5 Revivals at the pre-Dawn of the reformation

(AD 1200-1500)

During this period, Europe was prosperous, but moral standards were low. Theological schools propagated dry scholasticism. By the 14th century, the papacy had reached its zenith of power, but soon fractured along political lines, resulting in two, and eventually three, rival popes. Ordinary people were hungry for authentic Christianity. It was in this climate that God raised up men to bring the gospel of salvation and holiness to the people.

The fearless refusal of the early Reformers to compromise and to allow corruption and misinterpretation of the Bible brought hope and life to the Church. These revivals drew thousands of people back to God.

Some noteworthy leaders established strong Christian movements that significantly advanced the cause of Christ. The Church wielded great influence across many areas: people’s social lives, education, politics, and the economy—essentially every aspect of their lives. Unfortunately, the clergy became corrupt, using the Christian faith to enrich themselves while leading immoral and corrupt lives. Many Christians reacted against this, and several strong leaders and movements challenged these practices, seeking the Bible’s true message. God poured out His Spirit on numerous occasions during this period, leading to several movements that brought the light of the gospel to the people.

Five Pre-Reformation Leaders

The following five individuals represent only a snapshot of the pre-Reformation period. These five men made significant contributions, but many others also carried the flame of truth and devotion to Jesus Christ during this time.

The men who led these movements got dissatisfied with their present situation and simply started to speak out. They did remarkable work.

St. Peter Damian (1007-1073)

Peter Damian is not very well known, but his life created quite a stir in his generation. He was described as an impossible man. An 11th-century Benedictine reformer, Dante placed Damian in the highest circle of paradise as a saint and the predecessor of St. Francis of Assisi. He had some rough edges, and in certain areas, he held some extreme views.” But before we judge him too harshly for this, we need to understand the context of his time. A thousand years ago, there was little regard for truth or for the integrity and purity of the Christian faith, nor was there much awareness of the gravity of sin. The Church was complacent; corruption was rampant, and moral and theological decay was pervasive among the clergy, Church leaders, and ordinary people alike. Peter Damian called for reform against the “evils and unbiblical practices” of his time: corruption, nepotism, abuse of power, simony, and the sale of certain Church positions for money. He was outspoken about the widespread acceptance of homosexuality, paedophilia, and pederasty, particularly among the clergy.

He was relentless in his outcry. He was later canonised by the Roman Catholic Church and became St Peter Damian. He was criticised as being fanatical and negative. But he was, in fact, passionate about the welfare of souls, faithfulness to Jesus, and the truth of the gospel. It was precisely this passion that made him severe and unsparing in his denunciation of all forms of corruption and immorality. He could simply not be swayed by obstacles or opposition. He earned a reputation for being an impossible man – unmanipulable, unbribable, undeterrable, and “unclubbable”. He was a typical example of a “prophet” calling the Church back to Jesus, holiness, the truth, and care for souls.

Before and after Peter Damian, many other men and women called for reform in the Church. Most of their names have disappeared in the annals of history.

Peter Waldo (1140-1218)

In about 1176, while reading a translation of the New Testament, Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant from Lyons, France, discovered what Christ taught. After an intense struggle, he attained assurance of salvation. He kept only enough money for himself and his family and gave away the rest. He established a group called “the Poor Men of Lyons”. They became known as the Waldensians and sought to preach the gospel as laymen. They preached a simple gospel of devotion to Christ, emphasising love for Christ, His Word, and a life of poverty for the sake of the gospel.

Peter Waldo sent out preachers across France, Flanders, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Austria, and Hungary. They even took the gospel into the high Alps. Two by two, these preachers travelled through central and eastern Europe and beyond until hundreds of thousands shifted their allegiance from the formal and dead Church of the day to Christ Himself. So far-flung was the Waldensian movement that the missionaries could travel from Cologne, Germany, to Florence, Italy, nearly 900 km, and stay every night at the home of one of the brethren. One historian has called this the most remarkable missionary movement ever. By 1592, when Henry IV of France made a treaty with the churches of the valleys of Piedmont, it was reported that Protestants outnumbered Catholics by a ratio of 100 to 1.

The Waldensians were forbidden by the Church, and by 1184, they were formally excommunicated. Their nonconformity brought the Church’s wrath down upon them and made them targets of extermination. In 1251, for example, the Waldensians in Toulouse, France, were massacred, and their towns burned. The Waldensians continued to exist as a hidden Church for many centuries. They believed that the Bible should be the final authority in matters of faith and practice, and that people should have a Bible in their own language. Through this revival movement, multitudes were converted.

