This document discusses how Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers transformed views on love, courtship and marriage in Europe during the Reformation. Some key points: - Luther rejected the Catholic tradition of clerical celibacy and married Katherina von Bora, setting an example of a pastoral family. He taught marriage was the only moral context for intimacy and criticized unmarried life as sinful. - Reformers rejected the medieval celibate ideal and praised marriage, parenting and the home instead of monasticism. Luther transferred esteem to the family institution. - Zwingli and Bullinger also married and had children while leading the Reformation in Switzerland. They preached the importance of marriage,

1. How the Reformation Transformed
Love, Courtship & Marriage
A presentation by Dr. Peter Hammond

3. MARTIN LUTHER REFORMED MARRIAGE
and the FAMILY

4. Martin Luther, the German
Reformer, is generally
remembered as the
Theological Professor,

5. the Bible translator,

6. the writer,

7. even as the composer of hymns.

8. However, Martin Luther was also a husband and a father of
six children. He provided the church its first and most
prominent example of a pastoral family.

9. While still a
celibate priest,
Luther wrote
extensively on
marriage.
He saw
marriage as an
institution in as
much crisis as
the church
- and no less in
need of reform.

10.  Martin Luther was a
leading defender of
the dignity of women
and the foundational
importance of
marriage.
 Luther placed
the home
“at the centre of the
universe.”

11. His teaching and practices on marriage and the family were
so radical and so long-lasting that it profoundly and
permanently altered the home.

12.  Luther and the first generation of Protestant Reformers
rejected the tradition of over a thousand years, of ascetic
sexuality – in both their Theology and their lives.

13. MARRIAGE
In 1525, on 13 June, Luther married Katherine von Bora, a
former nun from a noble family. Luther called home life: “the
school of character” and he stressed the importance of the
family as the basic building block of society. Luther and Katie
were blessed with 6 children.

14.  The Reformers rejection of the celibate ideal of the Middle
Ages was as great a revolution in the home as their
teachings were in the Church.

15.  Luther transferred the praises and esteem that Christians
had traditionally heaped upon unmarried monks and nuns,
to marriage, parents and the home.

16. Luther described marriage as the only institution where a
chaste & moral life could be maintained.
He insisted that “one cannot be unmarried without sin.”

17.  “Marriage pervades the whole of nature”.

18. Luther taught that nothing is more natural
and necessary than marriage,
“for all God’s creatures are divided into male and female.”

19.  Luther had a high regard
for the ability of women
to shape society by
molding its youth
and civilising
its men
through
the institution of
marriage.

20. “A companionable woman
brings joy to life”,
Luther wrote.

21.  “Women
tend to
and rear
the young,
administer
the
household
and are
inclined to
compassion.

22. God has made
them
compassionate
by nature,
so that, by their
example, men
may be moved
to compassion
also.”

25.  Luther also wrote:
“People who
do not like
children are
swine, dunces
and
blockheads,
not worthy to
be called men
and women,

26. because they despise the blessings of God,
the Creator and Author of marriage.”

27.  “Love begins when we wish to serve others.”

28.  There is no better school for humility and for loving
sacrificial service than marriage and parenthood.

29. Luther wrote that his entrance into the monastery was
“a cowardly act”.

30. He saw marriage and fatherhood as an
essential requirement for effective pastors.

31.  Luther had six children (Hans, Elizabeth, Magdalene,
Martin, Paul and Margaretha).
Paul Elizabeth
Magdalene

32.  Luther not only made the Bible part of the daily routine in
the home, but he also made the singing of hymns
central. He played the flute and the lute and led his
children in singing hymns of praise.

33. Luther also did a great deal to promote education.
He labored tirelessly for establishment of schools everywhere.

34. Luther wrote his Shorter Catechism in order to train up
children in the essential doctrines of the Faith.

35.  Luther also introduced the Catechism to explain the Faith to
children, incorporating Scripture memorisation in the daily routine.
 Perhaps it is time for us to recognise Martin Luther as the
true and original founder of Focus on the Family.

37. Ulrich Zwingli was the
father of the Reformation
in Switzerland.

38. Zwingli was
one of the most
colourful
and
audacious
characters
in
Swiss history.

39. When Zwingli was appointed
pastor at Grossmunster,
(the Great Cathedral) in Zurich,
The Great Cathedral Grossmunster

40. he began his duties on,
1 January 1519,
by preaching through
the Gospel of Matthew..

