Oct 25, 2024
The Protestant Reformation: Looking Back and Ahead
Who Were the Heroes of the Protestant Reformation (Continued)?
In the previous article, I wrote about John Wycliffe, “The morning star of the Reformation.” He was responsible for beginning the movement to give the Bible to people in their own language rather than restricting access to the Bible solely to the professional clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. As the Reformation continued to spread across Europe and around the world, a young Frenchman, John Calvin, was encouraged to enter the Catholic priesthood. Studying for the priesthood in Paris, by 1527 Calvin had developed friendships with individuals who were reform-minded, setting the stage for his eventual conversion. Calvin's father then advised him to study law rather than theology, recognizing that he would earn more money as a lawyer than a priest.
Oct 24, 2024
Did God ever come into being?
The last half of John 1-3 states, "Apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. Does this imply that some things never came into being?" I'm going to stop right there and answer that part of the question. The whole point of that phrase, "apart from Him nothing came into being tha...
Oct 24, 2024
Did God create music or is it part of God's essence?
Did God create music or is music a part of God's essence? Are there styles of music that are inappropriate for us to use in worship or in general, and is there anything essentially sinful about some kinds of music? The question is, "I just listened to a presentation by Creation Today which left me...
Oct 23, 2024
The Protestant Reformation: Looking Back and Ahead
Who Were the Heroes of the Protestant Reformation?
In the first installment of this series of articles, I briefly explained that the Protestant Reformation—more commonly just “the Reformation”—consisted of an effort in 16th century Europe to reform the unbiblical teachings of the Roman Catholic Church regarding how a person was able to receive forgiveness of sin from God. The Roman Catholic Church demanded good works, money, and penance in order to secure God’s grace, while the reformers taught that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one could boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
