INTRODUCTION
BIBLE PROTESTANTISM HAS A GLORIOUS HISTORY. It is an epic story of a deadly struggle from under the heel of the Roman system to the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
In our ecumenical and apostate age, this story needs to be retold that the battle may continue. These pages are just another shot fired in this great battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. We are deliberately aiming at brevity, leaving it to other works (listed later) to satisfy any hunger for further information. These pages may therefore be viewed as tasty appetisers. May God give us the faith of these old Protestants who loved not their lives unto death and of whom, the world in its sin, was not worthy.
JOHN WYCLIFFE (1320?-1401) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY in the 14th Century when John Wycliffe raised his voice
against the follies and sins of Roman Catholic monks in England. But he
did much more than this, he translated the complete Bible into the
English language for the first time. He then sent out young men -
called Lollards - to read and preach the word of God. Rome reacted in a
most murderous fashion and many Lollards were burnt at the stake their
hand written copies of the Scriptures tied around their necks. Five
Papal bulls were issued against him in one year, condemning him on
nineteen different charges taken from his writings. Later he strongly
denounced the doctrine of transubstantiation. Although Wycliffe himself
was not martyred, his remains were dug up and flung into the River
Swift forty years after his death.
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JOHN HUSS (1369?-1415) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when the writings of Wycliffe came into the possession
of this Bohemian reformer, along with two cartoons. One of these
cartoons depicted the Lord Jesus wearing a crown of thorns while the
Pope wore a crown of gold and expensive clothing. The second showed a
picture of the woman to whom Christ said: "Thy sins are forgiven thee"
while the second side showed the Pope selling indulgences to the
people. Huss wrote and preached the gospel and opposed Rome. He was
summonsed to the Council of Constance in 1415 where, despite promises
of safe conduct, was eventually imprisoned and burnt at the stake.
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WILLIAM TYNDALE (1494?-1536) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when William Tyndale discussed the things of God at the
dinner table in the home of Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury Manor
(Gloucestershire) One present declared that "it were better to be
without God's laws than the Pope's laws" to which our Protestant
friend replied: "I defy the Pope and all his laws!" At the risk of
relegating Protestantism to being a parasite religion living of the
errors of Rome, yet this great statement of Tyndale epitomises all that
is righteously defiant in Bible Protestantism. Tyndale also vowed that
he would enable "the boy who drove the plough to know more of the
Scriptures than he did." Tyndale laboured night and day in exile to
translate the Bible into English from the original languages and
succeeded not only in doing so but in having thousands of copies
smuggled into England. Rome put a price on his head and he was finally
betrayed and burnt at the stake.
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| KING HENRY EIGHTH (1457-1509) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY (strange to relate) when William Tyndale was burnt at
the stake because he offered up a prayer that the Lord would open the
eyes of the King of England. God did. Although Henry was never a
Protestant in the doctrinal sense of the word, he fell out with the
Pope over his divorce to Catherine of Aragon and caused the Church of
England to break from communion with the Church of Rome. He ordered the
Bible to be placed in every parish church and appointed people to read
its pages to the assembling congregations. This had a wonderful affect.
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple. (Psalm 119:130) God can use even unsaved people to
further His sovereign purposes. The king's heart is in the hand of the
LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
(Proverbs 20:1)
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| MARTIN LUTHER - HIS CONVERSION (1483-1546) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when the German Reformer found Christ as his Saviour.
Strict adherence to the monkish requirements of the Roman Catholic
Church failed to give him peace with God. However he discovered a Bible
in the monastic library and learned the great truth: "For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17) Wise words from
John von Staupitz, the head of the Augustinian Order, pointed him in
the right direction: "Remember that Christ came into the world for the
pardon of our sins" and again "Look to the wounds of Christ , and you
will there see shining clearly the purpose of God towards men."
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| MARTIN LUTHER - HIS PROTEST AGAINST INDULGENCES: IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when Luther raised his voice in angry protest against
the sale of indulgences. The Pope badly needed money to build Saint
Peter's in Rome and so authorised the sale of these indulgences. The
Pope's agent in Saxony was Tetzel who confidently proclaimed that once
the money tinkled in his box, the soul thus paid for would spring out
of purgatory. The immoral effect of these "sin dockets" (as the
Reformers later called them) can only be imagined. Luther was enraged
with a holy rage and characteristically said that he would burst a hole
in Tetzel's drum.
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MARTIN LUTHER - NAILING HIS 95 THESIS TO THE CATHEDRAL DOOR IT
WAS A GOOD DAY on 31st October, 1517 when Luther nailed his ninety five
thesis to the Cathedral door of Wittenberg. Most of these are
evangelical in content and they caused a great stir in Germany and
ultimately (when translated) all over Europe. Pope Leo X initially
dismissed the matter as the ranting of a "drunken German" but soon had
to change his tune when a great debate started among the common people.
