1. The
Bible
The Reformation was about the
re-discovery of the Bible as a text that individuals could read and interpret
themselves.
As Luther wrote in Article 62 of his 95
theses: ‘The true treasure of the church
is the most Holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God’.
John Tyndale (1494-1536) translated the
Old and New Testaments into English for the first time. A job he had to
complete in hiding in Germany. Nonetheless he was found, persecuted and sentenced
to death, being killed in 1536. He is a founding father of the Reformation and
his English text was the main source document for the King James Bible.
The
Bible emerges in the Reformation as a radical and contested text; one that is
not just the property of an elite religious class. As it was translated into
vernacular languages it could be read and understood by ordinary Christians –
or at least ones that could read! This development coincided of course with the
advent of the printing press.
When we open our
Bibles today then and read them we are being presented with an extraordinary
gift- the Word of God – containing all things necessary for salvation – one of
the 39 Articles of Religion. The reformers were keen to ensure that religion
was based on the Word of God and not simply on superstitions. The reformers
encouraged the reading of the whole Bible – not just the small chunks of the
Bible we receive in liturgy. It’s a practice we need to encourage today. If you
were interested in what I was saying last week about St Luke’s Gospel – how
about reading it through from the beginning to the end between now and
Christmas?
2. Comprehension
Christianity
was a religion that needed to be understood.
Related
to the rediscovery of the Bible was the rediscovery of the intellectual content
of faith. Medieval Christianity had created a whole feast of ritual, liturgy
and iconography: books of hours, rosaries, pilgrimages, holy water, blessings,
holy orders, the sacrament of marriage and so on – the whole of life was
ritualised and blessed. But, the charge was that superstition and magic had over-taken
Christianity and worse still simony was rife. Luther’s 95 theses were an attack
against the commodification and commercialisation of salvation. But it didn’t
stop there – it became an attack on the whole developed catholic practice of
the faith. What the Reformers replaced it with were reason and intellectual
understanding. Worship would be centred on the reading of the and the
exposition of the word. Liturgy and ritual were replaced by the long sermon
which is the centre piece of Protestant, Presbyterian and Reformed worship.
Welcome to the 45 minute or one and a half hour long sermons! The iconoclasts
raided churches, tearing down rood screens, destroying statues of saints,
smashing crucifixes, getting rid of candlesticks and paintings in order that
religion was stripped back to the Word of God.
So,
when you argue about a Bible passage, read a Biblical commentary and engage in
Biblical studies today you are in many ways doing so because of what the
Reformers rediscovered, the importance of the mind and understanding when it
comes to faith. The Reformation reminds us that the Bible is our text to be
read, understood, debated and loved.
3. Truth
is grey
The
third reason why the Reformation is important today is because it reminds us
that truth is not black and white, but various hues of grey.
There is an
online exhibition which presents various Reformation artefacts, and one of them
which illustrates this point beautifully is a silk book mark with many strands.
The book mark appears to be an object which affirms the Reformer’s worldview –
here is an object which permitted a reader to mark numerous places in her
Bible; a key principle in devotional reading. Except that written in Latin on
the silk strands of the bookmark is the medieval prayer, Anima Christi, which was associated in the seventeenth century with
the Society of Jesus: ‘It was used with an embroidered Protestant bible,
suggesting an unexpected intimacy between Catholic and Protestant texts—one of
either protective concealment of Catholic affiliation behind a Protestant
veneer, or of the adaptation of Catholic devotional models to Protestant faith.’
Standing
as we do today 500 years since the Reformation began its long course, we are
reminded that Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Presbyterian and Pentecostal
not to mention countless other denominations continue to exist, calling the
faithful to their services and engaging them in the complex and rich traditions
of the Christian faith. We can’t it seems, wipe each other out, however hard we
have tried.
The
Reformation history teaches us that our version of the truth, our preferences,
our adopted devotional practices, our form of prayer and worship are never the
whole story. We can raid churches, smash statues, condemn believers, burn them
at the stake; we can write long sermons and tracts; we can reform the church;
we can belittle and mock those we don’t understand or don’t agree with – but
through it all – we are called back to the God of Jesus Christ who revealed
something radical and new. What he revealed more fully than anyone else was
that God is there to be discovered – that in prayer, worship, Bible, sacrament
and song – God exists. And that he wants us to be in a relationship of love
with one another. For our age today, an age of Godlessness, we need to strike
out with renewed hope and proclaim that truth. God exists: You can find him (or
her) in a sacred place – a holy building, a mountain walk; you can find him
through service, through volunteering and showing compassion to others; you can
find him in the Bible, or in the fellowship of Communion (Mass, Eucharist, Lord’s
Supper!); you can find him in friendship and sacrifice; you can find him in
life and in death – but most of all you have want to look.
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you
That with your saints I may praise you
For ever and ever. Amen.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you
That with your saints I may praise you
For ever and ever. Amen.
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