1 Reformation(s) - Part One 1 I can only answer the question What am I to do? if I can answer the prior question Of what story or stories do I find myself a part? Alistair MacIntyre God is Historical His Story gives meaning to our story Framing Church History 1. Early Church period (1st-Century - 500 AD) Small persecuted minority, some creedal affirmation, but no formal creeds, fluid organization, no set forms of worship, but some prayers. By 500 AD, majority of Empire was Christian. Churches outside the Empire - India. Two major creeds, clear understanding of orthodoxy, ecclesiastical structure, worship had become liturgical. Quite the revolution. What happened? 2. Middle Ages - Christianity is identified with all of society. Lots going on during this time. Revolutionary. 500-1000 - Dark Ages 1050-1300 - Middle Ages - tremendous growth through monastic reform movement, Christendom emerges 1300-1500 - Late Middle Ages - age of unrest. Old presuppositions begin to be challenges through economics and new ideas. 3. Reformation - 1500-1700 4. Enlightenment - 1700-1800 Christianity is challenged 5. Modern Church - 1800-1960 Christianity is not one of the great things of history; history is one of the great things of Christianity. Henri de Lubac 6. Postmodern Church? 1960-Present. Are we going through a revolutionary change of the same scale as the fall of the Roman Empire? 1 This lecture is drawn from many sources. Of particular help has been Sarah Williams, History of Christianity 1 & 2 (Vancouver: Regent Audio, 2008); Carlos Eire, Reformations (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016); Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity Volume II (New York: HarperOne, 2010); Mark Noll, Turning Points (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2012), 143-167.
What was the Reformation? The term is used to refer to the Western European movement concerned with the moral, theological and institutional reform of the Christian church. Sarah Williams For our purposes, the term reformation essentially covers four key elements, all of which are part of the final definition of Reformation in the broadest sense: 1. Lutheran Reformation 2. The Radical Reformation 3. The Catholic Reformation 4. The Reformed Church 1. The Lutheran Reformation: Background: Political Changes The Papacy losing power and the church subordinated to the state. In Germany specifically, power is very decentralized. Printing Press In 1445 Johann Gutenberg invented movable type printing in Mainz. The changes this brought about were enormous. Suddenly, books and tracts could be mass produced and easily acquired, creating a new audience in the public and a ready made stage for new ideas and criticisms. Martin Luther (1483-1546) Luther was born at Eisleben (about 120 miles southwest of Berlin). When Luther was 13, his parents sent him to Latin school and then to the University of Erfurt to study law. There, Luther excelled and earned the nickname, the Philosopher. But all was not well in Luther s heart. Growing up in medieval Europe, Luther was taught to believe in many of the folk superstitions of the age and his image and understanding of God was that of an angry deity difficult to please let alone to love. In 1505, Luther s life took a dramatic turn. Walking home one night during a thunderstorm, lightning hit the ground close to where he was walking. In fear, Luther cried out, Help me, St. Anne! And I will become a monk! Discuss: How does this cry for help reflect thinking in the Middle Ages? The printing press made it possible for a little mouse like Wittenberg to roar like a lion across Europe. Steven E. Ozment True to his word (and much to his parents chagrin) 10 days later, Luther entered the Augustinian order as a monk. As a monk, Luther proved himself just as capable and passionate as he did at school. Luther did more than what was required of his order. If he was asked to pray multiple
times a day, Luther would pray more. If he was to commit to the mortification of the flesh, Luther would do this and more. Fasting, sleep deprivation, enduring bone-chilling cold without a blanket and other ascetic practices were things Luther did in order to receive an elusive salvation. You see, in the medieval mindset, salvation was a difficult thing to obtain. Being a monk was a good start, but in Luther s mind, was it enough? Luther later commented, If anyone could have earned heaven by the life of a monk, it was I. Despite all that he did, Luther still felt no peace or consolation. While performing his first mass, Luther is overcome with awe and fear of the Lord. God is so far above him, how can he perform this mass? In fact, he grew increasingly afraid of judgement and the wrath of God. Luther s abbot, seeing the torment in the young monk s life, encouraged him to read Scripture. However, Scripture did not help much. Oftentimes, Luther would turn to the text in Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. Yet, all Luther could see was the word righteous and he would ask himself, who could possibly live a righteous life? Luther wrote, I hated that word, the righteousness of God, by which I had been taught according to the custom and use of all teachers [that] God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. Luther knew that he was not righteous and therefore could never live by faith. In the meantime, Luther was ordered to take his doctorate in the Bible and become a professor at Wittenberg University. It was during his study of the Bible in 1513-1514 that he began to see hope in the Word. Within the pages of the Bible, Luther discovers a Jesus who is not aloof, far off, and judgmental, but rather compassionate, near, and human. In 1515 he makes his famous discovery in Romans; that we are justified by faith, through grace. That salvation is a free gift from God though we do not deserve it. Righteousness of God In Greek this can have two meanings; the righteousness of God by which He is just and strictly enforces his law (the medieval interpretation) or the righteousness of God by which, on account of Jesus Christ, he counts the sinner acceptable. God justifies the sinner (the reformation interpretation) Luther writes, At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open.
