Same Roots, Different Times

I've got to say this, I really have a soft spot for the Reformation. Maybe it's because people standing up for what they think is right strikes a chord with me, maybe it's because I love the idea of challenging tradition or maybe it's because Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony has the media world currently ablaze. I love when people realize that something is wrong, and that they have power to do something about it.

Traditional Catholic Church

The Reformation was sparked when people started to say, "Hey, I don't need this guy telling me what this scripture means anymore, I've got it right here in my hands." and the more they got into the book that was in their hands they started to say, "Wait a minute, what you're preaching isn't what I'm reading". The further they delved into the scriptures, the more dissonance was realized. Fast forward and jump across the pond to a young fourteen year old boy who is holding that exact same book. He's having the same experience. A classmate of mine shared, "I have noticed in particular how God’s hand played a role in the very details of events transpiring in this time span." And I completely agree (read her blog post here). Another classmate similarly pointed out the parallels between the protestant reformer Martin Luther and Restoration reformer Joseph Smith. He says, "Martin Luther no doubt paved the way for Joseph Smith to do, in his way, the same thing that Luther did: dare to question the churches around him." (read further here)

Calvin, Luther and Joseph Smith

Latter Day Saints have a deep seated belief that the reformers were inspired men that paved the way for the restoration of the Gospel. In the missionary guide Preach My Gospel, leaders of the church mention the reformers as, " 

 truth-seeking men and women [who] protested against current religious practices. They recognized that much of the doctrine and many of the ordinances of the gospel had been changed or lost. They sought for greater spiritual light, and many spoke of the need for a restoration of truth"

While many of these changes of practice and belief influenced Latter-day Saint beliefs dramatically, a few did not.



       Late reformers like Gerrard Winstannly  taught that salvation would come to all men. This universalist ideal came out of the "sola scriptura" movement. In his book, 'The Mysterie of God'  Winstannly uses this scriptural ethos, "for every man shall be saved, saith God through Paul". He attaches the idea of universalism to God himself, building his argument, and denying the traditional Catholic belief of purgatory and hell. This idea of universalism spread like fire. Winstannly helped to found the Quakers, a prominent universalist group in New England. Joseph Smith's dad was also a universalist, which influenced young Joseph in questioning some of the local preachers ideas on salvation and who deserved to be saved. 


      This comes in stark contrast to other restorationists John Calvin and Martin Luther. Calvin taught that salvation was predestined. There were no works, no Eucharist, nothing that would help to save you. Only if God had chosen you could you be saved. Thus, work was no good for salvation, but those good works would grow out of the belief. Luther taught a similar "sola fide" theology. This was the idea that only by faith, not works are we saved. They came together in their opposition of the Catholic churches work based salvation, and authority. Using the new technology of the printing press, Martin published essays against the papacy. They demonstrated an effective control of decorum, using German and newly possible pictures to appeal to the commoner. 

Erasmus

The spirit of ad fontes, found in nearly all the reformationists also inspired early Latter day saint culture. Erasmus' translation of the bible into Latin was an attempt to make the Bible more like the original Greek manuscripts. He did an in depth comparison of the manuscripts to the old latin translation and tried to find the spirit of the words. Others like Wycliffe, and later on, the King James Version  translators would also attempt to make translations that were more accurate and had power behind them. This ideal was what drove Joseph Smith to study Hebrew, German, Greek, and other languages in an attempt to read the original manuscripts, and carries on today in the LDS culture of scripture study.

     

           The Latter day Saints believe that "to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance" (Talmage) and that almost all will be saved. This belief comes out of our scriptures and our interpretations of them. It is a blend of all three reformers beliefs. Where "Sola scirptura" "Sola Fide" and Universalism meet is where you find the core of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

photo attribution - Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-60015-0002 / Giso Löwe / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0]

By Hans Holbein - Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain