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Category Archives: Church History

Post Tenebras Lux

Post Tenebras Lux is the motto coined by John Calvin way back in the Church reformation heyday. The phrase simply means “After Darkness, Light”. I heard this term again today in Dr. Albert Mohler’s “Daily Briefing“. The “Daily Briefing” is a daily worldview analysis about the leading news headlines and cultural conversations.

Anyway, the phrase “post tenebras lux” reminded me of a wonderful video I had seen a few years with John Piper, shot in Geneva as he walks around many of the reformation sites there. He gives the viewer a wonderful history lesson. I wanted to share that with my readers today.

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If your right hand causes you …..

09 Apr

In Matthew 5:30 Jesus says:

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go intohell.

Although this passage is used in reference to lust, I found an interesting story that I have somewhat related to this scripture.

While being burned alive at the sake Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was quoted saying:

This was the hand that wrote it, therefore it shall suffer first punishment.

The “it” he mentions is the right hand Thomas Cranmer used to sign the recantation documents after having been in prison for two years. The recantations were affirmations of his belief in transubstantiation and papal supremacy. Prior to his death at the stake he was lead by procession to St. Mary’s Church in Oxford where he was to make a public statement affirming his recantation. Instead he was quoted as saying:

And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine.

After this he was lead away and burned at the stake for the crime of heresy. His incarceration and subsequent execution were at the request of Queen Mary I, later known as Bloody Mary. For she was responsible for the execution of many reformers in an effort to re-establish the Roman Catholic Church.

I would commend any reformed scholar to read more on this reformer, brave man, and co-founder of the early Anglican Church movement. I have provided some links in the text above.

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Posted by barrydean on April 9, 2008 in Church History

Tags: Archbishop of Canterbury, English Reformer, Matthew 5:30, Queen Mary I, reformer, Thomas Cranmer

John MacArthur on “Why I Love The Church”

09 Jul

John MacArthur has written a series of articles called “Why I Love the Church” at Pulpit Magazine online. The four part series (including today’s conclusion) focuses on Christ’s church as it is defined and spoken of in scripture. MacArthur provides some great insight for all of us to consider regarding the Church. From pointing out the careless approach to the Church that many in the evangelical world have taken, to what the Church’s role is on the earth and how this role differs from the idol created by the RCC. Christ is the chief cornerstone as mentioned in Ephesians 2:19-22. He is the head and must be the one we serve. The link is in the text above. It will take you to Part 1 of the series. Once you are on the page just find the additional links to the series in the upper right column of the Pulpit Magazine page.

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Posted by barrydean on July 9, 2007 in Church History, faith in Christ, Local church, Ministry, Pulpit Magazine, serving, The gospel, worship

Neal Morse – Sola Scriptura

27 Apr

To be honest I had not heard of Neal Morse until I stumbled upon his song “The Temple Sola Scriptura of the Living God” while searching for some Dream Theater songs. “Temple..” is on his CD entitled “?”. Yes, that is the name of his CD and it is one of the best pieces of work I’ve heard and at times the most unusual. I have since looked back into his career and downloaded several other previous projects, including Morse’s stint with Spock’s Beard (funny band name). The type of music Neal plays is hard to put into a category. The closest I could come to is progressive rock. The progressive rock genre demands real musicianship which seems to be lacking in 90% of music anymore. But where the others fall short, this musician excels.

Neal Morse is a musical genius. His mix of jazz fusion and metal is a staple of his genius. He tends to use very talented guest musicians on his projects. Some of the talented folks who have contributed their wares are such names as Steve Hackett (Genesis), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), and Michael Portnoy (Dream Theater) and this latest effort is no exception. Paul Gilbert of Racer X, and Mr. Big fame is the guest guitarist on this release, and he swings a mean axe. Michael Portnoy once again pounds his skins on SS and Neal’s regular sidekick on bass Randy George wallops some heavy bass on all tracks. The combination of these skillful musicians makes for a truly amazing CD from top to bottom.

The biggest bonus to this CD is the lyrical content. The CD title alone should give you some kind of indication of what the listener is in for. Sola Scriptura is the Latin term meaning “by scripture alone”. For a more concise meaning please check out this Wikipedia link. The first song on “SS” is called “The Door” an it’s subtitles “Introduction, In The Name Of God, All I ask For, Mercy For Sale, Keep Silent, Upon The Door” will get you even closer to what you are in store for. Hint: Upon the Door could contain the word Wittenberg on it. But you should see for yourself. This is just a foretaste of the whole package. I would definitely recommend this CD for anyone who loves music, appreciates musicianship, and loves the historical content surrounding the Protestant Reformation.

For a preview of the music or purchase it, and read some other reviews, go to the Amazon link to check it out. Rock on!

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Posted by barrydean on April 27, 2007 in Church History, Martin Luther, Music Review, Neal Morse, Sola Scriptura

Martyrs of the Reformation

03 Nov

One of the more frequent guests on the Albert Mohler Radio Show is one of my contemporary hero’s, Dr. John MacArthur. MacArthur was in town (Louisville, Ky home of the radio show) to deliver the 2006 Mullins Lectures at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel this week. Mohler mentioned during the show that the messages could be heard online and that a link was created from his own web site. So I went to the site (SBTS: Fall 2006) because I am always looking for good messages to listen to. By the way if anyone reading this has not heard John MacArthur’s sermon “The Tale of Two Sons” on Luke 15, it can be heard at this site as well. This is very similar to the one he delivered at the 2006 Shepherd’s Conference. I love that sermon. Anyway, I listened to the first lecture this morning on the way to work. The subject MacArthur is teaching on is “Christ – The Head of the Church”. He began the lecture with a history lesson about those who had been martyred for proclaiming this truth of the headship of Christ over the church. I was fascinated by some of the stories of these brave, and uncompromising men. Men such as the German preacher John Huss (or Jan Hus). Huss preceded Luther by about 100 years and it is documented that Luther referred to Huss quite often in his writings and teachings. Huss was burned alive at the stake by the Roman Catholic church for writing and preaching in opposition to papal indulgences, and clerical abuses of power. This execution of Huss, whose name sounded like goose in German, coined the phrase “your goose is cooked”. I learned that in the days of Luther most of the people could not read, so many of Luther’s writings were done with illustrations. In these illustrations when he referred to Huss a goose would be drawn. There’s that Luther sense of humor coming out again. LOL!
You can read more about the history of The Reformation at this interesting web site: A Puritans Mind .

I know I am going to enjoy listening to these lectures if they are even half as good as this first one. There is just so much to learn and so little time this side of glory. Oh what a time it will be to have all of eternity to learn about such things, and to meet and speak with these hero’s of the truth as we worship together in the presence of our Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria