Reformation Day

Challenged by Tim Challies, today’s post simply links to some of the best resources I’ve seen for preaching and writing on the Reformation. It’s nothing too creative; it’s more like me trying to bring some old gems to light.

(I know The Sola Panel has tried to avoid just being an aggregator of links, but hopefully this will slip through just this once …)

This is not news to anyone, but thanks to my friend Chris for alerting me to John Piper’s biographical studies at his annual Desiring God conference for pastors—well, before it became really trendy in Australia. If you are unaware of these, they generally feature Reformation heroes like Tyndale, Luther, Calvin and those who stood on their shoulders—like John Owen, John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Simeon, Haddon Spurgeon, J Gresham Machen, and so on. They’re fascinating. Inspiring. And it’s good to hear about people outside my normal field of vision—people like Adoniram Judson and Andrew Fuller (who shows the importance to missionaries of those who stay at home). Perhaps you could leave a comment sharing your all-time favourite talk from this list, with a sentence or two as to why. (Or if you can’t choose just one, share your top three and why).

The Anglican Church League has some more resources of a similar vein (written with Reformation Sunday in mind) in the old section of their website. In particular, there’s some worthwhile resources on Thomas Cranmer, whom John Piper might not get to in a hurry (more’s the pity).

The Church Society has put many of its back edition Churchman articles on the web. This includes a good selection of church history—for example, on Zwingli, Wycliffe and Simeon.

However, if you only read one article this Reformation Day, may I suggest Andrew Atherstone’s article on the Marian Martyrs and lessons we might learn from them. (Thanks again to the ACL for the hat tip.) The Marian martyrs were those Protestant Christians burned to death for their faith during the reign of Bloody Queen Mary between 1555 and 1558 (with many more imprisoned, displaced as refugees or exiled). Atherstone’s article is one of the most stirring articles on church history I’ve read in ages. He’s written a whole book on the topic, and he gives us sad but wonderful examples from a whole range of those who hated even their own lives in order to be Christ’s disciple.

Atherstone draws six lessons from their example that are applicable especially to evangelicals within the western branches of the Anglican Communion who face continual hostility because of their commitment to Jesus and the biblical gospel. The martyrs had

1. A passion for God’s word: Atherstone concludes, “Where are those with a burning hunger for the Word of God? When will Anglicanism’s reputation be restored as a faithful Bible-believing, Bible-preaching denomination?”
2. A passion for God’s saving grace: People challenged their minister’s failure to preach justification by faith alone at the cost of their lives.
3. A passion for prayer: “Pray, as [martyr George] Marsh did, for ‘grace not to faint but patiently to bear the cross’. […] Pray, pray, pray. Anglicans will once again be used mightily in the purposes of God when we are down on our knees.”
4. A passion for godliness: “When ministers lose their jobs and their homes because of their commitment to Jesus, what is the response from the evangelical community? Does that note of godliness shine through our actions and our attitudes? Are we quick to bless those who curse us?”
5. A passion for people: “Orthodox Anglicans must hold firmly to that top priority as we continue to battle for the gospel. Is it our great aim to see men and women won for Christ? […] Why are we involved in controversy?—for the sake of party-spirit, or for the sake of the flock of God?”
6. A passion for eternity: “Those who are forced to put their jobs on the line for the sake of the gospel know that their spouse and children may also have to pay a high price for that conscientious stand. But faced with similar struggles, the early Anglican martyrs were buoyed up by their passion for eternity.”

What is really astonishing is that only 20 or so of these martyrs were clergymen. As Atherstone notes,

But most of the martyrs were Christians in the pews—weavers, fishermen, tailors, barbers, upholsterers, brewers, carpenters, agricultural labourers—often illiterate and unlearned apart from their knowledge of Christ and their love for the Bible. One in five of the martyrs were women. There were elderly widows and teenage girls […] To admit to evangelical convictions was a matter of life and death.

Read the whole thing!

And don’t forget to nominate your favourite Piper biographical talk.

Perhaps you could also suggest some other good resources for Reformation Day.