Crossroads in History - Chapter Two

Humanity has found themselves at awkward and dangerous crossroads numerous times throughout history. Here are a few examples.

In the 4^th Century the Roman Empire collapsed and the entire western world [Europe] was thrown into chaos and uncertainty. Then one guy emerged with one good idea. It only takes one. Saint Augustine dreamed The City of God and in so doing provided a vision that lasted over a thousand year.

Then as this vision was losing momentum and relevance in the 16th Century a young and penniless priest, monk and biblical scholar in Germany named Martin Luther provided a new vision. This vision was related to the one held by his colleague and contemporary John Calvin in Switzerland.

These two enabled the Reformation and the Enlightenment. This was the period we call The Reformation - because EVERYTHING was reconsidered and retooled.

John Knox was a Scottish minister who served as a rowing slave in a Spanish ship for eighteen months. After getting out of that unhappy situation he went to Geneva in Switzerland to meet and study with Calvin.

After this he returned to Scotland and ignited The Scottish Reformation which transformed Scotland from a place where “drunken men brawled with swords in the streets” to one which provided intellectual, cultural and every kind of leadership for humanity and provided the model and core ideas for the survival and success of the western world and beyond. That transformation took thirty years.

In England Knox's Presbyterianism was transformed into Puritanism. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans transformed England with a revolution, the execution of a king [Charles 1] and the introduction of Parliamentary representation [democracy - government of the People by the People] as a replacement for monarchical rule - dictatorship.

The king was replaced by representatives of the people. This demonstrated the power of “an appropriate and compelling idea” - the power of Vision to transform the world.
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