“As the pastor of a local church, I welcome this series and especially the present volume: The Reforming Era. Truth be told, these books cannot arrive soon enough. In a time when the spirituality of American church-es has been described as ‘three thousand miles wide and an inch deep,’ these volumes offer a helpful and needed correction. Unlike the spate of so-called devotional works that fill the bookstore shelves—and line the pockets of celebrity authors—The Book of Saints draws from the deep wells of devotion, piety, and prayer of our spiritual forebears, many of whom suffered and died while clinging to their convictions. Dr. Truesdale has been careful in his selection of saints to include both men and women and to represent the three major traditions—Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox. To read about these saints’ lives, to hear their voices, and to pray their prayers once again is to experience an alternative nar-rative to the crass consumerism that afflicts the modern church. Instead, these saints “pay it forward” with their witness to the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ, and we are their beneficiaries.”

—Robert Jack, DMinSenior Pastor, Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church

Charlotte, North Carolina

“Some of the great saints of the church came out of the turbulent time of change in Western Christianity known as the Reformation. Al Truesdale invites his readers to listen carefully to their voices and to reflect prayer-fully on their walk with God. Dr. Truesdale boldly crosses denominational boundaries and brings out nuggets of spiritual gold from different Chris-tian traditions. He treats the saints of the Reformation era with sincere love and theological generosity. However, this book is markedly different from other anthologies of Christian thought and hagiographies. Dr. Trues-dale encourages his audience not just to read the life stories of the saints and their testimonies but also to pray and to meditate on the Scriptures with them. All of this creates a profound experience of reconnecting with the deep roots of our faith and of recapturing the sense of belonging to the church universal that transcends time and space.”

—Arseny Ermakov, PhDHead of Discipline and Lecturer in Biblical Studies

School for Christian Studies, Booth CollegeSydney, Australia

AL TRUESDALE, Editor

AL TRUESDALE, Editor

T HE BOOK OF S A IN T STHE REFORMING ERA

Copyright © 2015 by Al TruesdaleBeacon Hill Press of Kansas CityPO Box 419527Kansas City, MO 64141www.BeaconHillBooks.com

ISBN 978-0-8341-3495-9

Printed in theUnited States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Cover Design: Arthur CherryInterior Design: Sharon Page

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataThe book of saints : the reforming era / Al Truesdale, editor.

pages cmIncludes bibliographical references.ISBN 978-0-8341-3495-9 (pbk.)

1. Christian biography. 2. Christian saints. 3. Reformation—Biography. 4. Church history— 16th century. 5. Church history—17th century.

BR315.B66 2015270.6092'2 —dc23[B]

2015023793

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copy-right © 1979, 1980, 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Text marked BCP is adapted from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979).

Text marked Hymnary is adapted from Hymnary.org.

Note: To improve readability, it has been necessary to paraphrase many of the public-do-main translations featured in this book.

The Internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 7Catherine of Genoa 9Martin Luther 13Thomas More 37John Calvin 51Thomas Cranmer 73Menno Simons 91Teresa of Ávila 101John of the Cross 113Francis de Sales 121Metrophanes Kritopoulos of Alexandria 139Jeremy Taylor 143François Fénelon 153Madame Jeanne Guyon 167Johann Arndt 181John Owen 199Blaise Pascal 203Philip Jacob Spener 209Henry Scougal 215

SOURCES 221

As bread is made of many grains, broken by the mill, kneaded together with

ZDWHU��DQG�EDNHG�LQ�WKH�RYHQ�E\�ÀUH��VR�WKH�FKXUFK�RI�*RG�LV� made of many believers who have been broken in their hearts

by the hammer of the divine Word and baptized with the ZDWHU�RI�WKH�+RO\�*KRVW�DQG�WKH�ÀUH�RI�SXUH�ORYH�—Menno Simons, “The Lord’s Holy Supper,” in

