The venerable Scottish Psalter paraphrased Psalm 100 in this fashion: All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice. This is true to the meaning of the original Hebrew. However, many modern hymnals have changed the wording, replacing “mirth” with “fear”: All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice. Should we serve the Lord with fear? Undoubtedly. But this is not what Psalm 100 says. The Bible should be allowed to speak for itself. We have no right to replace one good thing with even anoth

Back in 2011 Todd Miles emphasised a vital point about the Protestant Reformation when he stated that, "The gospel was rediscovered some 500 years ago in Europe. The reason is simple: At its heart, the Reformation was about the recovery of the gospel. And it is worth remembering." He proceeds to list some reasons why this truth should not be forgotten: 1. The Reformation reminds us that the church is built upon the gospel, not vice-versa. "The Reformation teaches us from experience what Revelation 2-3 makes explicitly clear: The Lord does not promise perpetuity or “success” to any particular local church or denomination – particularly if it is not faithful." 2. The Reformation reminds us tha

Hans Holbein was commissioned to create an image of Martin Luther. Published in 1523 it depicted Luther as the Greek 'super-hero' Hercules, attacking people with a viciously spiked club. In the picture, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Duns Scotus and Nicholas of Lyra already lay bludgeoned to death at his feet and the German inquisitor, Jacob van Hoogstraaten was about to receive his fatal stroke. Suspended from a ring in Luther's nose was the figure of Pope Leo X. Derek Wilson, the author of Out of the Storm: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther (2007) has argued: "What was clever about this print (and what has made it difficult for later ages to determine its true message) wa

Another item for our Reformation Room project is Luther's monastery bed. Here's a little (sneak) preview ... . More work needs to be done – a rough 'headboard,' suitable 'ageing,' etc.. One thing: it is not designed to be comfortable – and should prove a suitably 'knotty' experience for anyone who has the misfortune to try it out. "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" demands Martin. "I'll know it by the criss-cross pattern on your back!" The joke's a little ropey I know, but I think you can catch the thread ... . Other items for the 'Monastery Section' of our Reformation display are currently being sourced / created. As soon as these are available, photos will be posted.

In an article written for the New Statesman, published on 30 January 2017, Simon Heffer traces the influence of Martin Luther across 500 years of world history. Though I cannot agree with all of his conclusions, some are unavoidable. What I particularly appreciate is the way in which Heffer describes the scene in 1517 when Luther 'sparks' the debate that accelerated to the break with Roman Catholicism. "Luther, who was 33 when he picked this argument with his Church, had become a monk after a bolt of lightning hit the ground near him and thus spared him. Later, he was ordained as a priest. He was a gifted and disputatious academic theologian. The cause of his affront was that the then pope,

Martin Luther had determined that the Bible should be brought to the homes of the common people. He echoed the cry of Erasmus that the ploughman should be able to recite the Scripture while he was ploughing, or the weaver as he hummed to the music of his shuttle. Therefore, during his exile in the Wartburg Castle, Luther grasped his opportunity to begin to translate the New Testament into German. He took a little more than a year to translate the New Testament and have it revised by his friends and colleagues, including the young Philip Melanchthon. The simplicity, the directness, the freshness, the perseverance of Luther's character appeared in the translation, as in everything else that he

Rolling into Liverpool today is the very latest model of the ecumenical bandwagon. It’s destined for Cambridge on the 23rd February, then London on the 25th, before returning to Germany by the beginning of next month. They call it the Reformation Truck. Since its wheels first ‘hit the road’ in Geneva on 3 November 2016, it has visited just over half of its target destinations before it concludes its tour by reaching the key centre of the Protestant Reformation, Wittenberg, on 20 May 2017. The brainchild of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the German Protestant Kirchentag (DEKT), this European Reformation Roadmap "Stories on tour" will stop by at a total of 68 cities in 19 European

This time last week I was in Liverpool, preaching at Salop Chapel Free Presbyterian Church, Walton. After the evening service Mr Robbie Riley took me on a tour of some famous churches in Liverpool, including the old Memorial Church of the Protestant Martyrs at Wavertree and the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth – a Puritan preaching house built in 1618 where Richard Mather ministered. (Richard was the father of Increase Mather and grandfather of Cotton Mather, two famous Puritan preachers from Boston, Massachusetts, USA). Before the tour, Robbie, a keen collector, showed me a copy of a 1966 New Years' booklet from Liverpool Protestant Reformers Church, presented to members of the congregation by Rev

