on Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual
Exercises.
1540 Papal Bull establishing Jesuits: Regimini
Militantis Ecclesiae.
The Pope did not abolished the use of torture
until 1816.
Loyola’s key view was “There is only one idea to work with Christ for the salvation of souls.”
Action-oriented
“What if I should do what St. Francis did, what St.
Dominic did?”
On his way to Montserrat on a mule, he encountered a
Moor on a mule, and they started talking. As they were
conversing about the Virgin Mary, the Moor said he
believed that Mary was a virgin when she concieved
Jesus, but that she was not a virgin after his birth. After
they left, Loyola prayed to God to guide his mule. If the
mule went by the highway he would go that way. If the
mule went on the road tothe village, he would go there
and seek the Moor out and kill him for daring to insult
the Virgin Mary. The mule went by the highway.
He and a relative were accused of murder, but
in their defense they claimed immunity as
members of the clergy, though it was problematic that Ignatius was a member at this time.
This was a part of the first phase of the war
between Francis I or France and Charles V of
Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
Pope Paul III said the purpose of the Jesuits
was “for the advancement of souls in Christian
By 1753, over 120,000 North American
Indians were associated with Jesuit missions.
By 1582, due to Francis Xavier’s work, there
were 200,000 Catholics in Japan. By 1612,
when great persecution started, there were 1.8
million Catholics in Japan.
In China under Father Matteo Ricci, the
Jesuits had some success; they permitted
continued worship of ancestors. In India they
also had success, they permitted the caste
system and ancestor worship. This work was
cut short by Catholic censure of these
compromises.
They were scattered from Brazil to India, and
Ethiopia to Germany. By 1574, there were
4,088 Jesuits and by 1600 there were 8,272
Jesuits. The Order was suppressed starting in
1759, but in 1935 it had 10,799 Jesuit priests.
References
See J. Broderick, S.J. Saint Peter Canisius
New York 1935 p.211-214.
Robert E. McNally, S.J. in B.A. Gerrish,
Reformers in Profile Fortress Press 1967.

THE REFORMATION

AN INQUISITION
TRIAL
~ 1560 A.D.
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In 1560 two English Protestants and one
French Protestant were burned to death in
Spain in defiance of international law. This
sheet has rough scripts to enact an Inquisition
trial.
Law has not always been practiced identically to the way it is in our country today. In this
mock trial, the accused has nothing to worry
about. He or she will be given all the fairness
and mercy the Inquisition provides to people.
As this trial unfolds, we will see if the defender
can find a way out.
Defender
Strategy
First try to get the trial moved to Venice,
because in Venice the Inquisitors do not get
any percentage of the confiscated property.
Try to find out all of the charges so that they
cannot bring up other charges at the end.
For prosecution witnesses, ask them in the
name of truth if they really saw with their own
eyes what they say.
Some arguments you might use
1. Many Spaniards are resentful of the
Inquisition. Also, many Spaniards resent the
influence of the Papacy in Spain.
2. The inquisitors pay no taxes on confiscated
property, and are not accountable for what is
confiscated.
3. In 1312, at the Council of Venice, excessive
torture was forbidden. (However, excessive was
not defined.)
4. You might question the legality of these
proceedings.
5. You know, in 1279 the people of Parma
revolted and killed the Inquisitors because
they were too severe.
6. The Pope himself is very concerned about
the Inquisition, as too many people die in
custody before they are actually pronounced
guilty.
7. The Inquisition’s verdicts should be just,
and you should not copy unjust verdicts. For
example, in 1309 the entire population of
Venice was guilty of heresy because they
opposed the election of Clement V as Pope. The
entire Colonna family was declared to be
heretics because they opposed the Gaetani
family.
8. Ignatius Loyola was accused before the
Inquisition five times of being an “Illuminati”
that is, seeking inner light and rejecting formal
religion. However, he was innocent, the each of
the five times the Inquisition let him go. They
never did anything to him except put him in a
prison for half a month with only bread and
water.
9. The only reason they charge the accused is
because of the spies. Former Jew and Moor
families had to provide spies to the Inquisition
so that the families would not be accused by
the Inquisition.