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✚ ✚ ✚

7KH�&KXUFK��DV�D�FRPPXQLRQ�RI�GLIIHUHQW�SHRSOHV�DQG�DJHV�� LQ�PXWXDO�XQGHUVWDQGLQJ�DQG�HQULFKPHQW��LV�GDPDJHG��OLPLWHG�� DQG�GLYLGHG�E\�DQ�XQIRXQGHG�WRWDO�EHOLHI�LQ�RQH·V�RZQ�WUXWK��

ZKLFK�UHDOO\�EHWWHU�GHVHUYHV�WKH�QDPH�RI�KHUHV\�—Charles Taylor, $�6HFXODU�$JH� p. 755

7

INTRODUCTION

A most difficult truth for Christians and the church to embrace is that the triune God is free—free to be himself and free to EH�VWHDGIDVWO\�WUXH�WR�himself (Rom. 3:21-26). There is no greater idolatry than our relentless habit of trying to make the Sovereign God a sworn ally of our own ideas, ethnicities, politics, and denominational affiliations. We wonder, “Why would God ever transgress our infallible boundaries?”

The Bible tells the remarkable story of this free God, who in being faithful to himself is also always faithful to us and to his cre-ation (Ps. 100:4-5). Its pages are populated by people who watched as boundaries they thought God should recognize, collapsed. Con-sider the prophets Habakkuk and Jonah in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the Pharisees, Peter on the rooftop in Joppa, and Saul of Tarsus arrested by Christ on his way to Damascus. The Bible is also populated by persons who became joyful beneficiaries of the free, gracious God. The Ninevites, Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus, and the Samaritan woman at the well are prominent examples. Pope Francis calls this characteristic the “unruly freedom of the Word” and the “abundantly free working of the Holy Spirit.” The church must joyfully embrace the freedom of the Word “which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our calculations and ways of thinking” ((YDQJHOLL�*DXGLXP, chap. 1, para. 22; chap. 2, para. 246).

Essential for true worship is being willing to let God be God on his terms. This presents a challenge to the church in its institutional form, now visibly fragmented, contrary to Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer (John 17:1-26). Each fragment seems ready to claim God’s endorse-ment. For example, consider this sign sighted in the Midwestern United States: The Third True Holiness Church, Undivided. In spite

8

INTRODUCTION

of all doctrinal differences in Christ’s body, there lives an ecumenici-ty of the Holy Spirit that transcends boundaries. The Spirit finds ways to remind us there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5, NIV). He can’t be corralled or immobilized by sectarian differences. He continues to bear witness to Christ as the world’s Redeemer, dis-tributes Christ’s gifts to the church, and calls all of us to the way of the cross, no matter how inadequate our comprehension.

This book is a window into the activities of the free God during a period in church history marked by acrimonious divisions, many of which continue. Visiting the reasons for the divisions is not our goal. Rather, we will listen to the Spirit as he speaks above the din of sectarian conflict and works to form the image of Christ in his peo-ple. Healing in the church can proceed by listening to the free triune God, by trusting him, and by recalling that all Christians are fellow pilgrims, learning from each other. In 1749, John Wesley expressed this attitude to a Roman Catholic acquaintance: “Let us . . . endeavor to help each other in whatever we agree leads to the kingdom. . . . Let us always rejoice to strengthen each other’s hands in God” (“A Letter to a Roman Catholic,” sec. 17, in Works, 10:86).

The readings in this volume are drawn from Christians who lived during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Reformation (sometimes incorrectly called the Counter-Reforma-tion), and the seventeenth-century aftermath. The formal division between the church in the East and the West occurred five centuries earlier (AD 1054). Readings from sixteenth- and seventeenth-centu-ry Eastern Orthodox figures are scarce. A brief biographical sketch of each person sets the context for the readings that follow. A prayer (sometimes a hymn) and Scripture references* for reflection follow each reading. Collects from The Roman Missal follow a format given by the publisher.

*Scripture references in boldface distinguish Scripture verses quoted or para-phrased in the selections and prayers.

13

MARTIN LUTHER (1483–1546)

Misperceptions can be difficult to dislodge. One such misperception is that when on October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses to the university church door in Wit-tenberg, Germany, he meant to initiate a revolution that would frag-ment western Christendom. In fact, Luther was calling for a debate on practices he believed abusive and contrary to Scripture. The door was a community bulletin board. Luther was disturbed because plenary (full) indulgences* were being crassly sold in a neighboring district.

