The Piano Guys

Imagine this pitch to Sony Records: two middle aged Mormon Dads, one playing piano and one with a small army of cellos, hang out in nature playing music to their hearts’ content. Probably not the next hit, right? Think again… since early 2012 we and a growing number of fans have grown to love these two, better known as the Piano Guys, for their amazing music and incredibly beautiful music videos. With a flair and style unmatched by any other group, they have done many mashups of current popular songs with old classical favorites as well as writing many of their own pieces. 

Their story begins in a piano store owned by Paul Anderson who wanted to come up with new marketing approach. He somehow came across Jon Schmidt, with the magic ten fingers, and the idea sparked that he could film Jon playing his wonderful pianos and hopefully sell more of them. Long before this musical endeavor, Jon and Steven Sharp Nelson (the cello guy) had been playing together for many years, but they came together officially sometime during the filming project for Paul and the piano store. They were soon filming everywhere and anywhere, taking the piano onto cliffs, beaches and eventually working their way around the seven wonders of the world, which they are still in the process of reaching! 

Late last year Jeanette and I saw the 2014 tour(age) announcement and said “haha, wouldn’t this be fun to go to?” But then we actually did! We got the tickets last December and waited and waited and got very happy each time we remembered it was coming. Last night was the culmination of our waiting with the chance to see them in person. They are indeed real people. With incredible talent and skills. Even with their mind-blowing skills, it was neat, in a strange way, to hear several mistakes made throughout the show. Because they were using so many layers of sound in their songs, throughout the show we wondered how much of it was recorded and how much was actually being played. However, when we heard those few mistakes, it made us thankful that we were actually hearing them playing live, not pre-recorded and also thankful that they are not completely infallible geniuses. Which leaves hope for the rest of us. We loved hearing so many of our favorites (which really, is all of them) and we even got to hear a few brand new songs by Jon. Some of the ones we heard were: Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascends, Can’t Help Falling in Love, Love Story Meets Viva la Vida, Peponi (Coldplay’s Paradise), All of Me, Rolling in the Deep, The Cello Song, Bring Him Home, Titanium, Bourne Vivaldi, Beethoven’s Five Secrets, A Thousand Years, Rockebel’s Canon and Charlie Brown Medley.  

They made the audience work quite a while to get an encore, but it was well worth all the clapping because we got to actually see the fun rendition of One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful. Al Van Der Beek, the music arranger for their group, joined Jon and Steven around the piano for this performance. Paul Anderson, the group's producer, would also have been with them on stage, but unfortunately he hurt his back and was unable to be at the show. To see this awesome cover of the song (although the video has 5 guys, remember we saw it performed with only 3, which was even more impressive) go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqTwnAuHws. 

Not only was the concert itself incredible, but the location was also amazing, at the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Blvd. It was our first time seeing the inside of the theater. We even enjoyed the small amount of hiking in the streets with our heels on. It was well worth it to see these guys in concert. After following them for over 2.5 years, it was great to see them in person instead of just ridiculously talented musicians online. 

Now go catch up on any Piano Guy's music you've missed. 

Owl City- a look at some amazing music

Owl City is one of my favourite artists. Owl City is a one-man "band" that started in 2007 in the "electronica" genre.  I don't remember exactly when I discovered Owl City, but when I did, we became good friends.  He's kept me good company through late nights of school, cleaning the house, and whatever other random times I felt like a little Owl City.

So what's so awesome about Owl City?? It's fun!  I love his lyrics.  His faith in God encourages me.  He's used his struggles and turned it into creativity.  

Obviously everyone has different tastes in music, but I don't see how his music can't put a smile on your face!  It's catchy.  It's silly danceable.  His lyrics are so funny!  They are nonsensical and yet brilliant.  His play on words are so cool.  Sometimes though it's hard to know what song you want to listen to because the titles almost rarely have anything to do with what is in the song.  But his songs stick with you and attach themselves to memories.  One of the lines that has gotten stuck in my head and always reminds me of all the museums I went to in Europe is from "Fuzzy Blue Lights" - "If I was walking through a sad art gallery and you were driving through the night I'd feel rather alone and ill at ease beneath the brilliant showroom light."  And it took me such a long time to find what song that was from, because it has nothing to do with Fuzzy Blue Lights and the words "fuzzy," "blue," or "lights" never show up in the song anyways!  How did he get that title... Who knows?!  But that's another reason I love him.  From reading his blog he talks a lot about his struggles with serious insomnia.  I can't even imagine being SOO tired and not being able to sleep.  His music is a creative outpouring from his tired mind.  He can't sleep so he writes.  And some of what comes out makes it into his lyrics.
He has the greatest puns and word plays.  "The Bird and the Worm" plays on a phrase from one chorus to the next.  "For all my pals who live in the oceans and the seas, With friends like these, well, Who needs enemies?" The next chorus says: "For all my pals who live in the oceans and the seas, With fronds like these, well, Who needs anemones?"  There's so many other great ones with really funny word plays too (check out Dental Care, Rugs from Me to You, Honey and the Bee, Plant Life, Dementia, etc.)!

