 Okay, would someone be willing to open us in prayer before we begin? Lord Jesus, we thank you for this morning, for this day that you've given us, and thank you Lord that we get to come together to learn more about you and to learn about the people who have gone through so much Jesus in order for us to have this much freedom, this knowing of your word Jesus. We thank you Lord for that and I pray that we would make the most of our time together here and that you'll be with us. In your name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Okay, so we'll just continue from where we stopped yesterday. I'll share screen. Okay, so yesterday we covered a little bit of the history, what we call the dark ages of the church and then we started to see glimpses of the Reformation, although it hadn't yet started. There were people who were starting to question some of the things that were happening in the church and were starting to call people back to what they could see in scripture. So we'll start with 1452. There was a man named Girolamo Savonarola. Okay, so he was a Dominican friar. So basically he was part of the Dominican that was led by each different kind of group of monks or what were called brothers were led by a leader and so they would name themselves so there would be the Benedictine monks and so this was another group of people and he was part of that group of people who followed the Dominican teachings and he came to Florence in the 1480s, so we see Florence in Italy here on the map. So he went to Florence in Italy and he started to preach from Revelation about God's coming Roth. So he was teaching and he was preaching and people started to really like start to fear for like where are they going when Jesus comes back. But he was also talking about God's mercy and so people were responding in faith to the things that he was teaching. And because of his preaching, there were huge changes that started to happen in the city. It also influenced the government. There were some changes that were made in the way the city functioned itself. So food was given to those who were starving. There were shops open to help those who needed work. There were banks open to give loans to those in need but these loans were given more like charity and taxes were reduced. So from his preaching, people were convicted and we see changes in government. We see changes in the way society was functioning. But finally the Pope condemned him because he had said that he is a special messenger from God. So all of the leadership in the church was under the Pope, right? And so all of the priests, all of them were ordained under the church's sanctioning sort of. So for him to say that he was a special messenger was considered as against the church's hierarchy. And so he was excommunicated, so removed from the church and then he was finally hanged and burned at the stake in 1498. So towards the close of the century. In 1455 there was someone named Johannes Gartenberg and he's the one who invented the printing press. So now whereas before there was no way to print the Bible and to use to make multiple copies of the Bible in that way. He through his invention was able to print copies of the Bible and the prints were made in Latin because that was the Bible that was being used by the church at the time. In 1492 Columbus went to America. So why is this considered important? So Columbus went through, you can see on your screen, several voyages where he went to South America and he went to just the lower half of North America and went to a few islands near North America. So through his voyages, he actually was actually taking Christianity to these places. So he was going from Spain and he was. So there's a lot of debate about his methods of doing things, but his goal was to take Christianity to these places. He was also an explorer. He was going to explore new lands. But as he was exploring, he wanted to take Christianity to these places. So recently there was one of his books. It's called the Book of Prophecies that was translated into English. And the person who translated it said, Columbus believed that he was fulfilling Psalm 19.4 that the words of the Lord would go out to the uttermost parts of the world. He believed that he was the bearer of Christ to do this. So there were many failures on his part. There was a lot of evil that was also done as they were capturing these lands. Not only not by him specifically, but by the people he was leading because they were not really believers. It was just people who were going with him on this thing to conquest new lands. So from people who view it from that perspective, they view him as someone who really caused a lot of harm to Native Americans, to people from these lands who were natives there. But at the same time, because of his work of going to all of these places, so many of these places now have become such important contributors to the church and to the Christian faith spreading, right? From America, so many missionaries have gone out. In South America, Christianity became so big because of what Columbus is going to all of these places. From there, we go on to the next, the 1500s, right? And this is where the Reformation actually picks in, in different parts of the world. We start with 1516 Erasmus, who was a Dutch scholar, and he wrote two books or two kind of things that were published at his time, or sent around at his time. The one was the Praise of Folly, and this was actually to make fun of some of the errors in Europe, in