Introduction to the ReAs the year 1500 arrived, Europe was in the midst of profound changes. The conditions, attitudes, and institutions that had characterized the Middle Ages were gradually giving way to new movements and developments. The discovery of unknown lands across the Atlantic accompani...

Extraordinary events often begin with seemingly ordinary people. A promising son of a typical middle-class family at the turn of the sixteenth century, Martin Luther had no other ambition than to know God's Word. As Martin applied himself to that pursuit, God was equipping and preparing this youn...

It is often through trial and adversity that God shapes His people the most. After publishing what he thought to be an unremarkable critique of corruption in the sale of indulgences, Martin Luther found himself at the forefront of a controversy that he neither expected nor desired. In the years t...

In response to Martin Luther's tireless ministry, more Christians came to recognize the need to reform the church, and reform movements began to spring up throughout Europe. As Luther continued to serve as a primary preacher and spokesman of the Reformation, he faced the question of how to intera...

Western Christianity changed forever during Martin Luther's lifetime. Profoundly gifted and profoundly flawed, Luther had an enduring desire to proclaim "Jesus Christ and him crucified." As a result of Luther's untiring efforts, Christian leaders across Europe sought to bring all of life into acc...

Perhaps there is no greater testimony to the enduring nature of Luther's reforms than the fact that the Reformation continued to gather strength after his death. As Lutheranism took firm root in Germany, other areas in Europe also became centers of vigorous reform. Not least of these was the Swis...

God excels at overturning human expectations. When John Calvin left Geneva in 1538, he assumed that he would not be back. Content to study and minister in relative obscurity in Strasbourg, Calvin was unwittingly being equipped to return to Geneva and carry on the task of Reformation that he and W...

It is common to think of John Calvin primarily in terms of his intellectual accomplishments, perhaps regarding him as little more than a brain working in Geneva. However, a closer look at Calvin's theology reveals that his scholarly activity was driven by a deeply pastoral desire to strengthen be...

Many who desired to reform the Roman Catholic Church eventually split off from it. However, energetic reforms also emerged within the Catholic Church, addressing moral and spiritual problems without forming a separate ecclesiastical body. While the Catholic reformers shared many of the same conce...

As the teachings of the Protestant Reformation spread throughout Europe, Protestant movements appeared in many different countries. In some areas, the political authorities quickly established Protestantism as the official religion. In nations like France and Spain, the Reformation was eventually...

The success or failure of the Reformation in a particular region often depended on whether the ruler of the region supported or opposed it. However, the Dutch Reformation was an exception to this tendency. Though bitterly opposed by the Habsburg monarchs, Protestantism attracted a large following...

When times of trial and persecution come to an end, the absence of external tension may create opportunities for internal strife and division. With the threat of Spanish invasion no longer uniting the Dutch people, controversy surrounding the teachings of the late Jacobus Arminius began to polari...