The Protestant Reformation and Education

As the beneficiaries of the Protestant Reformation, we have so much to be grateful for. The word of God in our own language, coupled with the technology of the twenty-first century, is a gift our medieval forefathers could never have fathomed. The scriptures are available to us, not only in our native languages, but in multiple translations, in audio form, with an endless assortment of commentary, and on numerous smartphone apps. If we took a moment to envision ourselves in the dark ages, without a copy of the Bible, attending services where only Latin was spoken, I think we might realize how blessed we are today.

Because of this, it’s never been easier for Christian parents to raise their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” And the need has never been more urgent. The culture is rife with secularism, and sadly, even the church is increasingly infiltrated with progressive Christians. Moms and dads are in danger of losing their children to the world simply because parents and children are ignorant of the Scriptures.

In 2018, a study done by the Barna group indicated that 51% of churchgoers do not know what the Great Commission is; a 2017 study by The American Culture and Faith Institute reports that only 10% of Americans have a biblical worldview; and a shocking 2022 study shows that only 37 of pastors possess a biblical worldview.

What a sad commentary on the twenty-first century church! We live in a “Christianized” world full of biblical illiterates, and we wonder why our children are walking away from the faith of their fathers.

Despite the numerous resources for Bible study today, America has a problem: generations of parents stopped making family Bible study a normal part of their day, and their children have grown up in public education that rejects God. We see the results of this all around us. And guess who predicted this 500 years ago?

The great Reformer himself, Martin Luther.

Reformation and Education

Martin Luther is remembered for the bold move in which he nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, publicly criticizing the Church with a lengthy list of non-biblical practices. These practices were perpetuated by a church that held services in Latin, which the general population did not understand. The common man was ignorant of the scriptures, trusting the numerous falsehoods taught by the Church.

“We live in a “Christianized” world full of biblical illiterates, and we wonder why our children are walking away from the faith of their fathers.”

As a Catholic monk, Luther sought desperately to absolve himself of his sins through practices taught by the church, works, penance, and various forms of suffering. It became such an obsession that he was sent to study and teach at the University of Wittenberg as a distraction. Luther spent his time immersed in the Scriptures. “The church didn’t know what a lion they had let loose when they told Luther to study and teach the Bible” (Shawn Wright). It was because of his study of God’s word that he was convicted with the truth about sin, salvation, grace, works, and sola Scriptura.

As the Protestant Reformation progressed, Martin Luther did not rest. It was not enough to translate the Bible into the common tongue. He knew that the children of his country needed the ability to read and write so they, too, could read the Bible for themselves.

In 1520, he wrote a lengthy letter to the Christian Nobility in Germany, with a significant portion devoted to the education of children. In an era of exploration, arts, and scientific revolution, Luther was concerned that Germany’s children were missing the most important thing.

“I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s word becomes corrupt…. I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.”

In Luther’s Germany, and throughout the Medieval world, the education of children was not standard, especially for girls. Luther advocated for all children being taught to read and write so that they would have the ability to read the Bible for themselves. His personal reading of the scriptures had been life-changing for himself, and he wanted to share this with the masses.

“Above all, in schools of all kinds the chief and most common lesson should be the Scriptures, and for young boys the Gospel; and would to God each town had also a girls’ school, in which girls might be taught the Gospel for an hour daily, either in German or Latin! Should not every Christian be expected by his ninth or tenth year to know all the holy Gospels, containing as they do his very name and life? A spinner or a seamstress teaches her daughter her trade while she is young, but now even the most learned prelates and bishops do not know the Gospel.”

We can see this same thing today. Parents pass on their love of sports, movies, music, and hobbies; what about the Gospel? What about a love for God’s holy word?

