Reformation Feast

On this day, it is easy to commemorate and acknowledge when the Reformation began. The mental image of Luther marching down to the church door at Wittenberg bearing a sheaf of papers containing the 95 Theses and lugging along a hammer and nails is quite vivid. It is a powerful reminder of the law of unintended consequences, which is actually a way of saying "God rules history." Luther wanted to shake matters up a bit and he wanted to give the church a firm kick in the pants, but he had little idea of how strong his kick was going to be. So now, nearly 500 years later, we still remember and celebrate Luther's actions.

Trying to find the closing date of the Reformation is another matter. The Reformation may be said to have started on October 31, 1517, and we may find certain phases of it ending or declining at points later in history, but the event lives on. The Protestant Reformation continues to spark further reformations throughout time and history.

Now into its third decade, a reformation of classical Christian education is boldly advancing. For many of us, this reformation came through reading or hearing writers or speakers affiliated with the Association of Classical Christian Schools. Thank God for the work of the ACCS and its ever growing body of schools and scholars. But the ACCS is not alone in working to restore classical Christian learning.

One of the other branches of the Christian community that is rediscovering, promoting, and furthering historic and creedal Christian learning is the Lutheran community. My wife, Stephanie, and I attended a delightful conference in Houston last July, sponsored by Memorial Lutheran Church. This conference featured Dr. Gene Edward Veith, whose books and studies are pivotal in training Christians to think in the fields of art, literature, politics, and science. It was at this conference that I first heard of Johann Sturm.

Sturm was a contemporary with Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and other leaders of the Reformation. His life's labors were focused on promoting and furthering classical Christian education. He wrote treatises and letters on education and produced new editions of classical texts. He translated and taught the Greek and Roman classics, which provided a "wise and eloquent" piety for students. He developed a liberal arts curriculum that spanned from the lowest grades in elementary school to graduate training in the university. He began an academy in Strasbourg which eventually became the University of Strasbourg. One man who worked under Sturm's guidance in Strausbourg went on to found a similar academy in Geneva. His name was John Calvin.

Sturm's area of labors complemented and fulfilled the vision of the Reformers, for Reformation depends upon continually bringing the mind into contact with the Word of God and the world and culture God's Word has produced.

For those of us who are hurrying about trying to rediscover our Christian heritage, the best we can hope for is finding the great works in English. Thankfully, Concordia Publishing House has produced the first translation from the Latin of Sturm's essays on education. It is titled Johan Sturm On Education: The Reformation and Humanist Learning.

This book, which is rich in historical significance and in present and future application, is a Reformation feast indeed. It is a hardback book with an attractive cover that is moderately priced for $22. This work has been edited by Dr. Lewis Spitz and Dr. Barbara Sher Tinsley.



Reformation Day is both a celebration of history and a call to persevere in studying history. As I point out in my book Punic Wars and Culture Wars, Reformation begins with a study of God's Word and that is followed with a study of history. Dr. Lewis Spitz has written several works on the history of the Reformation. These two works, pictured below, are reasonably short surveys of the two complementary, sometimes contradictory movements that produced the modern world: The Renaissance and the Reformation.



This first volume, titled The Renaissance and Reformation Movements, covers the history, intellectual movements, and cultural events of the thirteenth and fourteen centuries.

Chapters address

The Age of the Renaissance
The church in crisis
The state in transformation
Italy: Home of the Renaissance
The rise of capitalism
Renaissance humanism, philosophy, literature, and science
The fine arts
The development of humanism beyond Italy.

This second volume covers the Reformation itself. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and other key figures are discussed, along with major upheavals throughout the continental European nations and the British Isles.

Chapters address

The Age of the Reformation
Luther's evangelical thrust
The Roman Empire in crisis
Zwingli and the Radicals
Calvin and Calvinsim
The Reformation in England and Scotland
The Catholic Reformation
The civil war in France and the Spanish Preponderance
England under Elizabeth
The impact of the Renaissance and the Reformation on society and culture.

Both volumes include illustrations and extensive bibliographies.

Again, all three of these books are published by Concordia Publishing House.

Truly a Reformation Feast.