The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came as a result of a restoration and not a reformation.
As Hugh Nibley clearly states, “the church ...was established by Jesus Christ personally. If any amendments, changes, or reforms are in order, they should be his doing.. The first enthusiasts of the Reformation, as of many earlier reformations, wanted before everything to get right back to the prophets—not just to reading them, but to enjoying the actual gift of prophecy itself...[The Reformer’s] objection was not that there should be no prophets, but simply that these men were not prophets; with characteristic honesty [they] saw that the mere recognition of the fact that prophets are necessary does not authorize one to be a prophet.” Revelation was needed in order to restore the truth to the Earth and that happened through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Despite this, Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Beginning in the 14th century, the Lord began to prepare those social, educational, religious, economic, and governmental conditions under which he could more easily restore the gospel for the last time among men.”
So, with this we can understand the importance of the Reformation, and indeed other events leading up to this. There were many events, which helped prepare for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Renaissance was a cultural movement that brought with it a rebirth of learning and intellectual pursuits. Science, art, literature, and other areas opened up to new ideas. The invention of the printing press during this period increased the availability of the Bible, and other literature. Before this, most people were illiterate and the Bible was certainly not circulated among the common people. It was in 1455 that Johanne Gutenburg first printed copies of the Bible. These Bibles sold for 30 florins each, which was roughly three years’ wages for an average clerk. It sounds expensive; however this was a lot cheaper than a handwritten Bible that could take a single scribe over a year to prepare. And over time, the cost of printing, just as the cost of new technology today, decreased in price.
Once more people could read the Bible, they began to see the Church in the New Testament and the church in their own time, and could see that they were not the same. The Reformation, a period of time when many sought reform in the Catholic Church, will be the focus of my talk today, but following that there was the colonization of the New World. People wanted religious freedom and that was to be found in the United States of America – the land of the free. The constitution of this new country guaranteed religious freedom. All of these things played a part in the preparation for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith.
The First Presidency stated in 1978, we believe that “the great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God’s light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals.” We must remember that just because we are in Christ’s church, does not mean that we are the only ones that God will enlighten. All seekers of truth, I believe, will be able to learn wisdom from Heavenly Father if they ask in faith.
There were many individuals in many lands that are known as Reformers. I won’t have time to go into all of them, but have picked a few to tell you about today. These men may not have got all of their ideas from God, but I do believe that they did receive portions’ of God’s light. Let us learn from these men that we can act on the things we believe, even if it is against the current trend of thinking.
John Wycliffe, who became known as The Morning Star of the Reformation, was born in the mid-1320’s in Yorkshire, England. He went to Oxford for University and first studied natural science and mathematics. He stayed on to complete a Masters in Philosophy and then a Bachelors degree in theology. He was very interested in Biblical studies, and his performance here led the Archbishop of Canterbury to put him at the head of Canterbury Hall, however when this Archbishop died, his successor turned the leadership of Canterbury Hall over to a monk. John Wycliffe appealed to Rome; head of the Catholic Church, but to no avail. Following this, Wycliffe served as theological counsel to the government. Wycliffe had differing opinions with his contemporaries and concluded that there was a great contrast between what the Church was and what it ought to be, and that it needed to change. One of the major problems that he realised was the power given to leaders in the church, who he felt were not ordained of God. At this time, the Pope had rule over the King, even. Religious law was given precedence over the Law of the Land. He taught that Christ was the head of the Church, not the Pope, and that Scripture, being of God, was the only authority on the Earth. Wycliffe believed that the pope should be elected of God, and that the true Pope would be one who in teaching and life most nearly follows Jesus, and he did not see this as the case with the current pope. He also believed in having a lay ministry, another major disagreement came with Wycliffe’s belief that the Bible should be the common possession of all Christians, and should be available in their own language. Wycliffe began to translate the New Testament and along with many others translated the whole of the Bible into English. Wycliffe’s Bible, as it was known was widely distributed in England, but the Church denounced it as an unauthorised translation.
Jan Hus, who was born near Prague in the Czech Republic, almost 100 years after Wycliffe was born, was a follower of Wycliffe’s values and when it was declared that all books of Wycliffe were to be given up and his doctrines revoked, Hus went before the Pope to appeal, but he was excommunicated for his efforts. The government however took the side of Hus, and more and more people joined with him every day. Hus delivered an address taken from the last chapter of one of Wycliffe’s books. Stating that no Pope or Bishop had the right to take up arms in the name of the Church, but that they should pray for their enemies and bless those that curse them. Also, that man can obtain forgiveness only through repentance and not through paying church leaders for what the Catholic Church called indulgences. For all of these teachings Hus was burned alive, and even at the very point of being burnt asked God to forgive his enemies whom he told he was glad to die for his beliefs.
