After Darkness, Light

"After darkness, light" was a motto of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's.  The Reformation was led by men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli.  Darkness referred to the time of the Middle Ages when the Bible was kept out of the hands of the people.  The Roman Catholic Church would not allow the the Bible to be translated into the language of the people.  It was only in Latin and had to be interpreted by the Pope and the Bishops.  

The Reformers put the Bible back into the hands of the people.  They believed that the average person could understand the basic message of the Bible.  The Reformers proclaimed Scripture alone as authoritative and not the Pope, Bishops, or church councils.  The Reformers held to the sufficiency and clarity of Scripture.  In fact the clarity of Scripture was part of the great debate between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus.   Luther argued for the Protestant view that Scripture is clear because it is from God and he is capable of clearly revealing his Word to his people.  While Erasmus argued for the Catholic view that the Scripture is not clear and needs to be interpreted by the Pope and Bishops.  

In the Protestant Reformation, Biblical Christianity was recovered.  The Bible began to be translated into the languages of the people.  The true gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone was recovered.  And the glory belonged to God alone.  The lives and thought of people were greatly affected.  The Protestant Reformation had an enormous effect on Western Civilization leading to much human flourishing.  The Bible changes people because it is the Word of God.  As Martin Luther said, "the Bible is alive." 



But in our time the Western world has turned away from the light and has headed back into the darkness.  Liberals long ago abandoned the authority of Scripture and many evangelicals seem determined to follow them down that path.  Many evangelicals now deny the authority, inerrancy, sufficiency, and clarity of Scripture.  We have rejected the source of truth and gone after lies.  We need another reformation with a recovery of confidence in the Bible as the literal Word of God.  If we return to belief in the authority of Scripture then we will eventually be able to say, "after darkness, light."