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JOHN WYCLIFFE (1324 - 1384)
John Wycliffe lived almost 200 years
before the Reformation, but his beliefs and teachings closely match those of Luther, Calvin and other
Reformers. As a man ahead of his time, historians have called Wycliffe the "morning
star of the Reformation."
Born in the 1300s, Wycliffe criticized abuses and false teachings in the Catholic Church.
In 1382 he translated an English Bible--the first European translation done in over 1,000
years. The Lollards, itinerant preachers he sent throughout England, inspired a spiritual
revolution.
But the Lollardy movement was short-lived. The Church expelled Wycliffe from his teaching
position at Oxford, and 44 years after he died, the Pope ordered his bones exhumed and
burned. Intense persecution stamped out his followers and teachings. It would be hundreds
of years before men like Martin Luther resurrected the reforms Wycliffe dreamed of.
JOHN
HUSS (1369 - 1415)
John Huss, was a Czech religious reformer.
After studying theology at the University of Prague, he was ordained a priest and
appointed (1402) preacher at Bethlehem chapel. Influenced by the writings of the English
reformer John Wycliffe, Huss became the leader of the Czech reform movement. He made a
scathing critique of the church's wealth and corruption and opposed the condemnation of
Wycliffe's doctrine. He gained popular support and became rector of the university in
1409. Huss gradually lost the support of the clergy and archbishop of Prague because of
his continued attacks on abuses in the Church . He was also involved in the politics of
the Great Schism, being forced to choose between rival claimants to the papacy. He was
forbidden to preach (1409), was excommunicated (1411), and was successively abandoned by
archbishop, king, and university. After being driven from Prague in 1412, Huss produced
his chief work, De ecclesia (1413). Assured safe conduct by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund,
he traveled (1414) to the council convened at Constance to heal the Great Schism and
reform the Church . He was arrested within a month and condemned for heresy; he was burned
at the stake.
Huss proposed a restoration of apostolic simplicity in the life of the Church and rejected
the absolute authority of popes and Councils , asserting the Authority of Scripture over
the Church . After his execution, Huss's teachings and works became the rallying point for
Czech national self-expression. Huss and his followers, the Hussites, anticipated the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
SAVONAROLA
(1452 - 1498)
The Italian Dominican reformer Girolamo Savonarola
(Sept. 21, 1452 - May 23, 1498), attempted to establish a theocratic government in
Florence. He entered (1475) the Dominican order at Bologna and was assigned (1482) to
teach theology at the priory of San Marco in Florence. The sermons that he preached were
marked by the theme of warning against coming doom. He then went to preach in northern
Italy, but at the insistence of Lorenzo de'Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) he was
recalled (1490) to Florence and became prior of San Marco. His sermons became more popular
and more pointed, with direct attacks on the vices and tyrannical abuses of the Medici
government.
When French intervention allowed (1494) the Florentines to expel the Medici and establish
a republic, Savonarola became a virtual dictator in the city, imposing a program of
sweeping moral reforms. He interpreted the French intervention as the vengeance and
punishment he had prophesied earlier. He also began to see himself as a prophet of God
sent to announce judgment on Italy and on the church.
Soon his ties with the French brought him into conflict with Pope Alexander VI, who was
desperately forming alliances against the French. In 1495, Savonarola ignored a summons to
Rome to explain his supposed revelations from God. The pope, pressured by the Florentine
party opposed to Savonarola, then initiated an inquiry and suspended (1496) him from
preaching until the case was settled. Savonarola at first complied, and a truce was
arranged between the two so long as Savonarola avoided politics in his sermons--an
impossible condition. In the final clash between the two, Alexander excommunicated (1497)
Savonarola, but, when this censure was published in Florence, Savonarola denied its
validity. Soon his intransigence and defiance alienated his supporters in the Florentine
government. When popular feeling turned against him, he was arrested, tortured, tried, and
condemned to death for heresy and schism. He was hanged and then burned.
