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In essence the Reformation of the 16th century differed wholly from the movements of the Renaissance and Humanism. Firstly, it was not concerned with a renewal in science and arts and the improvement of social and political conditions, but was, in its origin, purely religious in nature. Its principle is briefly and powerfully expressed in the tripartite creed: Scriptura sola, gratia sola, fides sola, in other words, the Scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone!
But this was not a new principle; it was the old Gospel of Jesus Christ which was preached by the apostles in the first century of the Christian era. After the Dark Ages, it was a new discovery and re-discovery. As Columbus discovered the New World and the Renaissance revived the old Latium and Hellas, so the Reformation shed new light on the meaning and significance of the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, began to take over the dominant role in the church in a radical way.
Titolo originale
1989 Issue 2 - John Knox and the Word of God: A Comparison With John Calvin - Counsel of Chalcedon
In essence the Reformation of the 16th century differed wholly from the movements of the Renaissance and Humanism. Firstly, it was not concerned with a renewal in science and arts and the improvement of social and political conditions, but was, in its origin, purely religious in nature. Its principle is briefly and powerfully expressed in the tripartite creed: Scriptura sola, gratia sola, fides sola, in other words, the Scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone!
But this was not a new principle; it was the old Gospel of Jesus Christ which was preached by the apostles in the first century of the Christian era. After the Dark Ages, it was a new discovery and re-discovery. As Columbus discovered the New World and the Renaissance revived the old Latium and Hellas, so the Reformation shed new light on the meaning and significance of the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, began to take over the dominant role in the church in a radical way.
In essence the Reformation of the 16th century differed wholly from the movements of the Renaissance and Humanism. Firstly, it was not concerned with a renewal in science and arts and the improvement of social and political conditions, but was, in its origin, purely religious in nature. Its principle is briefly and powerfully expressed in the tripartite creed: Scriptura sola, gratia sola, fides sola, in other words, the Scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone!
But this was not a new principle; it was the old Gospel of Jesus Christ which was preached by the apostles in the first century of the Christian era. After the Dark Ages, it was a new discovery and re-discovery. As Columbus discovered the New World and the Renaissance revived the old Latium and Hellas, so the Reformation shed new light on the meaning and significance of the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, began to take over the dominant role in the church in a radical way.
by Prof. V .E. D'Assonville, Dept. of Ecclesiastical History, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education In essence the Reformation of the 16th century differed wholly from the movements of the Renaissance and Humanism. Firstly, it was not con- cerned with a renewal in science and arts and the improvement of social and poli 7 tical conditions, but was, in its origin, purely religious in nature. Its principle is briefly and powerfully expressed in the tripartite creed: Scriptura.sola, gratia sola, fides sola, ill other words, the Scriptures alone, grace alone, faith alone! But this was not a new principle; it was the old Gospel of Jesus Christ which was preached by the apostles in the first century of the Christian era. Mter the Dark Ages, it was a new dis- covery and re-discovery. As Columbus discovered the New World and the Renaissance revived the old Latium and Hellas, so the Reformation shed new light on the meaning and significance of the Holy Scriptures. The Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, be- gan to take over the dominant role in the church in a radical way. We see this, in particular, if we take up, in earnest, the claim of Roman Catholicism that the Pope is the "Vicarius Christi". This is an express attempt to give the church full control over all spheres of life. And with this the church came to rule over the Scrip- tures as well. The church, according to Roman Catholic theology, precedes the Scriptures temporally and logically. Roman Catholic theology correctly saw that the dominion of Christ over all spheres of life is a totalitarian do- minion, but the fact that this dominion was further subordinated to the church obviously gave the Scriptures a sub- ordinate role. This is the focal point of the dispute between Rome and the Reformation. It is the question of authority. The authority of the church or the authority of the Scriptures? In the stormy times after Luther had published his 95 theses there remained to him only one refuge from the authority of the Pope and the Council of the Church, viz. the Scriptures alone. It was one of the greatest histori- cal moments in world history when he proclaimed the authority of God's Word over his conscience before the Diet at Worms on 18th April1521: "Since then Your Majesty and you lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scrip- ture and plain reason--! do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant any- thing, for to go against conscience is neither right nor sane. