Rescuing the Gospel *****by Erwin Lutzer
Lutzer begins the story of the Reformation by introducing two of the forerunners, John Wycliff and John Hus. Then he moves on to Martin Luther, and most of the book is focused on his life and work. At the end of the book, Lutzer talks about some other key reformers including Zwingli and Calvin.
Luther saw the pervasive corruption of the Catholic church and knew things had to change. He called for a return to the scriptures and an abandonment of rituals that can not save. Luther translated the Bible so the German people could actually read it. And when they read the Bible, they could see that we are saved by God's gracious gift, Jesus. Politically, the Reformation challenged the ideas of how the church and state should relate to one another. (And of course there were many other issues that you'll read about in the book...)
I found this book very interesting and easy to read. I feel like I know have an understanding of what the reformation was all about and who the key players were. I also can see how the Catholic and Protestant church are related and how they are also so different. I also enjoyed at the end of the book seeing how the Lutheran, Anabaptist and other denominations developed out of the reformation.
Mostly, I was reminded that we need to keep the Bible center to all of our lives...to continually read it and be changed by its message.
I would recommend this book to anyone!
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment