This is a word that came into great prominence in 16th century Germany. The man Martin Luther, nailed 95 statements on a church door in Wittenburg, Germany calling for changes in the church’s stance on Indulgences. An Indulgence was money paid to the church to help any member of your family get out of purgatory faster.
This Reformation went farther than Luther ever expected and continues to the present day. We could cover the history of the reformation but there are already countless articles and books on this subject. Our particular interest in this article, is what does reformation mean and do for a subject or institution.
According to the American College Dictionary of 1968 through Random House Publishers “Reformation” in the third definition: “the great religious movement in the 16th century which had for its object the reform of the Western Catholic Church, and which led to the establishment of the Protestant churches” (p. 1018).
The root word “reform” has multiple definitions, but the two that seem to suit our topic are the following: “to restore to a former and better state; improve by alteration, substitution, abolition, etc…to put an end to (abuses, disorders, etc.)” (p. 1018). There is a second definition of “reform” that applies here as well, “to form again” (p. 1019).
What Luther and the reformers that followed him was to return to the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments as the final rule for faith and practice. The church of the 16th century had fallen into fear mongering, frightening the people into subservience to the church and, by extension, the head of the church.
Luther argued with great vigor (and knowledge of the Bible) that the Pope and the church are to subject themselves to that which had been written and approved in the Holy Writ. Sola Scriptura was the cry of his day or Scripture alone is the final rule of faith and practice. The Bible is not subject to us but we are subject to the Bible.
The five pillars of the Reformation, if you will, are sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, sola Scriptura, soli Deo Gloria. The translation is the following: People are saved through “grace alone” by “faith alone” in “Christ alone” according to “Scripture alone” for “God’s glory alone.”
The five “solas” brought many back to what the Bible originally taught. They did not add anything to or take anything away from the Bible teachings. To “reform” something, you do not completely change it but you bring it back to its original intention. For Christians this means that Jesus is put in first place and we recognize that to follow the Bible we become like Jesus, the perfect man.
There is a contemporary movement to reform another religion, and that is Islam. This is predominantly a western movement, far away from the seed bed of Islam, the Middle East.
One of the leading proponents of this honorable, yet short-sighted movement is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a brilliant man. He is a former Naval Officer in the U. S. Navy and is currently an American medical doctor here in the U. S.
Please understand dear reader that he deserves the greatest respect in desiring the best for his religion. However, if his reforms were to9 come to pass, then Islam becomes something totally different than it was, and is.
What he describes as a vision for Islam, cannot in any way, shape or form resemble the original Islam and the founder Muhammad. His heart’s desire seems to be peace with God; which we know can only come by receiving Christ as his Savior.
To reform something you bring it back to its original state; you do not and cannot entirely change it because then you have something new, not reformed. Luther brought the church back to its Biblical roots and foundation.
We love Muslims here at GFI and our hearts cry out to them and our passion is that they would see the Christ of the Bible, not the Jesus of the Koran. Jesus is the perfect man and He did what the Scripture records of Him and more. History also provides what is needed to show forth proof that Jesus was a real, historical figure and He did die in our place so that we might experience salvation from the wrath of God and salvation from death and hell.
Christian come back to the Bible for all your instructions on how to live in the here and now in the power of God. When we do this we reflect the perfect man to an imperfect world and then and only then do people have an opportunity to hear the gospel and be saved.
Sola Scriptura!
Thank you for sharing in this article and I completely agree. As I recall Martin Luther was persecuted by the church. He and his family suffered greatly for his stance. .Is Dr. Jasser now suffering from persecution by the Islamic leaders. I hope not here in the United States of America.