Reformation Online Study Course

Announcing the Reformation Online Study Course

Study the Reformers Online with Our Faculty—
Live Lectures, Powerful Ideas

In anticipation of our national celebration which coincides with John Calvin’s 500th birthday, Vision Forum Ministries is pleased to announce a 14-part online course in Reformation history, featuring eminent scholars and teachers such as Dr. Joe Morecraft and Dan Ford. From May 5 to June 18, we will host a one-hour internet lecture every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., EDT, wherein our faculty will delve into some of the most important ideas that the Reformers championed — ideas that led to broad-sweeping cultural reform. The course will take place completely online. Cost is $150 per nuclear family, and no travel is required — just a working computer and faster-than-dial-up internet connection! Following the course, each registered student will be mailed a certificate of course completion.

Our 14-part study will chiefly focus on the Reformers’ impact on the three basic human institutions ordained by God: family, church, and state.

We will begin with a look at John Calvin’s own life and example — a testimony that continues to have a profound impact on the world five hundred years after his birth. Though remembered today as a theologian, Calvin was first and foremost a preacher of the Gospel and a loving shepherd to his flock. This most influential of all the Reformers, Calvin’s life and thought is something that every generation would do well to study and better understand.

Next, we will examine the Reformation’s return to Bible-directed worship, with its articulation of the “regulative principle” of worship — a principle articulated and advanced by such leading Reformers as Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox.

Following this, we will consider the remarkable revival of morality and culture within the family which resulted from the reintroduction of a biblical view of marriage — not as a less-preferable alternative to celibacy, but as a normative and noble duty. This view, along with the revival of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and the resulting rise in family worship, provided the fertile ground in which boys and girls could grow into fearless workmen for the glory of God.

Finally, we will explore the Reformation doctrine of civil government as well as civil resistance. What is the nature and bounds of civil government? When and how should tyrannical governments be lawfully checked? These are questions which our Founding Fathers grappled with in the years leading up to the War for Independence, and they were guided in their conclusions by the scriptural exposition of John Calvin and his spiritual descendants. Register now for the Reformation Online Study Course!

Online Study Course Schedule

(Please Note: Scheduled times are subject to change.)