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." No less than Luther, Calvin also consistently upheld the authority of the Holy Scriptures. It was he who de- veloped a doctrine in this regard in his Institutes in which he . stated that nothing "can be more absurd than the fiction, that the power of judging Scrip- ti.rre is in the chruch, and that on her nod its certainty depends." . Even the letter accompanying the first edition of the Institutes, which Cal- l vin addressed to the French king, Fran- cis, was one long plea for the authority of the Scriptures as the "sceptre of God." "The characteristic of a true sovereign is to acknowledge that, in the adminis- tration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any king- dom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, by his divine Word." The way in which Calvin frequently brings the real secret of the Reforma- tion to the fore, is magnificent. Like a refrain it constantly returns, that the Scriptures do not derive their authority from an ecclesiastical institution or from arguments or proofs, but in them- selves alone, througn the Holy Spirit: "Let it therefore be held as fixed, that those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture, carrying it own evidence along with it, deigns, not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit." These extracts from the Institutes, in which Calvin so unequivocally acknow- ledges the authority of the Scriptures, can be multiplied tenfold. The "authori- tas Scripturae" is prominantly in the foreground. The "Scriptures are from God," they come "from the very mouth of God" and sconsequently Calvin sees no distinction between the Holy Scrip- tures and the Word of God, "hence, the highest proof of Scripture is uniformly taken from the character of Him whose word. it is." And these are precisely the words which John Knox must have read in the 1539 Institutes. But he not only read them; he suited the deed to the word. The "ad verbum est veniendum" (we must go to the Word) is the one main theme of Knox's reform work. It is pre- cisely in this that he reveals himself as a fiery Calvinist and through this gave (Continued on page 36) The Counsel of Chalcedon, February-March, 1989 Role of the Churches Continued from page 23 the diversity among us does not divide us, but rather serve the unity of the body of Christ. Let us never forget: Christ bought us dearly. Never should our lives, our atti- tudes, our conduct be an embarrassment for the kingdom of Christ. Only the Word of God should be the final norm for faith and life. But on the other hand our responsi- bility towards the world is grave and challenging. We received a Word that must be heard in the world. The evangel- ization of the world will remain our duty. The gospel must arrive as the one and unique and only word of salvation for mankind. This will be our highest priority. Every one who hears it should know: this Word of God is meant for me personally, to determine my relation- ship to God, but also to determine my relationship to all God's people who cross my way. Towards this end, we believe that there are many clear and distinct Biblical-ethical guidelines: these apply to inter-personal as well as to group relationships. They also have a very direct bearing on the role of the church in our country. The General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church discerned five particu- larly important ethical directives, which will determine the role of the church in society (Church and Society, page 22f). First of all is Christian love for one's neighbour. This must always be the very essence of the church's message concerning group relationships. We must continually pray that God will root out of our lives the noxious weeds of lovelessness, egoism, suspicion and bitterness. Our love for our neighbour should never be determined by who our neighbour is; rather, it should bridge the chasms that separate people from one another. Christian love includes a deep concern for our neighbour's spiritual needs, but also for his material needs. The more privileges you have, the greater your responsibility becomes towards those who suffer in society. The second directive is that of Bibli- cal righteousness and justice. This mearis that the church should strive for justice for all groups in our country with regard to social, educational, eco- nomic and political matters, as well as , in all other spheres of life. It also means that government policy, and the actions of all individuals, groups and goverrtment, must be tested against the demand of what is right and just before God. In its proclamation, the church must point out the needs of the people and bring injustice and need to the attention of the authorities and all parties concerned. A third directive is Christian compas- sion. The church ought to develop ave- nues and structures for a ministry of compassion transcending all boundaries. Another directive is that of truth, which implies listening to other peo- ple's views with open minds. Finally there is the honouring of man's God-given dignity. In this regard the role of the church will be to furnish a biblically based concept of human rights and to call for its implementa- tion. To summarize: In its proclamation the church must translate the Gospel message soundly and realistically into the social idiom of its own day. It must also focus the light of Scripture oil those burning issues that are currently ruling in South Africa. D John Knox Continued from page 24 the Scottish church its own individual stamp. But what is of great importance to us is the fact that we find the exact thoughts of Knox about the Word. as the mark of the true church, "the voice of its own pastor, Jesus Christ," in the first edition of Calvin's Institutes. As regards the dominion of the Word over the Church and over all spheres of life, Knox, like Calvin, was in no doubt whatsoever, "as for me, I will be on none other church except of that which hath Christ Jesus to be pastor, which hears his voice, arid will not hear a stranger." The absolute dominion of God's Word over the State, is another of Knox's primary principles. In a sermon which was also heard by Darnley, the husband of Mary Queen of Scots, he stated expressly: "Kings then have not an absolute power in their regiment what pleaseth them; but their power is limited by God's Word: so that if they strike where God commaundeth not, they are but murderers; and if they spare when God commaundeth to strike, they and their throne are criminal and giltie of the wickednesse that aboundeth upon the face of the earth, for lacke of punish- ment." lh regard to the formal principle, that the Bible is God's Word and that God exercises his authopty:bver church and state and all spheres of life through the Bible, Knox does not differ .from Cal- vin. On the contrary, Where the author- ity of the Scriptures is' concerned, he is one of the most fiery of the