This lesson was delivered by Andrew Hoy on 10/8/2017 as part of our celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The audio for this lesson can be found here.
Oecolampadius & the Reformation in Basel
This morning we are going to take a trip to Basel Switzerland, 1528. Reformation is on the move, spreading through Europe. The 13 Canton's of Switzerland are quickly taking sides -- some pledging continued allegiance to the Pope and the Church of Rome, while others have firmly positioned themselves in favor of Reform. Basel is on the fence.
The city council has allowed three Reformed churches to openly worship; the citizens, however, are not satisfied -- the idolatrous practices of the Roman mass that continue in other churches are not acceptable. On Good Friday, 1528 a group of five reform minded men express their dissatisfaction with the continued idolatry of Roman worship as they forcibly removed all of the crucifixes, icons, and other religious images from two Roman Catholic churches and destroy them all. This was only the beginning.
The following Monday, another church was "cleansed" by a group of zealous citizens. The city council responded with just enough action to calm the populace for the moment. Popular outcry against the mass and Papal idolatry continued. By January of 1529 a gathering was convened, drawing 3,000 Reformed men -- and well armed, in good Reformed fashion -- in one church and a mere 350 papists in another.
The Reformed majority was calling for a city council purged of loyalists to the Pope, the removal of Catholic priests, abolition of the mass, the removal of icons, paintings, and statues from all churches.
The city council, however, would not take the level of action being called for by the majority of the citizens, and the citizens took things into their own hand. "Two days of rioting ensued, with three hundred armed men crushing all images in four churches."
Erasmus (the great humanist scholar who JC mentioned last week), who was sympathetic to the Catholic cause, describes the scene with the following words:
Smiths and carpenters were sent to remove the images from the churches. The roods and the unfortunate saints were cruelly handled…Not a statue was left in church, niche, or monastery. The paintings on the wall were whitewashed. Everything combustible was burnt. What would not burn was broke to pieces. Nothing was spared, however precious or beautiful; and Mass was prohibited even in private houses.
The affair was less violent than we feared it might be. No houses were broken into, and none was hurt. They would have hanged my neighbor, the Consul, if they had caught him, but he slipped off in the night… As it was, no blood was shed; but there was a cruel assault on altars, images, and pictures.
With these drastic measures, the message was clear: Basel wanted full Reformation. And their message was received. In February 1529, the city of Basel was officially declared Reformed.
Scenes like this all over Europe, what made this unique? A man, who though absent from the riots was possibly responsible for them all: Johannes Oecolampadius.
In appearances, there was nothing special about this man. Some have said that he had the appearances of a church father; one report claimed,
"he appeared emaciated, with a yellow face, big nose, babbling falsetto, and retiring behavior."
Fortunately he did not live in the age of picture media, and his appearances could not hold back the force of his intellect and spiritual conviction. While history has often overlooked him, he was a critical influence on the early Reformation. Some scholars have gone so far as to say that his influence on Calvin was so great that "The true founder of the later Presbyterian-Reformed churches is Johannes Oecolampadius."
For the duration of this morning's lesson I will focus in on the following: First: brief biographical sketch of Oecolampadius's life. Second: focus on grace in the life and teaching of Oecolampadius Biographical Sketch: Oecolampadius
Before I get to far into this, I know that many of you must be thinking "what's up with his name?" To make things short -- during his time there was a fad amongst scholars to take on the Greek version of their family name. Since his original name, Hausshein, could be translated "house lamp" he took on the name Oecolampadius -- which was the translation in greek -- and it stuck.
Born in Weinsberg, German in 1482, not much can be said of his childhood. But there is one detail of significant importance that would influence the future course of his life: he was taught by a schoolmaster who trained his students in the humanist revival.
Now, I know that for some us here this sounds concerning -- for often, in our time, the only time the word "humanist" is used is to describe secular, often atheistic, humanists who place man at the center of the universe and deny the supernatural or spiritual world. To be a humanist, however, is simply one who studies human kind -- languages, art, literature, and history of mankind. Scholar Louis Markos give this helpful overview of what it means to be a humanist:
Please remember that the "enemy" of Christianity—I prefer to use the phrase "competing worldview"—is not humanism per se, but secular humanism. One can just as well be a Christian humanist (like Dante, Donne, Milton, Chesterton, and C. S. Lewis) as a secular humanist (like Marx, Freud, Sartre, Bertrand Russell, and Richard Dawkins). A humanist is not someone who rejects God or the Christian revelation, but one who believes that man is a free and rational creature—one who possesses innate dignity and value, and whose life and achievements on this earth are of intrinsic and lasting worth. A humanist believes in the power of human reason and creativity to shape and change the world and the importance of preserving a record, in various mediums, of those shapings and changes. A humanist believes, to borrow a key humanist phrase, that "the proper study of man is man," not because God is unimportant or irrelevant but because man's innate dignity demands such attention.
