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October 31 marks the annual anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation in 1517. Or so we historically consider one definitive act—an act that did not have the intention, nor the motivation, nor the vision of its historical consequences. Yet the results of this one act with all its surrounding providential orchestration created a pivotal point in history. It was a transition from one era to another—from one religious construct to another; from one cultural dynamic to another; perhaps most importantly, the move from bondage to the church/state to the sole liberty of conscience of the individual before God, based solely on His revelatory Word—Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone; Sola Gratia—by Grace alone; Sola Fide—by Faith alone; Solus Chritus—Christ alone; Soli Deo Gloria—to the Glory of God alone. It paved the way from the Medieval Age and the Renaissance to the future.

We tend to celebrate and commemorate and remember significant historical events and their import on definitive years…e.g. 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100…500 and then we don’t think much about them or their significance or application to our lives until the next celebration.

Yet that one act and the Reformation it spawned with all its historical consequences have flowed through history for more than 500 years to today. Yet it has significance and meaning for us today. It is not just history. It is life. It is faith. It is culture. It essentially touches everything in our lives.

That is why this project is so vitally important to me.

Reformation 500+ is a legacy project for me. It has its roots back in 1979 and the early 1980s. It still has bearing on my life today—40 years later—and for you…

During the summer of 1979, I began to work on a project for a proposed illustrated calendar on the Reformation. I had studied its history; its characters and theology at Cedarville University the previous four years and it seemed a logical place for us to start illustration projects. Where it would take me, and my work, I could not have foreseen.

My initial prototype/proposal consisted of two drawings of Martin Luther with narrative scripts. Having planned to travel in England, Wales and Scotland that September/October, I contacted Ian Murray, editor and chief of The Banner of Truth Trust Publishing Company in Edinburgh, Scotland. He agreed to meet and review my work and proposal…the stage was set.

This all happened before the Internet, email, smart phones, social media—all the technology that we now depend on daily. We conducted our correspondence on those thin blue airmail letters, depending on “snail-mail” “across the pond”. To show the work, I carried the original art with me.

During two visits to Edinburgh, I had several meetings with Ian Murray, Sinclair Furgeson and the Banner’s production manager, Humphrey Milfred. What a tremendous privilege to meet these men. And while we did not go forward with the proposed Reformation project, what came out of it was my children’s picturebook on creation, AND GOD SAID—published 10 years later by Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers, Inc.

Another result of these meetings was a sense of the abiding import of the Reformation and its theology for faith and life—essentially the need to Keep Reforming! This conviction was fundamentally impressed on me by meeting men of amazing intellect, with deep theological understanding, but who were most impressive for their humble piety and charity. This sense broadened and deepened meeting Cornelius Van Til shortly after returning from my trip. So, this story and all its related stories have been part of my story for more than 40 years.

Some things abide in the soul—they cannot be shaken or left behind. And surely should not be taken for granted.

SIGNIFICANCE OF REFORMATION 500+ PROJECT
Cornelius Van Til not only had a profound effect on my personal life, but also the direction my work took on this project. Initially, having started my Reformation work drawing Luther tacking his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Chapel door, my inclination was to continue illustrating the central figures of the Reformation. But Van Til influenced me to do my Princeton, Westminster series of portraits of five more contemporary Reformers, who like their earlier counterparts took a stand for Biblical orthodoxy and stood against the prevailing heresy of their day. And his willingness to pose for me was added incentive!

Van Til taught at Princeton Theological Seminary along with Geerhardus Vos, J. Gresham Machen, John Murray, and others in the early 1900s. When the PCUSA adopted the Auburn Affirmation (the assent to the liberal “modernist” theology that denied the orthodox, fundamentals of the historic Christian faith) it set the stage for a historical fight and separation. Because of the new liberal theological direction of Princeton, Machen, Van Til, Murray and others left and founded Westminster Theological Seminary near Philadelphia in 1929 and then in 1936, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

The five portraits in the series are B.B. Warfield, Geerhardus Vos, J. Gresham Machen, Cornelius Van Til and John Murray.

KEEP REFORMING…
The meaning of the Reformation does not only have historical significance but has an abiding urgency for each generation to keep reforming…. How do we in the 21st Century apply the Reformation and reformation to our lives, the church and culture? This truth motivates me and informs the Reformation 500+ project.