In 1686, Louis XIV issued an edict ordering the burning of Waldensian churches, and Protestant assemblies were forbidden. The Waldensians were massacred; two thousand were killed, and another two thousand were forcefully “converted” to Catholicism. Eight thousand were imprisoned, half of whom soon died of starvation and sickness. However, centuries of persecution and opposition could not quench the flame of the Bible’s message in their hearts; on the contrary, it kept them pure, and they continued to spread the light of the gospel.

The faithfulness, endurance, and heroism of the Waldensians throughout the centuries are among the extraordinary stories in church history. Someone summarised the persecution of the Waldensians as follows: “There is not a rock that is not a monument, not a meadow that has not seen an execution, not a village that does not register its martyrs.”

In 1467, some Bohemians, Waldenses, and Moravians united in what became known as the Unitas Fratrum Church. When the Reformation began in 1517, they had four hundred churches and were circulating their own Bohemian Bible.

John Wycliffe (1320-1384)

Another light in a dark world was John Wycliffe, who worked in England. Through his academic position and many writings, he called the church to return to its biblical heritage. He vehemently attacked the Roman Catholic Church, pointing out elements he believed were not in line with Scripture, and he also had his knife out for the pope of the time.

Pope Gregory XI issued five bulls (church edicts) against Wycliffe, accusing him of eighteen counts and labelling him “the master of errors.” At a subsequent hearing before the archbishop at Lambeth Palace, Wycliffe replied, “I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death; I have followed the Sacred Scriptures and the holy doctors.” He went on to say that the pope and the church were secondary in authority to Scripture.

This did not sit well with Rome, but due to Wycliffe’s popularity in England and a subsequent split in the papacy (the Great Schism of 1378, when rival popes were elected), Wycliffe was placed under “house arrest” and allowed to continue pastoring his Lutterworth parish.

He wrote against the doctrine of transubstantiation: “The bread, while becoming by virtue of Christ’s words the body of Christ, does not cease to be bread.” He challenged indulgences: “It is plain to me that our prelates, in granting indulgences, do commonly blaspheme the wisdom of God.” He repudiated the confessional: “Private confession was not ordered by Christ and was not used by the apostles.” He reiterated the biblical teaching on faith: “Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on his sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by his righteousness.”

Wycliffe was a man of prayer, and the reforms he advocated were the result of his own spiritual enlightenment through the reading of the Bible. He said: “The sacred Scriptures are the property of the people and one which no one should be allowed to wrest from them.” In 1382, in contrast to longstanding tradition, Wycliffe’s disciples translated the entire Bible into English. It was the first time in a thousand years that the Bible was translated into another European language. A thousand years before that, the Bible had been translated into Latin by Jerome.

The church bitterly opposed the translation of the Bible: “By this translation, the Scriptures have become vulgar, and they are more available to laymen, and even to women who can read, than they (the Scriptures) were to learned scholars, who have high intelligence. So, the pearl of the gospel is scattered and trodden underfoot by swine.” Wycliffe replied, “Englishmen learn Christ’s law best in English. Moses heard God’s law in his own tongue; so did Christ’s apostles.”

Wycliffe died before the translation was complete (and before authorities could convict him of heresy). His friend Purvey is considered responsible for the version of the “Wycliffe” Bible we have today. Though Wycliffe’s followers, who came to be called Lollards and the Poor Preachers, referring to the region of their original strength and social standing, were driven underground, they remained a persistent irritant to English Catholic authorities until the English Reformation made their views the norm.

Armed with their English Bible, the Lollards took the message of the gospel to the villages of England. They carried with them handwritten copies of the Bible in English. Wycliffe died two years after the Lollard revival started in England. The revival continued into the next generation. They were intensely persecuted, but the Lollards continued to grow in number. They were so successful that Sir Thomas More, one of the greatest opponents of evangelicalism, was compelled to admit: “You cannot meet two men on the road, but one of them is a Wycliffite!” This is an indication of a true revival of religion.

John Wycliffe left quite an impression on the church: forty-three years after his death, officials dug up his body, burned his remains, and threw the ashes into the River Swift. Still, they couldn’t get rid of him. Wycliffe’s teachings, though suppressed, continued to spread. As a later chronicler observed, “Thus the brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon; Avon into Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; and they into the main ocean. And thus, the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed the world over.”

