Here’s a good Latin phrase to know: semper reformanda. It means “always reforming”. Christians should seek continuously to be changed (or, “reformed”)—not by culture or popular opinion—but by the Word of God.
The most outstanding theologian among the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century was Balthasar Hubmaier, who modelled well the mentality of semper reformanda, though the phrasedid not become popular until hundreds of years after his death.
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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.
Around the time of the Middle Ages, a group of educated Christian leaders began to emerge called “schoolmen”.They sought to discover how reason (the power of the mind to think) and faith could work together. They wanted to use their minds to think deeply about why God exists and who He is. The “first of the schoolmen”, and perhaps the greatest, was Anselm of Canterbury.
Anselm entered the world during a time when the church had been in decline spiritually and culturally for hundreds of years. The leaders of the church were sometimes more ignorant than the common people. One of the sparks of hope in an otherwise gloomy world was Anselm, sometimes called the “Second Augustine”. He became a godly saint that not only served Jesus with his heart and hands, but also with his mind.
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.
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.
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Flavius Justinius was born about a half century or so after the death of Christ. Today we know him as Justin Martyr, a man who serves as an excellent example of one whose education and position did not stop him from listening to the life-changing counsel of an old Christian—a man whose wisdom helped change the course of church history.
Soon after Jesus ascended to heaven, countless martyrs began spilling their blood in allegiance to Christ. Even while tortured, beaten and burned, they remained faithful until death. Just as the living God stood with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace, so He dwelled with the early believers in the flames and at the stake.
These martyrs possessed such devotion for Christ that the flames seemed cool to them. Polycarp was one of these martyrs. By remaining steadfast for Christ, Polycarp became one of the most prominent church heroes of the second century.