ERASMUS
(1466 - 1536)
The Dutch scholar Erasmus (1466 - July 12, 1536),
was the greatest classicist of the Renaissance in northern Europe. Erasmus lived at a time
when the breakup of medieval feudalism and the increasingly obvious abuses and corruptions
within the Church created widespread anxiety and uncertainty, which in turn engendered
fanaticism and violence. Erasmus responded to this crisis in a spirit of Aristotelian
moderation. Faced with the disintegration of medieval Europe into disputatious national
and religious factions, he sought peace, reconciliation, and unity.
His works combined piety and scholarship in an attempt to reconcile faith and reason and
bring together Christianity and the culture of ancient times. He was sharply critical of
the corruptions of the Church and the absurdities of scholasticism, but he did not
repudiate the past in a blaze of reforming passion, as Luther had done.
Although his work appealed to leaders of the Reformation, Erasmus was drawn into conflict
with them; he engaged in a polemical exchange with Luther. His attempt to reform the
Church through gentle reason and toleration was swept aside by the fanaticism of the
Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
Erasmus's educational and literary endeavors were more successful. In one of his most
influential works, Encomium moriae (1509; The Praise of Folly, 1549), which he wrote while
staying in England with his friend Sir Thomas More, he attacked the superstition,
vulgarity, and foolishness of his day with merciless wit. Among his targets were
grammarians, lawyers, logicians, sophists, scientists, theologians, and clerics.
Erasmus pursued a career of writing and traveling that took him to most countries of
Europe and won him the friendship of many of the leading humanist scholars of his time. In
1516 he published the work that established him as the major humanist of his generation:
an edition of the Greek version of the New Testament accompanied by an elegant new Latin
translation. In many of his works, Erasmus emphasized the literary beauty and moral
content of the classics. He saw Latin as a unifying language that could counteract the
divisiveness of the vernacular tongues. He largely ignored the value of empirical science,
however, and the prestige he lent to a consequently one-sided concept of Humanism
contributed in subsequent centuries to the dichotomy between the two cultures.
MARTIN LUTHER
(1483 - 1546)
Martin Luther, while studying law at
the University of Erfurt in Germany, experiences a spiritual conversion. He joins a
monastic order, the Augustinians, and is eventually assigned as a lecturer at the
University of Wittenberg. While working as a parish priest, Luther becomes disgusted by
the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences. The purchase of an indulgence
assures the buyer a remission of sins and thus a shorter period in purgatory. The selling
of indulgences is a papal privilege which has been worked to the breaking point.
In 1517 a jubilee indulgence is being preached near Wittenberg to generate funds for the
building of Saint Peter's in Rome. Luther uses this opportunity to draw up a list of
church activities for which he demands resolution and change. This list, the "Ninety-Five Theses" is centered around a call to eliminate
the sale of indulgences. The Church demands that he retract a number of his protests.
Luther refuses.
Luther is summoned to an imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1518. Retribution for his crime
should have fallen rapidly, but the election of a new emperor -- Charles V (1500-1558)
--slows the justice system. Luther uses his time to plan a complete reform program for the
church. His reforms include:
- national, rather than Roman, control of church finances
- permission for the clergy to marry,
- a series of sacramental reforms which reduce the sacraments
to Baptism, a reformed Mass, and the Holy Eucharist.
Due to the invention of the printing press, Luther's
reforms are quickly spread through Europe bringing much support. However, Luther is
condemned as a heretic by Pope Leo X in the Edict of Worms. He is is forced to escape and
live for a year in hiding, but his reforms have taken root. The split in the Roman Church
is now irreconcilable.
THE REFORMATION
At the beginning of the sixteenth
century, the Catholic church, modeled upon the bureaucratic structure of the Holy Roman
Empire, has become extremely powerful, but internally corrupt. From early in the twelfth
century onward there are calls for reform. Between 1215 and 1545 nine church-councils are
held with church reforms as their primary intent. The councils all fail to reach
significant accord. The clergy is unable to live according to church doctrine, and the
abuse of church ceremonies and practices continues.
