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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) |