Luther gained much respect for his boldness, reminding us of Daniel's
words: The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do
exploits (Daniel 11:32)
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LUTHER - DEFENDING THE GOSPEL AT THE DIET OF WORMS IT
WAS A GOOD DAY in 1521 when Luther confronted Eck, the Pope's man at
the Diet of Worms. When commanded to withdraw his "heretical" teachings
as contained in his books, Luther's answer must rank as one of the most
inspiring ever recorded outside of Scripture: "Unless I am convinced by
testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear arguments that I am in error
- for Popes and councils have often erred and contradicted themselves -
I cannot withdraw, for I am subject to the Scriptures I have quoted; my
conscience is captive to the word of God. it is unsafe and dangerous to
do anything against one's conscience. Here I stand; I can do no other.
So help me God."
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| LUTHER - BURNING THE PAPAL BULL IT WAS A
GOOD DAY when Luther burned the Bull of excommunication which followed
his performance at Wittenberg. C.H. Spurgeon said later: "What cared he
for any Pope in or out of Hell?"
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LUTHER - WRITING THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when Luther took up his pen to write many books. At one
time, one book in three printed in Germany was penned by Luther. He
translated the bible into German, composed hymns, a catechism and other
books in defence of the gospel. One of his best known works is called
"Bondage of the Will" and is still in print. He refuted the teaching
of Erasmus of Amsterdam (and the Roman Church) that taking the
Biblical line that man's will is in bondage to his heart which is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) The
Church of Rome were later to anathematise the teachings of Luther in
the infamous Council of Trent.
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LUTHER COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when Luther wrote his commentary on Paul's Galatians
epistle. It answers the argument that Protestantism is a negative
religion. Although Luther attacked Romanism in its pages (just as Paul
in the epistle itself attacks false gospellers) yet he positively sets
forth the great truths of the gospel and the responsibilities of
successful Christian living. The immortal dreamer, John Bunyan, records
his indebtedness to it: "I do prefer this book of Martin Luther upon
the Galatians, excepting the Holy Bible, before all books I have ever
seen, as the most fit for a wounded conscience."
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JOHN KNOX - HIS CONVERSION (1514-1572) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when our Scottish Reformer was converted to God. He had
been a priest of Rome but recorded on his death bed how he "first
cast anchor" on the glorious words of Christ in John 17:3 And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. He was a fearless Christian. Once when
captured by the Spanish and forced to be a galley slave, they produced
an image of the Virgin Mary and ordered him to kiss it. Knox declined
the invitation: "Trouble me not. Such an idol is accursed and therefore
I will not kiss it." The Romanists replied, "Thou shalt handle it" and
forced it violently to his face and into his hands. Knox then received
the idol into his hands but immediately cast it into the water with the
words, "Let her save herself she is light enough, let her swim!" After
this, no Scotsman was urged with this idolatry. Knox was a fearless
preacher of the gospel. CH Spurgeon said: "I cannot shape the truth. I
know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John
Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must
thunder through England again."
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ULRICH ZWINGLI (1484-1531) - HIS CONVERSION IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when this Swiss Reformer sought and found the Lord. Born
into the darkness of Rome, He came to know the Lord through reading the
Bible and also perusing the early Church Fathers and also the books of
Wycliffe and Huss. These all served to strengthen his conviction that
Rome had seriously departed from the word of God. He preached the
gospel mightily in Zurich and gained himself the name of being a good
pastor when he remained in the city during a severe plague. He
successfully opposed the Bishop of Constance over the matter of fasting
during Lent and won a vital debate on the matter which ensured the
gospel would continue to be preached in the city. He finally died on
the battle field.
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| JOHN CALVIN - HIS CONVERSION (1509-1564) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY in 1527 when our French Reformer could describe his
conversion. He said: "When I was the obstinate slave of the
superstitions of popery," he says, "and it seemed impossible to drag me
out of the deep mire, God by a sudden conversion subdued me, and made
my heart obedient to his Word." He immediately became busy in the work
of God. Later on when his body was wrecked with numerous diseases, his
doctor urged him to ease up. Calvin replied: “Would you have my Master
come and find me loitering?”
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| CALVIN - HIS COMMENTARIES IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when Calvin's commentaries began to be published. Many
of them are the sermons which he preached daily to mass crowds in the
Cathedral in Geneva. C.H. Spurgeon wrote, "…that mighty servant of God,
John Calvin, whom I honour, not as teaching these doctrines himself,
but as one through whom God spoke, and one who, next to the apostle
Paul, propounded truth more clearly than any other man that ever
breathed, knew more of Scripture, and explained it more clearly…That
man of God expounds the doctrines in so excellent and admirable a
manner, that we cannot too much bless the Lord who sent him, or too
much pray that others like him may be honest and sincere in the work of
the Lord."