With this realization, Luther began to look askance towards the Catholic Church. If salvation was found through faith, then it did not come through the vehicles of grace the sacraments and the treasury of Merit. It was the latter that particularly upset Luther. In the medieval mindset, there were only a few saints who really lived good and righteous lives. They were so good that they actually built up a certain degree of merit through their holy lives. This treasury of merit could be accessed by the ordinary person for a price. The buying and selling of this merit was, of course, controlled by the church. The theology of indulgences allowed for a certificate to be bought that allowed the remission of part or all of the temporal and especially purgatorial punishment that was due for sins. Indulgences and John Tetzel At this time the Pope in Rome needed money. He had many projects, including the building of the Basilica, and so he sent out his fundraisers. At the bottom of this chain of people were door to door indulgence sellers. These were people who travelled from town to town offering to shorten your time in purgatory for a small fee. John Tetzel was sent into Germany, and eventually came to the town of Wittenberg, outraging Luther and provoking him to post his 95 Theses (which were actually the second set of Theses Luther had posted). Tetzel was a very good salesman, he had class. He promised people all sorts of thing, and came up with his own jingle: When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs! Luther s main opposition to the Catholic church, it could be argued, was not primarily doctrinal, but pastoral. He saw, in the sale of indulgences, offence against the ordinary people and offence against the German people. And so, Luther attempts to start debate by posting Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. This was a common practice in the day, and was essentially a method for setting up an academic debate. By burning Luther's books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men's minds of him. Luther was guilty of two great crimes - he struck the Pope in his crown, and the monks in their belly. - Desiderius Erasmus 95 Theses On All Souls Day, Oct. 31 st, 1517, Luther posted his famous 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. He also sends them to Bishop Albrecht of Brandenberg. Two things result: Firstly, somebody, we don t know who, takes his 95 theses off the church day, translates them into common German, has them mass produced at the local printing press, and sends them all over Germany. Secondly, Bishop Albrecht sends them on to the Pope. Both have huge consequences. The German people rally behind Luther, as he is speaking to some things which they are very passionate about. The hated how the Italians were milking the Germans dry! The
pope orders the head of the Augustinian monks to quash a monk of your order, Martin Luther by name, and thus smother the fire before it should become a conflagration. Here s the thing: Luther had intended to reform the church, not create a new one. However the Pope s initial response led him to wonder if the teachings of the church and scripture could be at odds. He is invited to dialogue with Cardinal Tommaso Cajetan. The Cardinal only wants Luther to repent, and ends up convincing Luther that indeed the church and scripture do not line up. Luther gained support from others, including Andreas Karlstadt (a professor who is more outspoken than Luther) and Philip Melanchthon (a rising young intellectual). Luther ends up debating John Eck, one of the foremost Catholic theologians of the time, in 1519. Eck cleverly turns the debate away from indulgences and towards the issue of the authority of the Pope, an authority which Luther then is forced to deny. Unsurprisingly, Luther was already considered a heretic for his views, but he now expanded his protest to include the catholic interpretation of Mass, the books which are rightly in the Bible, and the institution of the papacy. Luther really gets into trouble when he makes the stunning claim that a simple layman armed with the Scriptures was superior to both pope and councils without them. At this point (and not surprisingly) Luther is threatened with excommunication. Luther went so far as to write a letter to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, protesting the entire ecclesiastical system. The Pope responded to all this with a bull of condemnation in 1520, ordering Luther to come to Rome and recant. Luther burned the bull publicly. The Pope then excommunicated him. The Diet of Worms This brings us to the turning point in 1521 at the Diet of Worms (Council of Worms). An imperial diet (or formal assembly) was called and representatives of the Church had spread out on a table the writings of Martin Luther. The question directed towards him was simple: would he recant his writings? Initially Luther stalled for time and asked for another day to consider. The following day, the question was pressed. Come then; answer the question of his majesty, whose kindness you have experienced in seeking a time for thought. Do you wish to defend all your acknowledged books, or to retract some? Luther answered by suggesting that his writings were of different kinds. Should he recant everything? Finally, Luther laid down the gauntlet: Therefore, I ask by the mercy of God, may your most serene majesty most illustrious lordships, or anyone at all who is able, either high or low, bear witness, expose my errors, overthrowing them by the writings of the prophets and the evangelists. Once I
