The Protestant Reformation and The Bible in English

I grew up in a Christian home. My parents would sit with us and read through God’s word and answer questions that we’d have. It wasn’t until I started to homeschool our own children though that I learned about our Christian History and what it cost for my family and many others around the world to have copies of God’s Word in their own hands.

Whether or not you are aware of the cost, do you take having a copy of the Bible for granted? Do you study It daily? Do you teach from it to your children daily? Do you try to live out the principles and commandments of our Savior (not to earn Salvation, but to live the way God wants His people to)?

To help our children be aware of what an affluence and blessing of Bibles that we have in our country, we enjoy listening to Brinkman’s Adventures Episode #25, God’s Mule (you can read about it here at their blog). We also have had them watch The Torchlighters series about missionaries throughout history. The Corrie Ten Boom episode reveals how God helped to conceal the Bible that Corrie and her sister Betsy had so that they may share the Gospel and minister to others.

For English speaking people, we are hugely blessed to have the Bible in English! People that speak other languages are greatly blessed to have the Bible translated into the language they speak as well! What great gift mankind has been given, to have the Bible. For all people, all around the world, the Truths of God’s Word gives us liberty!

Below is how we honor the memory people whom Yahweh used to bless others with His Word…

Learn About Key Individuals in History

Being human, the Protestant Reformers had their errors and flaws. Who doesn’t? Regardless, as God has done throughout History (His Story), He has used imperfect people to move His Story forward. That being said, each year, we learn more about a Protestant Reformer and their role to help make God’s Word accessible to many.

We like to read literature about different Protestant Reformers and use a People Who Impacted History notebook page to keep in a binder (if you’d like a copy of one of these notebook pages, you may find it in the freebie area for Caterpillar Members).

We Study About the Issues

Ideas have consequences. One of the issues was that the Bible was primarily accessible to the wealthy (which often times meant the clergy had copies). Historically, John Wycliffe: “Morning Star of the Reformation” was the first individual of evangelical reformers. To him, the most precious measure of reform was the Gospel. Enter John Wycliffe who had a heart to see the Bible in the hands of the individual; he translated the Bible from Latin to English in order to help see to this. Below is a quote by Prof. G.V. Lechler, D.D. about John Wycliffe:

The principle that God’s Word should be preached to the people, he expanded into the principle that Scripture must become the common property of all. As a means to this end, he saw the necessity of the Bible being translated into the language of the country, with the view of giving it the widest possible diffusion among the population…”

Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History, Rosalie June Slater, 1965, p. 166

Just think of it! People who loved God and His Word spent much of their time here on this earth to see to it that you, and me, our children, our friends, our family, and complete strangers… can have our own copies of God’s Word to learn about Him, His love, His Son Jesus/Yeshua our Savior, His plan for redemption, what sin is and why we need a Savior, how to live lives as His people. With each individual that comes to the saving knowledge of our Savior and chooses self-government under Him, individual lives, communities and nations change.

You can read more about John Wycliffe in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History on pages 166-168 (it’s in our store if you need to purchase a copy, please consider purchasing through us).

We Study About God’s Providential Hand in History

We desire to have our children learn about God, His blessings, to acknowledge when He works things for good for those who love Him, and to give thanks to Him for what He has done.

One of the key resources I value learning from for our studies is below with quotes:

When all parts of the civilized world were bound together in one empire,– when one common organization pervaded the whole, –when channels of communication were everywhere opened– when new facilities of travelling were provided, –then was the ‘fulness of time’ (Galatians 4:4), then the Messiah came.

Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History, Rosalie June Slater, 1965, p. 165

We Have Dinner and a Film

Sometimes we have a small get together with friends and sometimes it’s simply our own family. In either case, we will have a simple meal along the lines of the time period and culture we’re studying and watch a film together. If we can find one about the Protestant reformer we’re studying about, we’ll watch it. Otherwise, we’ll pick any given one.

We Dress Up:

Knights, kings, queens, princesses, separatists, show up for the dinner and film.

It’s a time of remembering those who have gone before us…

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! ~Isiah 52:7

Blessings!