Leonard Verduin

History – even Christian history – has a proclivity to gloss over character flaws, grave mistakes, and contradictions made by its heroes. The history of the Protestant Reformation is often told in a manner that leads the student to believe that the oppressive Roman Catholic Church had abandoned its biblical mandate, forcing heroes of the faith such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli to rise to the occasion and lead the Reformation. In one sense, this is a fairly accurate show more portrayal of events. The Catholic Church’s teachings of salvation, grace, and baptism had forsaken their scriptural foundation, and reformation was needed. Brave men such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli stepped forward courageously and are certainly due honor for many of their contributions to Christianity. However, so much is made of these men that one could easily fall victim to the same myopia of history and never examine what occurred in the shadows of the Reformation. It is there, in the shadows, that Leonard Verduin casts his lamp and sheds light upon the Second Front of the Reformation – the Anabaptists.

Though they were called by many names (many of which would give the structure to the book itself), Verduin calls them The Stepchildren of the Reformation, stating that it is appropriate for two reasons: “first, because the men of the Second Front were indeed treated as stepchildren are wont to be treated; second, because they were the victims of a second marriage” (13).
Summary

For one to grasp the importance and ironies of the Reformation and the Second Front, the author posits the importance of the awareness that, “all pre-Christian society is sacral,” which he defines as, “held together by a religion to which all the members of that society are committed” (22-23). The preaching of the gospel (and men’s response to it), by its very nature creates a new society that includes both those who have received the gospel and those who have not. “Wherever the gospel is preached human society becomes composite” (24). The author maintains that Constantine’s decision to unify Rome under the banner of Christianity was an attempt to return to the sacralism of pre-Christian times, and that the Catholic Church was, therefore, the result.

In the Reformers stand against the Catholic Church, they neglected to dismantle Constantine’s union of church and state, and accepted support and union with other governments and empires. While Verduin concedes that without such a union, the Reformation would have likely been unsuccessful, it was this unwillingness to break with 1200 years of sacralism that led to the rise of the Second Front.

The Stepchildren were the victims of the Reformers’ new marriage to a new state government. In their resistance and unwillingness to join the Reformers, the Stepchildren became objects of derision and persecution – often accused of and given the very names of those who resisted the first sacral union under Constantine. The author is emphatic on making the point that the Stepchildren of the Reformation were not of the Reformation at all, but were the continuance of those who had gone before them and insisted that the gospel makes men Christian, but is not intended or able to make a society or region “Christian.”

It is this connection between the anti-Sacralists opposing Constantine’s Rome and the anti-Sacralists opposing the Reformers that forms the basis of each chapter in the book. Each position that characterized the Stepchildren was a charge levied by the Roman Catholic Church against earlier dissenters unwilling to enjoin themselves to the Roman Empire. These very same accusations were now aimed at the Second Front by the Reformers. In fact, the author quotes the Reformers’ accusations at length in effort to allow their own words to reveal the deep-seated animosity towards any who would object to their sacral church without himself being accused of misrepresenting their sentiments.
Evaluation

In The Reformers and their Stepchildren, students of history are given new insight to the Protestant Reformation. He writes, “the time seems to have come to reverse the derogatory treatment in which these Stepchildren of the Reformation have been traditionally subjected. One can speak very well of them indeed before he becomes guilty of a bias as pronounced as that of those who have so long spoken evil of them” (276). Rather than allowing the continuance of their disparagement, Verduin dismantles the accusations lobbied at them, reveals the theological truths of their beliefs, and the biases that characterized those who made those very accusations.

Verduin believes that the court of history has actually proven these Stepchildren right as, “Protestantism has, at least in the New World, come to endorse the very emphases for which these men pioneered” (276-277). In the United States of America (and many other nations), that has proven itself out in the vehement separation of church and state. Nations that have held onto sacralism have either faltered, failed, or changed their ways. The few remnants of such a mentality are themselves evidence of the theological strengths of the Stepchildren’s position, as they are most often led by a dictator that demands the obedience and worship of his citizens.

One objection to Verduin’s work is that is appears wholly one-sided. Little credit or concession is made to the cause of the Reformers. Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli are unapologetically knocked off of their historical pedestal and replaced with the men of the Second Front. In essence, Verduin casts such light upon the shadows of the Reformation, that he neglects the contributions of the Reformers and casts a new shadow on that which had previously been clearly in view.

