To commemorate what is arguably the greatest event in church history since Pentecost, Log College Press wishes to highlight select works by early American Presbyterians which relate to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation:
Ezra Hall Gillett (1823-1875), The Life and Times of John Huss (1864) – This is a good introduction to the Bohemian (Czech) proto-Reformer, John Huss.
William Maxwell Blackburn (1828-1898), Aonio Paleario and His Friends, With a Revised Edition of "The Benefits of Christ's Death" (1866) – This is an interesting work which contains both a biography of the Italian Reformer, Paleario, and an edited version of the great Italian spiritual classic that was long attributed to him (modern scholarship now attributes authorship of “The Benefit of Christ” to Benedetto Fontanini, also known as Benedetto da Mantova (1495-1556)).
William Carlos Martyn (1841-1917), The Life and Times of Martin Luther (1866) – A great 19th century biography of the German Reformer, Martin Luther.
William Maxwell Blackburn (1828-1898), William Farel, and the Story of the Swiss Reform (1867) – A fascinating look at the life of the Swiss Reformer, William Farel, who with his friend John Calvin, so influenced Geneva and the world.
William Carlos Martyn (1841-1917), The Dutch Reformation (1868) – A good overview of the Reformation in the Netherlands.
William Maxwell Blackburn (1828-1898), Ulrich Zwingli (1868) – The life of another great Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli.
Henry Martyn Baird (1832-1906), Theodore Beza: The Counsellor of the French Reformation, 1519-1605 (1899) – The classic biography of the French Reformer Theodore Beza, who became Geneva’s spiritual leader after the death of John Calvin.
Thomas Carey Johnson (1859-1936), John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation (1900) – An important biography of the great French Reformer and spiritual leader of Geneva, John Calvin.
B.B. Warfield (1851-1921), The Ninety-Five Theses in Their Theological Significance (1917) – Originally published in The Princeton Theological Review in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, this is a fascinating study of the document by Martin Luther that launched the Reformation on October 31, 1517.
Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822-1893), Martin Luther (1895) - This biographical lecture about the great Reformer was originally delivered in 1872, and is here found in Vol. 1 of Peck’s Miscellanies.
John William Mears (1825-1881), The Beggars of Holland and the Grandees of Spain: A History of the Reformation in the Netherlands, From A.D. 1200 to 1578 (1867) - This is another comprehensive look at the Dutch Reformation, and in particular, what lead up to it.
Note: This blog post was originally published on October 31, 2017, and has been edited.