The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World

Stephen J. Nichols has been coming out with a lot of books lately and has been highly recommended by a lot of people that I respect. I decided to take a look at a couple of his books and this one in particular, being that I am always looking for more information on the Reformation.

Nichols sets this up for an introduction for the differing reformations that happened all over the globe after the way that was paved by Wycliffe and Hus and then finally with the most powerful Martin Luther.

You can actually get a great understanding of where the book will lead you by seeing the different chapter titles.

1. Five Hundred Years Old and Still Going Strong: Why the Reformation Matters Today

2. A Monk and a Mallet: Martin Luther and the German Reformation

3. Some Middle-Aged Men and a Sausage Supper: Ulrich Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation

4. The Not-So-Radical Radical Reformers: The Anabaptists and the Reformation

5. An Overnight Stay in Geneva: John Calvin and the Swiss Reformation

6. A King and a Divorce: The Anglicans and the British Reformation

7. Men in Black: The Puritans and the British Reformation

8. Women in Black Too: The Untold Story of Women and the Reformation

Appendix: In Their Own Words: Selections from Documents of the Reformation

So, as you can see Nichols tries to cover a lot of ground in one little book, as the book, including the appendix is only 150 pages. It is very short in a lot of areas but it has to be so that the reader that is not accustomed to the Reformation can get their pallet wet enough to want to read other works that get more detailed each of these particular reformation periods.

The one thing that was stated at the first of the book that I was excited to see more about, that I found lacking, came when Nichols said we need to "humanize" the people of history. Meaning, we need to show who they were and not merely what they did. I felt as though Nichols did a pretty good job in this with Luther, but felt that this dropped off in the future chapters with the others. This, by no means, makes this book a disappointment and would definitely recommend it to others for an introduction to who and what went before us.

Nichols does make this history very readable and interesting to read without merely spitting out facts, which is happening in another book I am reading on the same subject. The book flows very well and makes you want to learn more about the reformers, instead of seeing history as a dry and dead subject.

I look forward to reading more books by Nichols and would defnitely recommend this to any who need an introduction to the Reformation from Wycliffe to the Puritans.

Link to Buy

A Case for Traditional Protestantism

This is great book that shares the Five Solas of the Reformation. Terry Johnson goes into each Sola, with the actual definition of how they were meant to be understood by the original Reformers.

I really enjoyed the study through the book and helped my understanding as I have been teaching on these and writing on these Solas. Mr. Johnson goes into good detail of every Sola: Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide and Soli Deo Gloria. The book isn't able to go into complete study as there have been large volumes written on each one of these Solas, but, never the less, Mr. Johnson does give the reader enough information to really spark serious study on the issues at hand.

What I have found is that most claim these Solas but really either don't know what they really mean, or don't live them out practically. Mr. Johnson makes sure that these are well defined so that any reader will at least understand the definition of each Sola, even if they end up disagreeing with the Sola itself.

The one thing that I believed was lacking a little, was pulling in modern thoughts and movements that go against some of these Solas. Mr. Johnson did a great job historically defining them but it would have been nice to get his take on the movements (Seeker, "moderate"Calvinists, Emergent, Word Faith) that fly in the face of the reformed thought on the Solas and the whole point of the Reformation from the Catholic church.

With that said, I would still very much encourage any who don't know the history and definition of the Five Solas to pick up this book as a resource, or read my posts on the subjects at hand. Link to buy