The Bible emphasizes doing tasks completely, heartily, and with all one’s might. John Owen, the great theologian of the Puritan movement, never did his work by halves but embraced the kind of thoroughness Colossians 3:23 promotes: “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
Whether it was writing catechisms for children, penning theological treatises, or preaching before Parliament, Owen worked with all his might.
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Visit the market town of Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England today and you’ll notice a statue of a man preaching, his right hand pointing upward and his left hand holding a book. This monument of Richard Baxter, the 17th century nonconformist minister, captures the three items he loved most: Heaven, preaching, and books—ultimately the greatest book of Scripture.
Gifted with a tenacious memory and an incomparable work ethic, Richard Baxter stands as the most prolific English theological writer of all time. A study of his life will illustrate an excellent model of Christians studiousness to the glory of God.
John Milton is remembered today as one of England’s greatest poets, second only to William Shakespeare. But unlike the Bard of Avon, Milton was a committed Protestant that wrote with poetic genius, grandeur, and complexity.
Most have heard of Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost,his masterpiece and most famous work. But few know people that he wrote this work while enduring the most difficult trial of his life: blindness. Not one to sulk, Milton altered his course, and devoted himself to the work of his life. In doing so, he leaves the church an example of Spirit-filled adaptability.
John Elliot was born 188 years before William Carey sailed for India as the Father of Modern Missions. Though many consider Carey’s voyage as the beginning of the modern missionary movement, Eliot had already crossed the Atlantic nearly two centuries earlier for Great Commission work.
Prior to Eliot’s labors, the church had given little effort toward gospel preaching around the world. One exception was Leif Ericson of Norway, who took the good news to the people of Greenland. John Eliot, indeed, was a pioneer missionary. And he was so successful in his gospel work among the Native Americans that he became known as “The Apostle to the Indians.”
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Many today remember Samuel Rutherford as the great 17th-century theologian and member of the Westminster Assembly. But it was his work while out of the limelight and laboring in prison that most impacts the church today.
Rutherford developed a knack for finding a wounded soul, applying the balm of Scripture to fix it, and then expressing this Christ-centered medicine through pen and ink. This resulted in The Letters of Samuel Rutherford, widely considered a classic of Protestant piety. These letters of encouragement to fellow Christians stand today as a citadel of edification for the down and hurting.
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Sixteenth-century Puritan Richard Sibbes excelled as a friend, pastor, and preacher, but it was his book The Bruised Reed that remains his greatest legacy to the church. Just as a good father does not focus on the blemishes of his child, so a sympathetic man will give grace toward the weaknesses of his friend.
Sibbes said: “A mother who has a sick and self-willed child will not therefore cast it away. And shall there be more mercy in the stream than in the spring?” Yes, and the spring is Christ, as we shall now see.
As pastor, preacher, theologian, and author, William Perkins became one of the most influential Puritans, that spiritual fraternity of gifted preachers that first appeared at the end of the 16th century. Perkins lived for less than two decades after his conversion but used his remaining years in devotion to Christ.
His books on prayer, assurance of salvation, holy living, and the gospel outsold the most popular preachers of his day. His preaching and writing ministry shaped his society such that he is widely considered the father of Puritanism.
Watch Theodore Beza video here
The “Reformation Wall” is a monument in Switzerland that honors four great men of the Protestant Reformation. These theological giants were called “reformers” because they worked diligently to change and improve the corrupt church of their day.
The four men standing upright upon the wall—from left to right—are William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza and John Knox. With the exception of Calvin, Beza was considered the most celebrated theologian among the French Reformed, using the brilliant mind God had given him to spread the gospel throughout Europe.
The term “rigor” comes from a Latin word meaning “stiffness”. Rigor mortis is the stiffening of a body’s muscles and joints a few hours after death. A man who shows rigor is thorough, exhaustive, and accurate. He is not flexible with the facts, soft with the truth, or fast and free with the details.
This trait serves historians well, who mustn’t be careless with the truth but diligent, not easily bent to another’s opinions. John Foxe stands as church history’s greatest martyrologist, the name for a historian who studies the lives of those who were killed for their faith. Some Christians value Foxe’s Book of Martyrs above all other human books because it details so carefully the lives and deaths of some of Church history’s greatest Christians.
Foxe was a man of courage and godliness, who showed meticulous attention to detail and, in doing so, provided the greatest record of Christian martyrs ever written.
On the Reformation Wall in Switzerland stands the Scottish Reformer John Knox, with the Genevan trio of William Farel, John Calvin, and Theodore Beza to his right.
Though little is known of his early days, Knox became Scotland’s greatest reformer—known for his bravery and fearlessness. As a fiery prophet of Calvinistic doctrine, the implacable Knox fought hard against the errors of his day and was unafraid to stand alone. He once said: “One man with God is always the majority.”
Not one to mince words, Knox once said that the celebration of the Catholic Mass was worse than drinking a cup of poison. Thus, John Calvin called him “God’s firebrand”, pointing to the indominable courage of this great Scottish reformer.
