Equipping Eve: Reformation Women

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Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

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Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

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But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

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Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

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No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

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My name's Mike Ebendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

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Softened, for the sake of the world, we try to look like the world because then they'll want to listen to us and hear how

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Jesus can fix all their problems. This is a time when there is a Reformation reversal, we've been talking about that the past few weeks, because it is the 500th anniversary of the

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Reformation. This episode may be airing after October, I don't actually know, but that's okay.

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It's still 2017, which is 500 years later than 1517, when Martin Luther first nailed the 95

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Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. There's been a lot of Reformation material floating around this year and it's kind of marvelous.

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I love it. There have been so many books published, articles, and just some really, really great material out there.

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So if you maybe aren't all that familiar with church history, pick up some of these books.

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I have not had a chance to read a lot of them, so I can't go about recommending too many of them.

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However, I can recommend, and actually I'm going to read a few snippets from a book called

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The Reformation, How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World. That's by Stephen Nichols.

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My church actually has a really great ministry that I appreciate so much where they make books available, new books available for free.

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And so what we did for the month of October is made several Reformation -themed books available and this was one of them.

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And like I said, we'll talk about it in a minute. I've really only read one chapter because I skipped ahead for the purposes of this show, but it's really great.

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So I already recommend this book even though I haven't read the whole thing. I appreciate Stephen Nichols.

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His blogging, his articles on the internet are really insightful and really good. So there's some good material there.

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Another book that I can recommend is Church History 101, Highlights of Twenty Centuries, which was another book that my church was offering, but I had previously obtained it.

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It's a short book. It's really short, so it kind of gives you like a little high -level overview of church history.

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So that's helpful, right? So I haven't had a chance to look at some of the others that are being offered by my particular church, so I won't recommend them right now.

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I am going to suggest, it's not necessarily a recommendation yet because I haven't read the whole thing yet, but we're actually going to get to this one too.

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So it is called Reformation Women, 16th

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Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity's Rebirth, and it's by Rebecca Van DuDeward.

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Oh my goodness, I'm sure I just destroyed her name. Rebecca V. I'm sorry, that name is more difficult than my last name, which makes me a little bit happy.

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But she has been posting throughout the month of October on Table Talk, which is a ministry of Ligonier.

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She has been posting a series of articles on women of the Reformation, and I'm not sure if these are adapted from her book.

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It doesn't indicate as such, but her book looks to offer biographies of women who maybe aren't as well -known in the

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Reformation. You know, we're all pretty familiar with Katie Luther, Catherine von Bora, Martin Luther's wife, which is probably the primary female name that we think of when we think of the

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Reformation. But Rebecca V.,

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because I don't want to destroy your name again, because I feel bad, has written a book that highlights some lesser -known women, names that I had no idea about.

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And so on Table Talk online, Table Talk magazine, they have been posting some brief biographies of some of these women from her book, and they've been really wonderful.

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I've really enjoyed them. So I just, this morning, downloaded her book.

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So I have not read it yet, but just reading the articles that have been posted, I think I can eagerly suggest the book to you.

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So if you're interested in that, you know, it's very easy to find material on Martin Luther and John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli and some of the other male

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Reformers, and we should know about them because they are the bulwarks of the

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Reformation, most definitely. But it's kind of neat to see that women had such an impact as well, and not just as wives and mothers.

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And so that's what I've appreciated about some of these articles, and we're going to take a look at some of them today. So, actually, let's just jump into that.

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So, you know, let's face it, there are those Christians out there,

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Christian men, I'm just going to put that out there, and probably some Christian women who are stuck in the patriarchal mindset where the man can do no wrong, and the woman should just be thankful that he's there to help her exist.

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Sorry, I might have some personal experience. So there may be some women who hold to this, that, you know, it's just women that, you know, they're nice to have around, but they have babies, and they keep us fed, and they pretty much are to be seen and not heard, and even maybe not seen all that much.

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And so I despise that mindset, because it's wrong, it's not biblical in any way, shape, or form.

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We've talked at length on this show on different episodes about Christ's love for women, you know, as equals at the foot of the cross, the importance of women in His ministry, and the importance of women in the

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Bible. And so that is a terribly misogynistic mindset that needs to be anathematized.

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But anyway, that's not, that's not the purpose of this show. So I'll stop before I get on a tangent.

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So in this book by Stephen Nichols, How a Monk and a

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Mallet Changed the World, Reformation, there is a chapter, chapter 8, called Women in Black II, T -O -O, and it's called that because it follows a chapter entitled

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Men in Black. So there you go. But it's women in black to the untold story of women in the

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Reformation. And he starts it with a quote by Martin Luther, which I kind of loved. And he says, Martin Luther says, quote,

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The home, cities, economic life, and government would virtually disappear. Men can't do without women.