John Huss (1372-1415)

John Huss (Jan Hus) was born to peasant parents in Bohemia. To escape poverty, Huss trained for the priesthood: “I had thought to become a priest quickly in order to secure a good livelihood and dress, and to be held in esteem by men.” He earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and finally a doctorate. Along the way, he was ordained in 1401 and became the preacher at Prague’s Bethlehem Chapel (which seated 3,000), the most popular church in one of Europe’s largest cities and a centre of reform in Bohemia (for example, sermons were preached in Czech, not Latin).

During these years, Huss underwent a change. Though he spent some time with what he called a “foolish sect,” he eventually discovered the Bible: “When the Lord gave me knowledge of Scriptures, I discharged that kind of stupidity from my foolish mind.” John Huss got hold of the teachings of Wycliffe and began preaching the same truths. The masses quickly followed Huss, and he initiated significant social reform in Bohemia (the Czech Republic).

John Huss increasingly trusted the Scriptures, “desiring to hold, believe, and assert whatever is contained in them as long as I have breath in me.” He taught that the Bible, and not the pope or councils, is the final authority for the church. Huss claimed that the pope’s indulgences were exploiting the Czech people. He argued that Christ alone is the head of the church, that a pope “through ignorance and love of money” can make many mistakes, and that to rebel against an erring pope is to obey Christ.

In November 1414, the Council of Constance assembled, and Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund urged Huss to come and give an account of his doctrine. Huss went. When he arrived, however, he was immediately arrested and remained imprisoned for months. Instead of a hearing, Huss was eventually brought before the authorities in chains and asked to recant his views. When he realised he would not be given a forum to explain his ideas, let alone a fair hearing, he finally said, “I appeal to Jesus Christ, the only Judge who is almighty and completely just. In His hands, I plead my cause, not on the basis of false witnesses and erring councils, but on truth and justice.” He was taken back to his cell, where many pleaded with him to recant.

On July 6, 1415, he was taken to the cathedral, dressed in his priestly garments, and then stripped of them one by one. He refused one last chance to recant at the stake. While tied to the stake, he uttered these words: “They will roast a goose now (for ‘Huss’ means ‘a goose’), but after a hundred years they will hear a swan sing, and him they will have to endure.” The Reformation, under the leadership of Martin Luther, began 102 years later. Luther himself believed that Huss was prophesying about him. While standing in the flames, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, it is for Thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray Thee to have mercy on my enemies.” He was heard reciting the Psalms as the flames engulfed him. His executioners scooped up his ashes and tossed them into a lake, ensuring that nothing would remain of the “heretic.” However, some Czechs collected bits of soil from the ground where Huss and his followers began to experience persecution from the Church. Huss was martyred for Christ’s cause on July 16, 1415.

The life and teachings of John Huss gave birth to the Unitas Fratrum (“Union of Brethren”).

For centuries, they carried the seed of revival and continued despite much persecution as an underground church, hidden away in rural villages, until some found refuge on the estates of Count von Zinzendorf in the early 1700s. The revival that began among the Moravians in 1727 in Herrnhut had its roots in the teachings and ministry of John Huss and his followers.

He became a hero to Luther and many other Reformers, for Huss preached key Reformation themes, such as hostility to indulgences, a century before Luther drew up his 95 Theses.

Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)

He was a Dominican monk and preacher in Florence during a period of great corruption in both the Italian government and the Church. Savonarola sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church through strong preaching and social reform. He challenged corruption in both the State and the Church from his pulpit in Florence, Italy.

He began preaching in 1483, the same year Martin Luther was born. His preaching stirred the city, using the Bible as his only guide. He caused many to turn to Christ and abandon their wicked ways. Bonfires were built where people burned their pornographic books and gambling equipment. People flocked to the meetings. He rebuked the clergy and denounced corruption. The ruler of Florence tried to silence Savonarola but failed.

Through his ministry, Florence experienced revival. Savonarola wrote The Basis of a City Government System, which was copied throughout Europe.

His preaching had a terrifying effect on many people. One famous scholar wrote: “The mere sound of Savonarola’s voice was like a clap of doom; a cold shiver ran through the marrow of my bones; the hair on my head stood on end as I listened.” Another listener remarked that his sermons caused “such terror and alarm, such sobbing and tears, that people passed through the streets without speaking, more dead than alive,” as he prophesied the impending judgment on the church of his time and the country.

However, the church and the political rulers grew weary of him and began to attack. In 1498, he and two other friars were hanged on the gallows in the public square of Florence.

After his execution, most people returned to their old ways, but many did not.