To Reform, or Not to Reform?

 

Happy Reformation Day!

Today marks the celebration of the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses, which while not desired by Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation.

During his time there were legitimate abuses and problems in the institution of the western church that necessitated reform. From abusive sale of indulgences to priests openly living with concubines. Luther wished to open debate on topics surrounding the sale of indulgences, which kicked off a firestorm of overreaction. While we have mythologized the story of Luther in many ways, the kick off to the reformation was pretty innocuous. He wanted to start a theological discussion surrounding these topics, but the ante kept getting kicked up until a Papal bull anathematizing Luther kicked him out of the church and boom, proto-Lutheranism is born.

But are there downsides to what took place in the Reformation? Unequivocally yes. Since the reformation there have sadly been many departures from orthodox Christian teaching. One of the earliest examples of this during this period would be Zwingli and his downgrading on the view of what the Eucharist is, and whether Christ is present in some way shape or form in it. As someone in the Methodist tradition I hold to a form of real presence where we are partaking of Christ in faith through the bread & wine, and by it we are strengthened by Christ for the Christian life. Sadly the Zwinglian view has infected much of the Protestant church where the sacraments are seen as ordinances, and are just sings of something.

Another unfortunate fruit that has come in certain circles of the Reformation is a tacit rejection of anything that smacks of "tradition". Often our imaginations for how to be a Christian often only go back so far (maybe the last 50-200 years), but anything beyond that might not be helpful. The problem with this is that when we fail to look to the saints whom shoulders we are standing on, we end up tripping over the same things others during their time did. So many heresies and heterodoxies have cropped back up in the past 150 years that are just rehashed 1st-5th century heresies. But because much of our theological imagination doesn't go back far, we may fail to see what led to the issue, and even how to deal with it. The patristics (early church fathers) are a wealth of wisdom in spiritual and theological matters. As someone in the Methodist tradition we can look to the Wesleyan quadrilateral where Scripture, Reason, Tradition & Experience help form a consensus, with Scripture as the infallible authority over the other three. Thomas Oden, who was the tip of the spear in something called paleo-orthodoxy calls us to look to the writings of the early church to help guide us. We must walk into the future looking back.  

These are top two of the excesses of the reformation that come to my mind. Every movement has it's problems because we are fallen humans. But I don't say all of this to downplay the reasons why the reformation needed to happen. While institutions are necessary & important, but they can at times overgrow their bounds and become what hinders the mission of the Gospel if not put back into alignment. And this certainly was the case in my mind when I think of the big picture of what the 16th century church in Europe looked like.

Christ makes it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount, and in other parts of the Gospel that His Kingdom will not look like what we think it will. I do believe that the Church is both visible and invisible. Visible that we can visibly see the buildings, institutions, and people that make it up. Yet also invisible that while there may seem to be many organizations or denominations, those whom partake in the classical Christian consensus of orthodoxy make up the entirety of the Kingdom of God.

So despite some of the problems, I'm happy the reformation happened, and that I am apart of it. The Church must always be focused on Christ, and the spreading of the Gospel. I look forward to doing that with my other Protestant, Roman & Orthodox brothers & sisters as we participate in building God's Kingdom on earth, waiting to be a people who will welcome the physical arrival of their King.