10. If the prosecution mentions Pope Paul III,
you might mention it is a known fact that he
was very likely suffering from insanity due to
syphilis.
11. The Bible he was reading was translated
into Spanish by the virtuous priest, Ximenes.
At the time it was translated, the Pope had no
objection to it.
Lucinda is a character witness you have for
the accused. She is known to be an honest,
virtuous woman.
Lucinda: an Honest Woman
You testify in support of the accused as to his
flawless character and godly life. You also
never saw him reading the Bible at all. You
can add whatever you wish.
The Accused
You do not have much to say, as you have
been without sleep for four days and have
been tortured. However, you admit to reading
the New Testament as the Catholic monk
Ximenes translated it into Spanish.
Prosecutor (and Judge)
The trial judge and prosecutor are one and the
same. You know the accused has read the New
Testament in Spanish, but you do not need to
reveal that this is the only charge. Perhaps you
can find more things to charge the accused.
Rules of Law:
You are not obliged to reveal these rules. Do
not reveal these unless challenged on the
legality of a point.
1. People can be tortured for heresy according
to Innocent IV’s papal bull in 1252.
2. The Inquisition is valid in general, because
it was instituted by Pope Gregory IX in 1233.
3. The Inquisition is a valid in Spain because it
was established by Ferdinand and Isabella (the
same ones who sent off Columbus) in 1480.
4. The accused to do need to know who their
accusers are.
5. Women, slaves, and children cannot testify
in defense of the accused. They can testify for
the prosecution, though.
6. Even girls as young as 10 can testify for the
prosecution.
Strategy: Try to confiscate everything you can,
because, in general, the Inquisitors get a share
of the spoils.
If they question these proceedings, you might
mention Rule of Law #1 and the following:
“Even if my own father were a heretic, I would
gather the wood to burn him.” Catholic: Pope
Paul III. (Paul was likely suffering from
insanity due to syphilis, though)
You can mention and have the soldiers
perform some of the tortures.
Prison with only bread and water
Putting a spike in the person’s tongue.
Cutting off arms and legs.
Stretching a person’s body on a rack.
Sleep, food, and water deprivation
You do not have to tell the charge until later in
the proceeding. The charge is reading the New
Testament in Spanish.
The 1551 index of forbidden books includes
the New Testament in the common language.
As the Inquisition says “The reading of
scriptures was an inexhaustible source of
heresy.” [Bataillon 1950 p.715-725]
Don’t forget at the end, if someone defends the
accused, then they are guilty of heresy, too.
Esmeralda: a Ten-year Old Girl
7. If a witness is caught lying, they can be
fined and punished. However, the testimony
can still be used.
You are to say you saw the accused practicing
witchcraft.
8. The accused are guilty until proven
innocent. If they are not proved innocent...
then they are guilty.
If you are asked if you really saw this with
your own eyes, you must confess that you did
not really say that. Do not say this unless you
are asked, though.
9. The accused can be tortured. Witnesses can
be tortured too.
10. People can be guilty and killed not only for
actions, but also for their thoughts and for
their tendencies.
11. Almost nobody is completely acquitted.
12. The guilty, if they completely recant at the
end, can be given life imprisonment instead of
death.
13. Most punishments can be avoided by
paying the appropriate fine into the
Inquisitor’s pocket.
Strategy:
You are still certain the charge is true though,
because that is what the priest told you to say.
If you do not cooperate, the Inquisition might
suspect your family is heretical, too.

THE REFORMATION

PHILIP
MELANCHTHON
2/16/1497-1560 A.D.
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Who Is This Guy?
When he was only 21, he was hired as the
Greek Professor at Wittenberg, though it was
known Martin Luther and other professors
preferred another man. He stuttered and by
his own account, was always a poor speaker.
His students found his lectures boring. Then
he gave the annual inaugural address.
His speech was a great success. Within three
years enrollment at the University doubled
because students wanted to learn from him.
