History Of The Church
Lesson 9: The English Reformation AD 1516 - 1650

Speaker: John Phillis
Date: October 20^th and 27^th, 2004, Wednesday Evening Adult Bible Class

We are continuing in our study that we have been engaging in here in our adult class on Wednesday evenings, looking at the history of the church. Of course, we saw that the church was prophesied in Old and New Testament prophecy; it was foreseen. The church has always been a part of God’s plan. The church was established on the Day of Pentecost, and we saw the progress of that 1^st Century church.

However, we noted that it would not be too many years before the church would begin to develop problems and become apostate. We believe that there has always been a faithful remnant of the church. The point is that we saw the digression of the church that the Lord built into something that was completely different—completely unrecognizable, and it would eventually become the Roman Catholic Church.

In the past few sessions, we have been looking at the Reformation—an attempt on the part of a number of individuals to reform the Roman Catholic Church. And in previous session, we have been looking at the Reformation as it took place on the continent. And tonight, we want to begin looking at the Reformation as it begins to take place in England, even the British Isles.

As important as was the continental Reformation, the Reformation in the British Isles has even greater significance for most American Protestants. As we engage in this study, and studies to follow, we will begin to hear some things that are, perhaps, more familiar to us in terms of some of the names and some of the events, etc., not only because they they’re a bit closer to us chronologically, but also, there are going to be names that we will be familiar, and there will be things that are specifically of interest to us as Americans, because the Reformation, and those who were part of that, will have a significant amount of impact upon the establishment and development of America. Indeed, it is impossible to understand American Protestantism without some knowledge of the English Reformation.

The English Reformation, or, the Reformation that took place in the British Isles, had a peculiar life of its own. It really, in some ways, followed along in a certain way with that which was happening on the continent, none the least of which was the time period. The events that we looked at, the things that were taking place on the continent, beginning in the early part of the 16^th Century and continuing through the mid-point of the 17^th Century, were happening at about the same time frame that we are looking at here in the English Reformation.