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Even if it were possible for men to beget and bear children, they still couldn't do without women. Amen, Martin Luther.

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See, I knew I liked him. Okay. So I'm just going to read some snippets from this chapter, and we'll talk as we go.

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Stephen Nichols writes, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Conrad Grebel, Menno Simmons, Thomas Cranmer, John Bunyan, Jeremiah Burroughs, all of them have at least one thing in common.

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They're all men. When the story of the Reformation gets told, it's typically their story. There is another story to be told, however, the inspiring story of the courage and fortitude of the women of the

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Reformation. Their too -often -untold story needs to be heard. The women of the

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Reformation fit into two categories, reformers' wives, who made quite an impact themselves, and women who made substantive contributions on their own.

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Among the first category, none is more well -known than Catherine von Bora, the former nun who married

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Martin Luther. In the latter category, we find mostly nobility and even royalty, some risking great wealth and family honor for their commitment to the

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Reformation cause. All of them played significant roles. And then he just kind of goes through and gives little brief snippets on some of the different women of Reformation.

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Again, names that I didn't necessarily know. There is, okay,

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Wibrandus Rosenblatt. She was known as the

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Reformation frow, the Bride of the Reformation, because she had four husbands who were all significant reformers.

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And so they just, they died early, and she was left a widow. And just what she, it wasn't just that she was married to all of these reformers, just what she did throughout her life.

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Here he says she could write in German and Latin. She knew her theology. And I think that's what's so important.

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You know, it goes back to what we talk about time and again, and I'm sorry to be a broken record, but theology and doctrine.

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It's not just for the men, ladies. It's not, oh, well, my husband learns that, and I just look at the cookbook.

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No, and I know you know this. I'm not trying to belittle anybody. I just think that we can draw some encouragement from these women of the

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Reformation, many of whom were wives and mothers, and yet knowing that was their first ministry, you know, how they strengthened their husbands to progress and persevere in their role in the

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Reformation. And yet also the contributions that they made on their own. You'll see if you read any of this material that they had an impact, and they made an impression on the people that came across their paths, and that brings glory to Christ.

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It's not about remembering this woman and her hospitality or her theological knowledge or whatnot.

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It's about how Christ saved this woman and how she used her gifts to serve him.

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And I just hope that we would draw some encouragement from that. There's a little, there's a few paragraphs on Lady Jane Grey, and, oh,

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I love this. There's a letter that she sent to her sister Catherine. Lady Jane Grey writes,

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I have here sent you, good sister Catherine, a book, which although it be not outwardly trimmed with gold, yet inwardly it is worth more than precious stones.

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It is the book, dear sister, of the law of the Lord. Rejoice in Christ as I do. Follow the steps of your master

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Christ and take up your cross. Lay your sins on his back and always embrace him.

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And as touching my death, rejoice as I do, good sister, that I shall be delivered of this corruption and put on incorruption.

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For I am assured that I shall, for losing of a mortal life, win an immortal life. Yeah, that was a woman wrote that.

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And not only that, but a young woman. I think she was a teenager when she was martyred.

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And so after Bloody Mary had Jane Grey arrested in 1553, writes Nichols, she attempted to show her mercy, pitting her as a pawn in the sordid plot as she herself had been as a child.

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If Jane Grey would but take the Roman mass, Mary would give Jane her life. Jane was 16 years of age at this time, which meant she had quite a bit of life to consider living, but the price proved too high.

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Jane Grey refused, adamant in her Protestant beliefs to the last. So adamant was she in her beliefs that she chastised her family's chaplain for conveniently converting to Catholicism when

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Mary came to power. Quote, wilt thou refuse the true God and worship the invention of man, the golden calf, the whore of Babylon, the

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Romish religion, the abominable idol, the most wicked mass? Jane Grey took theology seriously.

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Imagine if she had a pulpit. That's from Stephen Nichols, not me. She should not be preaching.

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But I think his point is, she knew her theology, and what an impact she had.

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Here we are, 500 years later, right? Not quite 500 years after that, but you get the point, almost.

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And here it recounts Lady Jane Grey's, um, some dialogue with the archbishop, and there was an exchange they had over justification, and Feckenham, the archbishop, tried to trip her up by accusing her of rejecting good works, so clearly required of the

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Christian. Quote, it is necessary unto salvation to do good works also. It is not sufficient only to believe, he told her.

