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The Scriptures were inarguably the foundation of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther wrestled with customs and practices he deemed unnecessary in the Western Church.
One practice, in particular, bothered him greatly—the selling of indulgences, a custom that has since been banned. At the time, the Roman Catholic Church permitted the sale of indulgences as a means of reducing punishment for sins, something Luther saw as a dangerous corruption of biblical teaching.
But Luther was not alone in his emphasis on the Bible. Other Reformers, such as John Calvin, John Knox, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Heinrich Bullinger and many more, placed the Scriptures as the foundation of the faith. Their belief was simple: the Scriptures alone contained the necessary doctrines for salvation.
At the core of the Reformation was the following question: Do the Scriptures contain all essential doctrines for salvation?
In short, the Scriptures were the backbone of the Reformation, and, to the Reformers, the only thing necessary for sinners (everyone) to have in their possession to learn of their sin and redemption in Jesus Christ. Church traditions could have value, but they were never to be placed above or alongside the teachings of the Bible.
Most Reformers respected certain church traditions, some more than others, but what they all agreed on was the importance and infallibility of the Scriptures. In the Reformers thinking, the Church had no authority apart from what was found in the Scriptures, and for that reason, the Reformers broke away from many historic customs and traditions.
Both Luther and Calvin were largely influenced by Augustine of Hippo. However, they sought to further develop his theology and departed from him on the Church’s final authority. Luther and Calvin embraced Sola Scriptura or Scripture alone.
For the Reformers, the Bible needed to be accessible to everyone. Whether one spoke English or German, one needed to know what the Bible taught. At the time of the early 16th century, the Scriptures were read and taught in Latin, and it was forbidden for the common man to possess a Bible. This privilege and responsibility was limited to church officials. Reformers worked to translate the Bible into the common language of their growing movements, ensuring that every believer could read and understand God’s Word for themselves.
William Tyndale was eventually executed for translating the Bible into English. Other Reformers suffered persecution, banishment, and death. However, for these Reformers, it meant dying as martyrs.
Luther undoubtedly retained many church traditions and practices, while a more extreme departure from church traditions developed among Calvin’s followers. Later, this debate and conflict grew even further with the rise of the Puritans, who sought stricter adherence to Scripture alone and rejected many remaining church traditions.
Nevertheless, for Luther, the Scriptures defined not only Christianity but were all that was necessary to have in one’s possession to learn about and follow Jesus Christ.
The Reformation would have never existed without the Scriptures as its foundation. The movement’s leaders felt that the Bible alone was the ultimate authority.
In the end, the Reformation was a theological dispute that forever shaped how believers viewed the Word of God.