Christianity in Europe. So one example of that is he talks to his readers. So in his writing, he writes and reminds his readers, Peter said to the Lord, we have left everything for you. But Folly boasts that thanks to her influence, there's scarcely any kind of people who live more at their ease than the successors of the apostles. So he's contrasting what does scripture say and what is being practiced in the church today. As Peter said, we left everything for you. He told Jesus that the leaders of the church in that day were living at their utmost ease. So they had everything they could need and they were wealthy and they were powerful. So he's contrasting what were the leaders of that day doing or the church in that day doing versus what was in scripture. So that was one of his writings. The other was the Greek New Testament. So what he did was he made a copy of using all of the Greek texts that he could find. He made the Greek New Testament on one column and on the other side he translated it into Latin. But in that Latin translation, he also made notes about mistakes that Jerome had made. So we talked about Jerome translating the Latin Bible, right? So that was being used primarily by the church but because it was an older translation and there was not as much scholarship, there were many errors in it. So Erasmus made a new translation based on the Greek text and he wrote down, he made notes about where there were errors in translation in Jerome's translation. So because of this, he obviously was not very liked by the church, right? He also attacked the church on not allowing priests to get married because although priests were not getting married, they had mistresses who were living with them and they were living openly in that kind of situation. So they were not allowed to get married but they had these mistresses. And he also denied that popes had all the rights. So popes had a lot of power, right? So he was saying these are not Biblical, this is not right. And because of all of these things, he was not liked by the church but finally when he released his New Testament, he dedicated it to Pope Leo X in 1516. In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 pieces. So I have a map here which just kind of shows all of the different parts of the Reformation. So these dates are not the same dates we are looking at but just so that we have on the map all the different places we are talking about. So Martin Luther was in Germany in Wittenberg. Okay, that's here. If you all can see where my cursor is. So he posted this 95 pieces on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany in response to a lot of corruption that was happening with regard to indulgences. So there was that whole thing of selling or buying, being able to buy your forgiveness. So giving money to buy forgiveness. So there was a major thing that happened with Pope Leo X and so in response to that, it prompted Martin Luther to post this on the door of the church. So mostly in his thesis, the main things he talked about was salvation through faith and by divine grace and objecting to the practice of selling indulgences. So those are the two major points that he made. The rest of the 93 points were mostly supporting those two points that he had started his thesis with. So we'll see the Reformation, one of those key things. Some of the major things in the Reformation were against some of the practices, the church that were against scripture, salvation through faith alone and by grace. Then return to scripture because at this time the lay people didn't have scripture. So the major scriptures that were in circulation were in Latin and the people didn't know Latin. So it was the priests who were interpreting scripture, were teaching scripture and the common people didn't have access to the Bible. So through the Reformation, there was a calling back to scriptures for everyone and it should be available to everyone, everyone should be able to read it. And scripture is the final authority, the church or the pope is not the final authority. So these were some of the major things in the Reformation. In 1519, there was a reformer named Ulrich Zwingli and he's from Switzerland. So you can say like Germany and then Switzerland. So we can see how God was moving in all of these different places. So it wasn't one place and then from there it went to all of, to other parts of the world. But it was in these different places, there were other people who were also having revelations that God was giving them and they were starting to question things that were being done. And then from there they start to influence people in other places. Their writing starts to influence people in other places. So he was born in Switzerland and he was someone who had received a good education. He was a priest in the church and he wrote out and memorized Paul's letters in the original Greek. So that was his like pursuit of knowing scripture. So he'd learned it in the original Greek. He served as a priest and became pastor of the central church in Zurich. And during that time while he was a pastor in this church, he started to preach the gospel of Matthew. And as he was preaching through the gospel, he came to see that a lot of the rituals and doctrines of the church were not in line with what he was teaching from scripture. But he didn't stop, he continued to preach whatever scripture was teaching. Because of that there was a lot of controversy because he's preaching against what was happening in the church. And so there was a public debate that was held in the Zurich City Council. During that debate, what they decided was that we will preach nothing but scriptures. So whatever is in scripture is what we will preach. If it's not in scripture, if it cannot be proved by scripture, we will not preach it. So that was the decision after that debate. But it also led to a lot of fighting between Catholics and between what the church was teaching there. And so there was a lot of killing, a lot of fighting that happened. And Zwingli actually died in that battle that ensued. 