Defeat of the Spanish Armada

Does God control the weather? Some have concluded that suffering and natural disasters occur because they are beyond God's control. This is incorrect. God has indeed established certain laws and principles that govern nature, but he remains sovereign over these laws. Psalm 148:8 declares that storms “do his bidding.” He is in control, and has His reasons for all kinds of weather, both fair and stormy. Throughout time, God has divinely directed weather and that has often changed the course of history.

A great example of this is the story about the Spanish Armada…

Over four centuries ago, Philip II of Spain set out to rule the world. His goal was to reunite all of Christianity under the Catholic faith, and also under Spanish control. Philip was a heartless leader who had earlier supported the harsh measures of the Spanish Inquisition. He did not get along well with either Britain or Holland. When the Netherlands declared their independence from Spain in 1588, Philip sailed north with an “invincible” Armada of 130 warships and 30,000 men. Then, while far from home, bad weather hit the fleet. With no port available the ships were forced to anchor at sea. The smaller British fleet under Sir Francis Drake than harassed the Spanish by releasing flaming “tar ships” among the anchored fleet. The Spanish Armada fled north through the English Channel and around the coast of Scotland, where continued fierce storms, which have come to be know as the Protestant Wind,  pushed the fleet onto the rocky shores. Only half of the original Spanish fleet finally limped back home. The battle was over, the English had won!

Queen Elizabeth and her people were jubilant. No more were they a second rate sea power, for they had conquered the fleet of the mighty Spanish Empire. A thanksgiving service was held at St. Paul's Cathedral for the delivery of the country, and a medal was struck with the words "God blew and they were scattered" inscribed on it. They believed that the storm that had besieged the Spanish ships was no ordinary storm, but the work of God.

John Knox - Scottish Reformer

Knowledge of God and of Ourselves

All true and sound wisdom consists of two parts:
the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

- John Calvin

“The Institutes of the Christian Religion”

Each of us must, then be so stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness as to attain at least some knowledge of God. Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and — what is more — depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves.

Luther Speech Contest Winners!!!

Great job on your recital of Luther's famous quote.
The winners are: Donald Livingston, John O'Connor, & Laura Swanzy!

"Unless I am convinced by Scripture or by clear reason (for I do not believe in the authority of either popes or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted each other), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen."- Martin Luther

Luther - Coloring Contest

Draw a cartoonist style picture about Luther & the Reformation in the style of Ron Hill's Arm Chair Theologians illustrations.

Coloring Contest Rules:
- Drawings can be black & white or color.
- Drawings must be on paper size 8.5" x 11" or larger.
- Entries must be turned in by Wednesday, October 27th.

The Renaissance

Although the Renaissance revived the realization that man and nature are important, it went overboard by making man the measure of all things—and by that destroyed the importance of man.

There was indeed a positive side to the proper emphasis on nature and the enjoyment of it, but we can also see that the Renaissance humanism slowly but steadily evolved into modern humanism (a value system rooted in the belief that man is his own measure, that man is autonomous, and totally independent).

The architecture and music of this time were also beginning to shift from medieval back to classical. Another way we can see the emphasis on man emerging in other ways is the fact that we know very little about who built cathedrals in the Gothic era or who composed Gregorian chants, but in this Renaissance era self portraits became a generally accepted form of art and the artist’s name was usually an essential component to his artwork, if not even contributing to the majority of a piece’s artistic worth. Now, people not only admired paintings and music compositions for their own sakes, they admired the artist himself.

It was the humanists of that time who, under the enthusiasm for the classics, spoke of what had immediately preceded them as a “Dark Age” and talked of a “rebirth” in their own era. Unfortunately, this same attitude toward medieval society carried over to the Enlightenment and lingers in our minds today.

The return of nature to its rightful place could have moved in one of two directions – biblical or non-biblical. The emphasis could have been on real people living in a real world which God had made, or humanism could take over with its emphasis on the individual things being autonomous. However, the die was cast: man tried to make himself independent.

* Excerpts from Francis Schaeffer's "How Should We Then Live"

Gutenberg's Printing Press

* Coloring Contest *
Print this picture of Gutenberg's Printing Press and color it in. The best picture will be used on our class timeline. The winner will also receive a prize!