Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Anyone interested in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century readily acknowledges that Martin Luther was the outstanding reformer, of all those who engaged in this great work. Followers of John Calvin, while recognizing that Calvin’s theological writings were more thoroughly biblical (in his theological approach to the truth in distinction from Luther’s soteriological emphasis, and in the doctrine of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper), nevertheless recognize that Luther was used by God not only to begin the Reformation, but...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction While Johann Agricola occupied an important place in the Lutheran Reformation, and while he could have been of inestimable help to the cause of the truth of Jesus Christ when that truth was being rescued from the clammy hands of the bishop of Rome, he forfeited his right to occupy this noble place. He forfeited his right to occupy such a place because he became a proud man and turned his desires away from advancing the cause of the gospel to his own...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction When God provides men of great ability for the church in times of crisis, He gives to these men a breadth of understanding of His Word which it is not always easy for others to comprehend fully. Great men are able to hold all the nuances of the truth of Scripture in a proper and biblical balance so that their theology remains consistently biblical. But some followers of these men, unable to see the scope of their leaders’ theology, latch on to one...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Soon after the great victory of the Reformed faith over Arminianism at the Synod of Dordt, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands deteriorated in doctrine and life. Many reasons can be found for this rapid deterioration. The Netherlands had become extremely wealthy by means of worldwide trade, especially with the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch West Indies, and wealth is not conducive to spirituality. The Reformed Church in the Netherlands was a state church; that is, it was under the direction and...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: February 1, 2005, p. 210. Introduction Theistic evolutionists have fatally compromised the biblical doctrine of creation and sold out to unbelieving science. To accomplish this, and because they must still appear to be Bible-believing Christians, they have reinterpreted and misinterpreted Scripture, specially in Genesis 1-3. Realizing that Genesis 1-3 is not the only part of Scripture that needs reinterpreting to defend their viewpoint, they have also come to reinterpret Genesis 1-11, not to speak of other parts of Scripture where creation in six...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Strictly speaking, the title of this article is not correct. That part of the Anabaptist movement, often called the Right Wing of the Reformation, of which we speak in this article was not found much in Germany and was not, therefore, the object of Luther’s immediate concern. Luther had to deal with the more radical branches of the Anabaptists. The movement of which I now speak was born in Switzerland and was the primary concern of the Swiss reformers, particularly Zwingli, Bullinger (the...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction The Reformation was, of course, a return to the doctrine, liturgy, and church government of Scripture over against the departures and apostasy of Roman Catholicism. But the reformers, as difficult a task as they had in their opposition to Rome, faced the additional problem of radicals in the Reformation movement. In some ways, this radical movement was a greater threat to the success of the Reformation than Rome itself. All the reformers, though they had their differences on some points of doctrine, were...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction It is time to turn from the Medieval Period in the history of doctrine and concentrate on the time of the Reformation. The Medieval Period, with few exceptions, was a barren period theologically, and little can be learned from it when one is pursuing the development of the truth of God’s Word. Heretics abounded, but the answers to heretics were not to be found. The Reformation is a different sort of period. During the time of the first generation Reformers, God, through them,...