41. Starting in Matthew 1,
verse 1, he
systematically
expounded
verse by verse,
chapter by chapter,
through every Book
in the New Testament.

42. This bold action of replacing
the mass with the preaching
of the Word

43. as the central focus of church services marked the beginning
of expository preaching

44. “Is not My Word like a fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29

45. MARRIAGE
Earlier, on behalf of 11 other priests,
Zwingli had written to the Bishop of Constance seeking permission for
priests to marry. This the Bishop had refused.

46. Now, after 2 years of secret marriage, Ulrich married Anna Reinhart,
a young widow with 3 children.

47. Ulrich and Anna Zwingli were blessed with another
3 children in their marriage.

48. EVANGELISING IN THE MARKET PLACE
Zwingli preached in the market place on Fridays that the crowds from
surrounding villages might hear the Word of God.

49. He proclaimed
the sufficiency of
faith in Christ,
the deficiency of superstition
and indulgences,
the necessity of
true repentance
and holy living.

50. He also emphasized the
importance of caring for
the poor and needy,
the widow and orphan.

51. Grace cannot be bought or sold. Zwingli confessed his own sins
publically, including an affair with a nun while a priest in Einsiedeln,

52. and declared Christ’s saving grace to be sufficient for the salvation
of all who truly repent.

53. Zurich’s freedom loving city, known for their efficient army
and love of political independence, found themselves drawn
to this dynamic preacher and Reformer.

56. “For to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain”
Philippians 1:21

57. Heinrich Bullinger
was Ulrich Zwingli’s
successor.
For 44 years
he pastored
Grossmunster
in Zurich.

58. Considering the
important role he played,
and the prodigious
quantity of his writings,
it is remarkable that
Bullinger is one of the
least known
of the Reformers.

59. Brengarten (Heinrich’s birthplace)
CONVERSION
Born 18 July 1504, the fifth son of the priest, Henry Bullinger, Heinrich
was sent to study at the prestigious Emmerich Seminary on the Rhine, at
aged 12. At 15 years old, he enrolled at the University in Cologne,
earning his Bachelor of Arts the next year. It was at this time that he
was converted to the Reformed Faith through studying the Latin
and Greek fathers of the Church

60. MARRIAGE
In 1523, Bullinger was called to
teach at the Cistercian Monastery
of Kappel, near Zurich.
Here he taught on the Epistles of
Paul and proposed to Anna
Adlischweiler, a nun, who
remained in a
de-consecrated convent.

61. Bullinger’s proposal in writing is still preserved: “Do you want to share
with me sorrow and joy and, under my protection, live in love according
to God’s Order?” Her “Yes” was uttered at Grossmunster, where Ulrich
Zwingli was the pastor.

62. CALL
After the death of
Reformer Ulrich
Zwingli at the
Battle of Kappel in
1531,

63. The Great Cathedral Grossmunster
Bullinger was chosen to become his
successor as Pastor of Grossmunster.
Appointed the First Minister (the
equivalent of a Reformed Bishop),

64. Bullinger and his family
moved into the house of
Zwingli and he took
responsibility for caring
for the widow and two
dependent children of the
Reformer who had been
killed in battle.

65. Heinrich Bullinger’s marriage to Anna was long and loving
and produced 11 children.
All of their sons became Protestant ministers.

67. “Therefore, My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in
vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

69. Under the inspiration of John Calvin and his fellow reformers,
the Genevan authorities outlawed monasticism and mandatory
clerical celibacy and encouraged marriage for all adults who had
the freedom, fitness and capacity to marry.

70. During John Calvin’s time in Geneva there were two main courts
which governed the lives of the citizens of Geneva.
There was the main civil court called the Small Council.

71. Then there was the church court called the Consistory.
The Consistory was a group of around twenty-four men with twelve
being the pastors of the city and twelve being elected men who came
from various governing agencies in Geneva. The Consistory met every
Thursday and kept detailed case records.

72. Thus we have actual records of how the pastors in Geneva
handled complex cases, such as adultery, fornication, brothels,
rape, polygamy, false promises of marriage,
lying about finances, overbearing parents, etc.