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Now, if you listened to our previous episode, our last episode, we talked about that, and how, at the

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Council of Trent especially, it was put down on paper what the Roman Catholic Church believes, and that is that you are not saved by faith alone and Jesus Christ alone.

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You are saved by your good works. You keep your salvation, and increase in your salvation, and attain, in part, your salvation by your good works.

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That is the Gospel of Rome. And they actually anathematized the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is found in the

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Bible, that says that we are justified by faith alone. Grace alone, through faith alone, and Jesus Christ alone.

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So that's what's happening here. This Roman Catholic leader is saying to Lady Jane Grey, no, you cannot only believe to be saved, and she says back to him, quote,

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I deny that. And I affirm that faith only saves, but it is meet for a Christian to do good works, in token that he follows the steps of his master,

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Christ. Yet may we not say that we profit to our salvation, for when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants, and faith only in Christ's blood saves us.

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And two days later, she was martyred for her beliefs. Her last words upon the scaffold were, quote,

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I here die a true Christian woman, and I trust to be saved by the blood of Christ, and by none other means.

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I can't wait to meet her. Doesn't she sound amazing?

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Strong, and determined, and grateful for her salvation, and biblically knowledgeable.

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And so, that's just a high level of this particular chapter, but obviously read the whole book.

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I am going to go back and read it. I just dug into that chapter for the purposes of this show, so I hope that encourages you to pick up that book and read it.

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Learn a little bit more about church history, because we need to understand our past.

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So, again, that pulled in a lot of what we talked about last episode with how the

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Roman Catholic Church has anathematized the gospel, how they preach a false gospel that will condemn you, and we see that even women of the

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Reformation stood strong against that, and that should be an encouragement to us ladies.

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So, back to the author, Rebecca, who I cannot pronounce her last name, and her women of the

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Reformation. There's an opening article here at Tabletalkmagazine .com

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where she lists some of the ways that women were impactful in the

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Reformation, and it's actually a rather long article, but it's very helpful.

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A lot of history here, but told in a very accessible way, a very interesting way.

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And I love this. She says, one of the ways that women contributed to the

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Reformation was by writing. She says, the Reformation fostered many

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Protestant female authors. Religious poetry was the dominant genre for women in the pre -Reformation era.

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Protestant women did not discard this tradition. They redeemed it. Marguerite de Navarre was

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Protestantism's first published female poet. From her initial Roman Catholicism to recognizable

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Calvinism, Marguerite's poetry reflects her spiritual journey. That sounds fascinating.

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But beyond being personal records of devotion, these poems were publicity for Reformed doctrine. Marguerite's last major work emphasizes and wonders at Christ's all -sufficient, complete work for his people.

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In publishing it, she challenged Rome's teachings on saints, indulgences, penance, and the mass.

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It was a public proclamation of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.

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Women also wrote overtly theological Protestant works. The first known one was the defense of clerical marriage against the

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Roman Catholic teaching on celibate clergy. That was written by Katerina Zell in defense of her priest husband.

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And we're actually going to go and talk a little bit more about her because I did not know her name,

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Katerina Zell. And it was when I came across an article about her in this series of articles on Reformation women that I thought, oh, we should do this episode because I'm kind of fascinated by this.

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So there's another article here at Table Talk about Katerina Schütz Zell. Rebecca V.,

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the author, writes, Holdrick Zwingli praised Matthew Zell's wife, Katerina, saying, quote,

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She combines the graces of both Mary and Martha. Intense and capable, Katerina became the early

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Reformation's leading female author. Sometimes called the mother Reformer, she spent herself in gospel service.

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And so I won't read this entire thing, but basically, Matthew Zell, in 1518, came to her town,

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Strasburg, and was preaching the truth. And she got saved.

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And then, not long after that, they got married. So, and actually,

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Stephen Nichols touches briefly on Zell in his book as well. And he makes a note that they got married at 6 a .m.

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in the morning. So imagine having to go to that wedding. Yeah, it's a little early.

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Anyway, it was one of the first Protestant marriages, a bold step for both husband and wife, as it broke canon law and defied

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Rome. But it was a step the Lord blessed. Katerina's education and growing understanding of the Bible allowed her to defend her views by word and pen.

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Sometimes it seems she outdid her husband in this. Martin Bucer shruggingly said that Katerina was a trifle imperious, but he also said she was as God -fearing and courageous as a hero.

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She also cared for Protestant refugees throughout her life, including theologians.

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Bucer fled Weissenberg, finding refuge in Mrs. Zell's house. When John Calvin fled France, Katerina welcomed him.

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In 1529, a debate between Martin Luther and Zwinny brought many Reformers to Family took up much of her time.

