Reformation: 1517-2017, RIP?

Five hundred years is a long time for anything to live. Sure, if you’re a bristle-cone pine that lives 5,000 years, you can look down on a mere 500 year-old and sneer, but for the rest of us, enduring 500 years is quite an accomplishment. Until the Resurrection, none of us can hope to (or want to) live that long. Then, according to the words of Amazing Grace, “when we’ve been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.”

Eternity is one thing, but here on earth during this age, we can marvel at something lasting 500 years. We can celebrate it, as we are doing this year during the 500th Anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation, recognizing the great movement put in motion by a certain German monk named Martin Luther. For it was on October 31st, 1517 that Luther nailed a document with 95 Theses to a door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The firestorm set off by his questions about the Roman Church’s practices ignited the vast religious and social revolution we know as the Reformation. From that humble beginning developed the huge portion of Christianity known as Protestantism, which now numbers around 500 million.

As Protestants, we have taken the Reformation for granted, seeing in the accomplishment of Luther and his contemporary reformers a permanent change in the Christian Church. More precisely, we see in the Reformation a returning of the Church to its historical and biblical foundations. We see a stripping away of non-scriptural accretions to the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), and a re-emphasis on the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. To us, the Protestant Church is the true Church and we are grateful to be a part of it.

But now, it seems, the Reformation is in danger. The truths for which Luther and the reformers contended are losing ground among the very believers who are part of the great tradition they began. Looking at  what is happening, we may very well ask, “Is the Reformation coming to an end?”, “Will our celebration of the Reformation’s 500th Anniversary actually be its wake?” and, “Will it be: Reformation – born 1517, died 2017, Rest In Peace?”

Why would I ask these questions? A friend and alert blog reader, Dave K., sent me an article by the Pew Research Center, an organization known for its surveys of religion in America. According to their recent survey, US Protestants are no longer defined by the “controversies” which separated them from the Roman Catholics 500 years ago. The key questions asked by the survey were about justification (how are we saved – by faith alone or by faith plus works), authority (Scripture alone or Scripture plus something), and purgatory (after death, do we face temporary punishment for our sins before going to heaven?). While the differences between the reformers and the Catholic Church were once clearly defined and affirmed in documents such as the Lutheran Augsburg Confession, the survey found that many of today’s American Protestants are abandoning their distinctive doctrinal heritage.

Among the survey findings: 1. Only 46% of Protestants hold to the belief we are saved by faith alone (sola fide), while a majority of 52% agree with Catholics that we are saved by a combination of faith and works. 2. Likewise, 46% of Protestants believe that Scripture is the only source of religious authority (sola scriptura), but 52% believe in scripture plus the Church’s traditions and official teachings, again siding with the Catholics. 3. When combined, only 33% of Protestants believe in both Reformation principles of sola fide and sola scriptura. There are differences between liberal mainline denominations and evangelical churches, but even then only 44% of evangelicals hold to both fundamental beliefs. 4. Concerning belief in purgatory, almost one-third (30%) of Protestants say they believe in it (though as far as I know, no Protestant church has ever taught purgatory to be true).

I was dumbfounded, and worried, to read these statistics. Though I don’t use surveys to determine what is true (“Let God be true and all men be liars” – Romans 3:4), I was disheartened to learn that so many Protestants would give up the basic, defining tenets of the faith. But, Protestant churches have held to the principles of sola fide and sola scriptura (and denial of Purgatory) for hundreds of years, so why would so many people raised in that Protestant faith now reject it, yet still consider themselves to be Protestant? Worse, why would so many Christians reject that which is essential to the Christian faith, and still call themselves Christians?

I think there are several reasons for this defection from the faith, and believe these reasons are traps we also must beware of ourselves.