In the first half of the sixteenth century western Europe experiences a wide range of
social, artistic, and geo-political changes as the result of a conflict within the
Catholic church. This conflict is called the Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic
response to it is called the Counter-Reformation. The Reformation movement begins in 1517
when a German Augustinian friar named Martin Luther
posts a list of grievances, called the "Ninety-Five Theses",
against the Roman Catholic Church. As the spirit of reform spreads other leaders appear:
Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, French-born John Calvin who
settles in Geneva, and John Knox who carries Calvin's teachings to Scotland.
In the Roman church a series of powerful popes including Leo X and Paul III will respond
to reform demands in various ways. Mendicant orders such as the Jesuits are formed to
reinforce Catholic doctrine, and the Church will continue to be supported by the major
European monarchies. Ultimately, the Reformation creates a north-south split in Europe. In
general the northern countries become Protestant while the south remains Catholic.
The Reformation insisted on five restrictive principles
that define the gospel: Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to
God alone be the Glory. These five principles were stated in the form of Latin slogans.
Sola Scriptura: (Scripture Alone)
This principle asserts the supreme sufficiency of God's written Word. No other
words are adequate and no other words are divine. Popes, creeds, councils and tradition
have no authority when they contradict the Holy Scriptures. Mystical impressions,
emotions, and sensations coming from the heart of man are never authoritative. The Bible
is complete and the canon is closed. No further revelation is given. "In these last
days He has spoken to us in His Son" (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus Christ has spoken all that
is necessary through His apostles in the Bible. The Bible alone is sufficient: 2 Tim.
3:17; Ps. 119:1; Deut. 4:2; 12:30; 29:29; Ps. 30:5-6; Rev. 22:18-19.
Sola Gratia: (Grace Alone)
Salvation is by grace alone. The definition of "grace" is unmerited
favor. God is never under any obligation to grant salvation. If God's justice required
that He give grace to all men, then salvation would not be a gift but an act of justice.
If men could earn the grace of God, grace would by definition no longer be grace- it would
be merit. "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6). God bestows His grace freely and sovereignly
upon those whom He chooses to save (Rom. 11:5-7). The elect are saved by grace alone: Eph.
1:3-11; 2:8-9; Rom. 9:10-16; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2 Thes. 2:13.
Sola Fide: (Faith Alone)
Salvation is through faith alone. Faith is itself a gift of God (Eph. 2:8; Phil.
1:29). Rather than being declared righteous on the basis of our faith plus our deeds, we
are declared righteous solely on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ. "Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus,
even we have have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith, and not by
the works of the law; since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified"
(Gal. 2:16). By faith, Christ's righteousness is imputed to the sinner not infused or
imparted. The sinner does not become righteous at salvation but is judicially declared
righteous on account of Christ's righteousness. "Justification is an act of God's
free grace whereby He pardons all our sins and accepts us a righteous in His sight only
for the rigteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone" (Spurgeon's
Catechism, 32). The Roman Catholic system teaches that FAITH + WORKS = JUSTIFICATION. The
Biblical perspective is that FAITH = JUSTIFICATION + WORKS. We are justified by faith
alone but not by faith that is alone. Genuine faith is accompanied by the fruit of works
(Jas. 2:14-18). We are not declared righteous on the basis of any work, but only on the
basis of our faith in Jesus: Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:2-13; Gal. 2:16; 3:24-25.
Solus Christus: (Christ Alone)
Salvation is because of Christ alone. Jesus Christ alone paid the full penalty
for the sins of His people and presents them as righteous before the Father, restoring
their fellowship with Him. His death was substitutionary in that He offered Himself as a
sacrifice to satisfy Divine justice as the sins of His people were imputed to Him on the
cross. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled we shall
be saved by His life (Rom. 5:8-10). We are saved only because of Christ and not because of
ourselves: Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:25; 4:25; 8:3; Rom. 1:17; 3:21; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1
Pet. 2:24.
Soli Deo Gloria: (To God Alone be the Glory)
In salvation, God alone receives credit and glory. We are saved for His glory,
not for our own. His whole purpose in saving us and in all He does is to magnify the glory
of His own great name, to have a people that would sing His praises, live in a way that
reflects His character, and call the world to bow down and worship Him alongside
themselves. "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My Name be
profaned? And My glory I will not give to another" (Is. 48:11). God alone gets the
credit for our salvation, because we did not contribute one thing to it (Rom. 3:10-11).