1525, we see the Anabaptists. And so they were actually part of the same movement that Zwingli had started. But they differentiated on a few things from Zwingli. So initially they were part of this movement with Zwingli. But Zwingli had agreed that mass would continue and that destruction of images in the church would not... They would not destroy the images within the church. So the Anabaptists disagreed with that decision that Zwingli had made in agreement with some of the leaders in Zurich. And so the Anabaptists kind of split from Zwingli. The meaning of Anabaptists is one who rebaptizes. And their main belief was that a believer needs to be baptized as an adult. So they rejected child baptism, which again was going against the church's teaching. So they were severely persecuted both by Catholics and Protestants because Protestants also were... they accepted child baptism. But the Anabaptists said that that is not acceptable. The Anabaptists also believed that when you read the Bible, you receive illumination from the Holy Spirit. They emphasized that ministry was the responsibility of the entire congregation. So you can see how things were changing, right? Until now there was so much power in the leaders of the church that the congregation was just there to participate. They were not really doing any ministry. So here these people are saying that everyone in the congregation should be engaging in ministry. But one of their main contributions is to the charismatic movement. So there's a scholar named John Yoder and he said, Pentecostalism in our centuries the closest parable to what... a parallel to what Anabaptism was in the 16th century. So already there we see that the Holy Spirit, recognition of the Holy Spirit was coming back into the church, which had been lost, right? A lot of seeing of signs and wonders, miracles, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. All of those things had slowly gone out of the church. And so these people were starting to recognize the role of the Holy Spirit when we exercise our faith, when we read scripture, all of that. Okay. Nina, would you like to present now? Because we've come to William Tindale. Maybe you can present and we'll continue. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you, Nina. You can go ahead. You had mentioned the time between five and seven minutes. Is that what... Yes, yes. So what I'll do is maybe I might take a minute more or so. So maybe I'll avoid a paragraph or so. And anyhow, I'll send it to you. Sure. Yeah, so I hope that's okay. So greetings everyone in Jesus' precious name. I've chosen William Tindale for my presentation because what struck me was his passion for the word of God translated into something so beautiful at tremendous cost. So that is what I will be trying to focus on. So beginning with William Tindale was an influential figure in the Reformation area. He played a crucial role in shaping the course of Christianity through his groundbreaking work in Bible translation. So what I'm going to share seeks to explore the life, work, and impact of William Tindale, emphasizing his contributions to the English Bible and the significance of his efforts in advancing the cause of the Reformation. His early life, he was born in 1492 in Gloucestershire, England during a time of religious and political upheaval. So he received his education at the University of Oxford and at Cambridge where he immersed himself in the study of theology and classical languages. His exposure to the humanist movement which emphasized the importance of returning to the original text of scripture greatly influenced his future endeavors. Now I'll be speaking about his passion for Bible translation. Tindale firmly believed that every Christian should have access to their Bible in their native language. It says that you need to read the word in the language that you think as opposed to relying solely on the Latin Vulgate. Convinced that the word of God should be accessible to the common people, he resolved to translate the Bible into English. This vision led him to work tirelessly despite the formidable challenges he faced. His most significant contribution was his translation of the New Testament from Greek into English. He translated directly from the Greek, making his translation more faithful to the original texts. His work was groundbreaking and he truly earned the title of the father of the English Bible. It exerted a profound influence on later English Bible editions as well. An estimated 90% of Tindale's vocabulary found its way into the King James Version while approximately 75% was incorporated into the Revised Standard Version. Both these versions which we use even today. Despite the existence of eight significant English Bible translations prior to the King James Version, Tindale's translation emerged as exceptionally influential. And it was instrumental. His efforts were instrumental putting the Bible in the hands of the common