If you are looking for songs that explore deep themes or have some great message, look elsewhere.  Or maybe, just look deeper into his vision.  Do lyrics have to be deep to have a deep message?  The joy of life that he exudes, infuses itself into the emotion of his songs.  Maybe the message he explains in all his songs is that explosive creativity shows the imagination that God has put into His image bearers.

One of the most encouraging things I find about him, is despite the fame that he has found, he keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus.  As a fan, I wanted to read his blog posts to find out more about him; "get to know him."  And as I read, I was amazed by his "Christian" posts. His blog is littered with Bible verses, thoughts on subjects he is working through, and reminders for others reading his blog to look to God for everything.  These are a couple posts I found on his blog recently:

"I want this real bad:
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7 NLT)"

And this shorty, but goody:

"Reminder: Jesus is coming back."

So maybe next time you're looking for music to listen, give Owl City a try.

Here's one that's been stuck in my head recently!

Jeanette

A Movie in Review: The Book Thief

Dec. 11, 2013 took us to the the movie theater to view The Book Thief. Jeanette had come across a review of The Book Thief on PluggedIn.com and found the review intriguing. Germany, books, fighting for what's right -- this sounds great!

Plot Nutshell:
A young girl struggles to find the meaning of home, family and hope amid the tumult of World War II and finds that words on the pages of her favorite books can take her far beyond the walls of her scared village.

Our Thoughts:
This deeply touching movie depicts both the horrors and heroes of war time in Germany, not only on the large scale, but also in the day-to-day life of a young girl struggling to find her place in a frightening world. Liesel (played extremely well by Sophie Nélisse), our main character, comes to a new family at the onset of the movie and loses her brother, all in the same train ride, which understandably gives her cause to withdraw and question the world around her, not to mention the horrifying beginnings of World War II.

Her new family seems to welcome her with only one arm open, that of her new father, Hans (played brilliantly by Geoffrey Rush). Married to an extremely hard-working and at times, equally harsh, woman named Rosa (Emily Watson), Hans is the main source of Liesel’s growth and encouragement throughout the film. We watch him treat his new little girl like a queen when others look down on her, encourage her to learn how to read in a time of book burnings, stand up for Jewish friends in a time of drastic anti-semitism, and cry tears of fear and disappointment for the uncertain times he lives in. By the end of the film, Rosa also becomes not only a new mother, but a friend to Liesel as well, offering encouragement and strength in her own way. Rosa also learns from Liesel the importance of an imagination built by wonder and a quiet calm during times of distress.

Two important supporting friends who challenge her to look at the world in a new way are Max (compellingly played by Ben Schnetzer), a Jewish refugee friend, and Rudy, her schoolmate (played by the adorable Nico Liersch). Rudy becomes her instant companion, confidently proclaiming at their first meeting, that they will be friends, against Liesel’s objections. Max, however, has a much quieter presence in her life, as he comes to the family only a few breaths from death, which he lingers close to for several stretches of the film.

Liesel's journey through the film leads her not only on a literal learning curve, but a journey of right and wrong, trust and friendship, and even wonder and magic. She learns how true friends act and what they will sacrifice for another. After following her to the mayor's house, Rudy discovers that she has been "borrowing" books from their library, but he also finds out something more important, Liesel’s family is keeping a refugee. Being part of the Hitler Youth movement, Rudy could have turned her in, but instead, he protects her secrets and shares her burdens. Another dear friend in the film, Max, encourages her to describe what her eyes truly see. "If your eyes could speak, what would they say?" He brings imagination to the pages of Liesel's books. Because he is restricted to the cold, hard basement, she becomes his eyes to the outside world, reminding him of the life that exists outside the darkness of its walls. Because of the influence and love of those around Liesel, she thrives, learning to trust again and have hope that lives beyond dark days.