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| MARTYRDOM OF THE BISHOPS UNDER BLOODY MARY If
all things truly do work together for good to them who love God (Romans
8:28) then… IT WAS A GOOD DAY when the Church of England bishops were
burnt at the stake during the reign of Bloody Mary. Mary was a bigoted
Roman Catholic who sought to strangle the new Reformation faith in
England. During the last four years of Mary's reign, no less than two
hundred and eighty eight Protestants were burned for refusing to
embrace the heresies of Rome. No less than five of these martyrs were
Bishops.
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| BISHOPS HUGH LATIMER (1485?-1555) AND NICHOLAS RIDLEY (1503?-1555) Both
men were burned together at the same stake on the October 16th 1555. Latimer said of his pre conversion days: "I was
as obstinate a Papist as any was in England." He was led to Christ
through the faithful witnessing of Bilney who himself was later
martyred. Latimer said: "I learned more by his confession than before
in many years. From that time forward I began to smell the word of God,
and forsook the school doctors and such fooleries." Ridley came to
Christ through the reading of a book on the sacraments and by personal
conversation with Bishop Cranmer and Peter Martyr. Both men contended
fervently for the Protestant faith. Ridley leaves the following record:
"The See of Rome is the seat of Satan, and the bishop is the same, that
maintaineth the abominations thereof, is Antichrist himself indeed:
and for the same causes this See this day is the same that St John
calls, in his Revelation, Babylon, or the whore of Babylon, and
spiritual Sodom and Egypt, the mother of fornications and abominations
on earth." At the stake, Latimer spoke the following words to
his fellow martyr: "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the
man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England,
as I trust shall never be put out." Both men then sealed their testimony with their blood.
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| BISHOP JOHN HOOPER (1495-1555) Our
friend was a Cistercian monk before he was converted to saving faith in
Jesus Christ. He contended earnestly for the faith, confessing: "I
believe that the people of God, who are the very true church of God,
have a certain doctrine, that never was, is or hereafter shall be,
violated by time or man's any man's authority. This doctrine only and
solely is comprehended in the sacred and holy Bible." He was condemned
to be burned in sight of his Cathedral in Gloucestershire. Seven
thousand witnessed his martyrdom on 8th February 1555 where he "died as
quietly as a child in his bed."
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| BISHOP ROBERT FERRAR ( -1555) The
Bishop of St David's in Wales was burned on the 30th March 1555 at
Carmathen because of his faith. He was one of the signatories to a
famous protestation drawn up in the prison, which, among other things,
denounced the mass "to be Antichrist's doctrine."
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ARCHBISHOP THOMAS CRANMER (1489-1556) Cranmer
had risen to the high office of Archbishop in the Roman Church before
coming to faith in Jesus Christ. He was the first Protestant Archbishop
of Canterbury. Initially, he recanted under great pressures. However,
when he was taken to St Mary's Church in Oxford to read a prepared
sermon, he nailed his colours very firmly to the mast: "And now I come
to the great thing which troubleth my conscience more than any other
thing that ever I said or did in my life; and this is, the setting
abroad things contrary to the truth; which here I now renounce and
refuse, as things written with my hand, contrary to the truth which I
thought in my heart, and writ for fear of death, and to save my life,
if it might be; and that is, all such bills, which I have written or
signed with mine own hand since my degradation; wherein I have written
many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand offended in writing
contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall be first punished; for if
I come to the fire, it shall be first burned. And as for the Pope, I
refuse him as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false
doctrine." Cranmer was as good as his word. When he was
martyred at the stake on 21st March, 1556 he plunged his hand into the
flame and was heard to repeat on several occasions the phrase, "This
unworthy right hand."
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THE MARTYRDOM OF PATRICK HAMILTON (1503-1528) IT
WAS A GOOD DAY when our first Scottish martyr, Patrick Hamilton was
ordered to be burned by RC Archbishop Beaton in St. Andrews.
Hamilton went there, understanding that it was to debate his
doctrines, but he was seized and quickly burned before his friends
could muster support. It was thought that this summary execution would
intimidate others, but Rome was badly mistaken. One bystander remarked,
"The reek [smoke] of Mr Hamilton has infected as many as it did blow upon."
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JENNY GEDDES AND HER THREE LEGGED STOOL! Although
not strictly a Reformation event, yet we include it here as an example
of a good old Protestant spirit alive and well after the deeds of
earlier times. In 1637 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the minister of St Giles
tried to introduce the English Prayer Book, which although drawn up by
the English Reformers, nevertheless still retained some Popish
features. Jenny Geddes, a street trader, threw her stool at the head of
the minister when he commenced reading it. She cried: "Deil colic the wame o’ ye, fause thief; daur ye say Mass in my lug?" meaning
"Devil cause you severe pain and flatulent distention of your abdomen, false
thief: dare you say the Mass in my ear?"
