*This lessons owes a plagiarizing debt to "The Unquenchable Flame" by Michael Reeves and a core seminar class produced by Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

Useful Statement: There was a battle for the gospel both inside and outside the Roman Catholic church all throughout the medieval period, not only in the 16th century.

• One example: English R.C. Bishop Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253)

Four somewhat overlapping factors that set the stage for the Reformation:

1. Decline of Confidence in the Papacy (one pope, two pope, three pope???)
2. A Growing Chorus of Influential Voices Convinced of Scripture’s Supreme Authority.
   • John Wycliffe (England: 1328-1384)
   • Jan Hus (Czechia [Bohemia] 1369-1415)
3.  Humanism (Ad Fontes)
4.  Erasmus’ Greek New Testament (1516)

Martin Luther: God’s Volcano (Germany: 1484-1546)

• A miner’s son turned “monk’s monk”.
• Likely converted while reading Erasmus’ New Testament (Romans)
• 1517: Writes 95 Theses against the monetary sale of indulgences
• 1520: Excommunicated by Rome (but protected by his town’s authorities)
• 1521: Famously defends himself before the Emperor: “Here I Stand”
• A prolific writer and preacher
• Problematic view of Jewish people late in his ministry.

Huldyrich Zwingli (Switzerland: 1484-1531)

• Swiss mercenary turned expositional preacher after studying Erasmus NT.
• His preaching turned the entire city of Zurich protestant in five years.
• Disagreed with Luther on the Lord’s Supper, promoting a “memorial view” as opposed to consubstantiation, which became the norm in the Reformed world (and variants of it).
• Died in battle defending Zurich from Swiss Catholics who felt his reforming work threatened to put all Swiss people in Rome’s crosshairs.

Formal Principle of the Reformation: Supreme Authority of Scripture (Sola Scriptura)
Material Principle of the Reformation: Justification by faith alone (Sola Fide)

Reformation Timeline
1304 Petrarch, ‘the father of humanism’, born.
1305–78 Papacy moved to Avignon, France.
1320s John Wycliffe born.
1372 Jan Hus born.
1378 ‘Great Schism’ of the papacy begins.
1384 John Wycliffe dies.
1414–18 Council of Constance meets to end the Great Schism.
1415 Jan Hus executed on the orders of the Council of Constance.
1440 Lorenzo Valla proves the Donation of Constantine to be a forgery.
1450s Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press.
1466 Erasmus born.
1483 Martin Luther born.
1484 Huldrych Zwingli born.
1492 Columbus sails to the Americas.
1505 Luther becomes a monk.
1509 John Calvin born in Noyon, France.
1516 Erasmus publishes his Greek New Testament.
1517 Luther posts his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1519 Zwingli begins preaching in Zurich.
1521 Diet of Worms. Luther taken into protective custody in Wartburg Castle.
1522 Luther completes his German translation of the New Testament.
1523 Zurich officially supports Zwingli’s theology.
1526 William Tyndale’s English New Testament completed.
1529 Luther and Zwingli fail to agree on the Lord’s Supper at the Marburg Colloquy.
1531 Zwingli killed at the battle of Kappel.
1536 Calvin arrives in Geneva. First edition of his Institutes published. Erasmus dies.
1536 William Tyndale executed.
1538 Calvin, expelled from Geneva, settles in Strasbourg with Martin Bucer.
1538 The reading of the Bible in English legalized in England.
1545–63 Council of Trent.
1546 Luther dies.
1547 Henry VIII dies. Succeeded by his evangelical son, Edward VI.
1553–58 ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary restores Roman Catholicism to England.
1558 Elizabeth I succeeds Mary, establishing a moderate Protestantism in England
1559 Calvin produces his final, definitive edition of the Institutes.
1560 Scottish ‘Reformation’ Parliament makes Scotland officially Calvinist.
1564 Calvin dies.