Category: Reformed Theology

Dear Friend,

You inquired so honestly about why I am committed to a Reformed vision of life that I feel compelled to at least give you a brief overview. I should note that Reformational theology offers various perspectives and emphases that may differ continentally and confessionally. However, I offer somewhat of a harmonious account that would make the Dutch, Scottish, and Puritan traditions relatively satisfied.

First, it’s important to note that I am Reformed in the catholic sense. By “catholic,” I mean in the sense that I have high regard for other traditions. While I am committed to many features of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation (see below), I am in no way committed to abiding by every exegetical insight that sprung from that era. However, when I do disagree with my forefathers, I don’t do it flippantly but with tremendous respect and caution. They were so loyal to the Scriptures that when I disagree with their interpretation, I do it with as much humility as possible.

Second, I am compelled by the Reformed faith because it exalts God to a place of highest honor. As Calvin notes: “The world was no doubt made, that it might be a theatre of the divine glory.” Of course, other traditions exalt God, but the Reformed faith places God as the center of all thinking, living, doing, and abiding. In a culture so heavily invested in the wants and desires of men, the Reformed tradition places the glory of God above all earthly glories.

Third, and perhaps one of the central aspects that drew me to the theology of Calvin, Luther, and Bucer was their immense love for the Holy Bible. The Bible was, for them, the central and primary authority over all matters of faith and practice. Instead of relying on methods that excuse or draw us away from the text, the Reformed faith is unapologetically biblical. God is, and therefore everything flows from that presupposition.

Fourth, and I owe this largely to Martin Luther, but what draws me more and more every day to the Reformed faith is its principle that when you sing you pray twice (Augustine). Luther believed that the congregation needed to be committed to singing God’s words and sound theology. I still recall my first experience in a Reformed church and singing:

His kingdom cannot fail;

He rules o’er earth and heav’n.

The keys of death and hell

To Christ the Lord are giv’n.

For the Reformed, the congregation is the choir.

Finally, I am Reformed because of Abraham Kuyper’s mission to apply the Christian faith to every sphere of life. He once wrote: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” For the Reformed, to be a Christian is not just a state of being but a verb. A Christian christianizes. He brings the joys of heaven to everything he touches on earth.

If I had more time, I’d talk about how the Reformation renewed a true vision of the Church, but I think my outline above should suffice. Again, thanks for your question, and I look forward to your feedback.

Yours Truly,

Pastor Brito

There is a myth that when the Reformers broke from Rome, they broke free from liturgical worship. True Protestant worship is spontaneous and unconstrained by liturgical forms. Who needs a bulletin? Let’s just follow the Spirit.” This is the general belief of most evangelicals in America– that breaking from Rome is breaking from liturgy. Of course, everyone has a liturgy; some are thought through, others are not. And because of this supposed idea of how a Reformed Church should be, many Protestants have ended up with spontaneous and entertainment-driven worship. But here is the irony of all of this: before the Reformation, the people would gather to be entertained by the Roman Church. Now they were not entertained by skits and praise bands as many do today, rather they were entertained by seeing the priest do his magic. In those days, the priest would take the bread and wine and magically it would be turned into the substance of Christ’s body. But when the magic was done the people themselves did not take the bread and wine; only the priest took the bread and wine. The people just sat there and listened to the priest talk in a language that they did not know. It was a sort of passive entertainment. Do you know how the Reformers reacted to this magical trickery and this passive entertainment offered to the people? The Reformers said: “Enough of this!” “The Reformers rediscovered the biblical truth that the whole congregation is a priesthood called to offer up spiritual sacrifice before God.”

The Reformers insisted that the people together with the minister do the work of worship; that people instead of sitting down passively and watching the trained musicians or the priest do his trick were now going to become themselves living sacrifices unto God. So, instead of only the trained musicians in the choir singing, the Reformers began to take the laity, the common people, and trained them to sing. Luther, of course, was a much better trained musician than most of the Reformers, so he began to compose beautiful music. He began to train the congregation to sing robustly, not like monks, but like warriors. And Calvin, who was not musically gifted, hired a musician to put the psalms into music ^b. So, you see what is happening is that the  passive nature of the people in worship, where only the professionals sing–that is in fact still prevalent in our own day– has much more in common with Roman Catholicism than it does with Protestantism. The Reformers wanted the congregation involved in the liturgy: in the singing, confessing, and every other part of worship. Therefore, the Reformers did not abandon the liturgy, they corrected the liturgy of Rome. Instead of only priests and trained singers involved in the church, while the people remain silenced, the Reformers involved the entire congregation in sacred worship.

