Page 3 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE

The Foundations of our Faith

A series on the lives and the heritage we have gained from great men in Christian history.

The following is a series of teaching given to Senior students in lecture style. Each session was

only 30 minutes. We also used ‘Christian History’ magazines extensively on some of the

characters studied and various other visual aids or examples of relevant books. The characters

are obviously only a selection of the righteous men who have left an inheritance for us. The

contributions of their lives are also obviously synopsised and concentrated into ‘manageable

chunks’. The aim was for the students to understand that many of the aspects we take for

granted as a part of our church life today were fought for and won by faithful men who

sometimes paid the full price of their convictions with their lives.

A series of worksheets were developed in which each man’s life and teaching was studied. They

were filled in as the lecture was given.

1) John Wycliffe – ‘The Morning Star of the Reformation
1494 - 1536

Wycliffe was the first translator of the Bible into English. We studied four truths that
he upheld to withstand the corruption of the Church.

2) Martin Luther – ‘The Teacher of Germany’

1483 -1546

Humankind is saved through faith alone – not by works. There is no separation of life into
sacred and secular.

3) John Calvin – ‘The Great Pastor and Teacher’
1509 – 1564

Calvinistic Teaching. This prompted interesting discussion with regard to the Sovereignty
of God and the theory of election and predestination. These were left open-ended.

4) William Tyndale – Famous Bible Translator
1494 - 1536

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