It might not be an overstatement to say that if it weren’t for the Italians, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Where I am today is: gathering weekly with other brothers and sisters to worship and pray to our Heavenly Father, to hear Christ the Son proclaimed and exalted in His Word, eating His body and drinking His blood at His table, to fellowship with saints of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds in the Holy Spirit. Now, of course, God is sovereign. He loved me before the worlds came into existence, He made plans to redeem me and bring me into His family. But He also works through means.

So, I have little doubt that (historically-speaking) were it not for the emergence of Renaissance humanism in cities like Florence and Naples there might not have been a Reformation in cities like Wittenberg, Geneva and Heidelberg. Were it not for Italian humanists like Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, I might not be reading Martin Luther and John Calvin today. God works through means. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say He used Italian humanism to bring greater glory to Himself. Neither do I think it’s a stretch to say that it’s because of Italians that I have a clearer understanding of God’s Word and by His grace a better grasp of the gospel.

It was in cities like Florence and Naples that the Renaissance was birthed. Teachers impressed on their students the return to the original sources, an impression that would be one of the rallying cries of the Protestant Reformation: ad fontes. What the church in Italy needs more than anything is a recovery of Scripture. We need to go back to the source. Christians are people of the Book. We are keepers of the Old, Old Story. It’s God’s Word that spoke us into being. His Word that created faith in our hearts, making us new beings. His Word that guides our worship. His Word through which we see everything else.

There are many obstacles in the way of planting Reformed churches and establishing a Reformed denomination in Italy. The good news is that the same gospel that is foolishness to Greeks, Italians, Chinese, and Americans, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—Greek, Italians, Chinese, and Americans. It’s the Word that creates the church, Christians, and true worship. The church in Italy (and wherever it’s found) needs to commit itself to Scripture; go back to the source. It’s the Word that is above all earthly powers, the truth that abides still, revealing a Kingdom that is forever.

Eric Chappell