The Romance of Protestantism

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Here are my notes for the talk I gave last night at the Grace Agenda.

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Introduction

Protestantism is thought by many to be a cold and austere thing, a tangle of negations, a deracinated approach to Christian faith, something that for two cents will slip into etiolated liberalism. Etiolated is what grass looks like when it grows under a board. Protestantism is thought (slanderously) to be a cerebral affair, with all the warmth of the blood drained out of it. And because enough time has gone by (centuries), we should not be surprised that even some of her sons have accepted this false account, failing to read their biographies and histories properly, and therefore assuming the role of being doctrinaire dullards.

And so I would begin with words from my favorite papist—Chesterton—who said that a courageous man should be willing to attack any error, no matter how ancient. But, he went on to add, there are some errors that are old enough that they should never be patronized. And may I suggest that Protestantism, having built a great civilization over the course of 500 years, should be included in the number of things that ought not to be patronized?

As we address this subject, we also ought to avoid accusing Protestantism of opposite errors, such that if the accusation is heeded in one direction, it creates the opportunity of accusing them of worsening in the other direction. In other words, accuse Protestants of having no “sense of place,” no “real identity,” no commitment to “belonging.” And then, if they do exhibit those traits, you can accuse them of being “sectarian,” “bigoted,” and closed-minded.” It works admirably in the other direction also. If you work on not being sectarian, they can always accuse you of being rootless, floating in mid-air, not knowing who your people are.

But I intend to speak today as a partisan, not a bigot. I love the Lord Jesus, and it is for that reason that I love Protestantism. This might strike some as odd, and others as perverse, and so it is that I wish to set before you the romance of Protestantism. Please bear with me.

Let Us Define Our Terms: Romance

C.S. Lewis once said this: “A strict allegory is like a puzzle with a solution: a great romance is like a flower whose smell reminds you of something you can’t quite place.”[1] This would indicate a belief that romance is a word that is chary of strict definition—although Lewis can certainly point to examples. In multiple places, for example, Lewis calls Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings a “romance.” We are of course not talking about Gothic romances starring Lord Greyeyes, standing alone on the ancient bluffs, as the sea breeze ruffles his hair. We are talking about actual romances.

Following a sketch provided by Deborah Alcock, I want to say that a romance consists of four elements, which are courage, high endurance, generosity, and warm affection. We will come back to this, but for the meantime, compare those elements to Lewis’s standing example of LOTR. All four elements are there, and in abundant measure.

Let Us Define our Terms: Protestantism

As you all know, Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517, 500 years ago this year. He was issuing a challenge for debate to all comers, and as it happened, this challenge was a lonely spark in a room full of fumes. The Reformation came to be, and there were more than a few flash burns. To use several of Aristotle’s categories, the material cause of the Reformation was sola fide, or justification by faith alone, and the formal cause was sola Scriptura—Scripture as our only ultimate and infallible authority in spiritual matters.

Just a few years later, in 1521, Luther was condemned by the Edict of Worms.

And just a few years after that—because the Emperor Charles V needed the political support of the Lutheran princes in a political struggle he was having with the pope—an edict of ambiguous toleration was hammered out at the Diet of Speyer in 1526. A studied legal ambiguity like this was all the reformers needed, and the Lutheran churches grew like crazy.

That resulted in the Emperor seeking to revoke the settlement of Speyer, which would have the effect of going back to the condemnation of Worms. That was the one job of the second Diet of Speyer. Two big things came out of this second diet. They did not go back to the Edict of Worms fully, and we got the name Protestant for what we are about.

How So?

It is easy to think that Protestants are defined by what they are against. We hear the word protest in Protestant, loud and clear. But it would be better to link it to another way of breaking the word down—think of pro-testimony. This is a confession of what we believe—and to the extent we are against something, it is merely that we are against the renewal of lunatic persecutions.

The first Protestant was therefore John, Elector of Saxony, the first to sign the protest at the second Diet of Speyer. That statement was both protestimony and protest.