With that caveat – that one could easily read this book and do the same injustice to the Reformers that they had done to the Stepchildren of the Reformation – this book is a tremendous resource. Prior to its publication, there seems to have been little work exposing their true convictions, and much ink spilled in attempts to undermine and misrepresent them. Winston Churchill is often quoted as claiming that, “history is written by the victors.” In The Reformers and their Stepchildren, Verduin provides an excellent resource from the perspective of the persecuted, rather than the persecutor, and in doing so does students of all history – especially Reformation history – a great service. show less

Leonard Verduin was a reformed pastor and professor who served in Christian Reformed churches and chapels. He was born in Illinois at the end of the 19th century and was raised in South Dakota. He graduated from high school at the age of 21, but this did not hinder his academic career, as he went on to earn a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where he would later serve as pastor of the Christian Reformed Chapel. Upon his retirement, he moved to Arizona, where he continued show more his extensive writing career, including the book currently under review, The Reformers and Their Step-Children.

Verduin opened his book with an introduction that sets forth his goal of tracking what he calls the stepchildren of the Reformation. This term is not perfect, because it may leave the impression that the stepchildren came after the mother church. In fact, these stepchildren, dissenters from the mainline of “Christian” thought, have always existed. (Verduin 1964, 18) As Verduin observed, these dissenters have never been known by a single name, and the historical record reveals their titles almost exclusively with pejoratives from the denomination in charge. These pejorative names, recorded and recited in Verduin’s book in German and taken from the Reformers’ use of them, make up the chapter headings of the book, offering a basic outline.

Verduin’s The Reformers and Their Step-Children is an essential work for anyone interested in church history. It offers a much-needed critique of the Reformed approach to dissent in the early years, and that from within the Reformed camp. It establishes the historical identifiers whereby one can locate the church of Jesus, outside of accepted Catholic history. For those who take seriously the notion that Jesus has and will continue to build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, this is an essential exercise, and Verduin’s work contributes a significant amount of information to help in finding that church.

There are a few negatives that should be noted. Verduin’s book is not especially helpful in establishing a biblical ecclesiology. His writing is unfortunately lacking in Biblical references and argumentation. The theological positions of both the Reformers and the step-children are taken for granted. Where Verduin began down the path toward theological analysis, he softened his language and left the reader to sort it out. Another negative is that the work is not exactly accessible. Verduin’s meaning is sometimes hidden behind obscure language and complexity, forcing the reader to slow down for comprehension. Finally, Verduin’s citation system leaves something to be desired. There are many quotations, attributed and not attributed to an author, that in either case have no footnote. This makes the work of limited value for a follow-up study.

While there are some weaknesses as listed above, the work is of overall value. It is constructive in understanding the flow of history and the representatives of religious dissent during the centuries of domination first by the Catholic denomination, and thereafter by the Reformers. It establishes in the reader a good awareness of the key differences between various denominations and sects of Christianity through the years. Finally, it is excellent for opening the reader’s eyes to the realities of sacralism in the established church. This pre-Christian concept, discarded by the Lord and the New Testament churches, was resurrected by Constantine and carried on through the centuries, first by Roman Catholicism and then by the Reformed churches after the Reformation. This area, the idea that state and church not only cannot be but should not be separated, is truly the mark of the domineering “churches.” Verduin has done an excellent job in making his readers aware of this key part in the ideological frameworks of the respective denominations. show less

This is a top 5 book for me... This book is heavy on sources and content, most Christians have never heard of before. It provides an understanding of reality, conveniently left out of most accounts of ecclesiastical history. If you think you know "church history" guess again. This book delves into what lead up to the fame "Reformation" and shows what blew out of the backside in recoil. Few in what calls itself church, or even leading services knows what this book will show you. It is a great show more source book for little known history. It helps to see the problem of Constantinianism in what calls itself church. The author is Dutch Reform but he calls us to embrace the early Anabaptists and their predecessors who lived a life of "not belonging" to the society but while being eminently effective in it. If you love history and if you want a radical walk with God, this book will light you on fire!

I particularly like all the footnoting, resources and information this author provides. It is perhaps the most marked up book in my library. show less

a penetrating insight and worth a read as a treatment of the history, particularly with regard to the 'nonconformist' aspect of the Reformation with the Anabaptists. In the opening chapters he highlights the main 'fault line' that came between some in the Reformed camp and the Anabaptists, i.e. that of sacralism. And then shows how this actually affected just about every other difference between them. In his postscript he says that his treatment of history is a little 'biased' in favour of show more the Anabaptist cause, he freely admits that, although he says that such bias can go a long way before it becomes unbalanced, and also is the balance to much other history in this area. A really helpful book. This also helps with contemporary theological disputes such as: New Covenant theology, ecumenicalism, the intermediate state, ecclesioligy, justification. Worth a read. show less