

5 Cures for Doubts about Justification – Part #5
Obadiah Sedgwick, a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines and minister of God’s Word at Coggleshall, Essex, (later, at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, London), produced a series of messages that tackled the believer's battle with doubts and fears.This book was called, 'A Puritan Treatise on Assurance,' and outlines the nature, kinds, springs and also the remedies for those doubts that affect a believer's walk with God. He deals with 14 'springs of doubting' and then procee


The State of Europe Before the Reformation
In recent times we have been regaled by the philosophy of what is called the Emergent Church. The title of this modern movement suggests a progression from darkness into light. However, the reality is quite the opposite: those who position themselves under this banner – though they claim to represent a “new Reformation,” and boast of their own 95 Theses and their own new Luther to point the way – the path along which they are leading the Church is actually a retreat into p


Where Luther Walked, #5: Wittenberg
Wittenberg is known as the 'Cradle of the Protestant Reformation'; no other city has such close with the Protestant Reformation as this ‘Luther City’ along the Elbe. The Reformation had its beginnings here. It was the centre of Martin Luther’s activity. DEVELOPMENT OF WITTENBERG Elector Frederick the Wise aspired to elevate Wittenberg – which had long served as the capital of the Electorate of Saxony and as the seat of power of the Elector and Duke of house Saxony-Wittenberg


The Doors of Reformation
I particularly enjoyed reading an article by Avery Foley that was posted by Answers in Genesis that appeared under the title of this blog post, 'From Noah to Martin Luther: The Doors of Reformation.' One excerpt that challenged me was when Avery appealed for 'A New Reformation': "When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church, he took a public stand for God’s Word, truth, and the gospel. We need more pastors, parents, and Christian leaders who will be like Luth


Luther on Creation
When Luther looked at the text of Genesis concerning creation, he marvelled at Moses’ use of simple words and was troubled by the way many commentators and writers had confused the clear scriptural account of creation. He warned those of his day that, ‘Among the Hebrews, the Latins or the Greeks, there is no guide whom we can follow with any safety in this area’.1 Luther was referring to such men as Lucretius (1st century B.C.) who in his writings on, ‘the Nature of the Unive


Booking your Reformation Tour in Belfast
When Luther sent his 95 Theses to Albrecht, the Archbishop of Mainz, he was hoping to spark a debate on the misuse of Indulgences within the Catholic Church. His introductory line set the tone for the rest of the Reformation battle: “Out of love for the truth, and the desire to make it plain.” This has been our aim at Martyrs in opening our Reformation Room (for the sake of accuracy we should really say “Rooms” as this project has undergone much mission creep since day one t


What is an Indulgence?
Though the scaffolding that surrounds Nick Page's book on the Reformation – 'A Nearly Infallible History of the Reformation' – is very much tongue-in-cheek, the main structure is composed of a plethora of facts. His explanation of what indulgences are is particularly helpful. "And so a whole purgatory-avoidance industry grew up. One of the chief purgatory-avoidance schemes was the saying of a Mass for the souls of the dead. People would leave money in their wills to pay for M

5 Cures for Doubts about Justification – Part #4
Obadiah Sedgwick, a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines and minister of God’s Word at Coggleshall, Essex, (later, at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, London), produced a series of messages that tackled the believer's battle with doubts and fears. This book was called, 'A Puritan Treatise on Assurance,' and outlines the nature, kinds, springs and also the remedies for those doubts that affect a believer's walk with God. He deals with 14 'springs of doubting' and then proce


Our Reformation Booklet Reaches South Australia
The latest booklet produced by the Reformation Committee of the Free Presbyterian Church has reached Lock, South Australia. Compiled by Rev. Ron Johnstone (Convenor of the Committee), copies of this booklet were taken by the Moderator, Rev. Thomas Murray, on his recent visit to our churches in Australia. While I am delighted that the booklet has managed to travel in excess of 10,000 miles from Belfast to South Australia, I am even more gratified to note the expansion in the c


Where Luther Walked, #4: Rome
In the winter of 1510 Luther and another monk were sent to Rome to representing one side of a conflict as to how the Order of the Augustinian Hermits should be organised and governed. Luther was the junior partner in this enterprise; in reality he was simply a travelling partner as the Augustinians required monks travel in pairs. Not that he was complaining. For him this journey took the form of a pilgrimage; his secondary role allowed him free time to see and to explore the