God alone, therefore, receives glory: Is. 42:8; 43:7; 48:11; Ez. 38:23; Ps. 115:1; Jn.
12:28; Rom. 11:36; 16:27; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18.
CALVINISM v.
ARMINIANISM
Perhaps no issue is as important or as potentially
divisive as the doctrine of salvation, reflected in the debate between followers of John
Calvin (1509-1564) and those of Jacob Hermann (1560-1609), best known by the Latin form of
his last name, Arminius. Since the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th Century,
Christian churches and leaders have disagreed over such issues as depravity, God's
sovereignty, human responsibility, election, predestination, eternal security and the
nature and extent of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Although trained in the reformed tradition, Arminius had
serious doubts about the doctrine of "sovereign grace" as taught by the
followers of John Calvin. He was a pastor of the Reformed congregation in Amsterdam
(1588), but during his fifteen years of ministry there, he began to question many of the
conclusions of Calvinism. He left the pastorate and became professor of theology at the
University of Leyden. It was his series of lectures on election and predestination that
led to a violent and tragic controversy. After his death in 1609, his followers developed
the Remonstrance of 1610 which outlined the "Five Points of Arminianism." This
document was a protest against the doctrines of the Calvinists and was submitted to the
State of Holland. In 1618, a National Synod of the Church was convened in Dort to examine
the teachings of Arminius in the light of Scripture. After 154 sessions, lasting seven
months, the Five Points of Arminianism were declared to be heretical. After the synod,
many of the disciples of Arminius, such as Hugo Grotius, were imprisoned or banished. When
John Wesley took up some of the teachings of Arminianism, the movement began to grow, and
it affected the Methodist tradition as well as the beliefs of most Pentecostal and
Charismatic churches.
CALVINISM
Interestingly, John Calvin, the
French reformer, did not formulate what today we know as the Five Points of Calvinism.
This came out of the Canons of the Council of Dort (1618), and subsequent statements among
the many Reformed Confessions have expanded upon these matters. Calvinism has been known
for outstanding scholars, theologians, preachers, and reformers, men such as John Owen,
George Whitefield, William Wilberforce, Abraham Kuyper, Charles Hodge, B.B. Warfield, J.
Gresham Machen, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Those in the reformed tradition who answered the teachings of Arminius chose the word
"TULIP" as an acrostic to summarize their answer to the Five Points of
Arminianism":
1. "T" = Total Depravity
The Calvinists believed that man is in absolute bondage to sin and Satan, unable
to exercise his own will to trust in Jesus Christ without the help of God.
When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally
depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The
effect of the fall upon man is that sin has "extended" to every part of his
personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is
"intensely" sinful, but that sin has "extended" to every part of his
being.
The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins (Romans 5:12). Without the power of the
Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel (Mark 4:11f).
Total depravity means that mankind is totally unable to contribute anything to his
salvation (Rom. 7:8-7; Matt. 7:18; Rom. 3:11; Jer. 13:23; 2 Peter 2:14). The man without a
knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through
Christ (John 6:44, 65, Ephesians 2:1-5). The natural man loves to sin and hates God (John
3:19-20; Prov. 21:10; Matt. 6:24). He is totally without hope (Eph. 2:12), without
strength to obey (Rom. 5:6), and without excuse (Rom. 2:1). Thus, the lost man is unable
to contribute anything to his own salvation. He is unable to "choose" Christ
(Rom. 3:9-11).
2. "U" = Unconditional Election
The Calvinists believed that foreknowledge is based upon the plan and purpose of
God, and that election is not based upon the decision of man, but the "free
will" of the Creator alone.