Our Cautions:
While we consider this movie incredibly “clean” in the usual sense, the subject matter it deals with involves incredible pain, suffering, injustice, sickness and death, all in the context of the World War Liesl and her friends live through and learn from. This movie doesn’t have any sexual content and very little in the way of profanity. The caution we are alerting you to is in regards to the violence and sheer mental and emotional intensity of a number of scenes.

In one of the more disturbing scenes near the beginning of the movie, we see the reason Max left home in such haste, and arrived at Liesl’s house in such precarious health; Kristallnacht (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht for more details regarding this horrible event). It was a coordinated effort by the Nazis in both Germany and Austria on November 9 and 10, 1938, specifically aimed at any and every Jewish establishment that left 91 Jews dead and at least 30,000 incarcerated and on their way to concentration camps. The events of those nights are shown, including beatings in the streets, smashing of many windows (hence the name- meaning literally “crystal night”), and many fleeing for their lives.

In various other scenes, we see children fighting with each other, we see Hans receive a beating for his defense of a Jewish friend, we see a truck of soldiers overturn when a bomb hits it (although we don’t see any bodily damage), we see bombs being dropped on cities, and we see a young boy in his mother’s arms with blood trickling out of his nose indicating his death, who is subsequently buried by the railroad tracks. One of the final, more disturbing scenes is of a city that has been bombed during the night. As the town wakes up, it finds many of its occupants have died during the night and are being pulled from the rubble by soldiers. The casualties are laid over the rubble, in the street, and although they are not physically distorted, as real bomb victims would undoubtedly be, the ultimate impact is the same- death.

Intense, but non-violent scenes include a book-burning, in which Liesel and Rudy are chided into producing their own books to sacrifice on the altar of a “pure mind.” We see several air-raids in which bombs are heard very nearby, Liesel is told in no uncertain terms to keep Max’s presence in their house an utmost secret, and when his presence is finally suspected, a thorough search of their home’s basement (where Max is hiding and hanging onto his life by a thread), brings a Nazi soldier so close, it is only by hiding underneath the Nazi flag that Max’s life is saved.

An interesting point of discussion is the choice of narrator for the film. What character could narrate a story with a reach that goes beyond a single war, that isn’t bound to any certain life, or set of hopes and regrets, that would have a viewpoint global enough to understand all sides? Other than God himself, Death would be a good choice. Someone intimately familiar with every war, he adds a very intriguing angle to the entire story and adds his own observations of Liesel to the story.

We hope if you decide to watch this movie you will enjoy it and be inspired by the characters.
Chelsea and Jeanette

Great(ly Revised) Expectations

Looking toward each new year I like to think I know what to expect. But some years, I realize once again, that only God holds the future and my expectations don’t have much to do with things. It’s been a very growing year, and among deaths, births, travels, and new jobs, it seems this year was filled with some of the most major life landmarks any year could have. 

Early in the year, we were greatly saddened to discover Grandma’s cancer had returned and spread beyond anyone’s control. As she slipped further into pain with less and less ability to communicate, we spent many afternoons in her hospital room. Eventually, we were able to have her living in our home for her final days. It was a blessing to have that time with her and be able to give back some of the love and care she gave us for so many years. 

About a month and a half after Grandma’s passing, I went back to Europe for a month-long trip, mainly for the purpose of helping at a church-sponsored English camp in the Czech Republic. My usual partner in crime, Jeanette Wright, was my travel partner once again and we welcomed her sister Brigitte into our group as well! As our first experience at an English camp, we weren’t sure what to expect, but were excited to be welcomed with open arms by the other camp leaders and the campers themselves. 

I know now to only expect that my next year will be beyond what I can imagine. Since coming home from the Czech Republic, things are pointing to my return for a longer period of time for the purpose of teaching conversational English in the high-school near where English Camp was held, as well as helping with the local growing Christian youth ministry. Prayers and encouragement are greatly appreciated as I proceed with planning this new venture and seek God’s direction! If you would like to be updated on my plans and progress as things move along, please send me an email at Cairavel05@gmail.com. God bless you in the coming year!  