People from Wittenberg were crossing the border to purchase them. Luther’s theses challenged the practice and its ecclesiastical ra-tionale. His confidence in the theological core of the church and the Scriptures, not revolt against the church, motivated his action. Only reluctantly did Luther conclude that the reforms he was promoting would not be endorsed by Pope Leo X (pope from 1513 to 1521). Even though a papal bull† had already been issued (June 15, 1520) threaten-ing excommunication, in Luther’s 1520 “Open Letter to Pope Leo X,” which introduces the treatise 2Q�WKH�)UHHGRP�RI�D�&KULVWLDQ, he expresses confidence that if only he could get beyond the bureaucratic ring sur-rounding Leo, the pope would agree with Luther. He thinks of Leo as a “Daniel in Babylon” and addresses him as his “most blessed father.”

Martin Luther is one of the most brilliant, complex, and influ-ential figures in Christian history. He arrived on a scene where the soil for religious, intellectual, and political reform had already been

*An indulgence is remission in this life or in purgatory of the temporal punish-ment of sin, the guilt of which having been remitted in the sacraments of baptism and penance.

†An official document issued by the pope or his offices, so named because of the lead seal (bulla) placed at the document’s end to authenticate it.

14

MARTIN LUTHER

prepared. Rampant ecclesiastical abuses (e.g., buying and selling of church offices, heavy papal taxation) had generated a climate of un-rest. Significant reform had occurred earlier in some of the monas-tic orders (e.g., the Benedictines in the tenth century). The biblically centered reforms of John Wycliffe in England (ca. 1330-84) and Jan Huss (ca. 1369–1415) in Prague helped set the stage for Luther. In 1516 the humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) produced a new Greek version of the New Testament that Luther would translate into German (1522). But context alone cannot explain Luther’s agonizing, but successful, journey to the God of all grace.

Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany, to peasant parents of sim-ple piety, a background forever stamped on Luther’s temperament. His father, a miner, was more ambitious than most peasants: his son would be educated for a career in the law. Upon graduation from the University of Erfurt in 1505, Luther was ready to study law. But his plans were altered by a friend’s death and a frightful experience in a thunderstorm, during which he vowed to become a monk. In 1505 Luther joined an Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. He had long been troubled by his sense of sinfulness and God’s wrath and by his com-plete inability to assuage God’s wrath. No matter what Luther did to achieve peace with God, it escaped him.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1507, in 1509 Luther’s superiors sent him to Wittenberg to prepare for a professorship at that recently established university (1502). In 1510 he traveled to Rome, where he was shocked by the low moral and religious tone of the papal court. Even though Luther’s associates admired him for his piety, peace with God continued to elude him. In 1512 he began his lectures on Scrip-ture. Through his study of the Scriptures, Luther finally arrived at the defining discovery that would characterize the Protestant Ref-ormation. As he worked his way through biblical texts, the gospel of Jesus Christ broke over him. He saw that the good news of the gospel is that through faith in Christ the Redeemer, he could be fully recon-ciled to God by grace alone, quite apart from meritorious works that had proved unproductive and obstructive. He also came to realize that through the Spirit he could be assured of God’s free reconciling grace, received through baptism and the Eucharist.

15

MARTIN LUTHER

The first and highest, the most precious, of all good works is faith in Christ the Redeemer. Jesus said that the work of God is to “believe on him whom God hath sent.” We should not pass quickly but should pause a long time to examine Jesus’ words. For from faith all subsequent good works proceed, and from faith they receive their goodness.

We find many who pray, establish endowments, and lead a good life. But if you should ask them if they are sure they are pleasing to God, they would say no. Some very learned men do nothing but teach good works. But the works they require are done outside of faith in Christ, the first and most precious of all good works. Such works are dead, and the conscience stands unsettled toward God. These people lack primary faith in Christ, and so they are uncertain regarding works. Without saving trust in Christ, people will be plagued by a troubled conscience toward God, for their works lack their head. All their goodness is nothing.