man. By translating the scriptures into English, he ensured that individuals from all walks of life could directly engage with its teachings. So this marked a pivotal moment in the translation of biblical knowledge. So it emphasized accuracy and clarity, making the scriptures more accessible to English readers and it laid a foundation for future English translations as well. But there was opposition and persecution which he had to face. He faced from the church establishment which viewed these translations with suspicion. His translation efforts were deemed heretical and a threat to the Catholic Church's authority. So the church authorities including Thomas More vigorously opposed Tindale's work and sought to suppress it. When challenged by a member of the clergy that Englishmen were better without God's law than without the Pope's, Tindale fearlessly responded, I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spares my life before many years, I will cause a boy that drive with the plow to know more of the scriptures than what you know. This statement exemplified Tindale's determination to make the scriptures accessible to all English people and his defiance against the authority of the Pope. But it came at a great cost, his commitment to translating because he faced persistent persecution as he sought to disseminate his translations and make them available. Aware of the danger he faced, he sought refuge in various European cities including Cologne and Worms where he continued his translation work. But his pursuit of this mission led him to Antwerp where he sought to print a revised version, edition of his New Testament. He was a man of agents loyal to the Catholic Church, so he was betrayed by a fellow Englishman, Henry Phillips, and he was arrested and imprisoned in Willwood Castle near Brussels. He endured harsh conditions and faced relentless interrogations. Despite this torment, physical and otherwise, he remains steadfast in his faith and commitment to his cause. So then he was tried for heresy and treason and he found guilty, he was condemned to death by strangulation and his body subsequently burned at the stake. But it was a powerful testament to his unwavering commitment to his beliefs and his unyielding dedication to the translation of God's word. Even though it sent shockwaves throughout Europe, his sacrifice inspired other reformers and translators to continue his work. There is something about his legacy and impact. It influenced the development of the English language and it played a pivotal role in the Protestant Reformation. In conclusion, I will say that William Tyndale's unwavering commitment to translating the Bible into English left an indelible mark on the history of Christianity. His passion, dedication and martyrdom exemplify the profound impact an individual can have on shaping religious and linguistic landscapes. His legacy continues to resonate today, reminding us of the enduring power of the scriptures and the importance of making them accessible to all. That's what I had to say about William Tyndale. Thank you. Thank you so much, Nina. Very nicely put, I think. Just recognizing how much personal sacrifice was involved and what the vision was behind that, right? To have the Bible accessible to all people, to the common man. So that everyone could know what scripture taught and everyone could be living in accordance with scripture and it involved, yes, a great amount of personal sacrifice. So we will maybe just continue for a few more minutes and then Anand can present. So from after Tyndale's work, we see in 1529 that the first time Protestants were recognized as a separate group and were given the title of Protestants happens in 1529 at a council held by Catholic leaders. And then in 1536, John Calvin begins a movement in Geneva. So let's just go back to the map. Okay, so John Calvin was from France, but that's where he was born and that's where he was educated. So he was a devout Catholic and someone who was exceptionally brilliant. He studied law and while the Protestant Reformation was taking place, John Calvin began to read some of Martin Luther's writing and influenced by Martin Luther. So we can see now that the initial leaders, their work started to spread outside of where they had started. Martin Luther was in Germany and his writings now are being read in France. And so influenced by Martin Luther's writing, he starts to lead the Reformation in France. But because he is opposed by the church, he flees Paris and goes to Geneva in Switzerland. And he continues a lot of good work from there. So he was a very young man. I was just amazed to see that and many of these leaders were very young and accomplished a lot just within the short few years that they were alive. So Calvin, published an edition called the Institutes of the Christian Religion and this is where all of the key beliefs of the Reformation were put together. So he was presenting what all does the Reformation teach? What are we all following as Protestants? So at 27 years of age, he'd already produced a systematic theology that explained what the Reformation was. He'd already produced a systematic theology that explained what are we following as people who are part of the Protestant movement. He pastored a church called Saint Pierre Church and in Geneva he was preaching almost daily. At the same time he was writing devotionals, writing doctrinal pamphlets and commentaries on almost every book in the Bible. So all of this while he was in Geneva, at the