This is a book review from a few years back for our church’s newsletter…
Reformation Sketches: Insights into Luther, Calvin, and the Confessions
By W. Robert Godfrey
P & R Publishing
ISBN: 0-87552-578-4
As a Reformed community in the 21st century much of what benefits us today is owed largely to the gifted teachers of the church who have preceded us. We can stand back and be amazed by their high scholarship. In turn, we are to use that learning today, helping us take captive every thought simply because we benefit from standing at a later point in history than our predecessors. Fundamentally, to be Reformed is to see ourselves intricately tied to the history of the church—her two thousand years of history is very much our history since we belong to her by that same one faith. And yet, given the monumental significance of church history, the number of parishioners familiar with at least the very basic tenets of this history is frightfully scant. Furthermore, when one begins to view history as the providential outworking of God’s plan, then history becomes that much more significant and demands keener consideration.
From a scholar our church has already grown to trust, the author of Pleasing God in Our Worship, W. Robert Godfrey fleshes out his academic expertise on the Reformation in a concise, readable, and introductory fashion. In Reformation Sketches: Insights into Luther, Calvin, and the Confessions, Godfrey gazes into this highpoint of church history, and as the subtitle suggests, focuses on three of the major studies of that era: Luther, Calvin, and the confessions.
Godfrey’s aim in bringing these previously isolated articles into a single volume is fourfold, bound by the overarching desire to “show that the Reformation remains vitally important for Christians today.” His first goal is to remind his readers of the great leaders of the Reformation, both the famous (Luther and Calvin) and the forgotten (Melanchton and Vermigli). As Godfrey surveys these men’s influences, he intends to convey the importance the Reformers had for the institution of the church. For them, the welfare of the church was a deep-rooted passion. Godfrey’s survey then naturally flows into a description of one of the Reformers’ chief concerns within the church: to preach and teach the gospel. Finally, Godfrey has it in mind to communicate the role of the primary Reformed confessions in the life of the church. A brief look at New Life’s worship bulletin quickly confirms the same weight we place on the preaching of the gospel and the Reformed confessions, specifically the Heidelberg Catechism. These aims, then, are not far from the heart of New Life Mission Church, Cerritos.
Bridging the gap from the Reformation to the era in which we live, Godfrey begins his threefold survey of the Reformation.
For those remotely familiar with Luther’s personage, a characteristic quality that quickly comes to mind is the quotable value of his tongue. His words are as intriguing as the life he lived. He is utterly crafty with the hyperbole and must be understood in light of that literary tool. As Godfrey presents Luther’s life and the theological development of his thought, many memorable phrases are presented and explained. Here are a few well-known examples which we must ask ourselves, “How are we to understand the following perplexing statements without proper knowledge of their context?”
- “The whole Aristotle is to theology as darkness is to light.”
- “I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God.”
- “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to none.”
- “Sin boldly!”
- “Simultaneously justified and sinful”
Reformation Sketches does well to provide the background to these well-known comments. Godfrey’s discussion of Luther is certainly much more sophisticated than a mere commentary of quotations, but for the purposes of this review, Luther’s sayings may well serve to cultivate a greater desire in studying this heroic reformer. He is a fascinating individual with towering influence. Luther’s “The Bondage of the Will,” “The Freedom of a Christian,” and “The Small Catechism” are all classics that deserve our mind’s notice and our heart’s delight.
Godfrey’s next major section offers a sketch of Calvin. It is not by accident that Godfrey immediately portrays him as a dedicated churchman. This is unfortunately an oft forgotten truth of Calvin. He cared immensely for the church’s wellbeing and he toiled for her purity and unity. Perhaps, one of the reasons he felt so strongly about the unity of the church was because he needed to wrestle with the anathemas of the Council of Trent. Trent was diametrically opposed to the Reformed doctrine of justification and for Calvin, this was a denial of the gospel itself. Godfrey is insightful in presenting these tensions and the pressures under which Calvin lived.
The final section discusses the significance of the Reformed confessions. These statements of orthodoxy are both familiar and foreign to us. Many of us would be hard-pressed to list the significant Reformed documents, and yet, all of us know of the Heidelberg Catechism. Each week we learn what that specific Lord’s Day has to instruct. Godfrey does well to relate these statements to the church today. The confessional statements are a perfect anchor in the midst of the fads that so easily sway Americans. Godfrey writes:
The great danger of many American churches is that they will lose the center of faith. The great Reformed confessions contain for us the center that we need. They are the summary of biblical religion prepared by some of the church’s best minds and most pious hearts.
In summary, the Reformed confessions are the “pattern, deposit, and sound teaching for us.”
For the individual who wishes to have a greater historical and theological understanding of many of our church’s convictions, this paperback provides an excellent starting point. It is also serves as a platform for further study.
Godfrey writes with great clarity, and so the reader is left with a desire to respond to Luther, Calvin, and the Reformed confessions more directly. His presentation is both honest and scholarly and so, you are left wanting to further delve into the great writings of the Reformation. Certainly the chief goal of Reformation Sketches is accomplished as the reader is left to agree with Godfrey that, “Reading about the Reformers will humble us as we see that they already anticipated nearly all of the religious questions that we are debating today. Their words echo down the centuries to help us understand the Scriptures’ teachings on the work of Christ and to lead us to faith in him.” Hopefully, all of us can have a basic understanding of these biblical truths drawn from the rich writings of Luther, Calvin, and the confessions.