Unconditional Election is the doctrine which states that
God chose those whom he was pleased to bring to a saving knowledge of himself, not based
upon any merit shown by the object of his grace and not based upon his looking forward to
discover who would "accept" Christ or "believe" the gospel. The cause
of God's election is his own will. Some are chosen for glory and others for damnation
(Romans 9:15-23). His decision was made before the foundation of the world (Ephesians
1:4-8; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:9). Those whom He has chosen are called the
"elect" (Matt. 24:22, 31; Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7, etc.)
Man's Responsibility; This doctrine does not rule out, however, man's responsibility to
believe in the redeeming work of God the Son (John 3:16-18). Scripture teaches both that
man is unable to come to God (Rom. 3:11; Ps. 53:1-3; Is. 64:7; Jer. 6:10; 13:23) unless
God grants it (Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim. 2:25), and that man is responsible to come to God apart
from God's granting it (Acts 17:30). Both are true -- to deny man's responsibility is to
affirm an unbiblical hyper-calvinism; to deny God's sovereignty is to affirm an unbiblical
Arminianism.
The elect are saved unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). Thus, though good works will never
bridge the gulf between man and God that was formed in the Fall, good works are a result
of God's saving grace. This is what Peter means when he admonishes the Christian reader to
make his "calling" and "election" sure (I Peter 2:10). Bearing the
fruit of good works is an indication that God has sown seeds of grace in fertile soil.
After salvation, God works in the elect to "will and to work for His good
pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
3. "L" = Limited Atonement
The Calvinists believed that Jesus Christ died to save those who were given to
Him by the Father in eternity past. In their view, all for whom Jesus died (the elect)
will be saved, and all for whom He did not die (the non elect) will be lost.
Limited Atonement is a doctrine offered in answer to the
question, "for whose sins did Christ atone?" The Bible teaches that Christ died
for those whom God gave him to save (Matt. 1:21; Luke 19:10; John 10:11, 14-18, 24-29;
11:50-53; 17:9; Acts 20:28; Titus 2:14; Heb. 2:17; 9:15, 28; Rev. 5:9). Christ died,
indeed, for many people, but not all (Matthew 26:28). Specifically, Christ died for the
invisible Church -- the sum total of all those who would ever rightly bear the name
"Christian" (Ephesians 5:25).
This doctrine often finds many objections, mostly from those who think that Limited
Atonement does damage to evangelism. We have already seen that Christ will not lose any
that the father has given to him (John 6:37). Christ's death was not a death of merely
potential atonement for all people. Believing that Jesus's death was a potential, symbolic
atonement for anyone who might possibly, in the future, accept him trivializes Christ's
act of atonement. Christ died to atone for specific sins of specific sinners. Christ died
to make holy the church. He did not atone for all men, because obviously all men are not
saved. Evangelism is actually lifted up in this doctrine, for the evangelist may tell his
congregation that Christ died for sinners, and that he will not lose any of those for whom
he died!
4. "I" = Irresistible Grace
The Calvinists believed that the Lord possesses irresistible grace that cannot be
obstructed. They taught that the free will of man is so far removed from salvation, that
the elect are regenerated (made spiritually alive) by God even before expressing faith in
Jesus Christ for salvation. If a totally depraved person wasn't made alive by the Holy
Spirit, such a calling on God would be impossible.
The result of God's Irresistible Grace is the certain
response by the elect to the inward call of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 1:6, 7; 8:30; 9:23-24; 1
Cor. 1: 1, 2, 9, 23-31; Gal. 1:15-16; Eph. 4:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 9:15; Jude 1; 1 Peter
2:9; 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3; Rev. 17:14), when the outward call is given by the evangelist or
minister of the Word of God. Christ, himself, teaches that all whom God has elected will
come to a knowledge of him (John 6:37). Men come to Christ in salvation when the Father
calls them (John 6:44), and the very Spirit of God leads God's beloved to repentance
(Romans 8:14). Faith and repentance are Divine gifts (Acts 5:31; 11:18; 13:48; 16:14;
18:27; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim. 2:25, 26). What a comfort it is to know that the
gospel of Christ will penetrate the hard, sinful hearts of the elect and wondrously save
them through the gracious inward call of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 5:10)!