His Greek and Latin were not bad. At 21 he
published a Greek grammar book which was
in used for over 100 years. His Latin grammar
was used for over 200 years, even in Catholic
schools. Martin Luther saw in him someone
whose theological depth was greater than his
own. Erasmus later said this teacher would
surpass all the humanists, Erasmus included.
In 1546 John Calvin translated his major work
into French. Both the kings of France and
England requested that he come to their countries and teach. He became the second most
important founder of Lutheranism, and his
work shaped the 39 articles of the Church of
England and later the 25 Articles of Methodism. As a side note, almost all Protestant Universities trace their foundations to him, and he
could be said to be responsible for bringing the
high standards of learning to Germany, and he
came as close as anybody to reconciling
Lutherans to both Catholics and Calvinists.
Yet today this influential and controversial
man is almost forgotten.
We will attempt to study Philip Melanchthon.
Because he thought so deeply about so many
theological topics, this brief paper cannot give
a fair and complete synopsis of his teaching.
We will be content to focus on a few aspects,
and what he can learn from his great wisdom
and his errors, and the fascinating ways a
Christian’s theology can deepen over time.
Some key questions are: when is it OK to
compromise, and what is your theological
position versus your theological stand.
Early Life
Philip was born at Bretten in Baden,
Germany. His parents were Barbara and
George Schwartzerd, an armorer. His great
uncle was the famous humanist John Reuchlin, who surnamed him “Melanchthon” which
is Greek for Schwartzerd (black earth). Reuchlin made sure Philip had a great education.
For example, he was reading Aristotle, in
Greek, when he was 12. Philip was educated at
Hiedelberg and Tübingen. Professor of Greek
at Wittenberg in 1518.
Melanchthon and Luther
The two men complemented each other well.
As Luther put it, “I am rough, boisterous,
stormy, and altogether warlike. I am born to
fight against innumerable monsters and devils.
I must remove stumps and stones, cut away
thistles, and thorns, and clear the wild forests;
but Master Philip comes along softly and gently sowing and watering with joy, according to
the gifts which God has abundantly bestowed
upon him.” (Richard p.42) Manschrenk p.54)
Early Changes in Theology
Melanchthon was originally a northern humanist. Like the Reformers, northern humanists emphasized reading the scriptures for
yourself versus relying on tradition, a pressimistic view of man’s flesh, and a Christcentered view of theology. Melanchthon originally shared with northern humanists an optimistic view of man’s reason, will, and power.
As Melanchthon lectured on Matthew 15191520, he emphasized Christ the King, whose
life was full of victory and triumph. When later
he lectured on John, Philip emphasized Jesus’
voluntary humiliation at becoming a man.
“When Jesus voluntarily came to earth in
humiliation, proud men were scandalized and
charged Him with blasphemy against God. The
cries of ‘crucify him’ led to the greatest
humiliation of all, Christ dying on the cross as
a sinner, criminal, and blasphemer.”
Later Changes in Theology
The first edition of Loci (1521) was almost
fatalistic. After reading Erasmus and Luther’s
works, he changed in the 1533 edition. He still
accepted predestination, but he rejected “stoic
determinism” and believed that man’s will,
though bound, was able to assent or reject
God’s working. In John 6:44 God only draws
those who will to come.
Melanchthon was not too firm about “semitransubstantiation” which Luther held. After
his former college classmate, friend, Zwinglian,
Oecolampadius wrote against Melanchthon’s
and Luther’s views, Melanchthon began to
shift away from semi-transubstantiation.
Luther believed that “Christ’s flesh is being
‘eaten and bitten with teeth.’ Melanchthon
believed that while the Catholic view was
idolatrous, both Luther and Zwingli had
extreme views and the truth was in-between.
The Central Issue
There are many differences between
Protestantism and Catholicism, but Luther
and Melanchthon were able to see past details,
and even agree to compromise on minor
points, but never to compromise the most serious difference: righteousness through faith.