same time he trained and sent out several missionaries and impacted Geneva, the city of Geneva where he was. So he desired to make Geneva like the kingdom of God on Earth. That was what he wanted to see. And so although Geneva was morally depraved, it started to be influenced by what he was doing, the work he was doing, his preaching and teaching. And people started to make changes in the city. So the city council took his confession of faith and said anyone who lives in Geneva has to subscribe to this confession of faith. Protestants from all over Europe started to come to Geneva because people could see that morality was such an important thing here. So from something that was morally depraved to become a place where people were coming in because they were hearing about the morality of that place is quite a transformation just from a preacher, from a church leader. So there's someone named John Knox who we'll read about next. And he said about Geneva that it was the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the apostles. So you could go to Geneva and be discipled just because of being in that city. You would be influenced in the ways that the apostles were influenced under Jesus' discipleship. So Calvin brought huge transformation in that city and also gave a lot of kind of zeal to the Protestant movement. He contributed a lot to it because of his teachings. One of his major teachings is on predestination. It's also called Calvinism. It's identified with him although there were many others who had taught about it before him. But because of his writings and because of his influence through his writings predestination came to be identified with one of Calvin's teachings. From there we go to John Knox. So John Knox was in Scotland and he was influenced by Calvin. So Scotland is way up there, right? Quite far away from where Calvin was. But you can see how even at that time teaching was spreading throughout the church. So influenced by what Calvin had been teaching John Knox begins to pray for Scotland. And he's known because of his prayers which were known to be very bold. One prayer that he made was, Lord give me Scotland or else I die. And the Queen of Scotland had said, I do not fear all the armies of Europe as much as I fear the prayers of John Knox. That's a pretty powerful statement to make. So the ruler in Scotland is saying I don't hear any other armies around that may come against our country. I'm more afraid of John Knox's prayers. So within one generation about 90% of Scotland became Protestant because of John Knox's work. So he was a leader in the church. He was a theologian. He was a writer. And he is considered as the founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland. So then from there we go into France where Calvin was from. So from Scotland back to France. So Reformation had spread in France after 1520. But after 1560 the French Protestants came to be known as the Huguenots. And they were granted freedom of religion. So until now because Catholicism was the major religion there. Protestantism was considered as illegal as going against the major religion in these places. So in 1598 the Edict of Nantes gave them freedom to practice Protestantism as it was spreading in all of these places. So this group of people in France started to experience the move of the Holy Spirit and they started to emphasize the gifts of the Holy Spirit within the church. So tongues, visions, prophetic utterances, supernatural phenomenon were seen in their midst as they as they opened themselves up to the Holy Spirits move in their midst as a church. 1563 in England. So we move now to England. Just below Scotland. So there was someone named John Fox and he he wrote a work called The Acts and Monuments. This was to give a history of God's work in the church around the world. So he thought that every Christian should know church history and church history is a continuation of biblical history. So what God did in the Old Testament into what God did in the New Testament into what God is doing today. Which is true, right? We read in scripture how God has moved in history throughout from Israel's history to Jesus coming into the move of the church across the world and so our present day church is just a continuation of that history. And so John Fox recognized that and so he wrote this work The Acts and Monuments to give a history of what God had done throughout the world through the church, how God had moved through the church. Maybe we can stop here and we'll move to Anand's presentation. I don't know. We'll move. I have to switch on my camera. I think it'll be good. You can Mom you can, you can see my screen? Yes. Okay, greetings everyone. Good morning. Greetings everyone. Good morning. Today, we'll just, I chose John Wesley, it is, so I, I don't hardly found the photos of him, but yeah, we'll see John Wesley and what he actually did. So when we come to the John Wesley, John Wesley, the person who started Methodism, went on a very special spiritual journey. The journey didn't just affect his own life, but also had a big impact on many other people. He was born on June 17, 1703, in Upper England as the 15th child of Samir and Shesanna Wastri. So as Ma'am given, we'll just see the personal spiritual journey and the work what they actually contributed to church. So if you see the personal spiritual journey, I look at early spiritual formation, Oxford University and the music club, and all the skate experience and evangelistic endeavors. And fourth one