The protestimony was this:

“We are resolved, by the grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive teaching of His only word, such as is contained in the Biblical books of the Old and New Testaments, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This Word is the only truth, it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us.”

The protest was this:

“If you do not yield to our request, we PROTEST by these presents, before God, our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to His holy Word, to our right conscience, to the salvation of our own souls, and to the last decree of Spires.”

The confession was to hold to what God has taught us in His Word, and only that. Any objections to that? And the protest was against those who would persecute the saints of God on the mere authority of mere men.

Remember: The word testis is the Latin word for witness. The prefix pro means for . . . not against.

Four Snapshot Stories

There have been three great eras of martyrdom in the history of the church. The first happened in the ten persecutions before pagan Rome was conquered by the gospel, surrendering in the time of Constantine. The second great era of martyrdom was the Reformation—a veritable nebula of martyrs. The third great era, depending on where in this world you live, is the present era.

At one point, the Inquisition sentenced the entire population of Holland to death. That would number about 3 million souls and the only exceptions were listed by name. The number of martyrs that came out of the Reformation era was simply enormous. In those times of high peril, what we tend to think of as musty doctrine was to them the high mountain air of sweet forgiveness. They would do anything for these truths.

Let me tell you a story to illustrate each of our characteristics of romance.

Courage

The residents of Leyden told William the Silent that they would hold out in a siege against the Spanish for one month with bread, and for another month without bread. The siege began at the end of May. It was ended at the beginning of October.

At one point the Spanish offered favorable terms if they would only surrender the city. This is the answer they got.

“You call us eaters of dogs and cats. Very well. So long, then, as in this city you hear a dog bark or a cat mew, you may know we will not yield. And when all else is done, we will eat our left arms and keep our right to fight for our Country, our Faith, and our God. At last, if we have to die, we will set fire to the city and perish in the flames.”

Relief came to them when their reinforcements breached the dykes and were able to sail up to the city.

High Endurance

A young Huguenot woman named Marie Durant, fourteen-years-old, was required to abjure her Huguenot faith. All she had to do was say one word—j’abjure—and she could go free. Because she would not do it, she was placed in a tower by the sea with 30 other Huguenot women where she remained for the next 38 years. She and her fellows scratched a different word entirely on the wall of the prison. It was resistez—resist.

Generosity

Another Huguenot woman was being led to the stake in France. She had been rich in good deeds, ministering to the poor, and a crowd of them were following her there, weeping. One of the women cried out, “You will never give me alms anymore.” And the martyr—isn’t it glorious that we will not know her name until the resurrection?—said this. She said, “Yes, once more.” And she stooped down, took off her shoes, gave them to the woman, and went to Heaven barefooted.

Warm affection

After the Protestants in France had suffered a crushing defeat at the battle of Moncontour, their leader de Coligny was being carried away wounded on a litter. A trusted councilor of his was also wounded, a man named L’Estrange, and was being carried behind de Coligny on a narrow road. When the road widened, L’Estrange had his litter bearers carry him up alongside de Coligny. The two men looked at each other without speaking, and then L’Estrange looked away, eyes full of tears. But as he looked away, he said, “So is it that God is very sweet.” De Coligny said later this brief word was used to restore his courage.

Story Lines

There are four basic story lines in the Scriptures which lend themselves to romance, to courage, to high endurance, generosity, and warm affection. They are the Underdog story, the Younger Son as Heir story, the Exile and Return story, and the Death and Resurrection story.

We have the David and Goliath story. We have the Isaac and Ishmael story. We have the Nehemiah story. We have the Easter story. All of these are replicated, countless times, in the history of Protestantism. And they are replicated in ways that called for, and obtained, true courage, high endurance, deep generosity, and warm affection.

A solitary monk with a hammer and nail, and some topics he intended to discuss.

The younger son of northern Europe inherited the West, moving West.

It was not for nothing that the second of Luther’s three major treatises in 1520 was entitled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.

And the story of the Reformation was a true resurrection story. Post tenebras lux, after darkness light.

