Here We Stand

Luther stood not on the pronouncements of popes, or the decisions of councils, or the winds of popular opinion, but on “that word above all earthly powers.”

Katharina married Martin Luther to survive as a runaway nun, but their marriage proved to be a model in a time when “pastor’s wife” was a new role.

The Reformation required more than theological giants. It also demanded organizational geniuses.

He took the lead role in writing the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the most ringing affirmations of faith in all of Christian history.

Theodore Beza gave form to what we now call Calvinism by explaining and defending the biblical doctrines Calvin had rediscovered.

Lady Jane Grey was a teenage victim of social and political conspiracy, beheaded at seventeen for her faith. But her life is far from a tragedy.

German Reformer Balthasar Hübmaier had a powerful voice, a mightier pen, and a life that echoed his Reformed and Baptistic beliefs, even under torture.

Robert Estienne was the premier printer of the Protestant cause. He put Reformation doctrine and the Bible itself into the hands of ordinary people.

The key to John Calvin’s life: he recovered and embodied a passion for the absolute reality and majesty of God.

John Knox feared the face of no man, which equipped him to bring reform to his homeland in the Highlands.

Conrad Grebel is known as a “radical Reformer” — a leader who took the movement one step further by insisting on separating church from state.

Without Zwingli, there would have been no Reformation in Zurich. Without Heinrich Bullinger, it would not have lasted.

Hellen Stirke did not debate theology, write a treatise, or preach to hundreds. She just staked her soul on Scripture — and paid for it with her life.

He never preached a sermon and never authored a theological treatise. He was a Reformer by accident — or, better, by common grace.

If the Reformation could be summarized in three men, then alongside Martin Luther and John Calvin would be the Swiss giant, Huldrych Zwingli.

One Lord, one faith, one stake. The story of two great Reformers burned at the same stake.

Though once utterly enchanted with Catholic piety, William Farel would be used by God to liberate countless thousands from the bondage of Roman superstition.

Thomas Cranmer led England from Roman Catholicism and shaped England’s theology perhaps more than any other Reformer.

To some a queen, to others a heretic, Marguerite de Navarre used her royal power to win others to Reformed faith — and then protect them under persecution.

What Marie Dentière lacked in feminine modesty or humility for her day, she made up for with unrivaled zeal for the gospel.

He was the German glue of the Protestant movement — the unifier between the diverse strands of Reformation.

William Tyndale gave his life so British commoners could know the Bible — not in Latin, but in their own mother tongue.

Thomas Becon brought the Reformation from the churches to the kitchens, courts, shipyards, and battlefields. All of life is a stage for worshiping God.

After fifteen years of preaching Catholic doctrine, Peter Martyr awoke to the gospel, fled his home, and championed the Reformation across Europe.

While searching for the doctrine of transubstantiation in Scripture, he discovered the gospel instead.

He sought to win his opponents not with violence, coercion, or insults, but with endless gentleness.

She was wife to four husbands, mother to eleven children, and disciple to one Lord who never left her side.

While Luther was brash, impulsive, and forceful, his brilliant young disciple was a timid, sober-minded unifier.

Girolamo Savonarola condemned the pope’s abuses and elevated the authority of Scripture — all while Luther was only a child.

Jan Hus was a preacher, a political figure, a prophet, a proto-Reformer, and a martyr of the first class.

This proto-Reformer’s protest against the Catholic Church was the first tremor of the coming spiritual earthquake.

John Wycliffe died almost exactly a hundred years before Martin Luther was born, but his impact on the Reformation is unmistakable.

Martin Luther didn’t stand alone 500 years ago. Nor does he stand alone today. To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we invite you to join us on a 31-day journey, just 5–7 minutes each day, to meet the many heroes of the Reformation.