As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, let us not forget that there were reforming efforts in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ long before Martin Luther played the carpenter and nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the…
This year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation when the German Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed a long series of academic debating points about the medieval Roman Catholic penitential system (the 95 theses) to…
This is a personal invitation to come to beautiful Greenville, SC in order to enjoy a new conference joyfully set in the Reformed tradition October 13-15, 2017. Joining me will be Rev. Dr. Harry L. Reeder III of Briarwood Presbyterian Church…
Many of us have probably been led to think of the Reformed (and Presbyterian) tradition as being separate and parallel tradition to the Lutheran tradition. There have been those within the modern Reformed tradition and within the Lutheran tradition since…
“I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, self.” Martin Luther almost certainly never made this statement (though many have falsely attributed it to him).…
Our friends, over at Place for Truth, have recently added Simonetta Carr’s blog, A Cloud of Witnesses, to their site. Simonetta is writing about the Reformers and those in church history who have influenced them. Her first post is dedicated to…
“Be known for what you’re for rather than what you’re against.” This statement–in various forms–has become something of a Christian cliche over the past decade. Nearly every time I hear it, I wonder if those who so often state it…
A few weeks ago, I participated in a conference which explored the promise that careful attention to Protestantism’s past holds for Protestantism’s future. It was exciting to see scholars, students, and interested laypersons gathered around a common concern for the…
On February 19th the “scrawny shrimp,” as he was affectionately called, stood startled, as his lecture on Romans was interrupted by news no one wanted to hear. Hardly able to gather himself, Philip Melanchthon tearfully announced to his students assembled…
I’ve been preparing a talk on Luther and education for a conference this summer, and so have been reviewing Luther’s 1524 “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany, That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools.” In examining this work,…
