Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 6

This is the sixth and last post in a series. Access prior posts below:

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 1 published September 20, 2011

A Forgotten Reformer (sbcIMPACT!) published September 23, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 2 published September 27, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 3 published October 6, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 4 published October 12, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 5 published October 20, 2011

Here’s a section from the end of the short biography[1] on Cipriano de Valera:

Valera draws a flattering picture when he writes in the Exhortation addressed to the reader of his Bible: “There is no city nor is there, so to speak, any borough or any mansion in Spain that has not had, and has not even now, one or more persons whom God in his infinite mercy has enlightened with the light of his gospel. It has become proverbial in Spain when they speak of a learned man, to say: he is so learned that there is danger of his becoming a Lutheran [Protestant]. Our adversaries have done all that they could, to quench this light of the gospel, and then they have outraged many in Spain by the loss of property, of life and of honour. And it is to be observed that the more they outrage, the more they scourge, expose in sanbenitos, send to the galleys or to perpetual imprisonment and into the flames, so much the more do the evangelicals multiply, for ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’” (157, brackets mine).

Valera truly believed the Reformation could catch on in Spain. He’d seen it in his own life and in the lives of many others he’d known through the years. Even now I’ve read stories of missionaries in Spain praying that believers would make themselves known and join a church. If it occurs in our day, it is likely that there were many believers during Valera’s time who managed to avoid persecution and death, but at the expense of an open gospel proclamation.

Today in most Muslim and some Asian countries the ability to speak openly about the gospel is limited. The danger is real. Yet for those who truly look into the claims of Christianity, there is hope. Just as in Spain, those who take the claims of the Bible for what they are run the risk of becoming a Christian.

The Reformation was not just an exercise in rhetoric and polemics—it cost “property, life, and honor”. Yet, for all the persecution, the church continued to grow. Valera was not alone in his faith. Many Spaniards preceded and followed after him. Today there is a surge of Evangelicalism amongst Hispanics in the U.S. and in former Spanish colonies. Perhaps revival will one day make its way back to Spain, as Valera hoped and prayed it would.

Where Christians are willing to die for their faith God is raising up new believers to take their place. After all, as Tertullian once said, and Valera has repeated, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

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[1] Boehmer, Edward & Benjamin B. Wiffen. (1904). Bibliotheca Wiffeniana: Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries from 1520. Karl J. Trübner: Strassburg. Google Books. Digitized May 15, 2008.

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 1

I’ve looked in vain for a decent and thorough biography of Cipriano de Valera. Valera was a Spanish Reformer, a contemporary of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Unfortunately, the Reformation never caught on in Spain like it did in Germany, Switzerland, England, and elsewhere. As such, much of the history of Spanish Reformers has been neglected in modern works.

Yet the Reina-Valera translation of the Bible stands as the most popular Spanish Bible translation today. Cipriano de Valera served as its chief editor after his good friend Casiodoro de Reina passed away.

Though I know little and am still in pursuit of a descent biography, I felt it worth sharing what little I could find through GoogleBooks.

A theologian of Seville, Pedro de Fuentidueña, had said in a sermon which he delivered before the members of the Tridentine Council, that the protestant heretics sought to subvert the two pillars of the church, viz. the mass and the Pope. Valera did his best to merit this reproach. (152, emphasis mine).

Valera, like Luther, recognized the abuses in the Catholic Church and sought both to identify them and call people to the true faith, not just empty practice. To do this, he adamantly opposed the absolute authority of the Pope. One quote I found from his work “Two Treatises on the Pope and on the Mass,” should give you a feel for why Pedro de Fuentidueña leveled this charge against the Protestants:

“Money is the Holy Spirit that elects the Pope.”

Though the Reformers first set out to reform the Catholic Church, it became apparent quite early on that such a reformation would not be permitted. As such, they had to choose between bowing to the ecclesiastical structures or to their convictions based on the Bible as their sole authority. Praise God they went with conviction!

Boehmer, Edward & Benjamin B. Wiffen. (1904). Bibliotheca Wiffeniana: Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries from 1520. Karl J. Trübner: Strassburg. Google Books. Digitized May 15, 2008.

Image credit.

 

Internet Highlights

Here are some articles I've found particularly interesting this week:

Learn a little bit about Spanish culture regarding treating others at restaurants and parties from a transplanted American living in Spain.

Read a good word from John Piper on the apex of history in the apex of the display of God’s glory.

Russell Moore shares some insights on explaining the Passion to children.

When even secular commentators see the oversexualization of young girls and who’s to blame.