With time at a premium, our plans for the Reformation Room are proceeding rather quickly. Some suitable material has been purchased to produce a couple of monks' habits with hoods – one that will be tailored to fit small sizes and another considerably larger. This will allow children and young people who visit the Luther exhibition to enjoy the opportunity that most museums now permit: dress up in the garments of the era. In this case, pose in clothes like those worn by the great Reformer Martin Luther. Majorie Stitt will be busy over the next few weeks, not only in designing and completing these tunics, but also in producing the much more elaborate clothing of Luther's wife, Katherine von B

Rev Peter McIntyre, the minister of Clogher Valley Free Presbyterian Church, Fivemiletown, wrote to the Belfast Newsletter in response to a blatant attempt to rewrite history via a previous published letter by Michael O'Cathail. Rev McIntyre's letter is published in the remainder of this blog post. Michael O’Cathail (February 13) has been bothered, it seems, by the signatures of ten unionist MPs to a House of Commons motion acknowledging the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant reformation. His treatment of the facts in relation to European and Irish 16th and 17th century history is firmly in the vein of the Catholic counter reformation strategy. Catholicism has ever sought to discredit the R

If the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation has been able to act as a spawn for books, coins, stamps, films, then why not a board game? Stronghold Games has done exactly this with Sola Fide: The Reformation. Designed for 2 players (one assuming the role of the Protestants, the other of the Catholics), it features tiles to be conquered, with 45 unique cards to determine the action as the struggle for influence and expansion during the Reformation is recreated. The advertising blurb suggests that one game lasts between 45 minutes and one hour. To determine if this game would be of interest to you, check out some of the online reviews from: Man Vs Meeple, or Sam Healy, or watch an in

I blogged on 28 January 2017 as to how "Protestants and Catholics attacked one another’s leaders, doctrines, and practices through print and visual media" during Reformation times. Pamphlets, woodcuts and a wide variety of 'cartoons' were called into action to spread the message. I spotted this one recently: an allegorical representation of the Pope and the Reformation by an unknown artist, c1520. The 'house' of the church is in a run down state and beset by Reformers while the Pope and his bishops seek to escape by climbing the roof. As the events of the C16th proved, an internal reform of Rome proved impossible; the only solution was the formation of a new Reformed Church solidly based on

Writing in Forbes on 25 January 2017, Jens F. Laurson recommended the soon-to-be-released Martin Luther Soundtrack as the Classical CD Of The Week. “1517. 500 Years of Reformation, as measured by the publishing of Luther’s 95 theses, celebrates one of the most important events of modern Western history that can be conveniently pinned (as it were) to a single event. Luther 2017 is accordingly a big event in German lands and beyond. The occasion has its own logo, walking paths have been established (so you can hit all the important sites on foot and not get lost), and press junkets organised. I’ve written about them in Listen Magazine in 2013, ‘Wagner The Revolutionary,’ and 2015, ‘Eat, Pray,

Writing for The Telegraph on 31 January 2017, Nick Trend volunteered his ideas about "the ultimate travel bucket list for culture lovers" this year: "for those planning a city break in 2017, here is our selection of the very best of those high points." Sitting comfortably among the usual fashionable destinations like London, New York, Paris, Venice, Tokyo and Berlin is ... Wittenberg, the setting for much of Luther's ministry. "Wittenberg: Luther Celebrations Five hundred years ago Martin Luther’s 95 theses marked the beginnings of Protestantism and the great split in the western church. It was one of the great cultural shifts in European history and is being celebrated throughout Germany. T

It's Saturday again. Football day for many. Or at least it is if your favourite team happens to be taking to the pitch this afternoon. Others, sadly, will play tomorrow in what has become an all too common desecration of the Lord’s Day. It seems a little hard to believe but until comparatively recent times Football League sides did not play on a Sunday and in fact the law of the land prevented them from charging admission if they were to play on the Sabbath. Outside influences have been blamed for forcing the change. The Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab nations in 1973 led to the Arab members of OPEC suspending deliveries of oil to western nations who had supported Israel in the confli

According to a report in the Coleraine Times, in order to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, Benvarden LOL 1001 has joined forces with Ballyoglagh RBP 486 and Cromkill ABOD Club in order to bring out a very impressive range of eight medals and a commemorative coin. These medals and coins bear the image of Martin Luther and Geneva’s famous ‘Reformation Wall’ – along with Scripture quotations from Romans 1:17 (“the just shall live by faith”) and John 1:5 (“the light shineth in darkness”). The medals are £ 15 each and the coins are £8 each. Anyone wishing to view or purchase these items can do so by visiting www.ProtestantResources.weebly.com or con