The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church

Great and very informative book. I read it slowly as it is not the kind of book to devour but to read and think. I recommend it to anyone curious about the Reformation history.

As a catholic raised in a catholic home and going to a catholic school, living in the Roman Catholic Traditions, I wondered why we were told all other churches were empty cults. The Catholic line we were told claimed all other Protestant churches were lost, secular, non Christian, and doomed. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Like any propaganda machine, this myth has become the standard belief of many of my roman catholic relatives, pernicious as it is. Later when I attended an Evangelical Protestant church I realized I did not know how to pray, I knew nothing of the bible, and I never really knew Jesus. After the next 30 years finally getting to know Jesus better, studying His Word, and growing in my faith I wonder, how did the Roman Catholic church veer so far off course from the teachings of Jesus? What were the politics of the time that so twisted the view of the Roman Catholics of the time against the reformers? This book helps explain the history and the politics behind the "Holy traditions" of the Roman Catholic Church, and why so many faithful theologians of the 16th century to present want to renew the church, and bring it back to the teachings of Jesus. The reformers turned back to Jesus as the head of the church, and reinforced the classic orthodoxy of the true patriarchs. They taught that knowing God's word makes us better dicerners of the truth and whether or not our teaching pastor or priest is rooted in the truth of the Gospel. We can find unification of the true catholic church in this when we look back to what changed, why we need to reform, and how to abide in Christ and the truth of His Gospel. I have been freed from legalism, united with all true Christians in the holy catholic sense, and now I understand why. One has to know Jesus Christ to love Him, and one gets to know Him through the truths He teaches in His Word through His church. Love is what generates true obedience and faithfulness. All the rest (legalism) is puppetry.

This very long and dense book was well worth the time reading. It very thoroughly demythologizes and depropagandizes the history of the Reformation, giving a very fair and refreshing exposition of the events and ideas leading up to the Reformation and how the reformers viewed themselves and what they were doing. I certainly recommend it for anyone who has the time to read it.

The author should be commended. Beautiful, amazing, inspiring work. So interesting and written to help everyone see the real reason behind reforming. I will use this as research material for years to come. Interesting!!

Such a great book! It’s big so it will take some time to finish but it’s fantastic

This is a very important, well written book.

Awesome book, must read this one.

Having read several works on the Protestant Reformation, Barrett's work stands in a league of its own.

I'm just putting forth an initial impression. A fascinating topic for Catholics, as well as Protestants, naturally. I am a person who appreciates the care with which a publisher publishes his book (cover, typeface, paper quality etc.) -- and this text is top notch -- really feels nice in the hands, you won't be disappointed, in my opinion.

When the book arrived, I noticed that the box was a little bit crunched. However, the book was perfectly fine. I ordered it from Brazil, by the way. The content of the book made me buy it. Barret, as well as Horton, Trueman and other guys from the Creedo and the Center for Classical Theology, are doing a great job revisiting the context of the Reformation and restoring the concept of the Catholicity of the Church, connecting the Reformers and their second generation to medieval theologians ands scholastics, as well wit the Church Father's too. It's a great book!

No problems with the contents of the book or scholarship. It is a gem to have. However, I was so disappointed to receive a bent front cover that was torn. I tried exchanging the book for a new one, but Amazon wouldn't let me directly exchange it for a new one. I tried returning the book and purchasing an entirely new one through a separate purchase order, but the price and shipping costs were significantly different. Very disappointing on Amazon's part, but not the authorship. It was an expensive book for it to come torn and bent as "new". The book is very clearly bent from the front.

I have a masters in theological studies from one of the leading Reformed seminaries in America. I am astounded at the findings in this book. I hate the term "game changer". It has been beaten to death and is mostly an exaggeration. However, I do believe that this book has changed my view of many things, and many of my prejudices have fallen. This will force me to go back and read what I have passed over in my studies. At the age of 67, and as a leader in the church for the last 43 years (30 of which as a bishop), I only wish I had known this earlier. But that is what I usually feel as I read from other times and corners of the Church of Jesus Christ.