THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

AND DENOMINATIONS
ANDRE WU
HISTORY OF CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS

State Churches were the norm before the Reformation

• A.D. 33 – 311: Roman Empire
• A.D. 312 – 1500’s: Constantine
• Early Reformation
HISTORY OF CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS
A.D. 33 – 311: Roman Empire
HISTORY OF CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS
A.D. 312 – 1500’s: Constantine

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ
(Christos)
HISTORY OF CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS
Early Reformation – The Magisterial Reformers

Martin Luther John Calvin Ulrich Zwingli

1483-1546 1509-1564 1484-1531
Germany Geneva Zurich
IDEAS TOO RADICAL FOR THE REFORMERS

• Separation of Church and State: The church completely free from

governmental influence.
• Individual Soul Liberty: A person is free to believe according to the
dictates of his conscience.
• Believer’s Baptism: The Church is comprised of only those who have
placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism as initiation to Church
membership
THE ANABAPTISTS
• About the Anabaptists
• Believed the Reformers did not go far enough
• Anabaptist (“ana” meaning “again”) = re-baptizers
• Primary issue was the Separation of Church and State
• Issues for the Anabaptists
• Who made up the real Church: Birthright vs Believer
• Clergy supported by the government
• Everyone baptized: infants of believers and unbelievers
THE ANABAPTISTS
• 1524: Conrad Grebel refused to have his infant daughter
baptized
• January 17, 1525: Public debated in Zurich, Switzerland
“ … all who continued to refuse to baptize their infants should be
expelled from Zurich if they did not have them baptized within one
week.”
• January 21, 1525: First adult baptism in Zurich
• March 7, 1526: Zurich council decree: Re-baptizers will “be
arrested and from that very hour be drowned without mercy.”
• January 5, 1527 Felix Manz became the first Anabaptist martyr.
ANABAPTIST MARTYRS

My dearest child, the true love of God strengthen you in virtue. You who are yet
so young and whom I must leave in this wicked evil perverse world.
Oh that it please the Lord that I might have brought you up. But it seems that it
is not the Lord's will.
Be not ashamed of us, it is the way which the prophets and the Apostles went.
Your dear father demonstrated with his blood that it is the genuine faith.
And I also hope to attest the same with my blood. The flesh and blood must
remain on the posts and on the stake well knowing that we shall meet here
after.

Janneken van Munstdorp (1573)

WHY DO WE HAVE SO MANY DENOMINATIONS?
Denominational theory articulated by the Dissenting Brethren of
Westminster Assembly (1642-1649) :
1. Considering the human inability to see the truth clearly at all times,
differences of opinion about the outward form of the church are
inevitable
2. Even though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the
faith, they are matters of importance.
3. Since no church has a final and full grasp of divine truth, the true
church of Christ can never be fully represented by any single
ecclesiastical structure.
4. Finally, the mere fact of separation does not of itself constitute schism.
It is possible to be divided at many points and still be united in Christ.
WHY ARE SOME CRITICAL OF DENOMINATIONALISM?

• Ignorance of Church history

• Misunderstanding of Denominations
• Denominations ≠ Sectarianism
• Denominations = Inclusivism (e.g. currency)
• Abuse of Denominations
• Exclusivism
• Liberalism