All of this to say, from a young age Oecolampadius was trained in the humanist tradition, and this would have an indelible impact on the course of the rest of his life.
By age 17, Oecolampadius entered Heidelberg University which began a stage of his life in which he would flourish as a scholar, mastering Greek and Hebrew, excelling at Biblical exegesis, and gaining great familiarity with the writings of the church fathers. Though his studies were broken up with different life experiences -- he worked as both a tutor for a wealthy and influential family for a time and was also appointed to a preaching position for a time -- he eventually attained his doctorate (and accomplished this in three years, when the typical course of study was about four times as long).
Throughout this season of his life, Oecolampadius made connections with several men who would influential characters in the unfolding of the reformation. · In 1513 he met Philip Melanchthon, who would be Luther's successor about 35 years later. · He also me Johann Reuchlin, a humanist scholar who had become well known because of his mastery of Hebrew. · During these days he also met Wolfgang Capito, who would be his companion in Basel -- the city in which they would both eventually settle.
During this time, before he had even completed his studies, he had developed such a reputation as a linguist and theologian that Erasmus (who was mentioned last week by JC) requested that come to Basel to aid him in the work of creating the Greek New Testament. Dianne Poythress summarizes his contribution, saying:
Erasmus did not have the capability in Hebrew to check Old Testament references, so he hired Oecolampadius to check the references, write theological annotations, proofread the print sheets, discard any heretical opinions, and write the postscripts for Novum Testamentum, the printed Greek New Testament that was later the basis for the King James Bible. This was no small collaboration, since both men were risking their reputations and their lives by correcting various corruptions carried into the church's traditional Latin texts.
Shortly after completing his doctorate at age 36, Oecolampadius was given a great honor and called to be the cathedral preacher at the imperial city of Augsburg. However, after serving in this position of great esteem for merely two years, he mysteriously resigned his position to enter into a German monastery. There is no historical record indicating his reasons or motivation.
However, if his intent was to avoid persecution because of his growing affiliation with the Reform movement spreading across Europe, he was mistaken.
In May of 1521, Luther was publicly declared to be cut off from the church -- and those who had affiliated themselves with him would soon experience difficulties as well. Less than two years after joining the monastery, Oecolampadius decided that reform could not take place within the church and with great shame left the monastery. In a letter to a friend he wrote:
"To enter a monastery is not so serious; but to go out, to be ridiculed as apostate and heretic, to have no sure home or employment -- this is not without pain."
Diane Poythress describes the time of his life, saying:
"Outside the monastery, he found himself stripped of home, job, reputation, respectability, credibility, his beloved church, and even his books and reading glasses… Doctor Johannes Oecolampadius was an acclaimed scholar, an expert in the Patristics, a renowned linguist, and a former imperial city preacher and university lecturer, but at forty years of age he was alone, with no job and no social position, shunned by the church, and a German refugee."
After leaving the monastery, Oecolampadius spent a few months in hiding with other reformers -- including Capito, his former classmate and future companion in Basel -- and Martin Bucer -- who you will hear more about in a few weeks from Scott, only to end up back in Basel, the city where he had worked with Erasmus and completed his doctorate. After a short time there, he would be called by the congregation of St. Martin's Church in Basel to be its vicar, where he would devote the remaining years of his life to bringing reform to the church
For the remaining nine years of his life, Oecolampadius would faithfully serve the people of Basel as the leading spiritual and intellectual force of that city. He would be called upon by many other reformers for various causes. He would also marry Wibrandis Rosenblatt and father three children in the last four years of his life.
So much could be said about the nine years that he spent in Basel, some of which I will address in more detail in the next sections, but here are just a few areas of reform that Oecolampadius brought to church life in the city of Basel:
· He taught the Bible and theology to large crowds on a regular basis both from the pulpit and in educational settings. Early on, he could not attain an official teaching position in the university, but crowds of up to 400 would gather to hear him teach. I couldn't find exact number on how frequently he would teach and preach during the week, he preached expositional sermons three times every Lord's Day. · He likely introduced the earliest Reformed liturgy to the churches in Basel, which was said in the local dialect rather than in Latin · He introduced the singing of psalms and spiritual songs · He made excommunication part of the Communion liturgy · Holy days were limited to Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentacost · Children's catechism classes were instituted · Rituals previously required by Roman Catholics were ended, such as auricular confession, Lenten and other fastings, certain holidays, clerical celibacy, and worship of saints and images · At the university, he substituted the theological department with a biblical department (in which theology arose from the study of Scripture) and added Hebrew and Greek to the course of study · He defended a spiritual view of the Lord's Supper, writing a definitive work which demonstrated that this was the historic and Scriptural view. He defended this position in a debate with Luther at Marburg castle (same place where Zwingli and Luther famously engaged in debate) · Established lay elders within the church
And these are just some of the reforms that stood out to me in my studies this week.