Changes and Thankfulness

It's been a while since we have posted anything on this blog.  And you'll notice there is almost no mention of travel on this blog post.  Unfortunately, we didn't keep up on our posting about our trip and it's now been two years since the events we were blogging about!  Since then we've made it back to Europe and had another great experience!

But time brings change.  And in these two years we have been changed, and shaped, and our goals have been given new life.  God has given us new directions and opened new doors for us.  Change brings it's ups and downs.  It's hard and it's exciting.  You're thankful for it and you hate it.

The great part about change though is that God never changes.  And for that we're incredibly grateful!  He never changes the fact that He loves us and has great plans for us.  He never changes the fact that He has given great forgiveness to us.  We get to see new and exciting things because of the direction God has given us.  So, you may see some different kinds of posts on here than you've seen in the past.

We hope you'll enjoy hearing about the new adventures in whatever snippets appear here.
And just for fun.... Donald O'Conner getting a lesson about life and then tap dancing on roller skates...  :D

Jeanette and Chelsea

Luther went a lot of places.... want to come with us? Part 2

This tour week was special for us because Jeanette’s parents and sister got to come along with the class and enjoy all the history and travel with us! Before they joined our group, they toured Neuschwanstein Castle on their own, as we had done earlier.  They came on Friday night, amidst us packing and checking the lobby for their arrival every 5 minutes. It was wonderful but almost strange to have formal parental figures in our midst again after the two months of being on our own. But it was great to see them and have them share some of our experience over there!

We travelled to many cities during this week seeing many historical places and places where Luther lived and worked.  We travelled to Dresden (did a city tour and saw The Zwinger),

The Protestant Church in Dresden

A view of the Zwinger at Sunset

Berlin (our main stop here was The National History Museum, but we also saw where the Berlin Wall used to be and the Holocaust memorial),

Checkpoint Charlie

The Brandenburg Gate

Where the Berlin Wall used to run

The Holocaust Memorial

Wittenburg (where we saw the Castle Church-where Luther allegedly nailed the 95 Theses on the doors, basically starting the Reformation, the church Luther preached in, and Luther's house; we also had the first Ambex ping-pong tournament),

The Castle Church

A night shot of the Castle Church

Erfurt (we got to go to the first monastery Luther lived at, where part of the newer Luther movie was filmed-it was so peaceful and beautiful there!),

One of the walkways in the monastery

The courtyard through a beautiful old window

Eisenach (where we got to see J.S. Bach's house and Wartburg Castle- where Luther was "kidnapped" and translated the New Testament),

Wartburg Castle

I'd say that's inspiration enough for Luther's "A Might Fortress is our God"

Mainz (toured the Gutenberg Museum and saw a few of the original Gutenberg Bibles!),

Worms (a short trip where we saw the Cathedral there, the place where Luther stood his ground against the council demanding he recant, and a monument to the Reformers),

Worms Cathedral

The Reformers Monument

and Heidelberg (we ended our academic tour here, took our final for our class, wandered around the city- enjoying a local hot chocolate shop).  

We made one more stop in Nurnberg where we said farewell to my (Jeanette's) family and headed off via train to the Ryanair airport in Memmingen to go to Sweden and Norway for the week.  

My (Jeanette's) favourite part of the trip was Wittenburg and Erfurt.  I loved the beauty of both places- walking through the hostel and seeing the nighttime view of the Castle Church in Wittenburg lighted up and the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of the monastery at Erfurt during the rainy day.  I loved seeing history come alive through the teaching of Dr. Smith and actually seeing the places Luther lived and worked.  The time of fellowship that we had as a group was, as always, wonderful and I think our group bonded even more on these trips.  The friendships that had begun at the beginning of the semester were deepening and our group was becoming more and more of a family.  I loved being able to have my family meet everyone and be able to experience a sliver of what I was experiencing.  This week was my favourite academic tour week (or at least top two... out of three... ;)).  Every week of this trip has a different special memory and it's very hard to rank them.

My (Chelsea) favorite parts of the week were Dresden and Eisenach. I loved the old city center, the beautiful Zwinger museum which we had a pitifully short time in. I also particularly loved going to a church service, partially translated by Dr. Smith. It was definitely a unique experience listening to Bach played during the service at various points and seeing several infant baptisms. In Eisenach, we were able to stay in a beautiful, old hostel full of character and dark wood door frames. The surrounding woods provided a beautiful setting for my pre-breakfast walks and Bible studies. There were even helpful signs scattered in the woods talking about some history of the area, which came in handy later when we visited the Wittenburg castle, because some of those same points of history came up again! Of course overall, pointing to this week in my trip and saying I was able to retrace some footsteps of Martin Luther is rather incredible. Dr. Smith shared his passion and knowledge so well with us, it will always be an extremely special week in my heart.