Cardinal Campeggio tried to win Philip back
to the Catholic church, but like many even
today, did not understand the central issues,
and Philip wrote him a letter to set him
straight. “People are mistaken when they think
that Luther simply wants to abolish public
traditions.... Luther does not fight for external
things, he knows something greater, namely
the difference between human righteousness
and the righteousness of God. He goes back to
the Scriptures in order to know with certainty
just how the conscience can be fortified
against the gates of hell and to know the real
nature of penance. Keeping human rites and
traditions do not make one righteous before
God...It is abominable to think that the essence of religion consists either in despising or
in observing ceremonies!” [CR1:657-658]
Melanchthon’s Teaching on Truth
“Where there is no repentance, there is a
painted faith; where there is no good work,
faith is dead.” (CR 26:51 52-54)
“When a parent refuses to exert himself for the
proper instruction of his children, he is not
only sinning, but betraying a brutal mind. (CR
11:111).
Philip said he must wage an implacable
warfare against “sophistry”, which is described
as magnifying the importance of whatever
pleases a person’s fancy, and rejecting
everything disagreeable to a person as of no
account.
Philip would not agree with “justification by
faith alone” if faith meant man was completely
inactive.” (Manschrenk p.295)
Melanchthon’s Subtlety
Melanchthon criticized Erasmus for “dissimultude”, that is, making points and pretending
to lead people down a particular path, when
you have an ulterior motive to take people in a
direction they do not see. Melanchthon did
this, too. He advised Philip of Hesse to gradually introduce Protestantism into his lands
without the common people seeing any abrupt
changes. The ruler did not do this though.
Philip of Hesse asked Melanchthon’s and
Luther’s advice on marrying a second wife,
when he had already made plans to do so.
Melanchthon said it was not best but
allowable, and try to keep it a secret.
Melanchthon is thought of derogatorily by
some as “the great compromiser.” When things
looked bleak for the Lutherans after their
military defeat, he asked Luther “what can we
give up and still maintain what is essential.”
Melanchthon’s Errors
Unfortunately Philip held to some serious
errors. Like Pope Julius III and Paul III,
Melanchthon believed in astrology and palm
reading. He did not worship the stars, but he
believed not studying the heavenly bodies was
disdaining the warnings of God.
As a Lutheran, Melanchthon believed in consubstantiation, though his view was closer to
the remembrance view than Luther’s. “He
believed in infant baptism, and in us bearing
original guilt for Adam’s original sin.
Melanchthon said that all should be killed
who denied infant baptism, original sin, the
real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and all
who professed a false religion.
As serious as Melanchthon’s errors were, he
held to “revelation over reason” and did not
trust his own opinions as he trusted scripture.
At various times, when Karlstadt was introducing radical reforms in Wittenberg, and
counseling peasant’s in the peasants revolt,
his leadership was inadequate because he did
not act with conviction.
A Thought to Ponder
How do you react when you and others know
God has given you gifts in a certain area and a
Christian comes around who has greater gifts
in “your” area. If you are Martin Luther, you
praise God and work to enable that person to
use those gifts for God as much as possible.

THE REFORMATION

THE AUGSBURG
CONFESSION
6/15/1530 A.D.
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Background on the Confession
The Diet of Worms 1-5/1521 branded Luther
and his teachings and outlaw. When threats to
the Holy Roman Empire appeared from
Suleiman II of Turkey and Francis I of France,
and there was enmity between the Pope and
Emperor Charles V, Charles saw compelling
reasons for unity among the German princes.
He convened the Diet of Spires in 5/1526.
Here they declared that every ruler can choose
his domain to be Lutheran or Catholic.
In 2/1528 Dr. Otto von Pack sold to Philip of
Hesse a document Pack forged showing details
of the Catholics were secretly preparing to
attack the Protestants. Philip and his allies
mustered 26,000 men and were prepared for a
pre-emptive strike. However, they listened to
Luther and Melanchthon, who counseled that
it was all right to use to sword in defense of
the Gospel but not to attack. Though Peck
later admitted his document was forged, the
distrust and persecution of Catholics and
Protestants increased to an explosive point.
On 3/15-4/25/1526 Emperor Charles held
the Second Diet of Spires to resolve the
Protestant issue. He ruled completely in the
Catholics favor, that the Diet of Worms ruling
was still in effect, all who deny transubstantiation were not permitted to publicly preach, and
that participating in the mass was not to be
forbidden anywhere.
