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The Third Degree

Unquenchable flame

The great Puritan pastor, Richard Sibbes, spoke of the Reformation as ‘that fire which the entire world shall never be able to quench’; a bright and blazing gospel rediscovery that shone around the world.

Perhaps Sibbes remembered the prophecy of the Bohemian ‘Morning Star of the Reformation’ Jan Hus (the surname means ‘goose’), who, at the stake, warned his executioners, ‘You are now going to burn a goose, but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil’. 102 years later, Martin Luther, whose family seal was a swan, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Luther’s Reformation in Germany was the firstfruits of the rest of Europe. Perhaps Sibbes remembered the words of the English bishop, Hugh Latimer, spoken to his friend Nicholas Ridley in 1555. The two men were tied to the stake in Oxford’s Broad Street, and as the lighted fagot was laid at Ridley’s feet, Latimer encouraged him: ‘Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God’s grace, light up such a candle in England, as I trust, will never be put out.’

The courage and conviction that drove the likes of Hus, Luther, Ridley, and Latimer to theological revolution, ecclesial reform and even martyrdom found its source in the simple gospel of salvation in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, revealed in Scripture alone. For long years buried and distorted by the medieval Roman Catholic church, the gospel was rescued: a glistening gem from the mud of indulgences, papal corruption, and (most importantly) a perverse system of salvation by human effort. The lives, work, and brave deaths of these men and women are the heritage of every believer whose faith is that, in Christ, we have a gracious God.

The book

These stories, however, often go untold and the vast implications of the underlying theology are generally not recognised today. While the battles over justification, the authority of Scripture, and the centrality of the cross might have raged in the 1500s, they remain just as hot today. Michael Reeves’s brand new book, The Unquenchable Flame, now available from IVP, aims to introduce a wide audience to the characters, concerns, and implications of the Reformation. After covering the background to the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli and the Radical Reformation, Calvin, the British Reformation, and the Puritans, it examines the issues which are still live after more than 500 years. It is a must for any Christian reader, addressing the subject with clarity, insight and humour.

The website

In association with the book, UCCF’s Theology Network website has launched a brand new section dedicated to the Reformation. It can be found at http://www.theologynetwork.org. The website allows you to further explore what the Reformation was all about. Here you can find out why Katie Luther was smuggled out of a nunnery in a herring barrel, how the Puritans dealt with spiritual struggles, why Thomas Cranmer deliberately burned his own hand, and how to pray your way through the day. We have resources from John Piper, Carl Trueman and Michael Horton, as well as historical works from the men themselves: Luther, Calvin, Foxe, Tyndale and Burroughs.

With the combination of the book and the website, we hope that many more people will claim the Reformation as their own, and thereby more tightly embrace the biblical gospel. While challenges to the doctrines of justification (or the atonement, or the Bible) fill the evangelical world, UCCF hopes to see a generation of students — as well as the wider church — learning the lessons of history and standing firm with our Reformational forebears over these things. For it is this gospel alone that has divine power to transform a world in captivity to sinful hearts, rejection of Christ, and devilish deceptions. Please do pick up the book and drop by the website. Come and meet the men who changed the course of history, ignite your own heart, and let the fire catch!

You can buy Michael Reeves’s book from http://www.ivpbooks.com/1011/product/9781844743858.htm and you can visit The Unquenchable Flame website here: http://www.theunquenchableflame.org

Daniel Hames,
UCCF