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She lost some children, very young in their lives. And so that was a loss that she endured in the midst of her ministry, in the midst of her ministry to her husband and to others in the body of Christ.

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And this is just a great article because it just it talks about some of the struggles, some of the controversy that ensued after her husband's death.

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And it's just a real encouragement.

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A few years before she died, she wrote, I see before my eyes and welcome the time of my release.

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I rejoice in it and know that to die here will be my gain, that I lay aside the mortal and perishable and put on the everlasting, immortal and imperishable.

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I am now 60 years old and I have walked before God in fear of him and despising the world for 50 years so that I can say with the

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Holy Ambrose, I have lived that I am not ashamed to continue to live among the faithful. But I do not fear to die for I am certain that in Christ I will live again and that in him

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I have a gracious God forever. She was a female theologian in the best sense, says this article.

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While she excelled in managing her home and hosting refugees, she also defended her theological position in print.

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Historians today call her a lay reformer. And then I love this. But she only did what every

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Christian should. Every Christian. Men and women. She used her gifts for gospel change in her own sphere in whatever way possible.

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Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that encourage you ladies? That that is all that we are called to do is to use the gifts that God has given us.

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Not just the spiritual gifts, of course, but other gifts, whether they are material or our time or whatever, to proclaim the gospel and to be faithful to Christ and to work for his kingdom in whatever sphere

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God has given us. If that is motherhood, that is motherhood. If that is being a wife, that is being a wife.

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That definitely includes serving in your church in some capacity. If that is being in the workplace, it's being in the workplace.

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It's as a friend. It's as a neighbor in whatever sphere

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God has given us. Wherever he has placed us. There's another quote here by Rebecca that says,

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Because Jesus still loves women today, we can expect them to continue serving the church in formative ways.

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And I say all this, ladies, I'm not trying to do what I'm sure some people maybe think

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I am. I'm just constantly saying that women are just as good as men. Yeah, well, okay, you know, again, we're all equal at the foot of the cross.

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But I'm trying to encourage you, ladies, because I find these things encouraging. If you've ever been in an environment, a church environment, where women were downgraded and downplayed, and you can serve in the nursery, and that's it.

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You can watch over the food, and that's it. Then you know how discouraging it can be.

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And you know how when you can't use your gifts, you feel like you're dried up.

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You feel like you're dying. Because God has given us spiritual gifts to serve the body.

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That's how the body works. And if we start talking about how the body of Christ operates, we'll be here for another hour at least, so I won't get into that.

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But that is how the body works. We're each given different gifts to serve the body. That's in Scripture.

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We're not all hands. We're not all feet. We're not all livers. We're all different, and we all have different gifts, and we all serve the body in different ways.

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And so, because Jesus still loves women today, says this author, we can expect them to continue serving the church in formative ways.

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Now, I'm not saying that serving in the nursery or serving food is not a formative way. But I'm saying be encouraged, ladies.

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Be encouraged to use your gifts. Talk to your elders about ways that you might serve if you're not sure what ways are available to you.

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And serve where God has placed you. And serve faithfully.

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Be faithful to Christ in preparing dinner. But also be faithful to Christ in proclaiming the gospel at the grocery store if God gives you an opportunity to talk with someone.

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And there's just a chance right there, wide open door, to share Christ. And ladies, rest assured, please understand and know that I am preaching to myself right now.

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I'm not just talking at you. I'm talking to myself as well.

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We're all in this together because we are all sisters in Christ. If we have indeed been saved by Christ, we're all part of the body of Christ.

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And so, it's an encouragement to me to think that we are serving together, even if we don't know one another, and even if we aren't serving side by side.

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We are serving together. We're serving the same church, the body of Christ. We're serving to further

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His kingdom as He sees fit. What a privilege.

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What a privilege for us to ponder. So let's take that back.

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Let's be encouraged by these Reformation women. Sorry, that was me closing my book. Let's be encouraged by these

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Reformation women and other women in church history and other men in church history, of course.

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I'm not trying to downplay them at all. I'm just trying to encourage you because I've said that word a lot.

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But I want us to see that there are others who were impactful in the

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Reformation, and I'm sure there are many other men and women whose names we don't know, and we will meet them in glory.

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And that will be amazing. You know, millions and millions of years after we finally get over the fact that we're in front of Jesus, oh no, we'll never get over that.

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We'll never get over the fact that we are with the Lord Jesus Christ for all of eternity. But we will have opportunity to meet these others in glory who served

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Him so well. Names we know and names we don't know. It's going to be amazing. And so, ladies, with that spurring us on, get in your

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Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped. Thanks for listening.

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No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

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My name is Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Aaron Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio, and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.