THE REFORMATION (1517) AND ITS LEGACY

Transcription

1 THE REFORMATION (1517) AND ITS LEGACY THREE BRANCHES BACKSTORY Martin Luther Johannes Gutenberg Erasmus Pope Julius II Pope Leo X Felix Manz Ulrich Zwingli

2 THREE BRANCHES THE GERMAN REFORMATION GERMANY Wittenberg D. Erasmus The Praise of Folly SWITZERLAND Zurich 16 M. Luther Julius Excluded from Heaven NT - 1st H. Zwingli 2 War of NT - 2nd, 3rd C. Grebel F. Manz 3 G. Blaurock Balthasar Hubmaier the Peasants T. Münzer /Spiritualists N. Storch / Zwickau Prophets Zwingli Germany and Martin Luther Martin Luther Lightning Strike 1508 Arrives at Wittenberg 1510 Walks to Rome 1515 First Deep Study of Romans 1517 John Tetzel and Luther s 95 Theses 1518 Charged with heresy, flees 1519 Tower Experience 1521 Excommunicated, kidnapped by Frederick the Wise, translates Bible into German The Roman Church was on the defensive for forty years

3 Between , wracked by despair, Luther finally finds release in the Book of Romans and discovers that true faith secures his salvation: Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. Rom 3:28: We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Johann Tetzel "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

4 THE SWISS REFORMATIONS ERASMUS & BAPTISM Erasmus came across uncertain about the origins of infant baptism Infant baptism accomplished little without follow up teaching Used challenging language about infant baptism in each NT trans. preface ( ) ERASMUS & BAPTISM There are many fifty-year olds who have no idea what vow they undertook at their baptism ceremony, who never even dreamed of what the articles of faith demanded of them for many of us who are priests are also of this sort; we have never seriously considered what it is to be truly Christian. Conrad Grebel Felix Manz Hulrich Zwingli George Blaurock ZWINGLI & FRIENDS Zwingli was the teacher to Grebel, Manz and Blaurock, his students They all admired Erasmus, and were friends through 1522 They all began rejecting infant baptism Erasmus, 1522 Latin Edition of New Testament

5 EARLY ZWINGLI & BAPTISM If we were to baptize in accord with the command of Christ then we would not baptize anyone until he has reached the age of discretion But on account of the possibility of offense I omit preaching this; it is better not to preach it until the world is ready to take it. 1525: SUPPRESSION Zwingli became a betrayer, coining the term Anabaptists That term was subsequently tagged on radicals and heretics in other countries On Jan 17, 1525 he called for suppression of the Anabaptists They were to stop meeting and have children baptized or leave town 1523: A BREAKING POINT An October disputation (legal proceeding) Grebel opposed Zwingli s slowness in reform The three Brethren refused to accept magistrates State religious decisions Began a House Church Manz home 1524 was a bad year for both sides LATER ZWINGLI & BAPTISM Zwingli grew in prominence with the city s council and grew aloof from his students who began calling themselves The Brethren "Baptism in itself would not be important enough for us to arrest and execute people. But, we had to resist the Baptizers because we noticed that in baptism they had found the symbol that represented their dissenting attitude toward church and state.

6 ZWINGLI CONFRONTED You used to hold the same ideas, wrote and preached them from the pulpit openly; many hundreds of people have heard it from your mouth. But now all who say this of you are called liars. Yes, you say boldly that no such ideas have ever entered your mind Balthasar Hubmaier, : SUPPRESSION The Council Attempted Suppress the Dissent The Response: at his home Felix Manz baptized Conrad Grebel George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him, which he did Then Blaurock baptized others The movement began with the focus on Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount and the Great Commission ZWINGLI: MAN ON FIRE TIPPING POINT The radicals were subsequently ejected from Zurich by the Council Zwingli accused his former students and friends of sedition Grebel, Blaurock & Manz were imprisoned numerous times On March 7, 1526, the day Grebel was given a life sentence, a new law was enacted making Anabaptism punishable by death It is therefore the earnest commandment, order and warning of these our Lords that no one in town, country or domain, whether man, woman or girl, shall henceforth baptize another. Whoever hereafter baptizes someone will be apprehended by our Lords and, according to this present decree, be drowned without mercy. Zurich City Council, March 7, 1526

