A review of Michael Reeves' 2009 book on the protestant reformation.
Before being gripped by the gospel the reformers recovered, I was an unconverted high school sophomore. During the history unit of that year, our class covered the protestant reformation. At the time, I had never heard of it, and afterwards didn’t know much more about it. I walked away knowing that a guy that may or may not have been Martin Luther King Jr., posted a piece of paper to a church door … and that’s why I was a protestant instead of a catholic.
Unfortunately, much of modern day evangelicalism has a similar experience and knowledge of the reformation. Names like Martin Luther, Calvin, or the 95 theses are somewhere in our memory, but they don’t have much meaning beyond a high school class or a sermon we heard.
In The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation, Michael Reeves narrates the protestant reformation in a way that reveals what was truly behind it: the recovery of the Gospel. Chapter by chapter he walks the reader along the common thread of grace alone through faith alone that was prevalent in each reformer. Full of brilliant storytelling, gripping truths, and, at times, pastoral insight, Reeves takes the reformation from distant history to an up close and personal encounter with the men God used to recover the gospel.
In the first chapter Reeves carefully lays the groundwork for a proper understanding of what led to the reformation. He covers popes, purgatory, and the cultural setting of the late fifteenth, early sixteenth, century. He also touches on some of the “morning stars” of the movement such as Jon Hus and John Wycliff, who were the first sparks of dissent among the catholic church. After laying the foundations, he opens the second chapter, in a very Reeves like fashion, titled “God’s Volcano” - a look at Luther. Subsequent chapters are named in similar fashion and are written with the same animation, telling the tale from Calvin to the modern day.
Throughout the book, lesser known stories of the reformers are told that help us better understand their times and life. As you read, prepare to jump out an apartment window with Calvin as he evades the police, or be kidnapped with Luther by his vigilante friends, or take a stand with reformers against a German doomsday cult. But, you will realize the goal isn't entertainment (though I could hardly put the book down!) and instead gripping portraits of the reality of the spiritual (and often physical) warfare they faced.
My favorite part in the book is when Reeves exposes the heart of the issue at hand: justification by faith alone. He carefully explains the proper understanding of faith that Luther had in a most pastoral way:
“It might be more helpful to describe what Luther discovered as ‘justification by God’s word’ instead of ‘justification by faith’, because it is God’s word that justifies here, not our faith. Faith, thought Luther, is not some inner resource we must summon up; if it were, it would by his definition be sin! For him, the question ‘Have I got enough faith?’ completely misunderstands what faith is, by looking to and relying on oneself rather than Christ. Faith is a passive thing, simply accepting, receiving, believing Christ - taking God seriously in what he promises in the gospel.”
In a generation where history is just a loathsome subject reserved for school, and careful study of the past is replaced with flippant notions of progress, The Unquenchable Flame is a much needed resource for the church. It will reach both the historically indifferent and the scholar alike as a factual and narrative look at why the reformation happened and why this same flame continues to burn today.
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