Reformation by Trueman

Carl Trueman, who teaches historical theology at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, has written a helpful treatise on the ongoing relevance of the Reformation. Here is an excerpt from the book (just published by Christian Focus), and will follow up with a review - very soon.

"Corrupt belief and practice went hand-in-hand, and the one could not be reformed without the reformation of the other. This was something which the Catholic Church of the time never seemed to grasp. We must beware of those who always paint the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century in unremittingly dark colours. It was certainly in a state of great theological confusion, and it certianly tolerated a large number of moral abuses; but it also contained many men who wished to see the corruption within its ranks cleared up. There was indeed a Catholic Reformation which sought to purge the Church of the corrupt and dishonest. But there was one fundamental difference between the Catholic Reformation and its counterpart which came to be known as Protestantism: the Catholic Reformation focused on practical, oral abuses; it did not seek to reform the theology of the church. This is why the Protestant Reformation was so important: it sought to address the theological foundationns of the church and to reform the whole, root and branch." (pg. 21-22)

In other words, people like Erasmus wanted the church to reform in morals, Luther and Calvin saw it needed a reform in theology. Of, course in reality it was more complex than that, but it is an essential point of departure. More to come....