List of the reformers
The eight men are known as reformers, who worked hard on trying to reform the Catholic Church.
- John Wickliff, (1328 to 1384)
- John Hus, (1373 to 1415)
- Jerome Savonarola, (1452 to 1498)
- Philip Melanchthon, (1479 to 1560)
- Martin Luther
- John Calvin
- Henry VIII
- John Knox
John Wickliff
John Wickliff was born in Yorkshire, England in 1328.
Because of his contributions toward reforming the church he has been called the “Morning Star of the Reformation”.
His greatest contribution was seen in his appreciation for the Scriptures and his desire that they are known by “every plow-boy in England.”
The Scriptures, he taught, are the only law of the Church.
He was convinced that the Bible is the law of God, and was determined to give it to the people in the English language.
Between 1382 to 1384, the Scriptures were translated from the Vulgate. It has been usually thought that the New Testament was from his pen, and the Old from that of Nicholas of Hereford.”
He held further that preaching was to be exalted; the papacy was not essential to the being of the Church, that the church is the congregation of the elect, that a priest cannot give remission of sin or of the punishment for sin, transubstantiation is not Biblical, and that marriage is honorable for all men.
The beliefs of Wickliff caused the Pope to heap abuse and a curse of ex-communication upon him. Because of the esteem which he enjoyed in the court of England the pope couldn’t inflict bodily injury upon him, but when circumstances were more favorable in England for the papal forces, upon his death his mortal remains were exhumed, placed on a chair, tried, sentenced to burn at the stake, then the ashes thrown into the River Swift.
At this same time (1414 AD, the Roman Catholic Church condemned the reading of the bible translated by him.
John Hus
Hus was born of a poor peasant family in Husinecz, (Chechoslovakia) in 1373. A Bohemian living during the same period of time in the latter portion of Wickliff’s life.
Wickliff found his most ardent disciple in Hus. Wickliff’s greatest influence was at Prague among the “Bohemian Brethren and not exercised in his native England.
Hus was educated at the University of Prague, receiving his Master of Arts degree from that institution in 1396. He became rector of the University after he was ordained to the priesthood In 1401.
Hus, following the lead of Wickliff, insisted upon preaching as the indefeasible right of the priest. He urged moral reform among the citizens of Prague.
Pope John XXIII in 1411 pushed the sale of indulgences of which Hus Has\an open rebellion against.
The Pope called Europe to a crusade against Ladislaus of Naples, the defender of Gregory XII, and promised indulgences to all participating in it, whether by personal enlistment or by gifts. Tiem, dean of Passau, appointed preacher of the Holy war, made his way to Prague and opened the sale of indulgences.
Chests were placed in the great churches, and the traffic was soon in full sway. Holding that the Pope had no right to use physical force, “Hus opposed, that money payments for indulgences could not give forgiveness of sin by punishment. and unless of the predestinate, the indulgence could be of no value to a man.”
Because of this opposition, Hus was excommunicated by the Pope and ordered to appear before the Council of Constance.
The Roman Emperor urged Hus to go to Constance, promising him a “safe-conduct.” However, upon his arrival there, he was unceremoniously cast into prison where he languished for seven months.
On July 6, 1415, Hus was conducted to the cathedral of Constance. Hus) was kept waiting outside the doors until the celebration of mass was completed. He was then admitted to the sacred edifice, but not to make a defense, as he had come to Constance hoping to do. He was to listen to a sentence pronounced upon him as an ecclesiastical outcast and criminal.
He was placed in the middle of the church on a high stool, set there specially for him. The bishop of Lodi preached from Romans 6:6, That the body of sin may be destroyed. He was then taken out of the cathedral and burned at a stake set up in the space before the church.
Jerome Savonarola
(1452 to 1498)
Savonarola was born at Ferrara, Italy.
He is described by Philip Schaff as the “most imposing preacher of the Middle Ages and one of the most noteworthy preachers of righteousness since Saint Paul.”.
His father being a physician hoped that his son would follow him in the practice of medicine. But at the age of 23, he entered the Dominican monastery as a monk.
He wrote a letter to his father explaining the reason of his decision. “I could not endure any longer the wickedness of the blinded peoples of Italy, virtue I saw was despised. everywhere the vices were exalted and held in honor.”
In 1491 in Florence he became famous as rejecting the moral degeneration of his day. He was looked on in high respect in the city and within five years his popularity was demonstrated by the vast numbers that flocked to hear him preach.
He considered himself a messenger appointed by God to announce judgment upon the iniquities of the people and pursued that tast with great vigor.
Papal opposition to Savonarola came about more for political than religious reasons.
In denouncing the misrule of the Pope the Pope excommunicated him and demanded that he be punished. He was arrested and tortured in april 1498 and a month later he was hanged and his body burned and the ashes were thrown into the Arno River in Florence.
Philip Melanchthon
(1479 to 1560)
He was born at Bretten, Germany to a noble family of that city. His mother was the niece of the famous Hebrew scholar Reuchlin. Reuchlin presented Melanchthon with a Bible at an early age and directed his studies.