After a mere 9 years of tireless service in Basel, a sudden sickness struck him. His final moments in this life were spent with his wife and three children (the oldest being only three years old) and in the company of ten pastors who prayed over him as he left his world to meet his Savior.
For the remaining part of this morning I am going to step back and look at some of the key aspects of his life and theology through the theme of grace. But before I move on, any questions about his biography?
Sola Gracia in Oecolampadius As Tito has mentioned the past few weeks, he is going to be spending the month of October preaching through the Five Solas of the Reformation. Since this morning's Sola is "sola Gracia" (Grace Alone), I will be spending the remaining part o my time focusing in on Grace as it relates to the life and ministry of Oecolampadius.
Grace in the Life of Oecolampadius First and foremost, Oecolampadius was a man who experienced the grace of God through Son Jesus Christ. Oecolampadius, however, did not have the same testimony as other great men.
Luther was caught in a lightning storm and the all consuming fear of dying turned him toward a religious life which eventually led him to the Gospel.
Zwingli had open and public sins which forced him to come to terms with the magnitude of his own sinfulness.
Oecolampadius, however, doesn't have any sort of dramatic pre-conversion story -- but he still had a life marked by the grace of God. Most dramatically, at the moment when Oecolampadius made a full commitment to the God's cause, the Reformation, he had to give up everything. He had a relatively comfortable life at the monastery where he was able to peacefully focus on his studies, enjoy the prestige of a scholar, and live his daily life with all of his needs provided for.
However, when he chose to step out for the sake of the Reformation, he had to give that all up. As I mentioned earlier, Diane Poythress captures this stage of his life saying,
"Outside the monastery, he found himself stripped of home, job, reputation, respectability, credibility, his beloved church, and even his books and reading glasses. All he had was God and His Word. But that was all he needed to embolden him to face warfare, since now he had nothing left to lose except life itself."
This story makes me think of the moment in John 6 where a great number of Jesus followers leave him and he turns to the 12 disciples and asks if they will leave him too -- their response?
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Oecolampadius knew that there was nowhere else to turn -- only in Christ was there remission for sins and reconciliation to God. God's grace would have to be sufficient for him.
I would like to point out that Oecolampadius' life is contrary to much popular understanding of what it means to experience God's grace. Many people seem to think that those who have performed especially heinous and shameful sins are those who have experienced the greatest grace -- but this is to miss the point. All sin is heinous, and while it may take especially heinous and shameful sins for some people to realize their own sinfulness, the truth is that anyone who has sinned against a righteous and holy God -- even in the slightest -- is found guilty, deserving of death, and is an enemy of God.
I want those of you hear this morning who don't think of yourselves has having a "great testimony" to take encouragement from this -- if you believe in Jesus Christ you do have a great testimony. You have had an infinite debt paid on your behalf; you have been raised from death to life; you have had a heart of stone made real and living; you, who were once an enemy of God destined to face his eternal anger, are now a child of the one true living God and will spend eternity in the bliss of his presence. There is no greater testimony -- and if you were brought to this place without heaping sin upon sin, all the greater.
But also remember, that like Oecolampadius, God's grace doesn't end at your conversion. God is continually at work in you -- His desire is that he is sufficient for all of your needs. For some of you here, you have had a moment like Oecolampadius. You have had everything that you know stripped away and the only thing that could be said is, "your grace is sufficient for me." For all of us, this is an ongoing and daily process -- if you are going through a difficult time, remember that this is God drawing you to himself that you may also say, "your grace is sufficient for me."
Now, some of you who have been paying attention… anyone? anyone? May be wondering how I am so confident that knew God's saving grace through Jesus as there has been no talk about his own sin -- well, I see it in his theology, the theology that he was willing to risk everything for, the theology that he would teach and preach throughout his time in Basel.
Grace in his Doctrine As a much less studied Reformer from the era of the Reformation, there was a time in which some scholars thought of Oecolampadius as being a proponent of what can be called a "moralist view of justification."
This view says that the way God justifies us by an inherent righteousness created in our lives through grace. At first this view seems appealing, because there is a certain truth in it -- our holiness is one of God's great purposes and aims in our salvation. But as Reformed folk, I hope we all see the danger in this, for the holiness in our current temporal lives will never be sufficient to set us before a righteous and holy God. We need a perfect righteousness to stand before a just and holy God, and this is something that we cannot accomplish for ourselves. We need the righteousness of Christ. And Oecolampadius knew this.