have been taught I shall be quite ready to renounce every error, and I shall be the first to cast my books into the fire. Not surprisingly, this answer did not satisfy his accusers. Would he recant or not? Luther s response has rung throughout history. Since then your serene majesty and your lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. These words mark the beginning of what we now call Protestantism. Spreading Reformation Despite the official resistance a powerful reform movement was brewing. The princes were happy to support him as it enhanced their own political standing against both Emperor and Pope, who were against Luther. While in hiding at Wartburg Castle under the disguised name of Squire George, for 10 months, Luther translated the New Testament into German. What resulted was a literary and biblical landmark. What began as a Reformation spark soon ignited into a fire. In later years, Luther took greater part in many of the debates of the land. Luther married a runaway nun, Katharina von Bora. (For Luther, the shock was waking up in the morning with pigtails on the pillow next to me. ) In 1529, at the Diet of Speyer, the emperor tried to discourage people siding with Luther. In response, many of the princes wrote letters of protest, and from this the term Protestants was coined. Lutheranism spread across Germany, and into Scandinavia. Luther died in 1546, but his life had had a huge impact, starting a reformation which he intended to remain in the Catholic church, he had instead broken away and started a movement which spiralled out of his control and spread across Europe.
Another part of the story from the Diet of Worms Luther s speech did not, in fact, end the Diet of Worms. The words that the emperor s secretary says in response to Luther s dramatic speech need also to be heard. First off, he rebukes Luther for setting himself up as an authority over the great Councils of the Catholic Church. In this you are completely mad. For what purpose does it serve to raise a new dispute about matters condemned through so many centuries by church and council? Unless perhaps a reason must be given to just about anything whatsoever. But if it were granted that whoever contradicts the councils and the common understanding of the church must be overcome by Scripture passages, we will have nothing in Christianity that is certain or decided. Key question that was raised: what if everyone simply followed his or her own conscience? The end result was obvious we will have nothing certain. Questions for Consideration 1. Did we lose something vital when we broke with the Catholic Church? Can this be recovered without walking the Roman road? 2. What is the relationship between the authority of the Bible, that of the Church and that of the individual? 3. What is the relationship between Scripture, Reason, Tradition and Experience? 2.The Radical Reformation Sarah Williams makes this argument: The Radical Reformation was a response developed alongside and in reaction to the magisterial application of Lutheranism. What do we mean by magisterial? Simply the application and expression of Lutheranism in and through the State. Town councils working in tandem with the theological teachings of the reformers. Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin are all seen as magisterial reformers. Why? The see the state as playing a key role in the application of the Christian faith to all society. As Luther s ideas began to spread, there were people who theologically agreed with Luther, but felt that Luther was not taking his ideas to their logical conclusions. If they were taken to their logical conclusions, well, then, things would look more radically different. Ulrich Zwingli and the Anabaptists (Zurich) We go from Wittenberg to the city state of Zurich. As a priest, Zwingli studied the Bible and came to many of the conclusions at which Luther arrived. In fact, Zwingli contended that he arrived many of Luther s ideas including the doctrine of justification by faith before Luther, but didn t see it as explosive as Luther did. This stretches the imagination and led one famous historian to note that if Zwingli did arrive at this conclusion independently, it was the most breathtaking coincidence of the sixteenthcentury.