Watch John Bradford video here
Though heroes should be household names, many of the greatest giants in church history have been forgotten. One example is John Bradford, who is remembered primarily for his martyrdom, though his godly life of spiritual discipline should be equally revered.
The most foolish mistake the Catholic Church made during the reign of Bloody Queen Mary was executing John Hooper, one of the boldest champions of the Reformation. Though he was burned at the stake in 1555 after enduring nearly an hour of fire that would not enflame, it was said that Hooper died as quietly as a child in his bed.
Yet his death was not forgotten, and his cause could not be quieted. By torturing a man for his faith, the church in Rome reached millions with the message of the gospel, where Hooper’s sermons could not.
Watch the Tyndale episode here
In 1535, William Tyndale, the man that gave us our English Bible, awaited in jail his execution. At root, it was Tyndale’s love for the Scriptures that imprisoned him behind those steely bars. Isolation in a blacked-out dungeon can drive even the strongest of men insane. Yet Tyndale remained perfectly polite and congenial until the very end.
In his early forties and bursting with talent, Tyndale had become the first man to translate the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew. Now, while rotting prison, he took up his pen to write these words: “My overcoat is worn out, my shirts also. I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening, for it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark.”
What drove Tyndale to such measures of fortitude was his unswerving focus to deliver the Bible in English. Nothing could sidetrack him from this goal. John Foxe said that Tyndale was “singularly addicted” to knowing the Bible, a trait for which we remember him to this day.
The tango is a popular form of ballroom dancing made famous in South America. Both partners must move in perfect unison for the dance to work. The phrase “it takes two to tango” means cooperation is required from both parties for an activity to work.
In a similar way, Scripture exhorts Christians to labor and strive to accommodate one another. But along the way, we must avoid two mistakes. First, don’t seek peace at all costs. That is, don’t change your biblical convictions just to enjoy a ceasefire. Second, don’t view peace as a one-way street. There are others involved who must agree. Martin Bucer, the great Reformer from Germany, was not perfect in his partnerships with others. Yet, he labored so relentlessly for unity that he serves as an excellent example for the Church.
It may surprise the reader that England was one of the last nations in Europe to receive a Bible translation in their own language.
It wasn’t for fame or fortune that Miles Coverdale compiled the Scriptures in English. In the preface to the Coverdale Bible, he wrote: “It was neither my labor nor desire, to have this work put in my hand: nevertheless, it grieved me that other nations should be more plenteously provided for with the Scripture in their mother tongue, than we.”
Coverdale translated and compiled the Bible into English during a time when participating in such a project would get you killed. And yet he was willing to work on a host of translation projects in a plethora of challenging settings, such that God used this selfless attitude to produce the first complete English Bible ever printed.
The godly virtue of resiliency begins small and grows with time. Boys with just a little strength now may become men of great fortitude tomorrow. Large oaks begin by seed. Floods start with drops. A frog was once a tadpole. A lion was once a cub.
Cowards fear man, not God. They fear offending. They fear the consequences of exposing others’ sins. They worry the truth may bring them unemployment, poverty, imprisonment or even death. Proverbs 29:25 says: “The fear of man lays a snare.” Cowards are trapped. They can’t move. They say, “What will others think?”
Cowards are the sail on a boat. Popular opinion is the wind. They go where the world tells them. Courageous men, on the other hand, do what is right. They are resilient regardless the outcome. When cowards bow, heroes stand. When cowards whisper, heroes proclaim. When cowards run, heroes stand firm. They do not quit. They persevere amidst trials. Why
In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul teaches that despite his afflictions and difficulties, these weaknesses do not disable him. He gives four word pictures to show that his infirmities give him more strength. He’s “afflicted” but “not crushed”; he is “perplexed” but not “driven to despair”; he is “persecuted but not forsaken”; he is “struck down but not destroyed.” The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will help us survive our trials (v. 7). God makes us weak so he gets all the credit amidst our resiliency, as shall be seen in the life of Hugh Latimer.
While Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli helped launch the Swiss Reformation in Zurich in the 1520s. As in Germany, the church in Switzerland had become corrupt and desperately needed reformation—a revolt against papal tyranny. Her leaders had become ignorant, superstitious, and corrupt.
By examining the life of Zwingli, we can learn as much from his errors as we can from his accomplishments. The heroes of the faith in Church History blundered just like the champions of the faith in Scripture. Amidst their mistakes came treasure boxes of triumph, including Zwingli’s tug-of-war success and failure at seeking peace with others.
What the Martin Luther episode here
Among the most important dates in church history is October 31, 1517, the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This document changed the world forever by opening the common man’s eyes to the falsehoods of the Catholic Church. But another event happened eight years later, lesser known, but just as controversial—the marriage between a monk and a nun.
Watch Rawlins White video here
Two common excuses people employ for avoiding God’s Word are “I’m too busy” and “the Bible is boring”. A far less typical alibi is “I can’t read”, especially because of the rise of education and printed and digital books worldwide over the past several centuries. But in 15th century England, literacy was far less common, with only a quarter of the men able to read.
