In this compilation of essays, experts in the field provide an in-depth look at the long-lasting impact of the Protestant Reformation. Readers will gain new insights into the legacies of theology, spiritual formation and personal worship, catechism and preaching, and the missions and martyrs of the Reformation. Celebrating the Legacy of the Reformation will inspire and challenge readers to learn from the past for the sake of the future.

Too often, the Reformers and their doctrines have been caricatured, misrepresented or misappropriated in the service of agendas they would never have recognized, let alone endorsed. Happily, there has been a great deal of fine scholarship in recent years that has exploded some of these myths, but it has not always been accessible to non-specialists. The intention of Celebrating the Reformation is that Christians today will find new cause to rejoice in what God did in the sixteenth century through weak and fallible men and women. These people sought, in their own context, to submit themselves to the word of God and lead his people in a godly and faithful response to the gospel of grace. Three sections deal with the chief Reformers, key doctrines and the Reformation in retrospect. Each contribution seeks to connect its subject to the present, making clear its relevance for today. The Reformation is not a dead movement but a living legacy that can still capture the imagination and encourage men and women in their own Christian discipleship. The contributors are Andrew Bain, Colin R. Bale, Rhys S. Bezzant, Gerald Bray, Martin Foord, David A. Höhne, Chase Kuhn, Andrew Leslie, Edward Loane, John McClean, Joe Mock, Michael J. Ovey, Tim Patrick, Mark D. Thompson, Stephen Tong, Jane Tooher and Dean Zweck.

In 1517, Martin Luther set off what has been called, at least since the nineteenth century, the Protestant Reformation. Can Christians of differing traditions commemorate the upcoming 500th anniversary of this event together? How do we understand and assess the Reformation today? What calls for celebration? What calls for repentance? Can the Reformation anniversary be an occasion for greater mutual understanding among Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants? At the 2015 Pro Ecclesia annual conference for clergy and laity, meeting at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, an array of scholars--Catholic and Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran and American Evangelical as well as Methodist--addressed this topic. The aim of this book is not only to collect these diverse Catholic and Evangelical perspectives but also to provide resources for all Christians, including pastors and scholars, to think and argue about the roads we have taken since 1517--as we also learn to pray with Jesus Christ "that all may be one" (John 17:21).

Although the 500th anniversary celebration of the Reformation of 1517 is over, ministry in the church continues. In having looked to the past, we now focus on the present to see how the church can move forward with this strong historical base. Particularly, how do the solas of the Reformation apply as we look at Scripture and work within the church to nurture the laity in their practice of faith? This was the discussion at a recent conference, “Reformation Celebration,” at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. This book (written and edited by Gordon-Conwell professors) is the result of that conference, with multidiscipline essays ranging from Luther on Scripture, grace, and Christ to the implication today of the Christology of Athanasius and Calvin. Some of the important questions addressed—historically, theologically, and sociologically—include: What does sola scriptura (scripture alone) have to say about spiritual formation? What does Bible translation have to do with Christian mission? How do grace and works compare in Islam and Christianity? In what ways does sola gratia (grace alone) affect Christian counseling? How are social ethics shaped by sola gratia? How is sola fide (faith alone) the foundation for ministry? In what way is solus Christus (Christ alone) related to Christian wholeness and maturity?

October 31, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, one of the most significant revolutions in history. This book reveals the context, content, and consequence of the Reformation. The layperson and the scholar will find this work both richly insightful and delightfully interesting. The reader will discover the six prime events that contributed to the success of the Reformation, the seven major players in it and its fourfold consequence. This work provides both a clear and understandable view of the grainy truths of the Bible as well as a unique and fresh focus on pragmatic Christianity. In the last chapter, the author makes a profound and plain appeal to reignite the Reformation. The best way to celebrate the Reformation behind us is to start a new one before us. The final chapter explains five actionable and reachable things every believer can do to promote personal and collective Reformation.

The most profound characteristic of Western Europe in the Middle Ages was its cultural and religious unity, a unity secured by a common alignment with the Pope in Rome, and a common language - Latin - for worship and scholarship. The Reformation shattered that unity, and the consequences are still with us today. In All Things Made New, Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of the New York Times bestseller Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, examines not only the Reformation's impact across Europe, but also the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the special evolution of religion in England, revealing how one of the most turbulent, bloody, and transformational events in Western history has shaped modern society. The Reformation may have launched a social revolution, MacCulloch argues, but it was not caused by social and economic forces, or even by a secular idea like nationalism; it sprang from a big idea about death, salvation, and the afterlife. This idea - that salvation was entirely in God's hands and there was nothing humans could do to alter his decision - ended the Catholic Church's monopoly in Europe and altered the trajectory of the entire future of the West. By turns passionate, funny, meditative, and subversive, All Things Made New takes readers onto fascinating new ground, exploring the original conflicts of the Reformation and cutting through prejudices that continue to distort popular conceptions of a religious divide still with us after five centuries. This monumental work, from one of the most distinguished scholars of Christianity writing today, explores the ways in which historians have told the tale of the Reformation, why their interpretations have changed so dramatically over time, and ultimately, how the contested legacy of this revolution continues to impact the world today.

What caused Luther, Calvin, and others to set in motion the Reformation—and what are the consequences, both then and now? Is the 500-year-old breach between Rome and the Protestant church still necessary today? Does the Reformation even matter anymore? In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, along with the 25th anniversary of Modern Reformation magazine, The Reformation, Then and Now is a compendium of articles that illuminate the history and impact of the Protestant Reformation over the past 500 years. Although the questions above don't have easy answers, over forty articles written by some of the most trusted voices across the Reformation spectrum offer readers a historical and spiritual walk through the Reformation by addressing the cause, the characters, and the consequences. A few contributions include: "The State of the Church Before the Reformation" by Alister McGrath, "The Shape of the Reformation" by Michael Allen, "Luther on the Freedom and Bondage of the Will" by R. Scott Clark, "Who Was Arminius?" by W. Robert Godfrey, "Predestination and Assurance in Reformed Theology" by Michael Horton, "Celebrating Calvin: Ten Ways Modern Culture Is Different Because of John Calvin" by David Hall, "The Journey to Geneva: Calvin and Karl Barth" by Peter D. Anders.