Six princes and fourteen cities presented a
formal “protest” in the name of freedom of
conscience and the rights of minorities on
4/19/1526. They prepared for war, and tried
in vain to unite with the Zwinglians at the
Marburg Colloquy on 10/1-3/1529.
The Emperor held the Diet of Augsburg on
6/15/1530 to settle this and “give a charitable
hearing to every man’s opinion, ... to bring and
reconcile them to a unity in Christian truth...”
Many Protestants were pleased they would
finally be given a fair hearing. However, on
3/14/1530 John Eck released a book detailing
404 errors of Protestants. Some of these
reflected genuine differences, but many of
these were deceptive. It was learned that the
Emperor would not have a lot of time for
arguments. What should be done?
It was decided not to attempt to answer
Eck’s 404 charges, but instead to write a
positive confession of what they did believe.
Melanchthon rushed to write it with the
consent of others, and he was writing up to
6/15 when the Emperor arrived at Augsburg.
It was originally only a Confession of the
Saxons, but the other Protestants agreed it
was common for all of them.
What Exactly Was Important Here?
People had different perceptions of what was
important. According to one of the four or so
top leading Catholic theologians there, John
Faber, the Turks were better than Lutherans,
because Turks at least fast and Lutherans do
not. “If the alternative were required, I would
rather reject the Scriptures than the venerable
errors of the Church.” [Manschrenk p.165]
While all Catholics did not share that view, if
an entire institution would rather preserrve its
“venerable” errors rather than change to obey
God’s word, it is time for that institution to
close its doors.
Issues that separated the Catholics and
Lutherans were as follows:
Indulgences
Venerationof relics
The nature of man’s depraved,. bound will
Predestination and human freedom
The authority of the Pope and Councils
The authority of tradition
Worship of transubstantiated bread and wine
Worship ceremony
Justification by God’s grace alone (not
appropriated through Mary, saints or the
church)
Justification through faith in Christ’s work
alone, and not our righteousness
The authority of Holy Scripture alone
No apocrypha
Some Lutherans believed that none of these
should be compromised in the least. However,
the Lutherans had their backs against the wall
here, and Luther and Melanchthon were
willing, not ot accept errors, but to tolerate
them as long as they were not the tolerating
errors on the essential points. Gal 1:6-9 shows
we are not to have any toleration for a false
Gospel, yet Rom 15:7 commands us to accept
one another just as Christ accepted us, and
Rom 14:1-12 shows that we are not to pass
judgment on disputable matters.
What were the essential differences? Today,
some Catholics and some Protestants say
there were no “essential” differences, and
many more are totally unclear about what the
essential differences were. Melanchthon,
derogatorialy labelled the “great compromiser”
wrote in the Augsburg Confession his view of
the essential differences he and Lutherans
were willing to suffer and die for. Lutherans
disagree on accepting Luther’s longer
Catechism and other documents: there are
only two Lutheran documents all Lutherans
were agreed on, and this was one of them.
Read these and see if you agree with it, and
see if you agree that this captures the
essentials of the Gospel.
Key Points of the Confession
Reactions to the Confession
The Emperor’s mind was already decided
prior to the Diet. According to one source the
Emperor was very attentive. According to
another, he slept for part of the two hours the
confession was read.
“Duke William of Bavaria, realizing he had
been misinformed about Lutheran beliefs,
leaned over to Eck and asked how it could be
refuted. Eck replied that it could be refuted
out of the Fathers but not out of Scripture.
The astonished William then asked, ‘Do I
under-stand that the Lutherans stand on the
Scrip-tures and we outside of them?’
Melanchthon reported that the Bavarians were
very subdued.’” [Manschreck p.194]
Five free German cities signed their names to
the confession on the spot.
Luther on one hand rejoiced over the
confession, but on the other hand he was
angry because he was not consulted, and he
thought Melanchthon too timid and too
trusting of men’s rationalizations. Melanchthon sent Luther an apology, but Luther was
disturbed by Melanchthon’s asking him “what
and how much we may yield to the Papists..”