Among these illiterate fellows was Rawlins White, who did not allow his learning deficiencies to stop him from imbibing God’s Word, following after Jesus Christ, and eventually becoming one of the three Welsh Marian martyrs.
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A “classic” refers to a book which endures with such excellence that people read and admire it long after the author is dead. Classics increase in popularity hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years past its publication date. The holy Scriptures outpace all books as the classic of classics. Some of its authors lived over 4,000 years ago, yet it still stands atop the bestseller list year after year and has been translated into are more languages than any volume in world history.
The Christian classics that rise above the rest include Confessions by Augustine, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, and The Institutes by John Calvin. Another book equal in substance and readership is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas á Kempis, a man devoted to piety and the emulation of Lord Jesus Christ.
In the 14th century the fault lines of the church widened when Oxford professor John Wycliffe clamored for the holy Scriptures in the vernacular of the common man. He, along with John Hus, thrived as a Reformer before the coming of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli.
Today he is known as the Morning Star of the Reformation, for just as some planets become visible mere moments before sunrise, so did Wycliffe shined as a pre-reformer. His censure of false teaching and his love for the Scriptures burned brightly in the night sky so as to illumine the Reformation on come.
While the first 500 hundred years of the church enjoyed a plethora of famous preachers, theologians, pastors, and martyrs, the next half millennium did not produce nearly as many giants of the faith. But the gospel continued to advance from AD 500-1000—the first half of what is poorly entitled the “Dark Ages”.
The success in Christianity grew in part due to the missionary efforts of Patrick of Ireland, a godly former slave, missionary, and bishop that ignored the evil that was done to him in his youth by responding to his enemies with forgiveness and love. Today, he is known as the Apostle to the Irish.
In the first few centuries after Jesus’ death, the church spent most of its time on defense, protecting the truth against enemies attacking the deity of Christ. After several centuries, God chose a towering figure to go on the offensive.
From the time of the Apostle Paul to Martin Luther 1500 years later, there was no one in the church that better explained salvation by grace alone than Augustine of Hippo. But Augustine’s journey to faith was a winding one, full of obstacles and dangers, no barrier more severe than the 7th commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.”
The Laws God had given his people to help them live holy lives only plunged Augustine deeper in despair. Not until Christ melted his heart of stone could Augustine live a life of purity that God had created him to enjoy.
It was said of John the Golden Mouth that it was better for the sun never to shine on Constantinople than for Chrysostom to stop preaching. While the multitudes loved him and his enemies despised him, this towering bishop continued to use the oratorical gifts God had given him to honor the name of Christ, even until the very end when it led to his death.
Each generation of church fathers built upon the teachings of the previous era. Should you observe a painting of Jerome, most likely you’ll see him sitting at a desk, reading a book, or holding a pen.
He was learned, eloquent, and a lover of words, most importantly a lover of the Word of God. With these gifts he served the Church well and is best remembered for his translation of the Bible into Latin and introducing the monastic life to the world.
The giants of the faith that established the foundations of Christianity between the first and fifth centuries are called the Early Church Fathers, a broad category that can be broken into three smaller divisions. The Apostolic Fathers, like Clement of Rome, were contemporaries of Jesus’ twelve apostles.
The Ante-Nicene Fathers predate the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and include Justin Martyr and Tertullian. The Post-Nicene Fathers come immediately after the Council of Nicaea and include Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom and the focus of this episode, Jerome.
Ambrose of Milan stands as one of the greatest theologians and bishops of the 4th century. His pen attacked the false teachings of his day, and his preaching led to the conversion of the great Augustine of Hippo.
But his greatest contribution to the church may have been his unflappable resolve while under fire from the authority of the State.
God gives some people more advantages than others. One man is born free with excellent parents, a good education, and food on the table. Another is born amidst danger, receives no schooling, and endures the daily challenge to eat.
Three men that enjoyed immense privilege in their youth were Nicene theologians known as the Cappadocian Fathers because they were natives of the province of Cappadocia in modern-day Turkey. The most formidable of the three was Basil of Caesarea (330-79), sometimes called Basil the Great; not only for his tremendous influence upon the Church, but for his generosity toward the needy.
The extraordinary men of church history gave their lives for the central truths under attack in their day. Paul focused his energy on Christ crucified. Martin Luther preserved the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Athanasius jumped headlong into the Arian dispute, the greatest theological controversy in church history, and as we shall now see, defended the deity of Jesus Christ with robust determination.
Dying for one’s faith is a decision many Christians have faced in the past and in the present. In most countries today, martyrdom is rare but in the early church, Christians expected it.
In church history, many consider Cyprian of Carthage to be the greatest bishop of the third century. He also exemplifies perseverance in the faith and how to counsel professing Christians who fall away.
In the 2nd century, God gifted the church with a shrewd and systematic thinker from North Africa. His name was Tertullian, and his warlike spirit and cutting sarcasm laid an axe upon the tree of false teaching.
The writings of this hot-blooded Roman lawyer were pungent and thought-provoking. He became a fiery champion of orthodoxy against “practically every opponent of Christianity.”