The Reformers

When we survey the figures leading up to the Reformation, some stand out as bold martyrs or fiery preachers. Others, like Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, played a quieter but no less significant role. Erasmus never fully broke with Rome, but his scholarship cracked open the door through which the Reformers would later march. By returning the church to the original text of Scripture, he prepared the ground for gospel clarity.

Not all pre-Reformation figures fit neatly into the category of theologian or translator. Some were prophets in their own time, thundering against sin and corruption. Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar in Florence, was one such man. His fiery sermons called an entire city to repentance and shook the foundations of Renaissance Italy. Though his message lacked the full clarity of the gospel later recovered in the Reformation, Savonarola’s life illustrates the power of preac

Among the many voices that prepared the way for the Reformation, few are as remarkable—and as overlooked—as Johann Wessel of Groningen. A Dutch theologian born in the early fifteenth century, Wessel anticipated many of the central truths that would later define Protestant theology. For this reason, Martin Luther himself called him “a forerunner of the gospel.”

Not every pre-Reformation figure was a fiery reformer or a martyr. Some, like Thomas à Kempis, prepared the way for renewal by pointing Christians back to the heart of personal devotion. His famous book, The Imitation of Christ, became one of the most widely read devotional works in history, shaping believers for centuries. While Thomas did not challenge the doctrinal errors of his age as boldly as Wycliffe or Hus, he reminded the church that true Christianity is not empty ri

If Jan Hus was the fiery voice of reform in Bohemia, his close friend Jerome of Prague was the steady companion who stood beside him in both ministry and martyrdom. Jerome’s story reminds us not only of the cost of faithfulness but also of God’s grace to restore faltering courage and enable His people to finish well.

In the early fifteenth century, the Lord raised up a powerful preacher in Bohemia whose courage and convictions carried forward the torch lit by John Wycliffe. His name was Jan Hus. Though he ministered more than a century before the Reformation, Hus proclaimed the supremacy of Scripture, the corruption of the papacy, and the necessity of faith in Christ. His boldness would cost him his life, but his witness would inspire generations.

When John Wycliffe died in 1384, many believed his influence would vanish with him. But the Lord had already kindled a movement that would not be extinguished. His followers, known as the Lollards, became torchbearers of truth in medieval England. They carried the Scriptures in their own language, preached in marketplaces, and endured fierce persecution—all for the sake of Christ and His Word.

Long before Luther took his stand at Wittenberg, the Lord raised up a voice in England that pierced the darkness of the medieval church. That voice belonged to John Wycliffe, a scholar and preacher who believed that the Bible must be placed in the hands of ordinary people. Because of his courage, he is often called the Morning Star of the Reformation.

When we think of the Reformation, we rightly picture fiery preachers, courageous martyrs, and pastors devoted to Scripture. Yet sometimes God used scholars and political thinkers to chip away at the towering claims of the medieval church. One such figure was Marsilius of Padua, a man who stood against the unchecked authority of the papacy and planted seeds that would grow into later reform.

When Peter Waldo laid down his wealth to follow Christ and proclaim the gospel, he could not have imagined the movement that would flow from his obedience. His followers, known as the Waldensians, became one of the most remarkable pre-Reformation groups in church history. Living mostly in the valleys of northern Italy and southern France, they were a community defined by their devotion to the Word of God and their willingness to suffer for it.

When we think of the Protestant Reformation, our minds usually run to Luther hammering his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. But long before Luther, the Lord raised up men and movements that prepared the soil for the gospel’s rediscovery. One of the earliest was Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyon, France, whose life was turned upside down by the words of Scripture.