The Reformation and the Glory of God
by John Piper

The Sunday Before the 95 Theses
by Stephen Nichols

The Reformation and Your Church

Should Pastors Today Still Care About the Reformation?
by D.A. Carson

Connecting the Church and the Gospel: A Reformation Perspective
by Michael Horton

Wise Men Are Men, and Truth Is Truth
by Brad Littlejohn

Is the Reformation Just a White Man’s Legacy? How the Reformation Addresses Social Exploitation
by Mika Edmonson

What Your Church Members Should Know About the Reformation
by Shawn Wright

Four Ways the Reformation Changed Church History
by Alex Duke

The Five Solas: An Interview with Matthew Barrett
by Matthew Barrett

The Reformation and the Nine Marks

What Role Did Expositional Preaching Play in the Reformation?
by Michael Reeves

A Brief Look at John Calvin on Imputation
by Thomas R. Schreiner

How the Reformers Rediscovered the Holy Spirit and True Conversion
by Sinclair Ferguson

Did the Reformation Recover the Great Commission?
by Michael Haykin

Two Views on Church Discipline: Protestant vs. Roman Catholic
by Jeremy Kimble

Two Views on Church Authority: Protestant vs. Roman Catholic
by Gregg R. Allison

The Reformation’s Restoration of the Sacraments
by Bobby Jamieson

Martin Luther: Reformer of Pastoral Counseling
by Bob Kellemen

Editor’s Note:

It’s the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and right now there’s no shortage of material being published on the topic. Why might this 9Marks Journal possibly add to the pile?

We asked our contributors to consider the Reformation’s relevance specifically to the local church and the pastor. Why should pastors care? Take a look at D. A. Carson’s piece. What does it have to do with expositional preaching, evangelism, church discipline, church authority more broadly, the ordinances, even pastoral counseling? There are articles on each of these topics, too.

There is, of course, a danger in idealizing the past. Brad Littlejohn’s piece offers a crucial warning. But there might be a greater danger in forgetting it altogether. For instance, Michael Reeves’ piece on expositional preaching quotes John Calvin’s characterization of pre-Reformation sermons. They were filled, says Calvin, with “sweet stories” and “not unamusing speculations” and “only a few expressions . . . thrown in from the Word of God.” That sounds like a decent description of much preaching today, no?

Start, therefore, with Stephen Nichols’ piece. It takes you back in time, and lets you imagine what you might have heard in church the Sunday before Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Door. It’s a snapshot of what the Reformers were responding to—the darkness that prevailed across “Christian” Europe.

Then ask yourself how you might teach your congregation about the Reformation. So far in 2017, Mark Dever has devoted every sermon introduction and conclusion to teaching his church this history. How are you equipping your church with knowledge of the wisdom and folly of the past? If you haven’t been doing this, I’m excited about the wonderful stories and truths your church still gets to learn from those who came before us—like hearing a great symphony for the first time!

—Jonathan Leeman