The traditional Reformed view of justification, which Oecolampadius held, can be called the forensic view. Theologian Alistair McGrath defines this view as including the following key points: 1) a forensic declaration of righteousness that is a change in status not nature; 2) a distinction between justification and regeneration; and 3) a synthetic rather than an analytic judgment by God based on the alien righteousness of Christ imputed to the believer.
Theologian Jeff Fisher has shown that while Oecolampadius frequently emphasized God's work of making his people holy, he also acknowledged that a foreign righteous was needed to stand before a perfect and holy God.
In an essay addressing this very issue in the theology of Oecolampadius, Fisher provides many great examples of this view of justification in the writings of Oecolampadius. Let me share just two.
In a commentary on the first chapter of Romans, Oecolampadius wrote:
Take care not to understand here by the righteousness of God, the judgment of God by which he punishes the guilty, or righteousness, by which his own self is his righteousness… Indeed, the gospel declares that God is a friend to the believing ones, angry with the unbelieving ones: and so here the righteousness of God is placed opposite the wrath of God. And it is the righteousness of God, which justifies the impious by grace, without respect to works.
And on the fifth chapter of Romans:
The righteousness of Christ was obedience all the way to death on the cross, and it works in those who believe, so that they already do not want to be disobedient, but [want to be] obedient to God. Nevertheless, however much our obedience may be, it is not sufficient to save, because it always still has attached some degree of disobedience. Further, the obedience of Christ is imputed as righteousness to those who believe."
Grace in Practice: For Oecolampadius, however, grace was more than just words. It showed itself in his practices as well. I am going to close this morning by looking at some of his church reforms and show how they are all rooted in grace.
Preaching Grace Oecolampadius was first and foremost a preacher of grace, and he knew that this could not be done apart from the preaching of God's word. As I mentioned earlier, he was tireless in his efforts to study the word and faithfully teach and preach it to as many as would listen.
Mr. Hannula has also pointed out that Oecolampadius' also empowered men to go out and perform the ministry of the word, writing:
"Oecolampadius sent out traveling preachers to tell poor farmers and shepherds living in remote glens the good news of the grace of God in Jesus' sacrifice for sinners. "It is easy to instill a few doctrines into the ears of our hearers," he told his preachers, "but to change their hearts is in the power of God alone."
For many of us here this morning, it is easy to take the preaching of God's word for granted. Let us remember that there was a time in history when the preaching of God's word was not a normal experience for those who attended worship, and even in our time much of what passes as preaching is not really from the Bible.
Grace of Discipline Another place where I saw the practical outworking of grace in the life of Oecolampadius was in his efforts to reform church discipline and excommunication -- one author even referred to his "zeal for discipline." Diane Poythress says that "He alone among the early Reformers emphasized the necessity of church discipline and its execution by the church." But through his tireless effort, he was able to help this change. And the efforts of Oecolampadius reform church discipline were not just limited to Basel -- Poythress explains that his teaching and efforts regarding discipline were a critical influence for many reformed theologians, including Calvin and Bucer, and in many of the cities that sided with the Reformation.
To many this may sound strange -- what does church discipline have to do with grace? Everything! That is, so long as it is properly understood -- which Oecolampadius did. In short, church discipline sends an explicit message to the church that it is not acceptable to live in unrepentant sin. For those who are brought under discipline, when rightly applied, it is always with the hope and prayer that the one under discipline will see their error and repent.
Personally, I was raised in a church without discipline. There was no follow up with those who were living in known and public sin and no recognition when people left the church or abandoned the faith. This lack of action left an implicit message that these were not very serious problems. In fact, one friend that I grew up with and came to faith later in life said that our childhood church was comfortable "letting him go to hell."
Like I said, this may sound strange, but let us be grateful that we are in a church that takes sin serious as shown through church discipline. Let us also remember to pray fervently for those who have been excommunicated and that they would come to see the abundant grace offered to sinners through the work of Christ.
Grace of Leadership One of the special reforms that Oecolampadius brought to the church was the institution of the lay elder. This was a Biblical practice that the Church had long forgotten -- and for many generations left the church without the oversight and care that God intended for her. Oecolampadius saw the need for elders in the local church, and though he was limited by the city council in his ability to see his vision come to full fruition, his teaching had a significant influence on Calvin, whose legacy can be seen today in Reformed churches throughout the world.
Let us remember this morning that pastors and elders are God's gift of grace to the church, to be grateful for them and to pray for them. Their work is not easy and their spiritual responsibility is great. They are there to shepherd you, care for you, encourage you in your faith, and when necessary correct and rebuke you -- and without the Spirit of God, this work is impossible. They need your prayers and encouragement.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2017/10/celebrating-reformation-johannes.html
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