The Christian Scholar in the Age of the Reformation

For scholars this book is inspirational in that it shows what was going on in the Christian academic arena during the age of the Reformation. It describes the dedication and faithfulness of those who were passing the torch on in their generation. In the preface we're told "The Protestant Reformation began in a scholar's insight into the meaning of Scripture." He adds on the next page, "leader after leader could be described as a 'scholar' in some sense of the word." He says the Christian scholar's role is both that of divine calling and professional occupation. In the first chapter the focus is on scholarship as a Christian calling. Jerome is a role model today because of the work he did in his generation. We're told "He is always occupied in reading, always at his books with his whole heart...He takes no rest day or night; he is always either reading something or writing something" (p. 10). Another inspiration can be found in John Colet. Harbison tells us "In him personal piety and professional purpose interpenetrated each other so thoroughly that when his friends wrote about him, the scholar always recalled the Christian and the Christian the scholar" (p. 55). Personally I relate to Erasmus, not only for his scholarly travels, but also for his "nocturnal lucubrations" (p. 90). Chapter IV reminds us that Luther's movement which led to the Reformation started "as an academic affair, a scandal in a university, begun by a professor and spread by his colleagues and students" (p. 112). Calvin's humble origins and gratitude that God had allowed him to be a Christian scholar are inspiring as well. This is a very well-written book which is quite inspiring to Christian scholars of all generations.