Many of you who have probably visited a Roman Catholic Church may say, “The modern Roman Catholic church is not like the Catholic Church of the 16^th century.” The modern day Catholic church has services in English and the people sing and the people take the bread and wine every Sunday. Do you know why this is the case? Because many years after the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholics realized that the Reformers were taking over the world and that they were losing the game and so they concluded: “We need to imitate the Protestants.”

It is not uncommon to have someone visit the congregation I pastor in Pensacola and say that our liturgy looks Catholic. But this means that they have bought into a myth. It is not that our liturgy looks Catholic, it is rather that anything that the Catholic Church does that appears in any way similar to what we do at our Church was learned from the Protestant Reformers, not the other way around. Do you think the modern day Protestant understands the Reformation? I would like to think they do. But every time you hear these myths stated remember what really happened. Remember and remind non-Reformed people that the Reformers loved the unity of the Church, they believed strongly that the people should read their Bibles in the context of the church, that the Reformers believed in predestination because the Bible taught predestination, and that the Reformers, not Rome, restored worship to the people.

Why do we celebrate the Reformation? Because the Reformers believed that the ancient paths of Moses and Paul were good paths and that we should walk in them and find rest for our souls.

Dear Friend,

You inquired so honestly about why I am committed to a Reformed vision of life, that I feel compelled to at least give you a brief overview.

First, it’s important to note that I am Reformed in the catholic sense. By “catholic,” I mean in the sense that I have high regard for other traditions. While I am committed to particular features of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation (see below), I am in no way committed to abiding by every doctrine that sprung from that era. However, when I do disagree with my forefathers, I don’t do it flippantly, but with tremendous respect and caution. They were so loyal to the Scriptures that when I disagree with their interpretation I do it with as much humility I can muster.

Second, I am compelled by the Reformed faith because it exalts God to a place of highest honor. Of course, other traditions exalt God, but the Reformed faith places God as the center of all thinking, living, doing, and abiding. In a culture so heavily invested in the wants and desires of men, the Reformed tradition places the glory of God above all earthly glories.

Third, and perhaps one of the central aspects that drew me to the theology of Calvin, Luther, and Bucer was their immense love for the Holy Bible. The Bible was for them the central and primary authority over all matters of faith and practice. Instead of relying on methods of apologetics that excuse or draws us away from the text, the Reformed faith is unapologetically biblical. God is and therefore everything flows from that presupposition.

Fourth, and I owe this largely to Martin Luther, but what draws me more and more every day to the Reformed faith is its principle that when you sing you pray twice (see Augustine). Luther believed that the congregation needed to be committed to singing God’s words and sound theology. I still recall my first experience in a Reformed church and singing:

His kingdom cannot fail;
He rules o’er earth and heav’n.
The keys of death and hell
To Christ the Lord are giv’n.

I never heard such piercing and powerful lyrics. For the Reformed, the congregation is the choir.

Finally, I am Reformed because of Abraham Kuyper’s mission to apply the Christian faith to every sphere of life. He once wrote: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” For the Reformed, to be a Christian is not just a state of being, but a verb. A Christian christianizes. He brings the joys of heaven to everything he touches on earth.

If I had more time, I’d talk about the Church and how the Reformation renewed a true vision of the Church, but I think my outline above should suffice. Again, thanks for your question and I am looking forward to your feedback.

Yours Truly,
Uri

It has been a long time since I have been actively engaged in debates over TULIP–commonly known as the Five Points of Calvinism. I came to these convictions in college. In fact, I remember when the very mention of the word “Calvinism” was seen as a violation of all that is sacred. I remember a friend indignantly asking me: “What kind of God would violate my will to do His will?” I still remember my calm response: “The kind of God who is gracious enough to love you.” Unfortunately, I can’t say all my responses were with such dignity. Some of you reading this may even remember a time or ten that I opined with excessive zeal.