Conclusion

Friends, we have grown wise in our own conceits, and because we have become boring, we are far too easily bored. You have heard it said that interested people are interesting people. This operates on the same principle, only running in the opposite direction. Dullards look around the world of church history and all they see are what dullard eyes can see, which is not very much. We are actually capable of looking at several centuries of high sustained theological adventure, and seeing nothing more than quaint and archaic expressions that we trip over in the King James Version of the Bible.

If someone read Treasure Island, and summarized it as a tale of a boy who “found some things,” I can think of many things to call such a man, but literary critic wouldn’t be one of them. If someone can look at the 16th and 17th centuries, and see only fustian doctrinal arcana, then is most certain that the problem resides 500 years downstream, and not 500 years upstream.

The plea to modern Protestants from our fathers and mothers in the faith is straightforward—come up higher.

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper, vol. 3 (New York: HarperCollins e-books; HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 971.

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ME
ME
7 years ago

I really enjoyed this. I too have been known to call the faith a romance, a fairy tale, but the real kind before Disney and Harlequin came along and cleaned everything up for us.

Jerrod Arnold
Jerrod Arnold
7 years ago

Hey Doug, do you speak and preach, generally, from a full manuscript? If so, have you ever written anything about why?

Jerrod Arnold
Jerrod Arnold
7 years ago
Reply to  Jerrod Arnold

I ask because you said this post was your speaking notes, and it seemed to be a full manuscript.

John Carnahan
John Carnahan
7 years ago
Reply to  Jerrod Arnold

A normal sermon of Pastor Wilson’s is about 45 minutes. He will cover everything in his sermon notes, but they are only the mashed potatoes, not nearly the entire meal.

Ian Perry
Ian Perry
7 years ago

What’s the source for “the Inquisition sentenced the entire population of Holland to death.
That would number about 3 million souls and the only exceptions were
listed by name”? I looked around and saw a reference to a book from 1856 in a wikipedia discussion.

ME
ME
7 years ago
Reply to  Ian Perry

I don’t know what he is referencing, but didn’t the King of Spain sentence all of Holland to death, with only a few written exceptions?

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago
Reply to  Ian Perry

I can’t find a source for this except on a couple of Reformation sites. There is no doubt that the Council of Troubles (or Blood) persecuted and condemned thousands of Dutch “heretics” but, in my fairly intensive studies of European history, I have not encountered evidence of this. King Philip and the Duke of Alva were determined to restore order, but I am not sure it is fair to say they ordered the deaths of three million people.

ME
ME
7 years ago
Reply to  jillybean

“In 1568 the Inquisition condemned all three million inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as “heretics”.

Men,women,and children. King Phillip was challenged for his harshness, but went forward and reaffirmed it in writing, twice. They clearly did order the execution of 3 million people, including children.

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago
Reply to  ME

Hi ME, can you direct me to the source for this? Thanks.

katecho
katecho
7 years ago
Reply to  jillybean

From The Rise Of The Dutch Republic, by Motley: Events now marched with rapidity. The monarch seemed disposed literally to execute the threat of his viceroy. Early in the year, the most sublime sentence of death was promulgated which has ever been pronounced since the creation of the world. The Roman tyrant wished that his enemies’ heads were all upon a single neck, that he might strike them off at a blow; the inquisition assisted Philip to place the heads of all his Netherland subjects upon a single neck for the same fell purpose. Upon the 16th February, 1568, a… Read more »

John Callaghan
John Callaghan
7 years ago
Reply to  katecho

Propaganda was not a twentieth century invention: Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the third Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1567 – 1573), nicknamed “the Iron Duke” by Protestants of the Low Countries because of harsh rule. Although the Duke led oppressive and brutal military operations in Flanders, his cruelty was exaggerated in Dutch and English folklore, forming a new and central component of the Black Legend. from hollandhistory.net The Netherlands in 1568 was a majority Catholic region and most of the leaders of the Dutch military resistance to Alba were Catholic – including… Read more »

John Callaghan
John Callaghan
7 years ago

The “Protest” at Speyer was against the request to allow Catholics to attend Catholic Masses in states where the prince in charge had converted to Lutheranism – and then forced his subjects to come along with him.

