In this video, Dr. Stephen Nichols points to some misconceptions and unifying principles about the Reformation.
The Reformation was not only one of the most significant moments in church history, it really is one of the most significant moments in history. And so, there are proper understandings of what happened at the Reformation. There’s also a lot of misconceptions about the Reformers and the Reformation. I think one of them is that they all believed the same thing.
Now, that’s partially true, but not fully true. They all agreed, first of all, that they were against the Roman Catholic Church. They knew that the Roman Catholic Church had drifted far from the text of Scripture, far from what the church should be, and they were united in being opposed to it. They rallied around the five Solas. That’s more of our construct than their construct. But we clearly see those doctrines in the Reformers. They believed that Scripture alone is our authority. They believed that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It’s not about works. Our merits cannot accomplish anything, and it is exclusively and entirely the work of Christ that saves us. And also, soli Deo gloria—that this is all to the glory of God. So the Reformers were united around those theological commitments, and those are significant. They run pretty deep, and that’s a bond that can unite.
But they disagreed over church and state. They disagreed over how the sacraments should be performed. They disagreed over church government. So those are some significant developments. And so as we see the Reformation unfold, we see the Lutherans, we see the Reformed church, specifically there in the Netherlands and in areas in Switzerland. In England, we see the Puritans. And coming from that, we see the Presbyterians and the Anglicans and our Baptist friends. So, they all disagree over church government, over the sacraments, yet they were united on the doctrines. So that’s one, I think, major misconception of the Reformers, and we need to see the nuances there. In fact, it might be more accurate to speak of Protestant Reformations than the Protestant Reformation.
I think the other misconception is that the Reformers are always right. And they may not always get it right. So just as the Bereans would hear a preacher and hear teaching, they went back to the Scriptures to test it. And so we have to remember—and the Reformers themselves would want us to remember—that it’s not the Reformers’ authority that we stand upon, but again, it’s sola Scriptura. It’s the authority of God’s Word. Again, this was a monumental moment in, not only the history of the church, but in history—the Reformation. We’re so grateful for it and so grateful for its legacy in our own day.