5. "P" = Perservance of the Saints
The Calvinists believed that salvation is entirely the work of the Lord, and that
man has absolutely nothing to do with the process. The saints will persevere because God
will see to it that He will finish the work He has begun.
Perserverance of the Saints is a doctrine which states that
the saints (those whom God has saved) will remain in God's hand until they are glorified
and brought to abide with him in heaven. Romans 8:28-39 makes it clear that when a person
truly has been regenerated by God, he will remain in God's stead (cf. Jer. 32:40; Matt.
18:12-14; John 5:24; 6:47; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 35-39; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; Heb. 9:12, 15;
10:14; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 1 Jn. 2:19, 25; Jude 1, 24, 25). The work of sanctification which God
has brought about in his elect will continue until it reaches its fulfillment in eternal
life (Phil. 1:6). There is no such thing as a "carnal" Christian. All believers
are sanctified by the power of God's Spirit (1 Jn. 2:3; 3:9). God works in the believer to
"will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Christ assures the elect
that he will not lose them and that they will be glorified at the "last day"
(John 6:39). The Calvinist stands upon the Word of God and trusts in Christ's promise that
he will perfectly fulfill the will of the Father in saving all the elect.
ARMINIANISM
The "Five Points of
Arminianism" included the following:
1. Free Will
Arminius believed that the fall of man was not total, maintaining that there was
enough good left in man for him to will to accept Jesus Christ unto salvation.
2. Conditional Election
Arminius believed that election was based on the foreknowledge of God as to who
would believe. Man's "act of faith" was seen as the "condition" or his
being elected to eternal life, since God foresaw him exercising his free will" in
response to Jesus Christ.
3. Universal Atonement
Arminius held that redemption was based on the fact that God loves everybody,
that Christ died for everyone, and that the Father is not willing that any should perish.
The death of Christ provided the grounds for God to save all men, but each must exercise
his own "free will" in order to be saved.
4. Obstructable Grace
Arminius believed that since God wanted all men to be saved, He sent the Holy
Spirit to "woo" all men to Christ, but since man has absolute "free
will," he is able to resist God's will for his life. He believed that God's will to
save all men can be frustrated by the finite will of man. He also taught that man
exercises his own will first, and then is born again.
5. Falling From Grace
If man cannot be saved by God unless it is man's will to be saved, then man
cannot continue in salvation unless he continues to will to be saved.
Who was Arminius?
James Arminius was a distinguished divine in Holland. He was born in 1560, at
Oudewater, a small town in Holland, and was sent to school at Utrecht, and subsequently at
Marburg. At the age of fifteen he entered as a student at the University of Leyden, and
after six years was supported by the Conference of Amsterdam, on his agreement that he
would not serve any other church without the permission of the burgomaster of that city.
In the following year he entered the Theological School of Geneva, where, in his
occasional lectures, he manifested great independence of thought. He then visited Basle,
but returned to Geneva and spent three years more in theological studies; after which he
visited various schools in Italy, and proceeded to Rome. Recalled to Amsterdam by the
burgomaster of the city, he was ordained as a minister in 1588.
A work having been published shortly afterwards attacking the Calvinistic view of
predestination, Arminius was requested to answer it; but on careful examination he became
convinced that the doctrine taught by Calvin and Beza could not
be supported by the Holy Scriptures. He took occasion soon after to express his views in
his lectures on the ninth chapter of Romans.
In 1603 he accepted a professorship in the Leyden University, where he received the degree
of D.D., being the first to receive from the university that high honor. His lectures
attracted great attention, but his doctrines were severely assailed by members of the
theological faculty. He was denounced as a Pelagian and worse than a Pelagian, and in 1607
an assembly was convened at the Hague to decide in what manner a synod was to be held to
determine the controversy. In 1608, Arminius and Gomar, his chief opponent, appeared
before the Supreme Court of the Hague, which, having heard their statements, decided that
the points on which they differed were of little importance and unessential to religion.
He had been for some time in feeble health, and died October 19, 1609.