73. One man and his wife were running a brothel.
He and his wife were banished from Geneva and warned that
if they ever came back they would be whipped.

74. Secret marriages were one of the main things that the men in Geneva
tried to stamp out. Within Roman Catholicism this was common:
Two young people would secretly say marriage vows.
Then they would have sex without guilt because once they had sex then
they were bound for life. This created problems with sexual immorality
with young people getting “married”
who later seriously regretted their choice.
Geneva forbade secret marriages.
All promises to marry had to be made publicly before several witnesses.

75. The Consistory worked hard
to help women.
Men who beat their wives
were punished severely
in Geneva.
Pastors worked to create
laws that kept women
from being coerced
into marriages either
by harsh parents
or unscrupulous suitors.

76. in 1546 Calvin help draft a marriage ordinance,
which set the boundaries.

77. They punished
adultery, rape,
fornication,
prostitution,
sodomy,
and other
sexual felonies
with growing
severity.
They put firm
new restrictions
on obscenity and
dissolute songs,
sordid literature,
and
immoral plays.

78. They provided sanctuaries and support for illegitimate,
abandoned and abused children.
They created protections and provisions for abused wives,
impoverished widows and ravished maidens.

79. Many of these reforms introduced by Calvin and his colleagues in
sixteenth-century Geneva were echoed and elaborated in
numerous Protestant communities, eventually on both sides of the
Atlantic. A good number of these reforms found their way into
modern civil law and common law traditions as well.

80. The Consistory set clear
guidelines for courtship and
engagement and firm
restrictions on
pre-marital sex and consortium.
They mandated parental
consent, peer witness,
church consecration and
registration for
valid engagement
and marriage promises.

81. They removed impediments to engagement and marriage

82. They invested in catechism and education of children and
established new schools, curricula and teaching aids
for boys and girls.

83. They reformed the laws of marital property and inheritance, dowry
and dower rights, guardianship and adoption.

84. Consent was of paramount importance in Geneva when a couple wished
to marry. This consent involved three parties, the couple, the
father/guardian and the community, including the congregation.
All groups had to agree that there was no impediment to the marriage.
The couple celebrated their marriage publicly, signed by the local
authority.

85. This issue of consent also meant that promises to marry made
under coercion were invalid. The Consistory would not hold the
woman to her promise if it had been made under coercion. There
had to be complete freedom in making any promise of marriage.

86. The Consistory and pastors in Geneva would encourage people to
marry within their same age group, economic class and
social status. But they did not forbid marriages
that overcame these barriers.
They thought they were often unwise, but did not forbid them.

87. They made public church
weddings mandatory and prepared
a new marital liturgy heavy with
Biblical instruction and
congregational participation.

88. They created new rights
and duties for fiancées
before their weddings,
for wives and for children
within the household.

89. Once you were engaged
you had six weeks to marry.
If you were slower than that
the Consistory would call you in
and ask why ?

91. Adoniram and Ann Judson were
America’s first foreign missionaries.
MISSIONARY TO BURMA:
Adoniram Judson (1788 - 1850)

92. The conviction grew that he
was called to be a missionary
to Burma, but there were no
missionary societies in
America yet.
Burma

93. So Adoniram travelled to England to consult with
the London Missionary Society.

94. His voyage by sea involved being captured by a
French warship and imprisoned in France.

95. Adoniram showed the kind of ingenuity which was to characterise
his whole missionary life, by escaping from this French prison and
making his way back to America, arriving 8 months after he had
left. Despite opposition from family and friends, Adoniram lost no
time in making preparations.

96. Adoniram courted Ann
Hasseltine who was
generally accepted as
“the most beautiful girl
in Bradford,
Massachusetts.”

97. Adoniram’s letter to Ann’s father is a classic:
“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with
your daughter, whether you can consent to her
departure to a heathen land and her subjection to the
hardships and suffering of a missionary life?

98. Whether you can consent to her exposure to the
dangers of ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern
climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to
degradation, insult, persecution and perhaps a violent
death.”

99. John Hasseltine cconsented and
Adoniram married Ann Hasseltine.

100. They were consecrated for missionary service the day after their
wedding and within 2 weeks they were sailing for India
sent out by the newly formed American Board of Commission for
Foreign Missionaries.

