The Two Reformations

October is Reformation Month, and October 31 is Reformation Day ( a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on October 31, alongside All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) during the triduum of Allhallowtide, in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation).

A lot of Christians are not aware of the fact that there were two Reformations: the conservative Reformation and the radical Reformation. The default position of the Lutheran (conservative) Reformation was we kept any tradition that didn't contradict the Gospel. In contrast, the radical Protestant Reformation took the position if a tradition wasn't commanded in the Scripture, they wouldn't do it in worship, aka nuda scripture.

For example, the Bible says, "sing to the Lord, and make a joyful noise." So the Protestant (radical) Reformation said, we are going to sing, but the Bible never said to use a pipe organ. They literally tore out the pipe organs in their churches and threw them on the front lawns. The Bible never said anything about stained glass windows, so they smashed out the stained glass windows, painted over the murals, and only kept those things specifically commanded to be used in worship.

Still today, you will see the remnants of the two Reformations. On the one hand, you'll see beautiful Lutheran churches with all sorts of artwork, such as stained glass windows, paintings, crucifixes, and statues. On the other hand, many Protestant churches will only have bare, whitewashed walls, with the exception of an empty cross.

- Pr. Evan Scamman