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Who Were the Reformers?

 
 
When most people think about the Protestant Reformation, they usually think of two names: Martin Luther and John Calvin. It is understandable. Luther and Calvin played substantial and significant roles in fanning the flames of the Reformation throughout Europe. But there were several people making an impact and events that were brewing before Luther and Calvin came on the scene. They were only two among many pastor-scholars who studied, taught, and preached God's Word in a way that made an impact. John Calvin was influenced by his peers and by those who came before him. These Reformers also wrote many books and pamphlets, so that people would be more acquainted with God's Word. Eventually a theology which more closely adhered to Scripture developed as a result of the collective work of several generations of Reformers. Therefore, it is a misnomer to refer to the theology that developed during the Protestant Reformation as Calvinism. A better term to use is "Reformed theology."
 
Here is a brief list of the several generations of Reformers we should acknowledge for their work in being used by God to reform the church and bring about a reformation in the minds and hearts of the common people.
 
 

Pre-Reformation

1324-1384            John Wycliffe (Oxford) – Lollard Movement, translated Bible into English

1455-1536             Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples (Jacob Faber Stapulensis) – (Meaux, France)

 
 

First Generation

1478-1541             Wolfgang Capito (Strasbourg)

1482-1531             Johannes Oecolampadius (Basel)

1483-1546            Martin Luther (Wittenberg)

1484-1531             Huldrych Zwingli (Zurich)

1491-1551              Martin Bucer (Strasbourg)

1494-1536            William Tyndale (Oxford)

1497-1560            Philipp Melanchthon (Wittenberg)

 
 

Second Generation

1497-1563            Wolfgang Musculus (Augsburg, Bern)

1499-1562            Peter Martyr Vermigli (Strasbourg, Oxford, Zurich)

1504-1575             Heinrich Bullinger (Zurich) – Zwingli’s successor, Second Helvetic Confession

1509-1564            John Calvin (Geneva)

1510-1572              John Knox (Scotland)

1511-1571               Pierre Viret (Lausanne)

 
 

Third Generation

1516-1590             Girolamo Zanchi (Jerome Zanchius) – (Strasbourg, Heidelberg)

1519-1605             Theodore Beza (Geneva)

1534-1583             Zacharius Ursinus (Heidelberg) – primary author of Heidelberg Catechism

1536-1587             Kaspar Olevianus (Caspar Olevian) – (Heidelberg) co-author of Heidelberg Catechism

1561-1610              Amandus Polanus (Basel)

 
 
 

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