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Reformation Day is a celebration of the reformers’ courage and their commitment to biblical truth — and serves as a reminder to all Protestants of their rich heritage and their call to be continually reforming according to Scripture.
The Protestant Reformation, which began in the 16th century, brought about a seismic shift in Christian history. It was sparked by the German monk Martin Luther boldly nailing his “95 Theses” to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517 — just a little over 500 years ago today. His action was taken in response to the doctrinal and spiritual abuses he saw proliferating within the Catholic Church. These theses critiqued the sale of indulgences and sparked widespread debate.
The Reformation ultimately led to the recovery of Scripture, God’s inspired Word, as the final authority over the church and led to the creation of Protestant denominations, fundamentally altering Europe’s religious and political landscape.
American Founding Fathers like John Adams even credit the Reformation with giving rise to the ideas and beliefs that helped birth the American nation.
In an 1821 letter to the Rev. F.C. Schaeffer, Adams wrote:
“I love and revere the memories of Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melanchthon and all the other reformers how much-so-ever I may differ from them all in many theological, metaphysical, and philosophical points.
As you justly observe, without their great exertions and severe sufferings, the United States would have never existed.”
The Protestant Reformation is, without a doubt, one of the most impactful events in human history over the last 2,000 years.
One mantra that arose from the Reformation was semper reformanda, or “always reforming.” The phrase reflects the idea that the Christian Church, particularly in its theological and ecclesiastical aspects, should be open to ongoing self-examination and reform. It emphasizes the need for continuous renewal and improvement in the light of Scripture and the evolving needs and challenges of the Christian community. The idea behind “semper reformanda” is that the church should not become complacent with its existing practices but should remain adaptable and responsive to changes and insights, always striving to align itself with the Word of God.
Baptists are a product of this continual reformation. We trace our roots back to the Reformation, yes, but it was the ongoing process of recovering a biblically based understanding of baptism and the local church that developed over the centuries after Martin Luther that led to the beliefs and practices of Baptists today, particularly Southern Baptists. Our distinctive beliefs in believers’ baptism, the autonomy of local congregations, and the importance of Christian freedom of religion contributed to our emergence as a separate and influential branch of the Protestant tradition.
On this Reformation Day, let’s consider some key impacts, some key figures, and the key doctrines of the Protestant Reformation.
Before the 16th century, there were already calls for reform within the Roman Catholic Church. Figures like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus challenged the authority of the church and its practices. These early reformers laid the groundwork for the Reformation.
Luther’s writings, along with the development of the printing press, helped spread Reformation ideas rapidly throughout Europe. Other reformers like John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli emerged in different regions, each challenging the authority of the Pope and the Catholic practices of indulgences, communion, and works-based righteousness.
Protestants have several key disagreements with Catholics. These include views on authority (with Protestants rejecting papal authority); sacraments (with Protestants typically recognizing only two — baptism and communion); and salvation (with Protestants affirming justification by faith alone).
Bible verses often cited in support of Reformation principles include Ephesians 2:8-9 (“For by grace you have been saved through faith…”); 2 Timothy 3:16 (“All Scripture is breathed out by God…”); and 1 Peter 2:9 (“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood…”). The Reformation emphasized key doctrines, including justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture, and the priesthood of all believers. These ideas reshaped the way people thought about their relationship with God and the church.
The Reformation resulted in the formation of various Protestant denominations, each with its own theological emphasis. These included Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Baptists, and others. The promotion of vernacular Bible translations and the emphasis on individual study of Scripture encouraged literacy and education. This had a lasting impact on European society and culture.
And the Reformation played a role in the eventual development of principles of religious freedom. The idea that individuals should have the right to choose and practice their religious beliefs became a fundamental concept in many Western societies.
Martin Luther, a German theologian and religious reformer, initiated the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Not only did he kick off the Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church but his stand at the Diet of Worms, where he famously declared, ” My conscience is captive to the Word of God! To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I therefore cannot, and I will not recant! Here I stand,” solidified his break with Rome and his commitment to reform. Luther also made effective use of Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press to spread his views and switched from Latin to German in his writing to appeal to a broader audience.