is theological development, fifth one is organization and leadership. And the sixth one is legacy and influence. When we see the early spiritual formation, when John Wesley was a child, he started his spiritual learning. His mom and dad, Samuel and Shesanna Wastri were very religious and had a big influence on him. Especially his mom, Shesanna taught him a lot of faith. She used a strict and organized way to teach him about religion at home. This early teaching made John feel very devoted and respectful to his, towards his faith. The second one, we'll see Oxford University and the Holy Club in his journey. When John Wesley was at Oxford University, he joined a group called the Holy Club or Methodist. This group wanted to live as a very disciplined and devoted Christians. There is a lot of praying, studying and helping others. Being part of this group was an important moment in John's spiritual journey seriously. It made him start to take his faith and work in the church more seriously. The third one, if we see the Alaskan experience and evangelistic endeavors. In 1738, John Wesley's Alaskan experience profoundly reshaped his view of salvation, inspiring his passionate evangelistic efforts. Despite facing opposition, he took his message of salvation to faith in Jesus to open fields and markets, laying the foundation for the Methodist movement. The other one is theological development. John Wesley's evolving spiritual journey led him to emphasize personal goodness, faith treatment of others and faith through actions, influencing the Methodist tradition to write things like a plain account of Christian perfection. And there's organizational leadership. The Methodism game followers John Wesley assumed a leadership role by empowering ministers and establishing a structured system, significantly strengthening and accelerating the movement growth in UK and American colonies. And finally, when we see legacy and evangelism, John Wesley's lifelong dedication to sharing God's love and grace led to the Methodist church and influenced the great awakening, leaving a lasting legacy that inspires Christians to live their faith passionately and persistently. When we come to this, a contribution of God's work in building a church, we'll see about what John Wesley did. Revival and evangelism, formation of Methodist societies, emphasis on personal holiness, social justice and compassion, educational initiatives and contribution to the establishment of organizational structure, and the last one is global outreach. When we come to the first revival and evangelism, John Wesley was a passionate preacher who traveled far and wide to tell people about seizes, speaking to all kinds of people, even those who didn't usually go to church like farmers, shoppers and miners. His enthusiastic speeches were really important in a religious revival called the Great Awakening, where many people formed faith in seizes and got closer to him. The second one, formation of Methodist societies. Wesley formed Methodist groups where believers supported each other, prayed that the Bible and held each other accountable. These gatherings in home helped new believers grow in faith and feel like they belong to a spiritual family. When we come to the emphasis on personal holiness, Wesley strongly believed that Christians should strive to be more like seizes, aiming for Christian perfection or becoming the best Christian possible. His idea influenced how Methodist and other Christians viewed goodness and righteousness. And the other one, social justice and compassion. Wesley didn't just focus on personal faith, he also cared about helping those in need and fighting against injustice. He taught that it's a vital to assist others and work towards a fairer, more compassionate world which inspired Methodist to engage in improving society. And come to the educational initiative. Wesley understood that education was really important for a strong church. So he started schools like Kingswood School and Kingswood College. These schools taught kids and future ministries. They helped trying leaders and helped people grow in their knowledge and faith within the Methodist movement. Contributions to humanity. John Wesley and his brother Charles wrote many hints that are still sung in churches all over the world. These hints are known for the deep religion meaning and strong expressions of faith. They played an important part in how Methodist worship and share their faith with others. Establishment of organizational structure. Wesley set up a clear system for Methodist group and made ministers in charge to lead and watch over them. This organized system was really important in making sure the Methodist movement could grow and stay strong. Finally, global outreach. Promise is in fact extended beyond England to the American colonies where Methodism thrived. He tirelessly spread Christianity, engaged in theology, social issues and organized the Methodist Church creating a vibrant movement still shaping Christianity today. A testament to his unwavering dedication to God's will. When we see Wesley is said that he have preached to 50,000 sermons and traveled to 250,000 miles on horseback. Thank you. Okay. Thank you Anand for presenting. So next week we will continue from where we stopped. So I think each of you, whatever data I've given you will probably be moved to the next date because we are a little behind. I'll change it on the spreadsheet, but just for you to be aware as well. Okay. We'll see you next week. Thank you.