The Counter-Reaction
Many Catholic princes wanted to act
cautiously because they wanted the help of the
Protestant princes against the Turks. A committee of Catholic theologians was assigned to
write a Confutation. Eck, their leader wrote
351 pages in two weeks. The Emperor looked
at it, dripping with scorn, and sent it back for
revision. It was revised down to 31 pages. The
Confutation was publicly read, but the Protestants were told they could not have a copy of it
unless the promised to first accept it and not
to publish a reply.
Apology for the Augsburg Confession
In this context, “Apology” does not mean you
are sorry for something, but it is a defense of
why you believe something. In addition to
Melanchthon’s Apology, 12 Protestant princes
formed the Smalkaldic League to prepare for
War.
While this was formed, and observing that
Charles was not willing to negotiate a peaceful
solution, The Turkish Sultan decided this
would be a good time to invade the Balkans up
to Hungary.
Reaction Again
The Archbishop of Mainz forwarded a copy of
Melanchthon’s apology to Emperor Charles to
show how the Christian religion was being
destroyed.
Summary
Sometimes it takes a moment of crisis to
cause people’s minds to focus on what is
essential and what is secondary in their life
and belief.
Luther stole Melanchthon’s notes and
published them.
Melanchthon : The Quiet Reformer. Abingdon
Press 1958.
The Diet of Spires, 3/15/1529, re-instated the
Edit of Worms, Forbade those who denied
transubstantiation to preach in public , and no
one should be forbidden to hear the mass.
On April 19, 1526 Six princes and fourteen
cities joined together to present a protest to
the second Diet of Spires.
p.100 letter to Philip of Hesse 2/25/1525
declared for the Reformation
“Is the Lord’s Supper a mystery?”
At Marburg Luther talked with Oecolampadius, and Melanchthon talked with Zwingli. He
was even more negative toward Zwingliism
than Luther, and Luther refused to shake
Zwingli’s hand.
“the cause of the difference of final destiny
among men lies in the different method of
treating grace which is possible to believers as
to others. Man may pray for help and reject
grace. This Melanchthon calls free will, as the
power of laying hold of grace. there are three
concurrent causes in conversion: the Holy
Spirit, the word of God, and the human will.
Melanchthon (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Melanchthon helped in revising Luther’s
German translation.
Melanchthon died in 1560 and was buried
next to his friend, Martin Luther.
1519-1520 Melanchthon lectured on Matthew
The Castle Church at Wittenberg contained
over 7,000 relics. People visiting these relics
were an important source of income for
Wittenberg and the church. In fact, the University of Wittenberg was supported by the these
relics. Some of the relics include: A piece of
John the Baptist’s cloak, some of Mary’s milk,
4 strands of Mary’s hair, 35 splinters from the
cross 3 pieces of myrrh and a piece of gold
from the wise men. a strand of Jesus’ hair. a
nail driven in his hand. a twig from Moses’
burning bush. 204 bone fragments from
children killed by Herod.
“Reason imagines and desires a Savior who
will not condemn the things of the flesh.
Rogness p.17.
Melanchthon and Astrology
Melanchthon shared with Pope Paul III,
Johannes, Kepler, and many other leaders a
belief in astrology. He studied astrology under
John Stöfler at Tübingen. According to
Manschreck p.102 Stöffler and at least 55
other authors predicted catastrophic events in
1524. Melanchthon felt that not studying the
heavenly bodies was disdaining the warnings
ofGod. Luthe did not share Philip’s interest in
astrology.
p.194
Peace of Nurnberg 8/2/1532.
Pope Clement VII agreed to a council, as long
as the Protestants agreed to accept the Pope as
the final authority. Would you accept or reject?
Melanchthon adviced John Frederick not to
reject this, but instead to insist that the Word
of God be the final authority.
“It was not Luther but Melanchthon who
determined fully what the exact consistency of
Lutheranism was to be. He was the chief
teacher and instructor, the scholarly publicist,
and the theological diplomat of early
Lutheranism; as such he passed Luther’s
ideas through the sieve of his formulations.