When I exalt faith and reject works done apart from faith in Christ, my critics accuse me of forbidding good works, when in truth I am trying hard to teach good works that proceed from faith as its fruit.

Martin Luther, a treatiSe on gooD WorkS, seC. 2

grant, o heavenly father, WKDW�ZH�PD\�VR�IDLWKIXOO\�WUXVW�\RX�DQG�VR�IHUYHQWO\�ORYH�RQH�DQRWKHU��DOZD\V�OLYLQJ�LQ�\RXU�IHDU�DQG�LQ�REHGLHQFH�WR�\RXU�KRO\�ODZ�DQG�EOHVVHG�ZLOO��WKDW�ZH��EHLQJ�IUXLWIXO�LQ�DOO�JRRG�ZRUNV��PD\�OHDG�RXU�OLYHV�DFFRUGLQJ�WR�\RXU�JRRG�SOHDVXUH�DQG�DIWHUZDUG�REWDLQ�WKH�WUXH�DQG�LPPRUWDO�OLIH��ZKHUH�\RX�OLYH�DQG�UHLJQ��ZRUOG�ZLWKRXW�HQG��$PHQ�

thoMas BeCon (1511-67), prayerS: ancient anD MoDern

✚ ✚ ✚

FOR REFLECTION: John 6:25-40; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:19-31; 4:13–5:21; 8:1-17; Gal. 3:21-25; 5:16-26; Eph. 2:1-10; Col. 3:1-4; 2 Pet. 1:2-11; 3:11-13

3

16

MARTIN LUTHER

A Christian is a SHUIHFWO\�IUHH�ORUG�RI�DOO��VXEMHFW�WR�QRQH; a Christian LV�WKH�PRVW�GXWLIXO�VHUYDQW�RI�DOO��VXEMHFW�WR�HYHU\RQH. These state-ments appear contradictory. But if they agree with each other, they will explain the gospel very well.

Each Christian is by trust in Christ so exalted above depen-dence upon works that, by virtue of being redeemed by God’s power, he is lord of all things. Nothing can rob him of the gift of salvation. All things are made subservient to trust in Christ. This does not mean that Christians are placed above all things to control them by physical power.

Insofar as a Christian is free from dependence upon works because he is redeemed by grace through faith alone, he does no works. He is a free lord of all things and possesses all things. But now that he is free from works as a means for obtaining sal-vation, he is servant of all; he does all kinds of works that fulfill the law. This is that faith that works through obedient love. It is the Christian’s singular occupation to serve God and his neigh-bor joyfully and without thought of gain.

Martin Luther, on the freeDoM of a chriStian

o lorD,�PDNH�\RXU�ODZ�RXU�GHOLJKW��3ODQW�LQ�RXU�KHDUWV�WKDW�ORYH�WKDW�IXOÀOOV�WKH�ODZ��7HDFK�XV�WR�ORYH�\RX�ZLWK�RXU�HQWLUH�ZLOO�DQG�EHLQJ��DQG�RXU�QHLJKERU�DV�RXUVHOYHV��.HHS�XV�IURP�GLYLGLQJ�\RXU�FRPPDQGPHQWV�LQWR�JUHDW�DQG�VPDOO��DFFRUGLQJ�WR�RXU�RZQ�EOLQG�SUHIHUHQFHV��$QG�JLYH�XV�JUDFH�KXPEO\�WR�UHFHLYH��DV�\RX�FOHDUO\�WDXJKW�XV��WKDW�ZKRHYHU�WUDQVJUHVVHV�LQ�RQH�SRLQW�LV�JXLOW\�RI�WKH�whole law. Amen.

Christina GeorGina rossetti (1830-94), prayerS: ancient anD MoDern

✚ ✚ ✚

FOR REFLECTION: Rom. 8:1-4, 28; 13:8; 14:1-23; 1 Cor. 2:10-14; 3:21-23; 9:19; Gal. 5:1-6, 13-21; 1 Tim. 2:3-7; James 1:22–2:17; 1 Pet. 1:13-23; 2:1-25

4

17

MARTIN LUTHER

How may the inner person become a righteous, free, and pious Christian, a spiritual, new, and inward person? Certainly no external thing has power to produce Christian liberty and righ-teousness.

