The Reformed Reader Turns Fifteen: An Anniversary Post

Last week I saw a note here on WordPress that the Reformed Reader blog is fifteen years old this month. Sure enough, looking back, I saw that we started the blog up in September of 2007. In the big picture of the Christian life a blog is pretty insignificant. But still, we're thankful to the…

Faith Does Not Say, “What Have I Done?” (Luther)

In Galatians 2:4-5 the Apostle wrote this:  [Now] this matter arose [because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves]. But [we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the…

A Prayer for Help to Flee from Sin (Luther)

Most certainly and primarily the Christian learns to pray from the teaching of Scripture. We have examples of prayers in both Testaments. Most of the Psalms are prayers. Jesus taught us a pattern of prayer. Scripture is our primary resource for improving our prayer lives. However, we can also learn how to pray from other…

Music Monday: Martin Luther, Music, and A Mighty Fortress

Last week I was reading through some of Martin Luther's hymns. It's a devotional activity even to read through his hymns! Below is the excellent preface to Luther's first collection of hymns. I believe it is from the year 1524. After Luther's preface I'll put the words to an original version of what we now…

Luther on His Severe Attacks of the Roman Catholic Church

In 1520 Martin Luther wrote - among other things - three treatises that became very popular. In many ways these three treatises are a must-read for students of the Reformation. These treatises are as follows: "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation," "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church," and "The Freedom of a Christian."…