(Quoted fromProf. Wilhelm Pauck’s lecture,
‘Luther and Melanchthon.’” p.vii in
Melanchthon, Reformer without Honor Michael
Rogness Augsburg Pub. 1969.
Would you agree to work within a church with:
mandatory fasts, holy days, clerical attire,
worship of saints clerical celibacy
suggested fasts, holy days, clerical attire,
worship of saints clerical celibacy
Bishops, cardinals, and church tradition
withholding the cup from the laity
righteousness by human works
One could say Luther’s doctrine was semitransubstantiation, and Melanchthon would rather leave
Wittenberg than accept that. In the end, Lutherans
changed and accepted consubstantiation.

THE REFORMATION

HEINRICH
BULLINGER
1504-1575 A.D.
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
Heinrich Bullinger was born on 6/18/1504
to Henry Bullinger and Anna Widerkeht at
Bremgarten, 10 miles west of Zurich. Heinrich
was the fifth child. His parents lived as
“faithful marriage partners”, though of course
they could not obey what God commanded
about actually being married on account of his
father being a Catholic priest. This was a
common practice of the time.
He was educated at the University of Cologne
from 1519-1522. On 8/17/1529 Bullinger
married Anne Adlishweiler, a former nun. On
12/31 of the same year, his parents were
formally married.
After Zwingli was killed in battle in 1531,
Bullinger was selected as his replacement at
the great Church of Zürich. He ministered
there the rest of his life.
1541 was an unhappy year for Bullinger: his
mother, a son, and his close friend and fellow
reformer Leo Jud all died of plague in Zürich.
On 3/24/1549 Calvin, Farel, and Bullinger
met and formed a “consensus” between
Geneva and Zürich on the Lord’s Supper.
Lest Bullinger feel left out of place with
Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, the Pope in 1550
issued a papal bull specifically condemning
Bullinger.
In 1564 Bullinger’s wife died of plague and he
almost died.
Bullinger and Leo Jud were instrumental in
drawing up the First Helvetic Confession of
Faith.
Bullinger and His Opponents
From 1556 to 1564, Bullinger wrote extensively and somewhat bitterly toward many,
including Joachim Westphalus, Stancai,
Brentius and the Ubiquitarians, and Bernard
Ochin. Ochin was for polygamy and against
the Trinity. Bullinger was also very vitriolic
against the Anabaptists. It was he who started
the lie that all Anabaptism originated with
Thomas Müntzer.
Bullinger was fairly moderate toward Lutherans. Bullinger had been attacked by Luther
with harsh words (The Best of John Calvin
compiled by Samuel Dunn p.29). Yet Bullinger
“would honor Luther as a servant of God, forgetting neither his fine virtues nor his glaring
weaknesses!” It was on Bullinger’s recommendation that Luther’s former professor, Andreas
Karlstadt, was appointed the minister in Basel.
Bullinger died of illness on 9/17/1575.

THE REFORMATION

MAJOR BELIEFS OF
PROTESTANT &
RADICAL
DENOMINATIONS
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
Anglicans/Episcopalians
Most Baptists
Believer’s
Lutherans
Methodists
Presbyterians
Assembly of God
Mennonites & Amish
Amish
Numbers are +/- 8%
Total nominal Christians 1,000 m
..Protestants
330 m
....Anglicans/Episcopalians
65 m
....Baptists
36 m
....Lutherans
50 m
....Methodists
40 m
....Presbyterians
50 m
....Denominational charism. 11 m
....Assembly of God/4-Square
....Other Charismatics
82 m
..Orthodox
74 m
..Roman Catholics
580 m
....R.C. Charismatics
10 m
..Mennonite & Amish
0.2m
Lutherans (47 churches.)
......Germany
......Scandinavia
......North America
50
24
15
8
m
m
m
m
Presbyterian
......Korean
......Taiwan
9.5 m
The Encyclopedia Britannica
Luther, Martin The Bondage of the Will translated by Henry Cole.
Baker Book House 1976.
