Reformation 500: Day 4

On day 4, we got up at 7:30 so that we could go to the children's parade. There were a lot of people at the children's parade, and a lot of them were in costume, like us. The children's parade went around the Boston Common and through the streets back to the hotel.

Some of our friends

Some Reformers

Marching (walking)

Joshua

At the hotel in the main ballroom there were some speeches, and Charlie Zahm sung some songs. Since we were going to leave as soon as it was over, we went up to our room during the first break,and changed our clothes. When we got back, it had already started so we missed some of the graduation ceremonies of the Vision Forum Interns. When we were about to leave some people rang the Liberty Bell, at 2:00, the exact time that they really did. The Muses got to ring it because they won the treasure hunt. You can watch the video below.

Charlie Zahm singing "Jolly Jolly Soldier"

Charlie Zahm Sings 'For the Honor of George Washington' from Vision Forum on Vimeo.

Ringing the Liberty Bell

Ringing the Liberty Bell from Vision Forum on Vimeo.

Reformation 500: Day 3

On this day we got up and ate donuts. This day was full of sessions, until after lunch when we went on a mini-tour. We heard several different messages. Some of my favorites were by Dr. Morecraft. He gave one on the Five Solas of the Reformation. I also enjoyed the Impact of the Reformation of Art and Culture by Mr. Phillips. Here are some pictures:

Mr. Phillips

Mr. Serven

At 2:30 we had a tour on the great awakening by Dr. Morecraft. We could not find Stephen, so we left him to listen to messages. Just then we got an email about the treasure hunt. So then we called Mr. Breagy, and I told Stephen Breagy the clue. So while we listened to the tour, they worked on the treasure hunt. Dr. Morecraft's message was very interesting.

Dr. Morecraft

The clue that we had gotten told us to go to one of the reformers, and tell him a password. They did that, and he told them to go to another, and so on for about 20! When we got back, they were on about the fifth. Finally our parents left for dinner, but we kept working. We got stuck for almost an hour because one of the reformers had gone to dinner. When we got to her, we went through several more, until during one of the session breaks we got the last clue from Joshua Phillips. It was a poem which told you to go to one of the vendors and ask for something, which you would then give to the 5th trustee from Jamestown. The poem was very difficult, especially because you were not allowed to copy it. You had to remember it. Anyway, finally after all the sessions we figured it out. We were in 4th place, which we thought was pretty good, especially since we had no adults helping us. The person who won was Mr. Muse from our church! We had a lot of fun even though we did not win.

The evening sessions were a Charlie Zahm concert, and then a debate between John Calvin and Charles Darwin. During the concert, Mr Phillips played that harmonica for several songs. You can hear them below. It was very good. The debate was pretty good, but we thought Charles Darwin won even though he was wrong.

Musical Audio of Canonball & Orange Blossoms Performed at the Reformation 500 from Vision Forum on Vimeo.

Reformation 500: Day 2

The first message that we went to was by Dr. Paul Jehle on John Robinson. John Robinson was the Pilgrims' pastor while they were in Holland before coming to America. He effected the Pilgrims, and America, a lot. Next I went to hear Mr. Potter speak on The Influence of the Reformation on Global Exploration and Warfare. He spoke on two different battles. The first was the siege of Derry, when the Catholic Irish sieged the Reformed Christian Scotch-Irish. The other battle was the Battle of Blood River in South Africa, where 400 Christian Boers defeated thousands of Zulu Indians. This message was very interesting.

Paul Jehle

Bill Potter

At this point we had to send in the clues that we had gotten from the Reformers for the treasure hunt. We only got three of the five, but we sent it in any way. We thought the clues referred to the George Washington statue in the Boston Public Gardens. This was true, but we did not find any clues there. When we got back, we listened to the end of Mr. Swanson's message on Lessons for Homeschoolers from the Reformation.

Dan Ford

The next lecture we went to was by Dan Ford on John Calvin's legacy of liberty. He showed many original documents from that time. Next we heard Dr. Morecraft speak on Calvin's Doctrine of Worship.

