WHY THE REFORMATION STILL MATTERS
By Michael Reeves and Tim Chester
IVP. 175 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 783 594 078
This is probably the standout book for the celebrations of the Reformation this year, the 500th anniversary of Luther’s publishing his 95 theses.
It covers the major doctrinal rediscoveries which occurred in the Reformation period. Obviously the dominant Roman Catholic Church had taught about such things as grace, sin, justification and the cross throughout medieval times. But they had not been teaching what the Word of God taught. Reeves and Chester's approach is to show how the Reformers exposed the errors of medieval theology, as the thrilling truths of free grace emerged from their studies. That this exercise is undertaken in a way which shows how the Reformation addressed the big questions of human existence – Who am I? What is wrong with us? Can we truly know God? How do we know what is true? – gives the book both a very interesting and perti-nently contemporary feel.