The “right conscience” here was solely that of the princes in attendance. Their subjects were given no choice in the matter.

From a Catholic’s vantage point, those princes at Speyer were the intellectual forebearers of today’s social liberals who are excited by using the power of the state to compel conservative citizens to conform to their new and faddish ideas.

ashv
ashv
7 years ago
Reply to  John Callaghan

Haha. That “Catholic vantage point” is more liberal than any of those princes.

John Callaghan
John Callaghan
7 years ago
Reply to  ashv

How?

ashv
ashv
7 years ago
Reply to  John Callaghan

Concern that “their subjects were given no choice in the matter” stems from modern individualism and would have been alien to everyone before the 18th century or so.

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago
Reply to  ashv

Not so sure about that. What about the English barons in 1215, parliamentarians in the 1600s, and the Dutch burghers who saw their prosperity and power as conferring certain rights?

Surely you’re not defending the Peace of Augsburg and Cuius regio, eius religio.

ashv
ashv
7 years ago
Reply to  jillybean

Well, it was better than what we have now.

Victoria West
Victoria West
7 years ago

I love this and am looking forward to hearing the whole talk.

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago

We should also remember the Oxford Martyrs, burned at the stake during the reign of Bloody Mary. One of them, Hugh Latimer said to his companion, as the flames were beginning to crackle, “Play the man, Master Ridley, we shall this day by God’s grace light such a fire in England as shall never be put out.” But, on the Catholic side of the ledger, there is Thomas More, executed by Henry VIII for refusing to acknowledge him as head of the English church, who said to the axe wielder as he put his head on the chopping block: “Be… Read more »

ashv
ashv
7 years ago

Many people want to pin our current sociopolitical troubles on the Reformation. While it’s true that today’s progressives are largely the intellectual and spiritual descendants of Puritan Massachusetts, that doesn’t explain Vatican II or Francis the Talking Pope.

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago
Reply to  ashv

Are you thinking of today’s progressives as coming from the Mass Bay colony through such men as Alcott, Emerson, and Thoreau? It is nice to see progressivism not blamed on the Jews for once!

ashv
ashv
7 years ago
Reply to  jillybean

Yes, via Unitarianism, Transcendentalism, etc. Communism started in Massachusetts, though Jews found it admirably suited to their dispositions.

DCHammers
DCHammers
7 years ago

Great conference. Every talk packed with information, emotion, wisdom, challenge and encouragement. Thanks!

Joey Wells
Joey Wells
7 years ago

“Protestantism is thought by many to be a cold and austere thing, a tangle of negations, a deracinated approach to Christian faith, something that for two cents will slip into etiolated liberalism.” 95% of modern protestants will either worship this morning using a liturgy and in a sanctuary that cannot be honestly called anything other than cold and austere, OR with a body eaten through with progressivism like the blue in the cheese. A blessed handful of orthodox Anglicans, Lutherans, and of course, the CREC-type Presbyterians (you can tell them by the fact that they are not frowning, at least… Read more »

jillybean
jillybean
7 years ago
Reply to  Joey Wells

Liturgy doesn’t have to be austere; it can be warm and comforting, and a sanctuary which appears cold can be made warm with shared memories and associations.

As a Catholic, I find much of Protestantism to be colder and more austere than my own faith, but there are notable exceptions. Black evangelical churches and non-Calvinist evangelicals strike me as having a more emotional approach to faith and worship.

Clay Crouch
Clay Crouch
7 years ago
Reply to  Joey Wells

I had no idea you could discern the intents and motives of 95% percent of protestant hearts on any given Sunday. Joey, could you tell if UNC or Gonzaga is going to when the NCAA Championship?

SinnersInTheHandsOfAnAngryBlog

Beautiful History.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
7 years ago

I know this is off topic but is anyone in the PCA been following this whole thing?

http://pcaliberals.blogspot.com/

geoffrobinson
geoffrobinson
7 years ago

Is there a source for the anonymous Huguenot woman story?