BINGHAM: Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham with Ligonier Ministries, and we are here in Rome as part of
our 2022 Mediterranean study tour. And I'm joined by Steve Nichols, president of Reformation Bible
College, also a Ligonier teaching fellow. Now, in just a couple of days, it's going
to be Reformation Day here in Rome, but as you're watching this, it is Reformation Day. So we need
to start with Reformation. What role did Rome play in the life of Luther and Reformation history?
NICHOLS: Luther was here in 1510; like all pilgrims coming to the city, he'd visit the
churches, he'd see the relics, but the highlight of that for these pilgrims was the Sancta Scala,
these are the Holy Stairs that Constantine brought from Jerusalem to here in Rome. And the pilgrims
would go up and down on their knees on these steps and on certain steps there would be preserved,
as tradition had it, the drops of blood of Christ. And they would stop there
and go through the rosary. Well, Luther's doing this. He's right along the others,
going up and down. And at one point, Nathan, he gets to the top, he stands up and he says,
"Who knows if this is true?" At this moment in Luther's life, he's having an intense struggle
of his soul. He knows God is a Holy God. He knows God is righteous, and he knows
that he is a sinner at the core of his being. Luther says, "Radix, we are sinners at the root."
And he's looking to his church. He's looking for the salvation in his church. But that moment on
the Sancta Scala, it shows us that Luther was utterly disillusioned by his church. He leaves
Rome, he travels back to Germany. He enters into an intense study of scripture. It's still a time
of struggle. There are still years ahead for Luther of difficulty, but then as 1517 rolls
around, he grabs a mallet in one hand, he grabs the 95 theses in the other, and October 31st,
1517, he posts the 95 theses to the church. And that's what we celebrate at Reformation Day.
BINGHAM: Rome is an ancient city. What is here over my shoulder?
NICHOLS: Yeah. So just over your shoulder is the Arch of Constantine. It celebrates
Constantine's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Significance of that is not only that
it united the Roman Empire, but after that, Constantine issued a series of edicts that
legalized Christianity. And so we have the Holy Christian empire, we have Rome becoming Christian.
BINGHAM: So let's go back then to a time of persecution. If you would come here in
the ancient times, there would be something here that's no longer there. What was here?
NICHOLS: Yeah, it was the Colossus. It was a giant statue built by the megalomaniac
Nero. And of course he was emperor in the fifties and the sixties. This
is back in the pages of the New Testament. And there were other times of persecution,
just before Constantine was an intense time of persecution. But Nero is certainly one of those
emperors that instigated persecution among the early church and among the Christians.
BINGHAM: So it's called Colossus. That name sounds familiar.
NICHOLS: It does. And it's the name that's given to the stadium here,
again, another iconic place in the city of Rome, the Colosseum.
BINGHAM: Now, we can't be in Rome and not talk about Paul and Romans and his ministry here.
NICHOLS: Yeah, absolutely. So of course, Paul writes this magnum opus, this wonderful epistle,
just walking us through all the riches of the doctrines of grace to the church at Rome. I mean,
this is the center of Roman Paganism. This is the center of Roman philosophy,
the center of Roman hedonism, center of Roman power. There was a church here,
Nathan, there were believers here. We all know at the end of Romans,
as Paul writes off that list of believers that were gathered here in Romans, and of
course Paul himself was here. He was brought here as a prisoner for his first imprisonment,
and he writes his prison epistles, Philippians and Colossians and Ephesians and Philemon were written
from here in Rome. Then he's released and then he's rearrested and he's brought back to Rome.
BINGHAM: Can you speak a little bit about the last letter that he penned?
NICHOLS: Yeah. It's a testament of a dying man. He writes an epistle to his young son in the faith,
Timothy. At chapter 2 verse 9 he tells us that he is bound in chains. Now, right in front of us
is the Roman Forum. At the far end of it is the Mamertine Prison. Tradition has it that that's
where Paul was imprisoned. What we do know is that at the end of Paul's life, he's in that prison.
He writes 2 Timothy, it could be months, could be weeks, it could be a matter of days that he
is then taken likely outside of the old city walls and he is martyred under Nero.
And that final chapter of second Timothy, he says to Timothy that the Lord strengthened me,
and the Lord stood by me and through me, the message was fully proclaimed to all
the gentiles. That's really the story of the Reformation, isn't it? That the proclamation
of the gospel. And then with all confidence Paul says, "And the Lord will bring me safely
into his heavenly kingdom, to him be the glory forever and ever." And there it is,
sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus and soli Deo gloria.
BINGHAM: Well thank you Steve and happy Reformation Day.
NICHOLS: And happy Reformation Day as well.
It's been great to be with you on this tour and here in Rome.
BINGHAM: And thank you for joining us for this journey. If you would like
to travel with Ligonier Ministries in the future,
you can find out about all of those upcoming opportunities at ligoniertours.com.