Luther went a lot of places... want to come with us? Part 1

We were introduced to the life and times of Martin Luther with a she-banga-bang! We had muddled through his biography, titled Luther: Man Between God and the Devil by Heiko A. Oberman, the previous week in Paris and prepared our book report sleepily on a few late nights. The main consensus for the book seemed to be that it was confusing and focused on too many aspects of Luther’s life that were rather extraneous. 

We have to admit though, that Dr. Smith’s syllabus had us all on high-alert. Just imagine reading this before meeting the teacher:

"Students are expected to be respectful toward the professor and their classmates.  The amount of tuition one has paid for the class does not alter this expectation; no single student has proprietary ownership of the class, but the course as a whole and the classroom in particular are under the exclusive custody of the professor.  The following behaviors, therefore, are not tolerated: sleeping in class, engaging in personal conversations, passing notes, walking around the classroom, and leaving the classroom for any period of time without prior consent of the instructor.  Infractions in any of these areas will result in a variety of penalties – including but not limited to a verbal warning, which might be deeply embarrassing, dismissal from class for the day, a reduction in class participation grade, or a particular assignment given as punishment – to be administered at the professor’s discretion."

Not that we were used to sleeping in the classroom (... much), but still, this had us a bit on edge, understandably so. However, we quickly realized we had nothing to worry about. We mentioned our concerns to Coach and he mentioned that Dr. Smith had to prepare for the worst and seem as overbearing as possible, because it would be much easier to move from cracking down to easing up than the other way around. We understood and (tried) not to give him any reason crack down ;) I think we were successful... he said we were one of his favorite classes, so we were happy.

He was an awesome professor, loved his subject matter, loved teaching it, and loved sharing his insights and vast knowledge of history with us. One thing that particularly stood out to us was his dedication to writing all his class notes by hand either on the whiteboard or, in some classrooms, a giant notepad. He told us at the start that he didn’t like using electronic media, like powerpoint presentations, in his class because he felt that it was too visually over-stimulating. Jeanette and I both loved that, and totally admired how he could hand-write on the board, keep talking, know what he was going to write next, and stay on track. Powerpoint presentations are a lot of work, we don’t discredit that at all (because we’ve had to do them before as well!), but that is all pre-prepared, and takes the work out of knowing where you’re going in the presentation. Hand-writing everything as you go, however, means you have to know where you’re going, either in your head or on a separate outline. Either of which we admired the foresight of.

Our first day in the classroom, we learned about the major historical turning points and leaders of the Reformation. Doctor Smith took us from some very early church leaders, such as Augustine, Charlemagne, and several church councils down to Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, Jan Huss. We started out studying Augustine vs. Pelagius, Aquinas whose beliefs spurred the Augustinian monasteries, and several discussions about purgatory which was a very relevant issue in those times. We were introduced to Luther on the second day and dove into his character and life story the following day. His contemporaries, who began the first generation of Reformers, included Karlstadt, Munzter and Zwingli.

Luther was born in 1481; he attended four different schools and eventually achieved a Master’s degree. His father wanted him to pursue an ambitious career, but was sorely disappointed when his son instead moved to an Augustinian monastery in Erfurt following a scary encounter with God in a lightning storm. About ten years later, Luther began a strong questioning of his faith, studying the scriptures intently, and ultimately crafting the extremely controversial 95 Theses.

Contrary to popular belief, Luther was not advocating a separation from the Catholic church, but rather pointing out discrepancies he believed needed to be changed between the practice of the church (mainly regarding the practice of indulgences) and the doctrines presented in the Bible. Also contrary to popular belief, Luther did not post the list angrily on the town church door, instead he put them into common circulation within the town’s educated society for discussion. Someone from that circle then sent a copy of the list to a bishop, who eventually sent it to Rome to be “dealt” with by the Pope. He didn’t directly deal with it, but attacked Luther for having the audacity to interpret the Bible differently than the Pope himself, or for questioning official doctrine of the church. This started a chain of events that was to last almost Luther’s entire life, a virtual tug-of-war with the Roman Catholic Church. The church may have carried out its “punishments” on Luther to try and eradicate his opinions, but they have obviously lived through the centuries and had great influence on modern Christianity.