Three main areas for ongoing reformation in our historical context: Post-Christian; Post-Modern; Post-Truth:

· Personal Reformation

· Church Reformation

· Cultural Reformation

I recently listened to a discussion with Ian Murray and John MacArthur on YouTube. MacArthur stated that he believes there are two main lessons of the Reformation.

1. Evil can become massively entrenched, sophisticated and complex. So powerful that it can dominate a culture and history for a millennium.

2. God can triumph over that evil through a handful of men.

God uses a few faithful men and women to triumph over evil—He has in the past, and He can and will do it again.

PERSONAL: It starts with me…
The ultimate meaning and purpose of life—our chief-end is to love God and enjoy Him forever. The greatest command is to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the beginning of all true and lasting personal life reformation.

I have come to understand this from both the Bible, and from my own life experience. Reformation in the church and culture begins with reforming my own life.

I hope these commemorative prints will remind and encourage many to keep reforming!

PRINCETON, WESTMINSTER DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH

In the first phase of this project, each of the five portraits went through a process of creating the image initially as a pencil drawing. The drawing was then transferred to a copperplate with a process of drawing and eating the drawn lines into the copper in acid baths. Then each print was individually pulled one at a time on my etching press in The Graphics Guild, my printmaking studio near Philadelphia.

The new editions are those etching prints that I pulled on my press, and then enhanced with pen & ink drawing.

Cornelius Van Til, Portrait Etching
Mixed Media on Archival Paper
Image Size: 5.75” x 6.75”

Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987) began teaching at Princeton Seminary, but shortly went with the conservative group that founded Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for forty-three years. He taught apologetics and systematic theology there until his retirement in 1972 and continued to teach occasionally until 1979. He was also a minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America and in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from the 1930s until his death in 1987.

Van Til, a theologian and philosopher is best known for his “presuppositional apologetics”. He drew upon the works of Dutch philosophers and theologians to devise a novel Reformed approach to Christian apologetics, which opposed the traditional methodology of reasoning on the supposition that there is a neutral middle-ground, upon which the non-Christian and the Christian can agree. His contribution was to insist that the "ground motive" of a Christian philosophy must be derived from the historical terms of the Christian faith. In particular, he argued that the Trinity is of indispensable and insuperable value to a Christian philosophy. He authored more than 18 books and influenced such notable Christian philosophers and theologians as Rousas John Rushdoony and Francis Schaeffer.

Personal Note: In God’s providence, Dr. Van Til became my good friend during the last eight years of his life. He graciously supported me with this portrait etching project including helping me choose the other theologians in the series, posing for his portraits, promoting the project, signing his prints (I don’t remember the number, but it was a lot!) and giving me permission to use his signature on the editions pulled from his copper plate. I had the privilege of escorting him to the Chalcedon Conference on Christianity and the Arts in Sacramento, CA. This trip strengthened our relationship and gave me more insight into his character. Beyond the influence of his writings and teaching, his personal life of godly humility had the most profound impact on me. I am ever grateful to the Lord to having known him.

B.B. Warfield (1851–1921) was professor of theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 to 1921 and served as its last principal. In 1881 Warfield wrote a joint article with A. A. Hodge on the inspiration of the Bible. It drew attention because of its scholarly and forceful defense of the inerrancy of the Bible. In many of his writings, Warfield attempted to demonstrate that the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy was simply orthodox Christian teaching, and not merely a concept invented in the nineteenth century. His passion was to refute the liberal element within Presbyterianism and within Christianity at large. He passed in 1921 while in still in office.

Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949) joined the faculty of the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1892, where he became its first Professor of Biblical Theology. He taught alongside J. Gresham Machen and B. B. Warfield. He also authored his most famous works, Pauline Eschatology (1930) and Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (1948). Despite his opposition to the growing modernist influence at Princeton in the late 1920s, he decided to remain at Princeton Seminary after Machen left to form Westminster Theological Seminary, as he was close to retirement.

J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937), Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary between 1906 and 1929, led the opposition against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia (1929) as an orthodox alternative. As the Northern Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) with its adoption of the Auburn Affirmation, continued to reject conservative attempts to enforce faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith, Machen led a small group of conservatives out of the church to form the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1936).

John Murray (1898–1975) taught at Princeton for a year and then lectured in systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary to generations of students from 1930 to 1966 and was an early trustee of the Banner of Truth Trust. Besides the material in the four-volume Collected Writings, his primary published works are a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, Principles of Conduct, The Imputation of Adam's Sin, Baptism, and Divorce.