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MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Pauline Myers enjoys telling how she and her husband Ambie, an avid reader, came to produce a book focusing on the rise of Protestantism which transformed Europe and Christianity in the 16th century."People kept saying to Ambie, 'You know so much you need to write a book' and one particular friend Dorothy Foster kept saying from 40 years ago 'you read everything but you write nothing'," a chuckling Pauline told the Jamaica Observer during a recent visit to their home just outside Mandeville.As it turned out, the onset of COVID-19 since March 2020, which has left retired people mostly confined to their homes, provided plentiful opportunity for Ambie Myers to pen The Reformation in Fives. Active support came from his wife who proofread, typed, and largely "organised" the 98-page publication.Native to Queensbury, a farming community close to Southfield, on the southern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Ambie, a life-long Christian, has long been fascinated by the Reformation. It represents a tumultuous period with considerable bloodshed 500 years ago, which threatened and eventually reduced the power of the Roman Catholic Church.The Reformation - spurred in large part by a view that Roman Catholicism had drifted away from the teachings of the Bible and Jesus Christ - eventually led to a split from Rome of what are now known as Protestant church organisations and denominations. These include Anglicans, Baptists, Anabaptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, et al.Today, many Protestant denominations are as different from each other as they are from the Roman Catholics and Orthodox variations of the Christian Church in eastern and central Europe, the Middle East and Ethiopia.Ambie, a trained teacher, who moved on to sales for 35 years before retiring, claims there are now about 38,000 Protestant denominations.Historians suggest that Protestantism provided the root system for western-style democracy as it is known today; as well as liberal intellectual thought, modern capitalism, and a work ethic which nurtures the view that each person by dint of hard work and enterprise can lift him/herself out of poverty.Written in simple language, The Reformation in Fives, as described by the introduction, is "designed to give a bird's eye view of the [Reformation]". It is made user-friendly by "grouping the events into a five-topic sequence, allowing for easy recall and further reading".It seeks to explain how and why the Christian Reformation came about and its effect not just on religion, but on the political and social reconstruction of Western Europe and beyond."Most Jamaicans are Protestants but they don't have a clue as to where the movement is coming from...what does it stand for, how did it occur ... There is a large degree of ignorance about Protestantism. This includes people who actually preach a lot [but] are not informed...," Ambie said.He and his wife explained that material for The Reformation in Fives came from reading widely as well as knowledge gained from travels through Europe down the years.Just over 200 copies of the book were printed last year by the Reprographic Services Unit, Main Liobrary, University of the West Indies, Mona, with demand coming from church groups and friends at home and abroad. The book sells for $1,500 per copy. The authors said more copies will be printed in line with demand and there are plans for distribution through book stores and pharmacies as well as online publication.Ambie said he has found there is considerable interest in the novelty of "a Caribbean man writing about a European phenomenon".He hopes the book will someday become "required reading in schools for children doing religious education, as well as Bible colleges and seminaries..." He is pleased that some ordained ministers are describing it as "a refresher".The husband-and-wife team said they recognise The Reformation in Fives will soon have to be updated and revised in keeping with rapidly changing times.Beyond their work as authors, Ambie and Pauline Myers see clear need for a push towards greater unity among Protestant churches."When I put before you 38,000 voices, 38,000 denominations, it becomes harder to invite people to embrace Christianty. How you tell them to choose between, in that kind of confusion? If I was outside of it and you put 38,000 voices before me, how am I going to make up my mind about it?" asked Ambie."The unified voice in the Church, always seems to be the Catholic Church ... They speak with one voice. That's not the case with Protestants. They are very diverse, they are divided. They are never unified. So I am concerned that we need to find a way to change that," he added.And, against the backdrop of deviant behaviour such as murder and mayhem at a church in Montego Bay last October, Ambie said while he supports separation of Church and State, there needs to be some regulation to prevent the ascension to Church power of those who could end up leading Christians astray."See what happen in Montego Bay? There comes a man, start something and people believe him and follow him and you see the outcome? ... things are getting to the stage where people are coming in and exploiting people and you cannot allow that ... In Montego Bay it came down to life and death... If there was a (formal) registration (process) and assessment of who is behind it (church), where you come from? Where you get your credentials? Tragedy may have been prevented," Myers said.Jamaicans were left horrified last October at news that religious rituals led to the death of two people whose throats had been slit during a gathering at the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries Church in Montego Bay - presided over by Pastor Kevin Smith. Another person died in a confrontation with police who were allegedly shot at, as they entered the church premises after being called.In a bizarre twist to the tragic events, Smith and a constable died in a car crash, days later, as he was being driven to Kingston to face murder and related charges.For Pauline, a retired educator, the events connected to Pathways International and other such deviations from Christian faith underline the need for a strong and focused church, catering to the spiritual needs of ordinary people."When times are hard, people gravitate towards anything that is available (for spiritual support) ... a drowning man clutcheth at a straw," she said.The couple, who first met as students at Church Teachers' College in the 1970s, said their faith has been strengthened, not dented, after many years as Christians.They both attend the Mandeville Baptist Church and the wider circuit of Baptist churches, where Ambie said he has occupied every church office apart from being a minister."We don't doubt our faith," declared Ambie, "What I can say though is that too many churches are (merely) preaching and not doing enough teaching. It is all well and good to preach to (someone) and frighten him out of hell but you have to teach him a few things too..."For Pauline, Christians need to get back to basic principles and to return to "knowing why we believe what we believe". She urged an aspiration to a cornerstone of Christrianity: "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity".According to Ambie, Christians should be constantly reminded of the worth of family, traditional values, work ethic, good manners and "why you must content yourself with what you earn and don't bother to kill the next man and tear down his house... "