Melanchthon Early became famous for literary brilliance. At the age of 17 in 1514 He received his master of Arts degree.
Reuchlin, recommended Melanchthon to the University of Wittenburg. He began teaching there in August 1518, only ten months after Luther had nailed his Theses to the door of All-Saints church in Wittenberg his famous ninety-five theses.
In the same year, Melanchthon published a Greek grammar that enjoyed wide success. Students came from all over Europe to attend his lectures.
His knowledge of the Bible and academic training naturally inclined him to the evangelical movement of Luther.
He and Luther became fast friends. He said of Luther: “I would rather die than be separated from him.” The feeling was mutual, for Luther.
Melanchthon wrote: “I am rough, boisterous, stormy, and altogether warlike. I am born to fight against innumerable monsters and devils. I must remove stumps and stones, cut away thistles and thorns, and clear the wild forests.
THE REFORMATION No doubt, Luther and Melanchthon complimented and completed the work, each of the other.
Melanchthon has been acclaimed the “teacher of Germany.” He was the author of a famous document: “The Augsburg Confession,” the doctrinal basis of the Lutheran Church in Germany to this day.
The historian Schaff comments: “Without Luther the Reformation would never have taken hold of the common people; without Melanchthon it would never have succeeded among the scholars of Germany.
Martin Luther
(1483 to 1546)
The son of a poor peasant miner he was born in Eisleben, Germany in 1483.
He was reared in an atmosphere of simple strict reverence for God. His parents were Catholics, he received instruction in that religion, but had no Biblical instruction in accord with the Bible.
His father moved to Mansfield shortly after Luther’s birth so that his son could have a more adequate education. He wanted his son to study law.
Luther entered the University of Erfurt in 1501. His companions knew him as “an earnest, companionable, and music-loving student. The sudden death of a close friend caused him to break off the study of law and enter a monastery of Augustinian hermits in Erfurt in 1505.
In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church.
The next year he was sent by his superiors to Wittenburg to study in preparation for a future professorship in the University which had been established there by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, who was to become a staunch friend and protector of Luther.
Luther was awarded the doctor of theology degree in 1512 and began at once to lecture on the Bible, treating: Psalms, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus.
Luther had a deep sense of his own sinfulness and his first diversion from the Catholic system was in believing that salvation is a new relation to God, based not on any work of merit on man’s part, but on absolute trust or faith in God.
Luther made a trip to Rome shortly after beginning this professorship and returned greatly disenchanted by what he had witnessed in the holy city of Rome.
In 1517, Luther spoke out against one of the greatest of abuses, the sale of indulgences. Pope Leo X, sold the diocese, of Mainz, Germany to Albrecht upon the condition of payment of a large sum of money. To pay this, Albrecht secured as his share, half the proceeds in his district of the indulgences that the papacy had been issuing since 1506, for the building of the new basilica of Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
Johan Tetzel was commissioned to sell these indulgences. Tetzel has been described as an unscrupulous, supersalesman of indulgences. Luther influenced Frederick III to not allow Tetzel to enter Saxony. He further preached on the abuse of indulgences and on October 31, 1517, nailed to the door of All-Saints church in Wittenberg his famous ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences.
Tetzel replied at once to Luther and stirred up others to his defense.
One of the most formidable opponents of Luther was Johann Maier of Eck, professor of theology in the University of Ingolstadt, who branded Luther as a heretic.
By the beginning of 1518, complaints against Luther had been issued at Rome, and the Augustinian Vicar-General was ordered to end the dispute. Luther, however, argued with such skill that he won new friends to his cause.
He was ordered to appear in Rome in 1518, but wisely refused.
Johann influenced the pope to issue a bull (a formal papal document) of condemnation, which was published on June 15, 1520. Luther’s reply was to publicly burn the papal bull in the presence of the students and townspeople of Wittenberg.
Luther was requested to the city of Worms and would be protected under the protection of a safe guide. he was well received in every city as as he journeyed from Wittenberg to Worms, and he was a hero of those opposing the paying for of indulgences.
He appeared before the Emperor on April 17, 1521, and was asked to recant. He replied with his famous statement “that unless shown the unscripturalness of his arguments he could not recant. Here I stand, God help me, Amen.”
Elector Frederick had him seized as he was leaving Worms to return to Wittenberg, by friends and spirited away to Wartburg Castle, near Eisenach. The conspirators were seeking to silence Luther and Fredrick is credited with saving the life of him, and for months Luther remained in hiding there.
His translation of the New Testament into the language of the people in September of 1522. was one of his most lasting accomplishments.
Luther is credited with starting the Lutheran church although he did not want to be known for that.
John Calvin
(1509 to 1564)
John Calvin was born in Noyon, France in 1509 in future years attended the University of Paris and later studied law at the University of Orleans with the aid of his father who held a government job.
Being a devout student of the Bible he was somewhat influenced by the reform writings of Luther and Melanchthon.
He became a leader of Paris Protestants, but because of opposition from the King, he was forced to flee to Switzerland, in 1536 settling in Geneva where he became a powerful reformer.
Under the threat of death the citizens were forced to accept his theology.
At the age of 27, he published his famous “Institutes” on the Christian NOTES religion.