And yet, as Zwingli studied the Word, he made some important decisions. Sausage party Zwingli then gets married. The Town Council at Zurich 1522-1525 January, 1523 - Zwingli challenged the church with an event of public disputation. Strange because there was no university nor was the event done in Latin. Why is this such a big deal? It is a movement of reform carried out independently of the church! It becomes a political process initiated by those within a nation to challenge the traditions of the church. Result: The Bible is agreed to be the only source of authority and this is agreed upon by the city council. City councils then vote to remove monastic endowments and relocate this funding towards educational initiatives. This seems radical, but in light of the new groups that would emerge on the scene, Zwingli is not that radical. The group that does become radical which emerges around this time is none other than the Anabaptists! Defining Anabaptism: Swiss Brethren of George Blaurock, Felix Manz & Conrad Grebel Arose around Zurich during the time of Zwingli s work. Ana (again) baptizo (baptism) - rejected infant baptism and embraced adult baptism. Centred around those who felt that Zwingli was not consistent or faithful to the reform principles and their ramifications that he had taught. Zwingli preached one thing, but does another. This was particularly the case with baptism. George Blaurock, an adult priest, was baptized by Conrad Grebel, a LAYMAN!!!!! Grebel, what s more, was a city councillor. Marks the abolition of the lay/ordained distinction Declares the doctrine of the gathered church Unwillingness to wait for any change of legislation. Enacting out of conviction rather than waiting for a reform process to develop. Flew in the face of a recent decision Zwingli made regarding Infant Baptism Symbolized a rejection of the State for to be baptized as an infant meant membership into society as a whole. Once the anabaptists challenged infant baptism, this action actually took on political overtones.
Key Ideas: Adult baptism and the rejection of infant baptism. Belief in discipleship Belief in principle of love Restorationist Sharing of wealth and good. Complete separation of Church and State] (Some) were spiritualists (Some) were Rationalists - Menno Simons (1496-1561) 3. The Catholic Reformation To understand the Catholic Reformation, think of an interplay between two forces: Reform React The Catholic Reformation shared many similarities with the Protestant Reformation. Concerned with spiritual decline Concerned with moral reform Concerned that civic rulers supported their vision for renewal Some shared concern for Scripture And yet It retains its medieval doctrine. This would not be a doctrinal reformation! co-existed with a vibrant (and controversial) missionary movement co-existed with a flowering of ecclesiastical art and worship different geographical centres Protestant movement - Northern Europe Catholic - Southern Europe Class differences Protestants - those who more or less challenged the status quo Catholics - those who promoted the status quo Four Main Expressions 1. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) 2. Revival of the Inquisition in 1542. The church began to look inward at corruption and doctrinal deviation and attempted to stamp it out.
3. Council of Trent (1545-1563) Convened on December 13, 1545 (just two months before Luther s death) in Trent, Italy and lasted 20 years with 25 sessions. By the time the council got to the third session, it found its focus, namely rooting out of heresy and the reform of conduct [of the clergy]. Doctrinal positions made: Authority - found in Scripture, faith and tradition together with Scripture and tradition having equal authority Doctrine of Original Sin - reaffirmed Augustine s teaching and rejected Pelagianism Sacraments - Seven, not only two! Reaffirmation of scholasticism s contribution: emphasis on the study of Medieval commentaries of Scriptures rather than on original language study Laity not encouraged to read Scripture in the vernacular - just Latin.... if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema. Results: Damages Catholic Scholarship Puts the brakes on scientific works Papal power strengthened in Church, but weakened in society 4. Missions Incredible missionary impulse during this period Francis Xavier and the mission to Japan in 1580. Mateo Ricci (Jesuit priest) and mission to China Philippines - little coercion and Catholicism forms deep roots in the land Latin America - discussed last semester French Canada - tremendous effort of the Jesuits (except they backed the Hurons) Conclusion When Luther posted his 95 Theses, he had no idea the ramifications that such action would have. The combination, though, of politics and religion, things get really complicated. As a result, Europe falls into a period that is highly volatile - wars and persecution from multiple sides of the theological equation. These religious wars carry on until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 in which the ruler was given the right to establish the religion in his or her principality. If you didn t like it, you could move. This was pretty hard to enforce and what actually happens is that the Westphalian peace hastens the movement towards secularization of Europe. But that s a conversation for a different class.