What can it profit the soul that the body should be in good health, free, and full of life, that it should eat, drink, and act according to pleasure, when even the most wicked persons are prosperous in these things? Again, what harm can ill health, bondage, hunger, thirst, or any other outward evil do to the soul, when even the most pious of persons and the most free in the purity of conscience before the Lord are harassed by these things? Neither of these conditions has anything to do with liberty or slavery of the soul.

One thing, and one alone, is needed for life, justification, and Christian liberty, and that is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ. Let us therefore hold it as certain and firmly established that the soul can do without everything except the Word of God, without which none of its needs are provided. But, having the Word, a Christian is rich and lacks nothing, since that is the Word of life, truth, light, peace, jus-tification, salvation, joy, liberty, wisdom, virtue, grace, glory, and all good things.

Martin Luther, on the freeDoM of a chriStian

May goD enlighten uS�DOO�E\�KLV�+RO\�6SLULW�VR�WKDW�ZH�PD\�EH�VLQFHUH�DQG�ZLWKRXW�RIIHQFH��ERWK�LQ�RXU�IDLWK�DQG�LQ�RXU�OLIH��WLOO�WKH�GD\�RI�&KULVW��ZKLFK�LV�QHDU�DW�KDQG���EHLQJ�ÀOOHG�ZLWK�WKH�IUXLWV�RI�ULJKWHRXVQHVV��XQWR�WKH�JORU\�DQG�SUDLVH�RI�*RG��$PHQ�

Johann arndt (1555–1621), true chriStianity, prefaCe to Bk. 1, para. 8

✚ ✚ ✚

FOR REFLECTION: Matt. 4:4; 11:1-6; Mark 8:31-38; John 1:1-18; 3:1-22; 7:37-44; 8:26; 11:25; Rom. 5:1-11; 2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:1-10; 1 Thess. 2:1-8

5

18

MARTIN LUTHER

There is no greater favor from God than sending his Word. But what is this Word? The apostle Paul says the Word of God is the gospel of God concerning his Son—incarnate, suffer-ing, risen, and glorified through the Spirit, who sanctifies. To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it, provided it believes the preaching. Faith alone is the saving and efficacious use of God’s Word. The Word of God cannot be received and honored by works but by faith in Christ alone. Just as the soul needs the Word alone for life and justification, it is justified by faith alone. If it could be justified by works, it would have no need of the Word or faith.

Faith cannot exist in connection with works. If you think you could be justified by works in connection with faith, that would involve halting between two opinions. The moment you begin to trust Christ, you learn that everything in you is completely blameworthy, sinful, and damnable. When you have learned this, you will know that Christ the Word is absolutely necessary; he suffered and rose again so by faith you may be-come a new person; your sins are forgiven, and you are justified by the merits of Jesus Christ alone.

Martin Luther, on the freeDoM of a chriStian

o eternal goD,�ZH�MR\IXOO\�FRQIHVV�WKDW�RXU�VDOYDWLRQ�DQG�ULJKWHRXVQHVV�DUH�IRXQGHG�HQWLUHO\�XSRQ�\RXU�HWHUQDO�JUDFH�JLYHQ�WR�XV�WKURXJK�WKH�SHUVRQ�DQG�RIÀFH�RI�WKH�/RUG�-HVXV�&KULVW��:H�FRQIHVV�WKDW�LQ�KLP�DORQH�ZH�DUH�PDGH�ULJKWHRXV��KRO\��DOLYH��EOHVVHG��FKLOGUHQ�DQG�KHLUV�RI�*RG�

Johann arndt (1555–1621), true chriStianity, Based on Bk. 2, Chap. 3, para. 10

✚ ✚ ✚

FOR REFLECTION: Hab. 2:4; Acts 2:14-38; Rom. 1:1-17; 3:10-12, 21-23; 10:4, 9; Gal. 3:1-14

6