Michael Servetus, a Spaniard, was Calvin’s longtime friend, in their earlier resistance, against the Roman Catholic Church.
Servetus, while living in Vienne (historic city in southeastern France), angered Calvin by returning a copy of Calvin’s writings, Institutes, with critical comments in the margins.
The Roman Catholic authorities arrested Servetus on April 4 but he escaped on April 7, 1553.
He attended Calvin’s Sunday preaching service on August 13 after traveling to Geneva but Calvin promptly had Servetus arrested and charged with heresy for his disagreement with Calvin’s theology.
Servetus was burned at the stake on October 27, 1553.
Calvin wrote much in following years in an attempt to justify his burning of Servetus.
Jacques Gruet, a known opponent of Calvin, placed a letter calling him a hypocrite in Calvin’s pulpit in 1547, and was arrested, tortured for a month and beheaded on July 26, Gruet had wrote a book and it was later found and burned along with his house.
Robert Stephanus In 1550 produced the next great edition of the Textus Receptus and In his fourth edition of 1551, he added the verse numbers which are still used in all modern editions today. But the Geneva Bible, first published in 1560, by John Calvin, ( claimed it was the first with verse numbers.
Verse numbers. though were already added by Stephanus In his fourth edition of 1551, refuting the Calvinists claim that their Geneva Bible, was the first with verse numbers.
Calvin was convinced of the absolute authority of the Scriptures; the doctrine of unconditional predestination and hereditary depravity and he is credited with introducing congregational singing into the Reform Church of Genevas worship.
John Calvin had decidedly influenced Geneva and other cities of Switzerland and France by his preaching and writings. He died on May 26, 1564.
Henry VIII
(1491 to 1544)
Henry VIII, King of England, could not be thought of as a religious reformer nor, as a religious man.
However, his desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn caused an open rupture with Rome in 1533. Although Pope Leo X, in 1521, had given Henry VIII the title “Defender of the Faith” for his defense of the sacraments against Luther’s writings, it could not go along with his divorce desire.
Being described by historians as “a tyrant who was skilled in the administration of the affairs of the kingdom, but firmly stubbornly egotistic and self-seeking in the furtherance of his own personal ends.
The church of England formed after the separation from Rome. the Church of England (is the Episcopal Church in America). andhe the head of the church of England is the king (or queen) who is currently reigning. Its doctrine and worship differ little from the Roman Catholic Church.
John Knox
(1505 to 1572)
John Knox was born in Haddington, Scotland in 1505 and his early career is obscure, but undoubtedly he was ordained into the priesthood of the Catholic Church.
He first is mention as being a friend of a protestant named Wishart, who led in a revolt against the papal forces of Scotland.
Wishart, was taken prisoner and burned at the stake by Cardinal Beaton on March 2, 1546.
Knox was also taken prisoner, and for the next nineteen months suffered like a labourer doing menial work.
Knox was appointed as one of the royal chaplains of Edward Zupon;VI of England upon his release. Then he fled to Germany when Queen Mary came to the throne. Later he went to Geneva, where he became an ardent disciple and friend of John Calvin.
In Geneva, Knox worked on the Genevan version of the English Bible, later valued highly by English Puritans.
In 1559, Knox returned to Scotland to become the great reformer of Scotland, and the founder of the Presbyterian church.
Its doctrines were greatly influenced by John Calvin.
It became the state religion in 1560.
The death of Knox, on November 24, 1572, marked the end of a fiery career which “influenced not merely the religion but the character of the nation more than any other man in Scottish history.”
Note how the Catholic Church dealt with these eight men
John Wickliff
The beliefs of Wickliff caused the Pope to heap abuse and a curse of excommunication upon him. upon his death his mortal remains were exhumed, placed on a chair, tried, sentenced to burn at the stake, then the ashes thrown into the River Swift. At this same time (1414 AD, the Roman Catholic Church condemned the reading of the bible translated by him.
John Hus
He was to listen to a sentence pronounced upon him by the Catholic Church as an ecclesiastical outcast and criminal.
He was placed in the middle of the church on a high stool, set there specially for him.
The bishop of Lodi preached from Romans 6:6, That the body of sin may be destroyed.
He was then taken out of the cathedral and burned at a stake set up in the space before the church.
Jerome Savonarola
No mention of being executed.
Philip Melanchthon
No mention of being executed.
Martin Luther
No mention of being executed.
John Calvin
Michael Servetus, a Spaniard, was Calvin’s longtime friend, in their earlier resistance, against the Roman Catholic Church.
Michael Servetus attended Calvin’s Sunday preaching service on August 13 after traveling to Geneva but Calvin promptly had Servetus arrested and charged with heresy for his disagreement with Calvin’s theology. Servetus was burned at the stake on October 27, 1553.
Jacques Gruet, a known opponent of Calvin, placed a letter calling him a hypocrite in Calvin’s pulpit in 1547, and was arrested, tortured for a month and beheaded on July 26, Gruet had wrote a book and it was later found and burned along with his house.
Henry VIII
No mention of being executed.
John Knox
No mention of being executed.