1. The weakness of preaching and teaching. Whether it’s been laziness on the part of preachers and teachers, or the desire of some preachers to be popular by scratching the itchy ears of their congregations (2 Timothy 4:3), the teaching of doctrine and the basis of the Christian faith has suffered for a century at least. People have not heard or been taught about the importance of the Protestant distinctives. This has led to . . .
2. Ignorance of history and of essential doctrines. Most people have heard of Martin Luther (though some confuse him with a certain Dr. King), but I doubt that most could tell you who he was or what he did that has impacted the Church so greatly. They don’t know the doctrines that Protestantism restored to the Church, or the importance of them. Their attitude is sometimes summed up in the phrase, “My karma ran over your dogma,” meaning that how I feel about God and faith is more important than stated doctrines or dogmas. They would agree with Britain’s Prince Charles, who said he would change the royal title of “Defender of the Faith” to the less specific, “Defender of Faith,” since what people believe is not important – just so they believe something.
3. The desire to avoid controversy and division.  “Can’t we all just get along?” applies to matters of religion as well as to society in general. Sometimes, people just want to avoid conflict. They feel uncomfortable arguing for points of the faith with people who seem to be good Christians but believe differently. Others earnestly desire that we all be one, even as Christ is one with God (John 17:21). They seek the lowest common denominator (lowest common denomination?) to find common ground with just about anyone – sometimes, even with those who deny Christ! So when someone says something that sounds reasonable and plausible, why argue with them?
4. The denial of objective truth. One of the prevalent philosophies of our age is the denial of objective truth. Instead, truth is said to be subjective, that is, open to each person’s own opinion. “What’s true for you may not be true for me, so let’s just agree to disagree.” According to this view, not only are different doctrines equally valid, there is no one doctrine that is actually true for all times for all people. So those Reformation guys? They were just dealing with issues of their own day which don’t apply to me.
5. The emphasis of the so-called “social gospel.” Seeing all the suffering and injustice in the world around them, many sincere and compassionate Christians have set aside the teaching of eternal salvation for the improvement of people’s lives here and now. Some feel they are teaching Christ through their good works, and that what you believe doesn’t matter compared with what you do. They would emphasize James 2:26, which says, “Faith without works is dead.”
   
6. The cult of celebrity. Of course, Protestants don’t have one central authority figure, like the Roman Catholic Pope, to whom they look for definitive answers about God and salvation. Instead, there are many “little popes” around whom many Protestants gather and to whom they look for authoritative answers. Television has multiplied and empowered these religious celebrities to exert their influence over vast numbers of people. They speak all kinds of theological trash ex cathedra but are revered as so nice and caring and knowledgeable. “Certainly, what they say must be true because of the size of their churches and the number of books they’ve sold! When it comes to matters of faith, I have my Bible, but how can my ideas stack up to theirs? Bible study is hard; I’m glad I have someone to teach me what’s right!”
7. The desire to participate in our own salvation. One of the major obstacles to believing the true Gospel of Jesus Christ applies not only to Protestants, but also to Catholics, Orthodox, and even non-Christian religions and cults. That obstacle is our prideful desire to save ourselves, or at least to participate with God in our salvation. Faith alone seems too easy; surely there is something I have to do to be judged worthy of being saved, right? Since God will save only the righteous, then I must be good if I want to be saved. How good? I don’t know, but surely if I try, that’s all that matters – God will see my effort and reward me. After all, doesn’t God help those who help themselves? (Actually, no . . . that statement is not in the Bible!). By accepting this idea of cooperation in salvation, Protestants have become in essence Roman Catholics, because Catholics believe that God’s grace empowers us to do the good works (of love) that produce merit and save us. This idea is contrary to Scripture and the Reformation, which teach that we are justified by faith alone apart from works (Romans 3:28).

So, what are the results of giving in to these forces and influences? There are indeed unhappy consequences for the individual and for the Church. I’ll address these consequences next time, along with comments about Purgatory, and offer some suggestions about how we can contend for the Reformation truths won for us 500 years ago. Reformation: RIP? I pray not!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Romans 3:21-31, 4:1-25

P.S. Please join us in praying for the safety of all who are in the path of Hurricane Irma, including our family members who live in Florida: Karen’s brother Jeff and his wife, Terri (in Jacksonville); and my cousin Larry and his wife Elke (Orlando). Both couples have other family members living in Florida as well.