Framing the Magisterial Reformation from a Lutheran Perspective

https://issuesetc.org/2026/05/25/the-uniqueness-of-the-lutheran-reformation-dr-jordan-cooper-5-25-26-1452-encore/

For the most part I appreciate Jordan Cooper and the work he does. Despite my many differences with him on questions of doctrine and Scriptural interpretation, I appreciate his spirit and the careful and conscientious way in which he approaches theological questions. In terms of being an ambassador for Confessional Lutheranism, there is no one better that I'm aware of.

However on this point concerning the uniqueness of the Lutheran Reformation and the way he frames it as a 'Traditional' or 'Conservative' Reformation as opposed to being 'Radical', I must disagree. But the debate itself is interesting and informative.

Christianity and Cynicism: Nonconformity, Dissent, and Defacing the Coin

Historians have long debated the relationship between the Cynics and early Christianity. There are some striking similarities to be found in the lives of the Cynics who emerged in the context of Classical Greece, a few hundred years before Christ - so much so, that some believe Christ may have been influenced by them.

The likeness is superficial. The Cynics rested their thought on a different epistemological basis and their ethics were also different - and yet similar enough at times to generate a lot of discussion. For those wishing to make direct comparisons or find some trace of lineage, it's a dead end. That said, the similarities can be striking and nevertheless generate some interesting reflection. The Cynics raise issues in terms of ethics and society that the Church can benefit from. And this is not something new or something that emerged in this era of comparative religious studies.

The Historical Canon of the Waldenses, Charism, and the First Reformation

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-troubling-revival-of-historic-anti.html

As I have recently indicated, the hijacking of the Septuagint and Apocrypha debate by Right-wing Anti-Semites has been the source of considerable grief for me as I believe it unnecessarily muddies the waters and will overshadow future discussion. This issue is one of many that I have called attention to in recent years - another point of deviation (on my part) from the Magisterial Reformation narrative as embraced by Confessionalists and contemporary Evangelicals.

That said, the issue of the Apocrypha and Septuagint is still a live one for me and the Right-wing's attacks on the Masoretic Text and tradition are an unfortunate complication. Leaving that aside with assurances that in no way am I motivated by anything Anti-Semitic, let us turn to the historical and doctrinal issues at hand.

The suggestion that the Apocrypha (so-called) was only formally adopted by Trent in the 16th century is misleading if not altogether false.

Ghosts of Weimar: A Lament for Lutherans Struck Blind

I found myself frustrated listening to a couple of Missouri-Synod pastors discussing what they called The American Interim - an attempt to draw a parallel with the Augsburg and Leipzig Interims (1548-1555). German Lutherans were forced to make concessions in the wake of their 1547 defeat in the First Schmalkaldic War. Eventually the Protestant princes rose and in the Second war of that name they achieved victory marked by the 1555 Peace of Augsburg.

The Erastian End - Canterbury and Modern Feminist Britain

Much has been written and said about the selection of Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Indeed her election makes the apostasy of that organisation all but indisputable. The Church of England left New Testament Christianity behind long ago - even at its inception in the 1500's. That said, many laboured within it attempting to apply the New Testament and turn it into something more sound. They failed, and the failure has been apparent for a very long time. The election of Sarah Mullally means they cannot pretend any more. I actually count it a positive. We can literally 'write off' the Church of England. The viable sections connected to 'Anglicanism' are now outside of and disassociated from communion with that See.

The Usury Dilemma Revisited (II)

To me the issue is not about specifically paying usury or even enabling those who sin by taking it from me. I don't expect otherwise from the world - though I do admit I struggle with loving these people who right and left beat me down and steal the money right out of my pocket - money I literally earned by my own sweat. And unlike them I labour assiduously to be honest and fair in my dealings - to my own hurt if need be. I would rather have a clear conscience then shrug my shoulders and be like them.

My real issue is with those Christians who have jumped the fence and stand on the Babylonian side - exploiting not just society at large but fellow Christians. I expect the lost to engage in dog-eat-dog ethics - Darwin's survival of the fittest. This is as old as Cain and Lamech. But I do have a problem with the Christians who have entrenched themselves in the system and are right at home in these various industries and sectors of society - making money hand over fist on the basis of what is essentially legal extortion and Babylonian alchemy. I have a problem with Christians who have baptised this law of the jungle, this atheistic ethic that is completely opposed to New Testament religion.

The Rich Young Ruler, Law, and New Covenant Supremacy (I)

Not long ago I listened to a sermon on the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19 and I was struck by the difficulty the preacher seemed to have in dealing with the passage. I agree, there are some interpretive challenges but I think that often these difficulties are the result of theological baggage that's brought to the text.

The Magdeburg Confession of 1550

While there is much to laud with regard to Lutheranism, the 1550 Magdeburg Confession is a remarkable exception. Written by Lutheran pastors, the document argues for the basis of lawful resistance - in other words the justification for Christians killing others to secure their own rights and privileges. Indeed, there are times when Christian must resist certain laws. But it must be asked if this perceived need or right allows the Christian to abandon New Testament ethics? Is this not a case of the end justifying the means?

Samuel Davies: A Colonial Era Hero, Presbyterian Patriot, and Christ-hater

https://americanreformer.org/2024/07/samuel-davies-colonial-presbyterian-patriot/

My eye was drawn to the locales mentioned in the opening paragraph. They are well known to me as my family has made a point of visiting these places for historical reference - and they're not too far away from where we live.