101. Adoniram and Ann spent much of their
honeymoon arguing – about baptism.

102. By the time they had reached Calcutta, Ann had also
come to agree with the Baptist position and they sent a
resignation letter back to the Mission Board who had just
sent them out!

103. They then convinced the Baptists to
adopt them with the formation of the
American Baptist Foreign Mission
Society.

104. En-route to Burma, the Judsons visited William
Carey in India.

105. There they were
baptised by
immersion, by
Carey’s co-worker,
William Ward.

106. In July 1813, the Judson’s reached Rangoon.
Their hearts sank at the sights and the smells of
the place.

107. Burma was a resistant Buddhist nation, under a
cruel and despotic king, who viciously opposed
their work.

109. The war against masculinity in the West, since the 1960’s, has
resulted in a catastrophic decline of marriages, plummeting birth
rates and more singles than ever before.

110. Feminism’s
War Against
Femininity
Ti-Grace Atkinson:
“Feminism is the theory.
Lesbianism is the practise.”
“Women must become disgusted
with every aspect of femininity.”
“You must become a lesbian to
be fully feminist!”

111. Attack Marriage
and Promote Witchcraft
The Organisation of Women in America declared: “Marriage
constitutes slavery. We must concentrate on attacking this
institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without the
abolition of marriage.

112. It is important for us to encourage women to leave their husbands
and not to live with men.

113. Parenthood is the Best School of Discipleship
Reformer Martin Luther taught that parenthood is the true school
of discipleship and there is no love so unselfish and sacrificial as
that of a parent.

114. Professor Luther also taught that no man can remain single
without sin. A man who refuses to marry is as if he had shed
innocent blood, taught Luther.

115. Abortion Kills Future Descendants
The abortion holocaust has not only killed millions of babies,
but many more of their potential descendants.

116. War Against God
The war against men, masculinity and fathers is only part of a
broader war against the family, against Christian civilisation and
ultimately it is a war against God.

117. War Against Fathers, Families
and the Future
Feminism and pornography are part of the war against men,
fathers, families, the Faith and the future. Fathers are foundational
to civilisation. It is faithful husbands and fathers who are the
producers, providers and protectors who pay the bills and the
bonds, providing the backbone of any economy and society.

118. By discouraging lifelong marriage partnerships, all of
society is unravelled. Civilisation is not built by wild
geese, bachelors riding off into the sunset, leaving a trail
of broken relationships in their wake.

119. Anchoring men into loving marriage partnerships, committed to
raising the next generation in stable households, is what makes
stable communities and productive economies work.

120. Distraction from Duty and Destiny
However, as communist revolutionary Karl Marx declared:
“To make a country communist, you need to turn the children
against their fathers!”

121. By seducing men and distracting them with pornography, rejecting
them through feminism, replacing them with socialism, women
have less respect and protection than ever before. Children are
denied the security and stability an intact family can produce.

122. Hope for Those Who Are Faithful
“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children’s
children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who
remember His commandments to do them.” Psalm 103:17-18.

123. When God established his Covenant with Abraham, he said: “And
I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your
descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant…

124. you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after
you throughout their generations.”
Genesis 17:7-9

125. The Bible tells us that God seeks “Godly offspring…”
Malachi 2:15.
A Father’s Priority

126. A Fathers priority is to bring up his children “in the training and
instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4.

127. Multi-Generational Vision
God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are to think
multi-generationally. We must leave a legacy for our children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren. We need to leave them
with a better standard, a better purpose, a better vision, a better
mission, a better work ethic and a better world.

128. “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest
exposition every portion of the truth of God,

129. except precisely that point which the world and the devil are
at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ,
however boldly I may be professing Him.

130. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the
soldier is proved;

131. and to be steady on all the battle front besides is
mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that
point.” Martin Luther

137. We Are Called to Be Faithful
“Therefore know that the Lord your God,
He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and
mercy for a thousand generations with those who
love Him and keep His Commandments.”
Deuteronomy 7:9

146. Dr Peter Hammond
Reformation Society
P.O. Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: (021) 689 4480
Fax: (021) 685 5884
Email: info@ReformationSA.org
Website: www.ReformationSA.org