
A Usurper in the Chief Controller's Seat
Ecumenism is trying to ensure that every wheel on its vehicle is turning in this Reformation year. Those who are currently in the front seats of this vehicle – the Roman Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation – seem determined to spend these next 12 months consolidating moves towards greater cooperation and dialogue. • In Germany, leaders of the Catholic and main Protestant churches have issued a joint text calling for a “healing of memories” of past divisions. • E

Find Us Much Easier
From the beginning of the year until now we have been using the free web domain provided by WiX. However, to increase our visibility on the web and make it easier to find us on Search Engines, a new, straightforward domain has been purchased. Simply log in to: www.thereformationroom.com Regular updates will be provided here by means of our daily blog. Additions to the "Resources" section of the site are also in preparation. Please circulate news of this site among friends th

What Price a Luther 'First Edition'?
Under the headline, ‘Protestant reformer Martin Luther's 16th Century notes found,’ the BBC reported on 21 May 2015 how, “A first edition of one of the most important works of the man who inspired the Protestant Reformation has been discovered in a library in France.” The publication called ‘On the Freedom of a Christian,’ dates back to 1520. This was a year before Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X and declared an outlaw and a heretic by the Roman emperor at that time,

The Shameful Successors of Slaughtered Saints
Symptomatic of how this ‘Reformation Year’ is being abused by ecumenical clergy to forge closer unity with Rome is a statement from prominent figures in the Church of England that has attracted media attention today. The BBC has reported: “The Church of England has said Protestants should ‘repent of their part in perpetuating divisions’ – 500 years after the Reformation began the split from the Catholic Church in Europe. A statement from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York

Luther's Theses on Martyr's Doors
It was nothing short of a masterstroke by Dr. Ian R. K. Paisley when he ensured that the new building for Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church featured some of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Rendered in embossed metal plate, the words which effectively sparked the Protestant Reformation in October 1517 appear on the front doors of the Martyrs' church. Visitors may read: "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said repent He willed the entire life of believers to be one of rep

The Moment of Awakening
"Luther was looking now at the Greek word that was in the New Testament, not the Latin word. The word dikaios, dikaiosune, which didn’t mean to make righteous, but rather to regard as righteous, to count as righteous, to declare as righteous. And this was the moment of awakening for Luther. He said, 'You mean, here Paul is not talking about the righteousness by which God Himself is righteous, but a righteousness that God gives freely by His grace to people who don’t have righ

How Luther Went Viral
A very insightful article dating back to 17 December 2011, showing how Luther's message spread via the equivalent of social networking in his day: http://www.economist.com/node/21541719 HIGHLIGHTS: "Although they were written in Latin, the “95 Theses” caused an immediate stir, first within academic circles in Wittenberg and then farther afield. In December 1517 printed editions of the theses, in the form of pamphlets and broadsheets, appeared simultaneously in Leipzig, Nuremb

Give Wheat in this Reformation Year
I was much encouraged through listening to Rev. Patrick Baker (London) as he delivered the closing message at the Free Presbyterian Ministers' Week of Prayer today. He had selected Jeremiah 23:22-29 as his text and though he made several allusions to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation in earlier points, it was during his final point that he issued a challenge to all who preach God's Word this year. This is 'the gist' of his comments: "We must have confidence in the

Did Luther Add "Alone" to Romans 3:28?
Those who defend the Roman Catholic teaching on Justification often accuse Martin Luther of adding the word "alone" to the text of Romans 3:28 to facilitate his own theological view on this vital subject. They allege that Luther was so careless and outrageous with his translation of the Bible in that he simply supplied his own extra words in order to make the Bible say what he wanted it to say. In this instance, they maintain that Luther's translation of Romans 3:28 was an i