Reformation. That the final decision is to be found in the Word of God, Knox regarded as a sine qua non even to his Queen. When, in the crisis of the con- flict between Roman Catholicism and the Protestant faith, she cried out, "Whom shall I believe? And who shall be judge?" his reply is clear and to the point: "Ye shall believe God that plainly speaketh in his word: and further than the word teaches you, ye neither shall believe the one or the other." Here all the subjectivity of Knox himself, or the individual group or tradi- tion or custom or utility, are simply penetrated by the statement of the one objective truth which holds good for everyone: the Word! Although Knox never left us an elaborated view about the Word of God, we may nevertheless discover a few general principles from his works: 1. The great merit in Knox's work is the authority of the Holy Scriptures so . (Continued on page 41) Page36---------------------------------------------- The Counsel of Chakedon, February-March, 1989 Frontline Fellowship Continued from page 29 days because of the risk of capture, he assured me that there are indigenous pastors who are willing to follow through on the converts and who super- vise the distribution of the precious Scriptures. Never have I encountered more de- voted missionaries of the cross than these courageous young men, who, after fighting together for their country in combat, are now taking the Gospel of the Prince of Peace to places where most missionaries would be unable to go and where no missionary could possibly stay. They deserve our prayers and our support. [The Rev. Robert Slimp is a free- lance writer in the P.CA. who has travelled extensively. This article is reprinted from the November-December, 1987 issue of Journey magazine. It is used by permission.] D John Knox Continued from page 36 unconditionally. In this respect his in- fluence on the Reformation is incalcu- lable and finds magnificent expression in the Scottish "Confession of Faith," Cap XIX: " ... we affirm and avow the authority of the same to be of God, and neither to depend on men nor angels. We affirm therefore that such as allege the Scrip- ture to have no (other) authority, but that which is received from the Kirk, to be blasphemous against God, and injuri- ous to the true Kirk, which always hear- eth and obeyeth the voice of her own Spouse and Pastor, but taketh not upon her to be mistress over the same." fThis article contains excerpts from Prof. V.E. D'Assonville's chapter 11 in Calvinus ReformaJor, Potchefstroom University for Cnristian Higher Education, 1982, Potchef- stroom, Soutli Africa.] 0 JOHNCAU'IN News Briefs Continued from page 30 Africa, an organization supporting Com- munist dictatorship in the third world is a leading voice in the uproar over divest- ment in South Africa. He too favors revolutionary action to overthrow the South African government. Robinson does not like Savimbi, and he said this about the Dec. 22 accord signed by South Africa, Angola and Cuba: "If the settlement actually comes off, Chester Crocker will have produced fruit from a very barren source and will deserve ku- dos for a major effort." Chester Crocker, an assistant secre- tary of state, who is soft on commun- ism, has been working on an agreement such as the one mentioned above for years. The question asked by Human Events, "The National Conservative Weekly," is "Can this pact be so sound if this bosom buddy of Red revolution- aries (Robinson) appears so content?" The Soviet Union is very interested in South Africa because of the country's geostrategic position. Gorbachev, as other Communist USSR leaders before him, wants to run the world. A report published in a Washington, D.C., news- paper Dec. 26, shows that Moscow doesn't care as much about communist doctrine as much as furthering world conquest. The Soviets have been im- pressing some South African officials and making friends because of osten- sible changes in the communist sys- tem. To summarize what has been hap- pening between South Africa and the Soviet Union, a spokesman for the South African Department of Foreign Affairs said, "We have made a com- parison of Soviet and American press reports in recent months, and it makes interesting reading. While the American press, as a whole, continues to high- light apartheid and the grievances of the black population, the Soviet press is running articles on South Africa that are mainly informative. If you had told me two years ago that we sould be ; getting a more objective press from Russia than from America, I would . never have believed it." Three terrorists, members of the Afri- can National Congress, were sentenced in Cape Town Jan. 16 for planting land- mines on white-owned farms in Swaziland. The mastermind of the scheme was Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, a South African Indian. That is an appro- priate middle name for a terrorist (Gen. 16:11, 12). Ebrahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the judge said he had "strong moral qualities." Whatever these strong moral qualities may be, they don't apply to marriage. He has a common-law wife named Julie Wells. The tragic part of this trial was not that more terrorists will take up cell space in South Africa. According to one report, a Deputy Chief State Prose- cutor, Louise van der Walt, showed her extremist sympathies after the verdict was handed down. The convicted men went to their cells, the blacks in the gallery started to sing, and Mrs. Van der Walt raised her hand in the salute of the Afrikaaner Resistance Movement. Ebra- him and his comrades had aimed to kill when they planted the mines, and Mrs. Vander Walt was right to demand the death penalty for the terrorists. But she certainly didn't enhance the credibility of her correct commitment to proper criminal penalties with this apalling action. Ori the other hand, she too has a point when she asks her colleagues in the courtroom, "Why do you have to shut me up while others are allowed to sing?" This event under- scores the need for Christians not to choose between the two false options concerning South Africa. When both sides are wrong, we must not be afraid to say so. D Join us in the Worship of God <CllMnJI.tred(Q)mt
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