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THE PRINCIPLES OF PROTESTANTISM
The Protestant Reformation was founded on five great "solas" of the gospel. It is these which mark the differences between us and the Church of Rome. If we state that we believe that faith justifies the soul, even the most ardent Romanist will happily nod his head in agreement. He even believes in the authority of the Bible or in the absolute necessity of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the soul. These are the words which are put into ecumenical documents and get agreement between so called Protestants (even professing evangelicals) and Roman Catholics. But if the word "alone" were to be slipped into the document, no Romanist, being faithful to his creed, could honestly sign it.
We must therefore contend "tooth and nail" for these "solas" if we would preserve the very essence of the gospel which saves men to the uttermost. There can be no unity with any church which would deny them either individually or collectively.
1) THE AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES ALONE:
Protestantism does not elevate church tradition to equality with the Bible. Those who do soon, in practice, elevate Scripture over the Bible. Protestants do not require any man to subscribe to that which cannot be founded upon the clear principles of the Bible. Rome charges us with believing a doctrine which is itself unfounded on Scripture, but this is not so. The man of God can be made perfect through the Scripture (2 Timothy 3:15-17) and therefore we do not need anything else, other than the author of the Book i.e. the Spirit of God to open it to us. While God has appointed teachers (Ephesians 4:11) we must judge the teachers by the Book and not vice versa. Thus the Bereans subjected the teaching of Paul to the authority of Scripture. (Acts 17:11)
2) SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE:
Grace alone rules out any human contribution, actual or foreseen, to salvation. Eternal life is given solely on the basis of the grace of God. "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion"(Romans 9:15) If God was under any obligation to save any one, then the whole concept of grace is at once destroyed. The sinner can only be saved by grace alone, because the sinner has nothing to give or pay. His good works are counted as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) while his sins as portrayed as mounting up like unpaid debts (Luke 7:40-42) However Christ has done all that was necessary when He died on the Cross and cried "It is finished" (John 19:30) and God now offers salvation to all men, freely "without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1) This concept of grace is heightened when we remember that we were not only non deserving, but ill deserving and indeed hell deserving sinners.
3) JUSTIFICATION IS BY FAITH ALONE:
Rome teaches that God imparts His righteousness into the souls of those who effectively work for it. This drives the sinner to constantly look to his own actions for assurance of peace with God. He can never be sure that he has done enough, simply because he never can do enough. Rome's teaching is based on a radically erroneous definition of justification. Justification does not make a person righteous, but declares them to be so. In Luke 7:29 the people justified God but none would argue that they made Him righteous. Rather, they declared him to be so. Likewise when grace saves the sinner, applying the blood of Christ to his sin stained soul, God declares the one pardoned to be without any guilt. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifieth." (Romans 8:32) The work which Christ accomplished at Calvary cannot be allowed to remain a mere fact of history - all its worth needs to be appropriated if the soul is to benefit from this. The channel is faith alone without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28) Rome would channel it all through her various sacraments. This goes against the teaching of the Bible, because you need to be in a state of grace to partake of the sacrament and this state is achieved by works. Rome therefore has no viable message for the guilt ridden sinner.
4) SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ALONE:
Rome has other mediators other than Christ (1 Timothy 2:5) and other priests other than Christ (Hebrews 4:14) This ought not to be. Christ is sufficient for us. To introduce others is to detract from His glorious work. All I need in Thee I find…O Lamb of God I come.
5) ALL THINGS FOR GOD'S GLORY ALONE:
The Reformers opposed the idea that those who gave themselves "full time" to church work were more faithful and acceptable than those who had another occupation. The child of God can bring as much glory to God in a "secular" occupation as those actively engaged in the religious sphere. Whether it is something mundane as eating or drinking - it is all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
GOOD BOOKS TO PROCURE AND READ:
As stated in the introduction, this booklet is only an appetiser. The full story deserves to be read. The following books have long been classics in this field:
* FOXES BOOK OF MARTYRS - JOHN FOXE: Online edition here
* HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM - JOHN WYLIE: Online edition here
* THE ENGLISH REFORMATION - D'AUBIGNE: Online edition here
* FIVE ENGLISH REFORMERS - BISHOP JC RYLE: Online edition here
* LIFE OF CALVIN - THEODORE BEZA Online edition here
* HERE I STAND (LIFE OF LUTHER) - ROLAND BAINTON
"I , for one, want the names of our martyred Reformers to be 'household words'
in every Protestant family throughout the land." (Bishop JC Ryle)
in every Protestant family throughout the land." (Bishop JC Ryle)
THE END