What is there in the Protestant Church today that is blocking revival and that needs reform?
From our Protestant Reformation Series of website posts, we saw that the Protestant Reformers initially had no intentions of splitting off and starting new denominations; they simply desired to see reform come to the Roman Catholic Church.
To delineate areas in need of reform, the protestors wrote lists of the corruption, debauchery, and doctrinal errors that they saw in the Catholic Church. When the Church refused to give any consideration to their lists, protests erupted, and the protestors became known as “Protestants.”
The lists of corruption, debauchery, and doctrinal errors in the Church had been discussed for many hundreds of years before the Protestant Reformation officially began in 1517. The Catholic Church silenced all opposing voices under threat of torture and execution, with tens of thousands dying for making their objections known.
Lists Made by Protestant Reformers
Twelve Conclusions
In 1395, the followers of the English Catholic priest John Wycliffe, known as the Lollards, nailed their list of protests, the Twelve Conclusions, to the doors of Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral, both in London, England. An expanded version of the Twelve Conclusions was presented to the English Parliament at around the same time, in a document titled: Remonstrance Against Romish Corruptions in the Church.
Ninety-five Theses
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther was said to have nailed his list, famously known as the 95 Theses, to the doors of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
Sixty-Seven Articles
Around the same time Luther posted his 95 Theses, Ulrich Zwingli published his 67 Articles in Switzerland.
Institutes
In March 1536, John Calvin published his six-chapter version of Institutes of the Christian Religion. This was his and other reformers’ statement of faith, as well as an elementary instruction book for anyone interested in the Christian faith.
39 Articles
In 1552, John Knox was one of six who rewrote the “Articles Concerning an Uniformity of Religion,” which became the basis of the “Thirty-nine Articles” of the Church of England.
Considerations of Beautiful Feet
No single Reformer can say that their list was original, as they were all a development of thought from over hundreds of years. As we pursue revival today, we at Beautiful Feet have followed a similar path the Protestant Reformers took. We have made a list of areas in the Protestant Church that are blocking revival, and wherein change needs to happen. We have developed this list by noting what others have been saying for several decades and have built upon those thoughts. We have named our list, the “Considerations of Beautiful Feet.”
“Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways!
…You have sown much, and bring in little;
…You eat, but do not have enough;
…You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
…You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
…And he who earns wages,
…Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways!”
Haggai 1:5-7
Return to the Index of Considerations
