Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

8 November, 2005   comments: (0) Purpose Drivenism   The 'Peace Plan' Of The Reformers Last week we saw Pastor Rick Warren join forces with secular and religious leaders to speak-out against Malaria. It's part of his P.E.A.C.E. Plan aimed at solving many of the world's chronic problems including poverty and disease. What about the 16th century Reformers, what was their 'peace plan'? TIME Magazine named him "America's Pastor", and now Rick Warren is calling for a new Reformation; one that consists of "deeds rather than creeds". So with that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to consider how the leaders of the previous Reformation might have regarded the idea of Warren's world P.E.A.C.E. plan. A plan which adresses "egocentric" political leadership, and calls for transforming churches into global "distribution centers" to fight diseases like Malaria. I believe that author Monte E. Wilson has some clues for us: It must seem strange to the average Christian of our day to read in history where, in the midst of poverty, religious persecution, social upheaval of every sort, war, and plagues, some of the sixteenth-century church's greatest leaders (Luther, Zwingli) gathered at the Colloquy of Marburg to argue about the nature of [Communion]. What were they thinking? Shouldn't they have been out evangelizing Roman Catholics or picketing the local brothels or preaching sermons on the great social issues of the day? But if we look back to the time when Luther was shown that justification was by faith alone and consider the effects of this single theological insight upon all of western civilization, we can see that theological issues have greater societal ramifications than we have heretofore thought possible. ... As we have already noted, many well-meaning, serious-minded, conservative evangelicals have turned the Sunday service into a revival or worse, a political rally. What they do not realize is that by changing their priorities from worship - to evangelism and political action, they are actually weakening their effectiveness in these endeavors. [read more] There's no doubt that the 16th century Reformers had sympathy for those suffering from disease. John Calvin was one who almost surrendered his life at one point, to care for some that were afflicted by the deadly Plague. But the Reformers were men who knew that "deeds" were inseparable from theology ("creeds"). They also understood what the message of the church was supposed to be, and were not easily distracted from that calling. So we should conclude that the one "peace plan" they would have permitted to thunder from their pulpits is the one found in Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". One of the best resources I've found on the history and significance of the Reformation, is John Gerstner's Handout Church History series. It's available for download as audio files, for listening on your computer or iPod: Colloquy Marburg audio presentation Martin Luther audio - part 1 and part 2 Ulrich Zwingli audio presentation John Calvin audio presentation Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.101   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism