MODERN REFORMATION MAGAZINE - The Reformation Then and Now: 25 Years of Modern Reformation Articles Celebrating 500 Years of the Reformation

In 2017, the cobblestone streets of Wittenberg, Germany, fill with pilgrims of a sort: Reformation-minded friends from around the world gathering to celebrate the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luthers hammer blow heard round the world. Today, in the twenty-first century, new questions are being raised about the accuracy of that iconic picture: the brave Augustinian monk who starts a revolution by posting ninety-five theses for public disputationchief among them, his criticism of the sale of papal indulgences used to build St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The effect of Luthers ministry, however, is beyond doubt. Within a few short years, Brother Martin would be on the runprotected by peasant and prince alike. His sermons and lectures would be distributed by Gutenbergs new printing press, disciples from across the continent would find their way to his kitchen table, and soon, Western Christendom would be radically reshaped.

In addition to the travelogues, new biographies, and ecumenical commentary, fresh questions about the continuing effect (and relevance) of Luther and the other Reformerssuch as the Frenchman John Calvin, who ministered in Switzerlandare being asked: Was the Reformation necessary? How much of the reform movement that coalesced around especially Luther and Calvin was driven by forces beyond their control? Is the five-hundred-year-old breach between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants still necessary in an age of surging secularism and violent jihadist movements? Does the Reformation even matter anymore?

These are not questions with easy answers on which everyone agrees. Indeed, some modern Lutheran and Reformed theologians and church leaders would be among the first to criticize the Reformers as separatists who did more harm than good. Recent ecumenical movements give grudging assentat bestto the historical necessity of the Reformation, but they quickly assert that no one on either side of the debates raging then believes today what once was worth dividing (and dying) over. So, now is the time to find common ground, to resist a common enemy, and to coalesce around a common confession of faith.

This is the tension in which the heirs of the Reformation live and worship today. The arguments that gave life to our separate churches seem old, hard to understand, and even more difficult to explain as a rationale for continued division. In light of that reality, the editors of this volume have gathered together some of the most trusted voices across the Reformation spectrum to speak to three main questions: What was the cause that led to the Reformation? Who were the characters that gave life to the incredible history of the Reformation? What are the consequences for the Reformationboth then and now?

These chapters originally appeared as articles in Modern Reformation magazine, which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary of publication in 2017. Before Modern Reformation was a magazine, it was a simple newsletter produced and distributed out of Southern California, designed to introduce the Reformation to disaffected American evangelicals. Today, the magazine exists at an important crossroads. It is a magazine for serious Christians: those who know the importance of being challenged, those who want to interact with more than a blog-post summary of the important theological issues of the day, and those who arent academics but arent afraid of academics. Even though anyone can start a conversation today via our modern technological world, Modern Reformation is a magazine of record in the marketplace of ideas. When the church at large wants to know what confessional Protestants think on any issue, thought-leaders often turn to the pages of Modern Reformation for the answer. Our strengthnow twenty-five years in the makingof uniting the voices of Anglicans, Congregationalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Reformed on issues of common concern has ensured that this magazine is considered, cited, defended, and disparaged by friend and foe.

With a name like Modern Reformation, our goal with this collection of essays cannot be missed. But we are not advocating some return to a golden age of church history. Instead, we firmly believe that the resources provided to the church through the Protestant Reformation (particularly through its exegetical insights and resulting ecclesiastical applications) can be faithfully applied to our contemporary situation. If the church recovers this lost treasure trove and uses it wisely, then it may be blessed to see as remarkable a transformation of its faith and practices as experienced in the Reformation. This is the focus of the final chapter in the book, newly written by Michael Horton, coeditor for this volume and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation: Is the Reformation Over?

We are grateful to Hendrickson Publishing, especially our friend and colleague Patricia Anders, without whom this volume would have never been published. Our hope with this collection and, Lord willing, another twenty-five years of Modern Reformation is: to challenge the errors in the church that are sometimes passed over in ignorance or false piety; to convince our readers of the Reformation perspective on doctrine and practice; and, finally, to communicate this message to the broader audience seeking answers. We freely admit that our ambitious aims must be tempered with a realistic assessment of the process of sociological and ecclesiastical change. But if we can continue to be that mouthpiece of confessing Protestantsevangelicals who are eager to reclaim their heritage and their unity on the core concerns of the Reformationthen we can be assured that the work that lies ahead of us is significant enough to demand that we still take up the issues of the day and work, promoting the truths and practices of the Reformation to the contemporary church.