Few topics have caused as much controversy throughout the history of the church as the relationship between the church and the state, and the era of the Reformation was certainly not immune to these conflicts. The sixteenth century opened as an era when church and civil authorities were closely wedded together, and this brought about…

The intimate relationship between the church and the kingdom presented in the Scriptures was a prominent theme in many sixteenth-century writings. In various ways, its final revelation was hoped and longed for, while its present, partial blessings were tasted and enjoyed. In this selection from her exposition of the Lord’s Prayer, German Reformed writer Katharina…

While the church exists in this world, its ultimate end is beyond the fallen world’s finite horizons. As Reformed theologian and pastor Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563) reflects on the text from John 6 about Christ sitting down with his disciples immediately before the feeding of the five thousand, he sees and image of the coming kingdom,…

During the Reformation, few doctrines were as controversial as those of the sacraments. While the Roman church taught seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, penance, the Mass, ordination vows, marriage, and the anointing of the sick), the reformers affirmed only two as having the scriptural mandate to be considered sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist. As Basel Reformer…

Within the ecclesiology of the medieval church, the duties of deacons were broad, and their work as assistants to the priests extended from the stewardship of church funds and the distribution of alms to the administration of the sacraments and other liturgical roles. For many of the reformers, this role narrowed. As seen in this…

Throughout the history of the church, the biblical idea of “elders” or “presbyters” has been understood in numerous ways, and it has been used to justify levels of oversight stretching from the communal rule of single congregations to the supervision of a single bishop or archbishop concerned for the spiritual wellbeing of large territories. As…

In comparison to many modern exegetes, the Reformers had a broader hermeneutical lens when reading the Old Testament, and were more open to finding types, figures, and applications for their particular contexts in the Old Testament. This can be seen in the interpretation of Ezekiel 34:1-31, where Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586), like many of…

For reformers such as Martin Bucer (1491-1551), a true response to the Word of God involved incorporation into the church, the body of Christ on earth. Soteriology and ecclesiology were inseparable, and the Christian life could not be undertaken without becoming part of into the community of believers. Integration in the body evidenced true faith,…

In every era of the church’s history, the question of spiritual gifts has caused significant discussion and debate. One aspect of this doctrine that found almost universal agreement during the sixteenth century, however, was that spiritual gifts existed for the edification of the whole church to the glory of God. This is understanding is exemplified…

Erasmus Sarcerius (1501-1559) was a Lutheran superintendent, educator, and pastor, known particularly for his role in the organization of numerous regional churches in Germany. As he considers the gifts of Christ discussed in Ephesians 4:7-16, Sarcerius argues that church offices and ministries must be matched with those who hold corresponding spiritual gifts in order for…

Through Christ, the gates to the dwelling place of the Lord have been opened, and it is the mission of his people, the church, to gather God’s people into his presence. As English poet and preacher John Donne (1572-1631) argues, preachers work in this economy as ambassadors of the Holy Spirit, sent to fulfill their…

The proper structure of the church was one of the most contested issues of the sixteenth century, and while Protestants agree on the errors of an episcopacy headed by a supreme pontiff, there is still little agreement among them about the right form of church polity. Many of these disagreements emerged early in the Reformation,…