He was a man of acute and powerful mental faculties, and was distinguished above his
contemporaries for his style and eloquence, and while amiable and gentle in manner he
especially excelled in theological power. Neander styles him "the model of a
conscientious and investigating theologian." Though accused of Pelagianism and
Arianism, his writings show that he had no tendency in those directions. He was broad and
liberal in his views of church union, and earnestly longed for the time when Christians of
all denominations should form one great unity in brotherly love.
JOHN &
CHARLES WESLEY
The Wesley brothers, born in 1703
and 1707, were leaders of the evangelical revival in the Church of England in the
eighteenth century. They both attended Oxford University , and there they gathered a few
friends with whom they undertook a strict adherence to the worship and discipline of the
Book of Common Prayer, from which strict observance they received the nickname,
"Methodists." Having been ordained, they went to the American colony of Georgia
in 1735, John as a missionary and Charles as secretary to Governor Oglethorpe. They found
the experience disheartening, and returned home in a few years. There, three days apart,
they underwent a conversion experience. John, present with a group of Moravians who were
reading Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, received a strong emotional
awareness of the love of Christ displayed in freely forgiving his sins and granting him
eternal life.
Following this experience, John and Charles, with others, set about to stir up in others a
like awareness of and response to the saving love of God. Of the two, John was the more
powerful preacher, and averaged 8000 miles of travel a year, mostly on horseback. At the
time of his death he was probably the best known and best loved man in England.
Wesley's biblical world was, however, no enclave. Sola Scriptura was never a displacement
of, or substitute for, classical learning: and this was natural enough in view of the fact
that he had mastered the baseline curriculum of his Oxford education and had come to
cherish the classical tradition as the font of Western civilization.
In the sermons (and elsewhere, too) Wesley's favorite classical source was Horace; there
are twenty-seven quotations from him in the sermons alone, some repeated in different
contexts. One sense that he read Virgil with more personal pleasure, but he quotes from
him only twenty-one times. Ovid follows with ten, Circero with nine, Juvenal with seven.
Thirteen others are quoted at least once: Aristophanes, Hadrian, Homer, Lucan, Lucretius,
Persius, Pindar, Sophocles, Suetonius, Symmachus, Terence, Velleius Paterculus.
This display was more than mere ornamentation; within these borrowings we find the germs
of some of Wesley's most distinctive general ideas (e.g. his participation theme, his
mind-body dualism, and his ideas about psycho-physical parallelism). These are major
sources for his ideas about human nature, human volition, and the human passions. Out of
this heritage had come his predilection for form over raw feelings, his concept of
conscience as a universal moral sense. Plato had bolstered his convictions about the
ontological primacy of good over evil. The whole of the Greco-Roman tradition had stressed
coherence as a criterion of rationality. Besides, these ancient authors were shrewd
critics of human folly; thus Wesley found in them discerning witnesses to the flaws in
contemporary proposals about 'natural' theology and ethics. It was in this sense that his
long dialogue with the ancients was a genuine preparatio evangelica; one might even
suppose that he might still commend it as such.
But, although Wesley found it natural to approach the Gospel with habits of thought formed
by a classical education, he was quick to recognize the value of other approaches. The
early Methodist meetings were often led by lay preachers with very limited education. On
one occasion, such a preacher took as his text Luke 19:21, "Lord, I feared thee,
because thou art an austere man." Not knowing the word "austere," he
thought that the text spoke of "an oyster man." He spoke about the work of those
who retrieve oysters from the sea-bed. The diver plunges down from the surface, cut off
from his natural environment, into bone-chilling water. He gropes in the dark, cutting his
hands on the sharp edges of the shells. Now he has the oyster, and kicks back up to the
surface, up to the warmth and light and air, clutching in his torn and bleeding hands the
object of his search. So Christ descended from the glory of heaven into the squalor of
earth, into sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with
Him to the glory of heaven, His torn and bleeding hands a sign of the value He has placed
on the object of His quest. Twelve men were converted that evening. Afterwards, someone
complained to Wesley about the inappropriateness of allowing preachers who were too
ignorant to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. Wesley, simply said,
"Never mind, the Lord got a dozen oysters tonight." |