Augustinian orders: Augustinian Canons,
Augustinian Hermis (or Friars, Premonstratensians, Trinitarians, Gilbertines (Gilbert of
Sempringham) Augustinian canons arose in
the 12th century, and at one time there were
200 of them in England. 60 of them were
suppressed in England in 1538-1540.
Major reform of the Augustinian hermits in
north Germany. Luther from here. Dissolved in
1526, after most of them joined the
Reformation.
Augustinian abbey of St. Maurice in Canton of
Valais, south Switzerland.
Calvin believe Luther a great man and an
illustrious servant of God. It is true, however,
that as he is distinguished by eminent virtues,
so he labours under great faults. Oh, that he
had studied to restrain that intemperance
which is ever ready to boil over in him! That he
had always directed that vehemence, which is
inseparable from his nature, against the
enemies of the truth, and not sometimes
turned it upon the servants of God!” (p.29)
When we become mutual accusers of each
other, [the ungodly] will be only too ready to
believe us both.” Dwell upon these
considerations rather than on what the
intemperance of Luther may have deserved at
your hands. Let us not bite and devour one
another, lest we be consumed.”
Theodore Beza born in Vezelay, France 1519.
At Calvin’s recommendation, he was appointed
a professor of Greek at Lausanne.
Servetus born in 1509 In Villenueva, Spain.
Studied medicine and civil law at the Univ. of
Toulouse in France. Very good doctor for his
times. 1531 published “Errors of the Trinity”
1532 Dialogues concerning the Trinity. 1553
Restitution of Christianity.
Servetus put in prison at Vienne, but escaped
through a careless jailer. June 17th sentence
of death against him of being burned in a slow
fire. He was burned in effigy in Vienne. Then
he came to Geneva. Burned in Geneva
10/27/1553.
What did Servetus believe about the Trinity?
He was adamant about his doctrine, but his
doctrine was rather confused. He denied the
trinity, yet said, “The Father is God, the son is
God, the Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not
the Son, neither is the Son the Holy Spirit, nor
is the Holy Spirit the Father, according to the
propriety of person. Christian Restitution 274.
Calvin letter February 1546 “if Servetus come
to Geneva, I will use my authority in such a
manner as not to suffer him to go away alive.”
August 20, 1553 letter to Farel, “I hope that a
capital sentence will be passed.”
1545 Cardinal de Tournon massacred 3K
Waldenses
According to Will Durant, the population in
1515 of various places was:
France 16 M
Paris 300K
England 3 M
Spain 7 M
Lutherans
Johan Marbach of Strasburg
Zwinglians
Thomas Erastus 1524-1583
Supremacy of the state in ecclesiastical causes
Erinyes - Greek furies
Other Swiss Anabaptists
Michael Wüst ~1519-1524
Grebel disappointed in Zwingli in a letter
12/15/1523
Father, Jacob receiving Conrad’s pension from
the French king and only giving Conrad 1/3 of
it. Did not pay the dowry for marriage. After
Conrad got a mediator, Jacob agreed, but
failed to live up to his agreement. After
Conrad’s death, Jacob owed the orphaned
children 1,000 guilders.
Carlstadt visited Zurich October 1524
1524 Zurich preachers denounced Anabaptists
as “satans in angels’ clothing.” Manz
expounded OT using Hebrew and Grebel NT in
Greek.
Felix Manz was Conrad Grebel’s brother-in-law
Bullinger was responsible for the Zurich
church.
Grebel broke with Glarean after a drunken
bout in 1519. Glarean never abandoned a
quarrel.
Grebel almost lost the use of his hand in
Veinna.
Grebel lost Vadian’s friendship in a fight on
5/1/1519 in which two Frenchmen (likely
bandits) were killed.
Authorities punished none of them, and Grebel
had a clear conscience.
Cocceuis (Johannes Koch (1603-1669)
Formulated Federal Headship and Covenant
theology. It was said that Cocceius found
Christ everywhere in the Old Testament and
Hugo Grotius found him nowhere. Most
famous pupil was Campeius Vitringa 12
volumes of theology.