Are You Passing On The Torch?

Three of the many key Reformation figures whose busts are on display in the Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church, Belfast, are:

• John Wycliffe – 1300s (England)

​• John Hus – 1400s (Bohemia / Czech Republic)

​• Martin Luther – 1500s (Germany)

These three men spearheaded the rediscovery of Gospel Truth in Europe — Grace Alone! Faith Alone! Scripture Alone! — and each paved the way for the next.

The connection between them is illustrated by a set of medallions on display at the Library in Prague and also by pictures on the wall of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, the church in which John Hus preached.

• One picture / medallion features Wycliffe with some flint stones – “Wycliffe struck the spark”;

• Another shows Hus with a lighted candle – “Hus lit up the candle”;

• Completing this a representation of Martin Luther holding aloft a torch – “Luther wielded the torch.”

While these representations tell in symbolic form the story of the Reformation as it began, continued, and crystallized under the touch of an Englishman, a Bohemian, and a German ...

... the challenge for us today is: are we re-igniting the old biblical fire and passing on the torch?