Samuel Davies (1723-1761) is also a name well known to me from my days spent in OP and PCA circles. He is a titan in American Presbyterianism but to be honest I hadn't give Samuel Davies a lot of thought in quite a few years. So by this point I was hooked and decided to read the article.

Hobbes and Calvinist Scholasticism

https://regensburgforum.com/2016/12/12/political-theology-modernity-and-late-scholasticism/

The context for this discussion is the epistemological crisis that emerged with the Magisterial Reformation. The Protestant Reformers looked to the state to legislate their religious reforms and counter the authority of the Roman Catholic Church - which in many parts of Europe had lost its standing with the state. The Magisterial Protestant rebellion had to be justified philosophically and ethically and as such there were various appeals to Scripture, lesser magistrates, conscience, and early forms of social contract theory.

Herman Bavinck's Monism and Redefinition of the Kingdom (I)

https://www.wyattgraham.com/p/what-does-herman-bavinck-mean-by

Reading this article about Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of thoughts. His influence is profound and growing and yet is this something to celebrate?

Realms of Enchantment and Mystery

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/living-wonder/

I rather enjoyed reading this review though I have not decided whether I will pick up Dreher's book. The work in question is Rod Dreher's 'Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age'. I found myself disagreeing with both Dreher and Darville the reviewer, but there's a great deal of food for thought.

Appropriating the Waldenses (II)

Too often Protestants have fallen prey to 'successionist' thinking or rather tying the idea of succession to some kind of institutional or genealogical pedigree. The apostolic succession (if we want to call it that) is located not in a group, tribe, geographic location, or institutional/ecclesiastical continuity but in the doctrine of the apostles. Those who recognize and obey the Christ-granted oracular authority of the apostles or New Testament writers are the heirs of the apostles.

Appropriating the Waldenses (I)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/church-history/article/waldensianism-before-waldo-the-myth-of-apostolic-protoprotestantism-in-antebellum-american-anticatholicism/0A7BA2B1A7B2B890E8A2A2622E710EC3

For obvious reasons this article on Waldensian Historiography captured my attention and I was thinking of Philip Schaff long before his name emerged in the article.

Romanticism took on many hues during the 19th century and while American Protestants poured most of their energy into crafting the narrative about the Mayflower Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers, they were not alone. Hostility to Roman Catholicism generated other historical debates over Church History and Protestants from the US and the UK, to France and beyond wanted a piece of the Waldensians.

Rome vs. Geneva

I've been unable to find the source for the quote but there's a statement made by someone in the 18th or 19th century about how the civilisational clash is between Rome and Geneva. The point being, the Geneva in question is not the Geneva of Calvin but of Rousseau and Voltaire. In other words Geneva represents not the Reformation but the Enlightenment.

The Bohemian Brethren and the Crowning of Frederick V

I've been working my way through Edmund Alexander de Schweinitz's The History of the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum; or, The Unity of the Brethren, Founded by the Followers of John Hus (1885), and I was once again particularly struck by the episode leading up to the Thirty Years War and the Counter or Anti-Reformation that was the result.

After the 1618 Defenestration of Prague, the Protestant uprising against the Habsburg Ferdinand II, the various Protestant leaders of Bohemia (Utraquists and Lutherans) decided to reject Ferdinand's claims and instead appealed to the Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate to come and be their king.

Inbox: The Church as Institution vs. Sect (II)

The non-sacral sect model views culture as something that is at best inevitably corrupt (and thus to some degree a thing indifferent), and at worst a subversive danger to the Kingdom. This must be juxtaposed with the sacral-institutional model that views culture as something to be mastered, shaped, and controlled. When I say 'indifferent', this is not to suggest that it can be used expansively or with abandon. On the contrary our interactions with it must be marked by caution and even cynicism - and yet without fear. Such wisdom and occasionalism prove difficult and thus many have (in the spirit of the Pharisees) erected the Legalist Wall as a means of protection - a move that is ultimately corrosive in that in addition to being unbiblical it has the tendency to shut down the spiritual faculties of discernment instead relying on a kind of checklist spirituality wed to a (fundamentally flawed) cultural narrative.

A Rather Foolish Argument for Creedalism

https://www.smalltowntheologian.org/for-those-who-argue-against-creeds/

Those who reject Confessionalism are fools we're told by this Small Town Theologian. I'm afraid his arguments were less than convincing. In fact I would throw the 'fool' label right back at him.

Belgic Article XXXVI and Kuyperianism (II)

These discussions and debates are further confused by the influence of Neo-Calvinism (not to be confused with New Calvinism) and Theonomy which build on Kuyper and in some cases apply his ideas (by means of holistic assumption and inference) to their monistic models. Under such thinking, Sola Scriptura is effectively redefined not only in terms of philosophy but with this recasting comes a notion we might call hyper-sufficiency.

Belgic Article XXXVI and Kuyperianism (I)

https://reformedperspective.ca/on-the-proper-role-of-government-and-article-36-of-the-belgic-confession/

The Reformed Perspective/Bredenhof article in question provides a worthy discussion of the some of the dynamics concerning Article xxxvi of the Belgic Confession (1559) and the views of Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). To many in the Reformed sphere, their teachings are effectively one and the same and yet this is not actually the case. For some Kuyper actually represents a serious departure creating an uncomfortable situation for those who would both champion Kuyper as the twentieth-century Reformed Theologian par excellence, and yet demand a strict Confessional Subscription.

In Belgic Article xxxvi we read: