Four Things I Learned About the Reformation

Over the past few months, I have been reading Christianity's Dangerous Idea by Alister McGrath. As the subtitle accurately explains, this book is a history of the Protestant Reformation from the 16th century to the 21st. This is the first book I have read on Church History, and it has kindled a flame in me to want to learn more about the rich history my Christian faith.

So, instead of regurgitating the entirety of the book (it's nearly 500 pages long!), I'm going to give you four facts that I learned about the Protestant Reformation. Also, just in case you're not entirely sure what the Protestant Reformation is, here's a helpful definition. The Protestant Reformation was the movement in the 16th century as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church, purging it of many false doctrines (i.e. purgatory) and malpractices (i.e. the sale of indulgences) within the Church. What came of the Reformation includes many present-day denominations including Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Methodism, Anglicanism, Anabaptist, Baptist, and many more. If you do not attend a Catholic church, you probably attend a Protestant one and owe some gratitude to the Reformation.

Interesting Fact #1: Martin Luther & his 95 theses were not the sole catalysts of the Protestant Reformation. In fact, McGrath would argue that the Reformation began as a result of the influence of a handful of reformers in different countries around the same period of time - Martin Luther in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, John Calvin in France, and the Anabaptists. Through their argumentation and collaboration, the Reformation was born and immediately began to branch out.

Interesting Fact #2: When I first began reading about the Reformation, I just assumed that I believed everything Martin Luther taught. Though I did find out that this was mostly true, there were a few things that Luther and I differ on. Take baptism for instance. Both Luther and Zwingli regarded infant baptism (paedobaptism) as perfectly acceptable and taught in Scripture. However, it was the Anabaptists that fought hard to disprove this teaching, thereby establishing what I believe to be what Scripture teaches, believer's baptism (credobaptism). According to the Anabaptists, "baptism was to be restricted to believing adults who were capable of making a confession of faith" (p. 262). Mark one up for the Anabaptists.

Interesting Fact #3: There was one more doctrine that I discovered I did not agree with Martin Luther on. Communion. Traditionally, there are three different views on communion. Catholics traditionally subscribe to transsubstantiation. Transubstantiation is the view that when you take communion, the bread that you eat actually becomes the body of Christ, and the wine that you drink actually becomes the blood of Christ. Luther would have nothing of the sort. He believed in what is known as consubstantiantion, that, in some way, the body and blood of Christ are conveyed in, through, or under the bread and wine. Ulrich Zwingli taught that there was a third interpretation of the Lord's Supper. Zwingli taught that Christ was not at all present in the eucharist, but that the bread and wine were solely a symbol of Christ's body and blood. Each time we take them, we are to remember his body that was broken for us and his blood that was poured out on our behalf. Most Protestants today subscribe to Zwingli's interpretation of the Lord's supper.

Interesting Fact #4: I have always wondered where the idea of "godparents" came from. Now I know. As stated above Luther and Zwingli (and Calvin) believed that the Scriptures teach the church to baptize infants. Therefore, "since the infant cannot make promises of faith, 'godparents' are selected to ensure that the infant grows up within the Christian faith, until they are ready to confess that faith for themselves" (p. 262). Interesting. With a baby on the way, it makes me want to reconsider whether or not I will give my child godparents.

These are only 4 things I have learned from this book. However, it would take too long to post everything that I have learned about the Reformation from Christianity's Dangerous Idea. If you are looking to learn a little more about the roots of your Christian faith, I would highly recommend this book to you.

Buy it here.