When Is a Reformer Not a Reformer

 There are many claims as to what it means to be Reformed. To me, it means entering into a battle with tradition and human reason that conflicts with a solid exegesis of the Bible. In other words, it means the highest commitment to the banner of sola Scriptura as we march out to wage war with other ideas inside and outside the church.

I would strongly argue that the Reformers did not see their role as innovators but as discriminate preservers of orthodoxy. This means that when they came across ideas that were biblical, they attempted to keep them. When they came across ideas that stemmed from tradition or philosophy, they sought to be critical of them using the standard of sola Scriptura, i.e., Scripture as the ultimate judge, the norm that norms all other norms. 

When they innovated, and they did, they failed at their job, and it is my contention that it is our job to see where they failed and to correct it if we wish to take upon ourselves the role of reformers ourselves. 

They were wrong about divorce and remarriage. They were wrong about paedocommunion. They were wrong about the Sabbath. 

Interestingly enough, each of the above were all contrary positions to that of the church for the first 1000-1500 years. The reasoning as to why they took a contrary view to the historical understanding of the issue of divorce and remarriage was not on biblical grounds but human reasoning. The reason why it adopted a practice against the historic church's concerning paedocommunion was based upon a medieval tradition and the eisegesis of 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. The reason why it adopted a position contrary to the historic church's concerning the Sabbath was again based upon tradition and ignoring the biblical reasoning given by the early church concerning the day. 

In essence, it was tradition and human reason that led them to conclude contrary to the early church's positions on these issues, not a consistent commitment to sola Scriptura when it came to these. By their own job descriptions as Reformers, they have failed to fulfill their role. We must now do this for them. 

When is a Reformer not a Reformer? When he fails to decipher between what is tradition based upon the Bible and what is merely traditional. If sola Scriptura be not the highest banner in our theology, let our ideas lay slain upon the battlefield forever.