REFO Thursdays begin in one week!

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You’ve heard this question before, but just for fun: If you could spend an hour with anyone from history, whom would you choose? For the moment, let’s remove family members. And since you are reading a Christian blog and therefore perhaps more drawn to Jesus than the average blog-reader, let’s remove the savior of the world from the list of possibilities as well. With those two restrictions, where do your thoughts turn? A statesman, a scientist, or a saint? How about an artist, an activist, or an apostle? Would you elect to chat with someone whose name appears regularly in history books or someone whose story and perspective has been lost to us? 

As we near the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in October, 2017, we at Christian History Institute have been spending a lot of time presenting the stories of the reformers through our magazines and videos on the subject. Beginning with Hus and moving on to Erasmus, then Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Menno, and all the rest (and let’s not forget their wives, mothers, and sisters), we’ve studied, discussed, and debated the reformers and their ideas. They are friends we would like to get to know better! 

With that in mind, we plan to hold a conversation WITH the reformers, rather than ABOUT them. Beginning on Thursday, October 6, and continuing weekly for thirteen months, we will embark on REFO Thursdays. We’ve invited a diverse group of writers to select quotes from the Reformation era and then reflect on them with wisdom from their own lives. We’ll hear from students and professors, historians and editors, leaders and activists, all of whom will share their own stories in conversation with a person from the Reformation era. History, theology, and story will take center stage, along with a nice dose of inspiration. 

Please join us for REFO Thursdays, beginning one week from today. You’ll be able to find them on this blog (RSS feed available), our e-newsletter (sign up in the blue box on the right), and our Facebook and Twitter accounts (be sure to follow these).

 

One of the big questions the reformers asked is: Who is able to read/interpret the Scriptures? And the follow-up: How should we follow the truths we uncover there?  Our hope with the REFO Thursday series is to continue the conversation the reformers opened up and to ultimately ignite a passion for truth. So, today we’ll leave you with a quote from Martin Luther. Perhaps you can imagine yourself sitting with him to share your thoughts: 

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” - Martin Luther