The Protestant Reformation is said to have started proper, nearly another 100 years later, in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Castle Church. The door was used as a notice board for the University and the 95 theses was a call for discussion. An English translation of the opening paragraph reads: "Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter." What then follows are 95 statements to be debated. These statements criticised the Catholic Church and the Pope. Much of Luther’s criticism of the Church came as money was exchanged for indulgences or pardons. These indulgences supposedly shortened the sinners’ time of suffering in purgatory before entering Heaven. Here are a few of his statements from the 95 theses:
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
The 95 Theses were translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press. Within two weeks, the theses had spread throughout Germany, within two months throughout Europe. Luther gained an enormous following, with people traveling distances to hear him speak.
It took 3 years for the Pope to reply, however, and when he did he warned Luther that unless he recanted 41 of his statements, from the 95 theses and other writings, that he would be excommunicated. He was also given a timeframe of 60 days in which to do so. Luther’s response was to burn the reply, and he was subsequently excommunicated.
It was in 1521 that Luther started his translation of the Bible from Greek into German, which is said to be a landmark in German Literature, and also to have helped Tyndale in his translation of the New Testament into English. As I already mentioned Wycliffe had translated the Bible into English, but this was from the Latin, not from the original Greek, and also, because of the time, was not printed, but handwritten, using Middle English.
William Tyndale was a contemporary of Martin Luther, but was an Englishman, born near here in Gloucestershire. His version of the Bible was extensively drawn on for the version that we use, the King James Version. Tyndale wanted everyone to have access to the Bible and is recorded to have stated: "I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will cause the boy that drives the plow in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!"
Another contemporary of both Tyndale and Luther, born in Germany, was Thomas Müntzer, a very probable relative of my family, and so particularly interesting for me to learn about. Müntzer was in Wittenburg when Luther wrote his theses and agreed with his opposition to the Catholic Church in respect to paying for indulgences. A couple of years after this though, it became apparent they did not agree on all issues. Müntzer said of Luther, he "knows nothing of God, even though he may have swallowed one hundred Bibles." To which Luther replied, "I wouldn't listen to Thomas Munzer if he swallowed the Holy Ghost, feathers and all!"
Müntzer believed and taught of the "living word of God", so continued revelation and prophecy, and that the wine and bread of the Eucharist were only emblems of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and also rejected infant baptism. Luther disagreed with all of these doctrines.
Müntzer is known as a more radical reformer. When criticizing the Roman Catholic clergy who did not believe in continued revelation from heaven Müntzer stated, "These villainous and treacherous parsons are of no use to the church in even the slightest manner, for they deny the voice of the bridegroom, which is a truly certain sign that they are a pack of devils. How could they then be God's servants, bearers of his word, which they shamelessly deny with their whore's brazenness? For all true parsons must have revelations, so that they are certain of their cause."
Müntzer became one of the leaders in the Peasents’ War and led a group of about 8000 peasants at the battle of Frankenhausen (15 May 1525) against political and spiritual oppression. He was convinced that God would intervene on their side, but it wasn’t to be. He was defeated, captured, imprisoned and tortured. Beheaded at the age of only 35.
This is certainly a tragic end, for a man whose ideas, although radical in his day, are doctrines that we accept, but the principles that all these men stood for changed the perceptions of society over time.
In England in 1840 a group of people searching for the truth, called themselves the United Brethren, they were an independent religious organisation, something that could not have existed in the days before Luther and Müntzer. When Wilford Woodruff came to England on his mission, he stopped at a place in the Malvern Hills, and spoke to the United Brethren, he says of them: "This people universally felt willing to hear a matter before they condemned it, they opened their doors for me to preach, and searched the scripture daily to see if the things which I taught were true, and on finding that the word and spirit agreed and bore record of the truth of the fullness of the everlasting gospel, they embraced it with all their hearts, which has brought great joy to many souls in that region… and enabled me to bring into the Church, through the blessings of God, over eighteen hundred souls during eight months, including all of the six hundred United Brethren except one person. In this number there were also some two hundred preachers of various denominations."
The reformation not only allowed for a time and place that would aid the Prophet Joseph in the Restoration, but also prepared the hearts of others that would accept his teachings. I am grateful for these men, and others, that have sought for truth, and lived their lives fighting for it. I am grateful for the Gospel having been restored in its fullness, to aid me in my quest for truth.