The first of the “punishments” was excommunication in 1520. However, does this stop Luther? Of course not. He burns the official decree, sent to him from Rome, essentially throwing his fist at the Pope’s face. Maybe not such a good move, but we learned that was just his style. April 1521 he was summoned to Worms to have a type of trial concerning his beliefs, which he (mistakenly) believed would be his chance at defense. He would clear up this misunderstanding by telling them how he didn’t mean to cause such an uproar, he only wanted to point out some things his own Bible reading had revealed to him. But unfortunately, the council was not in a listening mood. They asked him two questions. Quick and to the point. 1) Are these your books? and 2) Do you recant?  He asked for some time to think about what to say and was giving a day or two. When he returned, he calmly stated that they were his books. And went on to explain that though he perhaps had used language angering to the church authorities, and perhaps it wasn’t the most Christian way to share his opinion. However, he insisted there was nothing against the Bible in his books, and therefore, he ended with: Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.

He very soon had a price on his head, one worthy of a good disguise. A very wealthy friend, John Frederick, “kidnapped” and hid him in a magnificent castle (which there will be photos of later) and gave him the name Knight George as an alternate identity. He didn’t waste any time enjoying the view though, and took advantage of the solitude and interpreted the New Testament from the Erasmus's Greek New Testament into the common German of the day, which continues to be a very accurate version of the German Bible. That might seem an appropriate project for a few years, but no, he took eleven weeks. Workaholic?  We ended that week of class by learning Luther’s main beliefs of the faith.

Ulrich Zwingli was born in 1484 and was educated very well, ending his studies with a masters degree in 1506.  In 1518 he became a Leupriester (translated as “People’s Priest”) in the Grossmunster (the Great Church) of Zurich. Believing hypocrisy was one of the worst sins, he didn’t try to hide the fact that he was a womanizer. He highly advocated clerical marriage and led the way to it being an acceptable practice, eventually choosing one woman to be his wife. Later, in July  of 1522, Zwingli and 10 other priests petitioned a church authority for the right to marry and were turned down with the comment “Stop being so reformational.” In January 1519, he started a sermon series exposition of Matthew, which drew great criticism from the church leaders because he was bringing the Bible down to the level of the common parishioners. January of 1523, the first disputation of Zurich occurred, which placed much more power in the hands of the city council rather than with the church authorities. He died in 1531 in the battle of Kappel, after lying injured on the ground and refusing to confess his sins to a priest. His body was quartered and burned, the usual treatment for people convicted of treason.

Our next few days of class happened on the road across Germany.

John (Jean) Calvin started in the second generation of the reformation, known for its reflectivity. He was born in Noyon, France in a cathedral city.

He was never ordained and his father, Gerard, was a bishop in the church clerical system, offering him a wealthy background and upbringing. His father sent him to several schools in the hope he would become an ordained priest. Instead, he earned his masters degree from the College de Montaigu. During his schooling, Calvin’s father had a falling out with the church. As a result of the falling out (we can assume), Calvin changed his degree to Civil Law at the University of Orleans, earning it in 1533. Sometime between 1533 and 34, he was converted to a reformation faith and dedicated himself to a life of quiet scholarly study. Soon after, he was going through Geneva heading for Straussburg, known as a safe location for reformers. He ended up staying in Geneva for several years. After several moves, he led the Genevens to live more Christianly, banning the Catholic ritualism so prevalent in their culture and going so far as to punish those that did not attend Sunday services. He did not advocate violence to force belief, but he did advocate forcing people to at least listen to the word of God.

In summary, Luther focused on the word of God in a believer’s life, while Calvin focused on the spirit of God in the believer’s life.

Our last day, we did a basic overview of the English reformation, including William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale (he translated the Old Testament in English, complementing Tyndale’s English New Testament). This portion of the study centered on the divorce of King Henry VIII and the development of the Anglican church. John Knox brought Clavinism to the Scottish people, calling Calvin’s way of thinking the “perfect school of Christ.” The council of Trent was the bookend to the reformation, up to then there was hope that there would be reconciliation between Catholics and the Protestants.