7 MARTYRDOM OF FELIX MANZ Felix Manz sentenced to die on January 5, 1527 Zurich prosecutors decided punishment for 2nd baptism was 3rd baptism (drowning) Hands bound to his knees, he was thrown into Limmat River Last words: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit GEORGE BLAUROCK The same day of Manz martyrdom, George Blaurock was beaten and banished from Zurich Preached throughout Switzerland Went to the Austrian Alps where many believers were baptized On September 6, 1529 he was burned at stake BALTHASAR HUBMAIER Baptized in 1525 Grebel/Manz Home The next day he baptized 300 In 1526 he planted church in Augsburg In 1527 he took movement to Moravia Martyred at Vienna in March 1528 burned at stake with sulphur and gunpowder rubbed into his beard. Prayed, O dear brothers, pray God that he will give me patience in this my suffering. I will die in the Christian faith Wife Elizabeth drowned three days later

8 CONRAD GREBEL Sentence to Life in Prison in 1525 Escaped, but ill. Continued preaching as a fugitive Conrad Grebel Felix Manz In and out of prison. Amicicide the act of killing a friend. ("Amicus" being Latin for friend) Weary from his imprisonments and the hardships, he succumbed to the plague in 1527 Called the ringleader by Zwingli George Blaurock Balthaser Hubmaier SOMETHING HAPPENED IN 2004 The Reformation and the Anabaptists Steps To Reconciliation ""Here in the middle of the River Limmat from a fishing platform were drowned Felix Manz and five other Anabaptists during the Reformation of 1527 to Hans Landis, the last Anabaptist, was executed in Zurich during 1614." (477 years later) 26 June 2004, Zurich, Switzerland

9 REFORMED APOLOGIES "The Reformed Churches and the Anabaptist movement are all essentially branches on one and the same bough of the great Christian tree Right from the start however they went their separate ways, so that a tragic rift ran through the Zurich Reformation, painful traces of which are discernable to this day. Executions, persecution and expulsions were carried out to eliminate the Anabaptist movement. Yet it has survived and is still flourishing today. The descendants of those early Anabaptists are a living testimony to this. REFORMED APOLOGIES "The persecuted do not forget their history; the persecutors by contrast would prefer to do so. We representatives of the Reformed State Church of the Canton of Zurich acknowledge that our church has largely suppressed the story of the persecution of the Anabaptists. AMISH RESPONSE "We confess that that persecution was, according to our present conviction, a betrayal of the Gospel and that our Reformed forefathers were in error on this issue. REFORMED APOLOGIES "We affirm that the judgment against the Anabaptists in the second Helvetian Confession, which discards the teaching of the Anabaptists as unbiblical and refuses any communion with them, is no longer valid for us and that it is now our earnest desire to discover and strengthen our common ties.

10 REFORMED APOLOGIES REFORMED APOLOGIES " We acknowledge the faithful of the Anabaptist tradition as our sisters and brothers and their churches as part of the body of Christ, whose diverse members are united through the Spirit of God. "We honor the radical approach of the Anabaptist movement to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as a free community of committed believers putting into practice the message of the Sermon on the Mount. REFORMED APOLOGIES "It is time to accept the history of the Anabaptist movement as part of our own, to learn from the Anabaptist tradition and to strengthen our mutual testimony through dialogue. AMISH RESPONSE "We believe the descendants of the Reformed Church are not accountable for any actions their forefathers took against the Anabaptists. Far be it from us to request reconciliation. History teaches us that a church is made stronger by persecution. The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church. We wonder if there would be any Amish, Mennonite, or Hutterite churches today if there had not been any persecution.

11 AMISH RESPONSE Christ forbids us to hold ill feelings toward the descendants of any oppressors, whether they are Reformed, Catholic, Jew or heathen. We hold this to be the general feeling of the Amish in the USA. MENNONITE RESPONSE Several of the earliest radical reformers, including Felix Manz, no doubt envisioned large-scale transformation of society or at least vigorous witness to it through communities of believers living in its midst. But after persistent persecution, many found themselves sooner or later in tightly knit, separatist communities, without significant prophetic or evangelizing fervor. Larry Miller, Executive Secretary of Mennonite World Conference MENNONITE RESPONSE Many of us have voluntarily stayed there, marginalized, little more than a footnote in church history or, more recently, found relief in some form of accommodation to host societies. After lighting the lamp, we hid it under the bushel where it neither illuminates good works nor provokes offerings of glory to God. CORE VALUES THE LAMP OF THE RADICAL REFORMATION The Bible is the Word of God Emphasized the The Sermon on the Mount Peacemaking Great Commission Adult Baptism Obey Civic Authorities

12 CORE VALUES MAINLINE DENOMINATIONS Augustinian Subtext The 66 books of the Scriptures are the Word of God* Justification on the basis of Faith Alone Sacraments of (Infant) Baptism and Eucharist Interlocked Church and State structures + Rediscovery of Scripture Lowered Illiteracy Opened Doors to Think Differently Did not Change Spirituality Few Organizing Principles Led to Division Upon Division THE LEGACY OF THE REFORMATION Let s Talk!