Another key issue for Luther was the question of justification. He was tortured by the weight of his sins before a righteous God until he discovered Romans 1:17, wherein he found the glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone. He said, “I began to understand that the ‘justice of God’ meant justice by which the man lives through God’s gift, namely by faith…Here I felt that I was altogether born again and entered paradise itself through open gates.”
This soothing balm for Luther’s troubled soul, the recovery of the biblical teaching that forgiveness and salvation was the free gift of God, not earned by human merit, would prove to be the spark of the Reformation, lighting what Richard Sibbes called “that fire which all the world shall never be able to quench.”
John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor, and reformer who was the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1509 in Noyon, Picardy, France, and died in 1564 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Calvin is known for his systematic approach to theology. He authored The Institutes of the Christian Religion, which became a foundational text of Reformed theology. In this work, he articulated his beliefs on topics such as the sovereignty of God and the role of the church and provided a comprehensive theological framework for the Reformation.
He also contributed to the development of Reformed church governance. He advocated for a presbyterian system of church government, which involved the election of elders and ministers by the congregation. This ecclesiological model was adopted by many Reformed churches.
William Tyndale was an English scholar and theologian who is most celebrated for his work of translating the Bible into English. Tyndale was deeply committed to making the Bible accessible to the common people. He believed that everyone should be able to read the Scriptures in their native language, rather than relying on the Latin Vulgate translation. He began working on an English translation of the New Testament in the early 1520s.
Tyndale’s work was met with opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, which held a monopoly on Bible translation and distribution. His English Bible was seen as a threat to the Church’s authority.
To avoid persecution, Tyndale went into exile and continued his translation work in Europe. In 1526, he completed and published an English New Testament, and he later worked on the Old Testament.
In 1536, Tyndale was executed for heresy, but his English translations of the Bible would later be published and form a significant part of modern Bible translations. In his heroic efforts to get the Bible to the common man, he once defied the Pope and said, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives a plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do.”
Tyndale did not live to see this accomplished, but if you have a Bible in English today, you can know that it was because of the mighty work of William Tyndale.
The “Five Solas” are key theological principles that encapsulate the core beliefs of the Protestant Reformation. They serve as a succinct summary of the reformers’ key convictions and are as follows:
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone): This principle asserts that the Bible is the ultimate and sole source of authority for Christian faith and practice. It emphasizes that the Word of God contained in the Scriptures is sufficient and clear for guiding the beliefs and practices of believers.
Sola Fide (Faith Alone): Sola Fide teaches that justification and salvation come through faith in Jesus Christ alone, without any reliance on human works or efforts. Good works are considered a product of faith, but they do not contribute to a person’s justification.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone): This doctrine emphasizes that salvation is a result of God’s grace, not human merit. It teaches that God’s grace is freely given and human beings are incapable of earning their way to salvation.
Solus Christus (Christ Alone): Solus Christus emphasizes that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity. He is the sole source of reconciliation with God, and there is no need for additional human intermediaries, such as priests or saints.
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone): This principle emphasizes that all glory and praise should be directed to God alone. It underscores the belief that the ultimate purpose of human existence is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
The “Five Solas” played a central role in shaping the theology and practices of the Protestant reformers and have remained central to many Protestant denominations and theological traditions to this day, as they should.
In conclusion, Reformation Day is a celebration of these reformers’ courage and their commitment to biblical truth. It serves as a reminder to all Protestants of their rich heritage and their call to be continually reforming according to Scripture.
The Reformation gave birth to new ecclesiological and theological traditions — including that of Baptists — that prioritize the authority of Scripture over human tradition, God’s divine initiative in salvation over human effort, and the sufficiency of Christ’s saving work over any human works to merit grace. The Reformers argued this was, in fact, not new but rather the recovery of biblical Christianity drawn directly from the divine source of God’s living and active Scripture.
Faithful Protestants today continue in this new-yet-recovered trajectory, by teaching that the church is under submission to the authority of God’s Word and that the visible local gathering should be composed of the regenerate by prioritizing the role of a pastor as an expositor of God’s Word and by properly administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper.
We are “reformed and always reforming.” And we celebrate this today, on Reformation Day — and on every Sunday at our local churches.
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