Dr. Joe Morecraft

Reformation 500: Day 1

This was the first day of the Reformation 500 conference. We had two mini-tours scheduled before the opening ceremonies, so that later we would not miss any talks. The first thing we went to was a meeting for the treasure hunt. We were late, because we did not have time to check email the night before. We got a coded message to translate. Here are some pictures of the meeting on Mr. Phillips' blog.

After the meeting we left for our first mini tour. It was of the Granary and King's Chapel burying grounds with Dr. Joe Morecraft and Richard Holland. Dr. Morecraft is a preacher from Georgia and he knows a lot about the Reformation. He was on the Scotland Faith and Freedom Tour with us last summer. Richard Holland lives in Boston, and he does Christian history tours in Boston. First we went to the Granary burying ground. It is called the patriot's grave yard. John Handcock, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, James Otis and other famous people are buried here. Mr. Holland spoke on the people buried here, and Dr. Morecraft spoke on the War for Independence.

Park Street Church, where one of the evil Unitarian abolitionist
preached before the Second War for American Independence

Dr. Morecraft and Mr. Holland, in front of Benjamin Franklin's parents' grave

Next we visited the King's Chapel burying ground. It is known as the preacher's graveyard. John Winthrop was buried here, along with the first person to get off the Mayflower and the gravestone that was the inspiration for The Scarlet Letter by Nataniel Hawtorne, which was written against the Puritans.



Our next tour was the Old South Meeting House with Dan Ford. Mr. Ford has a lot of very old books and documents which were important, and he shows them on his tours. The Old South Meeting House was a church in the time of the War for Independence. It was where they met before the Boston Tea party. Mr. Ford talked about the beginnings of the War for Independence here. We next went to the Old State House, where the Boston Massacre took place. Here Mr. Ford talked about the Boston Massacre and the doctrine of interposition. The last stop on the tour was the Benjamin Franklin statue. Mr. Ford talked about his life, especially how he was a diplomat before the War for Independance.

Old South Meeting House

Mr. Ford

Benjamin Franklin

After the tour ended, we went with some of the Breagys to a bookstore that Mr. Holland recommended, Brattle Street Books. Daddy bought lots of books, which our friends the Damings brought back to NC for us since we flew. We went back to the hotel, and we went to "Meet the Reformers." Vision Forum had about 40 people who were re-enactors of the Reformers. If you got 30 of them to sign your program, you got a ten dollar gift certificate. We also had to ask them a certain question so that they would give us clues for the treasure hunt. After this there were the opening ceremonies. Mr. Phillips spoke, and each of the speakers gave a brief summary of their messages. Charlie Zahm also sang some songs.

The Book Store

Blogging the Reformers: Philibert Berthelier

J. H. Merle D'Aubigne

This year I am reading History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne because this year is the 500th aniversary of the birth of John Calvin. We are also planning on attending the Reformation 500 Celebration by Vision Forum Ministries. For a book report on this book, I am writing a paragraph on the important reformation figures that D'Aubigne writes about in his book. My first one is on Philibert Berthelier.


Philibert Berthelier

Philibert Berthelier was a Swiss Patriot in the town of Geneva in the 16^th century. He defended the liberties of the city of Geneva against the Duke of Savoy, who wished to unlawfully rule the city. When he was about the be arrested, he fled Geneva and went to Friburg, a Swiss city, to ask if they would protect Geneva. In this he was successful, and the city of Geneva made a treaty with Friburg. He later returned to Geneva, and was arrested by the bishop, who hoped that by killing him he would destroy the desire for independence in Geneva. Berthelier said,

I am accused of being a marplot because I ask for justice; - a good-for-nothing, because I defend liberty against the enterprises of usurpers; - a conspirator against the bishop's life, because they conspire against mine.¹

When he was about to be killed, he trusted in the Lord, even though he was a Catholic². He was beheaded by the bishop of Geneva on August 23, 1519, and his head was hung on a tree as a warning to the other Genevans. D'Aubigne says this, “[Bethelier's] death has not been useless to the universal cause of civilization.”3

1 As quoted in J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) v. 1 p. 143

2 Ibid, p. 191-192

3 Ibid, p. 198