For almost a thousand years of theological and moral darkness, from the time of Augustine until the 16th century, there were only a few luminaries who kept the apostolic faith alive, centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. from Augustine in the 5th century to Anselm in the 12th century, to John Wycliffe and John Hus in the 15th century. We should also mention the Waldenses of the Alpine Valley in northern Italy. There were the Lollards and the Hussites as well. These were men and communities who kept the gospel light burning in defiance to the apostate, anti-Christian, papal church, and they were martyred by that apostate church. But the flickering gospel light continued until the 16th century, and the dawn of the Reformation broke with brilliant light on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. A Latin phrase at the time summed up what had happened, post tenobras lux, after darkness light. The beast received this mortal wound and the gates of Hades could not prevail against the power of God in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 16th century Protestant Reformation was a powerful back-to-the-Bible movement. The Bible, which had been held captive by the apostate papal church, was now set free. That book which had been chained to walls, kept in an ancient unknown language, was now in the hands of the common people and in their common tongue. The Reformation spread like wildfire across Europe. and the British Isles, and a great harvest of God's elect was gathered in. With the recovery of the Bible and the explosion of the understanding of God's Word that came with it, the freed slaves were united under the common banner of what are called the solas of the Reformation. Sola is the Latin word for alone. The five solas are scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to God alone be the glory. Now it was this word alone which choked the papal beast. That church acknowledged scripture, grace, faith, Christ, and God's glory, but it could not tolerate that five-letter word alone. For it is that word alone that separates true believers in Jesus Christ from Antichrist. And it would be at the Council of Trent that the Antichrist would clearly reveal its true identity when it promoted or pronounced anathemas, curses, upon any who would believe that the word alone has any importance. Sadly, today, when evangelicals, the heirs of the Reformation, are seeking to join hands with Rome in such documents as Evangelicals and Catholics Together, ECT, and The Gift of Salvation, ECT II, and other documents, And when we consider the appalling lack of understanding in evangelical churches regarding the gospel of Christ, regarding the solas of the Reformation, we might describe our time with another Latin phrase, post lux tenebras, after light darkness.