Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - The Church in Sardis prefigures the Protestant Reformation?

Evangelical · 10-04-2017, 03:46 PM

I think many would agree that Reformation is a continual thing. We cannot remain stagnant however that is what the Reformed churches became. They stopped at the matter of salvation by faith but did not recover the gifts of the Spirit. The charismatic movement tried to restore the spiritual gifts to the church because they saw that the bible is not just about Calvinism vs Arminism.

However let us be clear. The aim of Reformation was to reform the Catholic church..not to go back to the time of the apostles.. A better word is Recovery. To reform the church is to say that the early Catholic church was the right one..and that is all the world knew for hundreds of years.

The aim of Recovery is to recover even the things corrupted and lost by the early Catholic church.

I can say with some degree of confidence that no Reformed church has the goal of bringing Christ back or recover the church condition. They have become as much about forms and rituals as Catholics before. Which is why I guess they can blend so well with Catholics in ecumenical services. But i think the reformers Luther Calvin etc would be shocked at how catholic the reformed churches have become.

10-04-2017, 03:46 PM	#20
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: The Church in Sardis prefigures the Protestant Reformation? I think many would agree that Reformation is a continual thing. We cannot remain stagnant however that is what the Reformed churches became. They stopped at the matter of salvation by faith but did not recover the gifts of the Spirit. The charismatic movement tried to restore the spiritual gifts to the church because they saw that the bible is not just about Calvinism vs Arminism. However let us be clear. The aim of Reformation was to reform the Catholic church..not to go back to the time of the apostles.. A better word is Recovery. To reform the church is to say that the early Catholic church was the right one..and that is all the world knew for hundreds of years. The aim of Recovery is to recover even the things corrupted and lost by the early Catholic church. I can say with some degree of confidence that no Reformed church has the goal of bringing Christ back or recover the church condition. They have become as much about forms and rituals as Catholics before. Which is why I guess they can blend so well with Catholics in ecumenical services. But i think the reformers Luther Calvin etc would be shocked at how catholic the reformed churches have become.