Luther continues:

“Oh, how badly we treat all these poor young people that are entrusted to us for discipline and instruction! And a heavy reckoning shall we have to give for it that we keep them from the word of God; their fate is that described by Jeremiah: ‘My eyes fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? When they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom’ (Lam. 2.1112). We do not perceive all this misery, how the young folk are being pitifully corrupted in the midst of Christendom, all for want of the Gospel, which we should always read and study with them.’ (Martin Luther; Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Respecting the Reformation of the Christian Estate, part III, no. 25, 1520.)

And here we are, 500 years later, “the young folk are being pitifully corrupted in the midst of Christendom.”

Before there was ever a United States of America, Luther prophesied exactly what we are seeing with our children today. It is not only in America, but around the world. The majority of Christian children sit under secular education for more than 10,000 hours of their childhood, where they are taught that everything exists without, or in spite of, God. Bible stories and memory verses are relegated to Sunday mornings (if that), and too many of them grow up never knowing the Bible intimately.

Family Discipleship

In 1524, Luther wrote more pointedly about family discipleship:

 “Our third consideration is by far the most important of all; it is the command of God. Its importance is seen in that He so frequently through Moses urges and enjoins parents to instruct their children that it is said in Psalm 78:5, “How straitly he commanded our fathers that they should give knowledge unto their children and instruct their children’s children.” It is seen also in the fourth commandment, in which He so urgently enjoins children to obey their parents that He would even have disobedient children sentenced to death. Indeed, for what other purpose do we older folk exist than to care for, instruct and bring up the young?

The foolish youths cannot possibly instruct nor protect themselves; God has therefore entrusted them to us who are old and know by experience what is good for them, and He will compel us to render a strict account. Hence Moses also commands, “Ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.” But it is a sin and a disgrace that we must needs urge and be urged to train our children and youths and seek their best interests, when nature itself should drive us to do this and the examples even of the heathen afford us manifold instruction.

There is not an irrational animal but looks after its young and teaches them what they need to know, except the ostrich, of which God says that she is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers, and leaves her eggs in the earth. And what would it profit us if we possessed and performed all else and became utter saints, and yet neglected the chief purpose of our life, namely, the care of the young? I believe also that among outward sins none so heavily burdens the world in the sight of God nor deserves such severe punishment as the sin we commit against our children by not giving them an education. (Luther; To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools, 1524)

An Education without God is Not a Complete Education

“Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God’s word becomes corrupt….”

Martin Luther was right then, and he is still right today. Nothing screams indifference as much as allowing children to be educated in secular institutions where God has been soundly rejected. While Christian parents pretend that education is neutral, their children are being taught that the world came from nothing, that gender is an accident, that the Bible is a book of myths, that sexuality is for children, and that Marxism is cool. “Wide gates to hell,” indeed.

“I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme.”

Dear Christian, it is time we live like the children of the Reformation. Let the word of God be our guide, not just an inspirational reading. Let it be the worldview curriculum that we use to raise our children in this ungodly world. And please, do not send your children to be educated in a system where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme.

“I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.”

The Protestant Reformation was a gift to the world, because it gave us God’s word in our own languages, to know for ourselves and to instruct our children.

“Dear Christian, it is time we live like the children of the Reformation.”

“Imagine if we started (in our homes and churches) raising generations of children who stood uncompromisingly on the Word of God, knew how to defend the Christian faith, could answer the skeptical questions of this age, and had a fervor to share the gospel from the authority of God's word with whomever they met! This could change the world.” (Ken Ham, Already Gone)

Martin Luther did that. He stood uncompromisingly on the Word of God, and he changed the world.

Bring the Reformation Home

“Will you carry the Reformation from the church to the couch? Deliver the full counsel of God to your children, and you can trust that it will produce the same spiritual refreshment for your family that is has for saints of past generations.” (Josh Niemi, Expository Parenting, page 287)

Let us not squander this gift. We have more access to it than any generation in history. Our children are depending on us. Educate them to think, read, and understand, and disciple them with the full counsel of God. 

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the Reformation, I encourage you to watch the 3-part video series “Road to the Reformation” at Grace Media.