The Protestant Reformation

Context

• The Protestant Reformation beginning in 1517 and located in Germany, was an internal ethical, theological and continued existence challenge to the Roman Catholic Tradition, in which the Augustinian Monk Martin introduced heretical ideas published within his ‘95 Theses’

• Specifically, The Black Plague led to the death of ‘42-45% of priests’ (John Kelly), which, out of necessity for replacements, eventually led to "self seeking and spiritually unqualified" (Claveau) Clergy, causing a rise in nepotism and fueling Luther’s ambition for reform in the Church. The Pope was also the undisputed head of a church that claimed complete spiritual authority over the westt, holding significant amounts of power and abusing this through the unjust selling of indulgences by the Church;  “Remissions of sin for those alive or dead” (CCC 1471)

• While originally a small movement, the creation of the printing press in 1440 by Johann Gutenberg allowed for ideas such as Luther's 95 theses to become “widely circulated” (Duignan)  throughout germany when he nailed them to a church door on the 31st October, 1517, marking the beginning of the reform and leading to the abandonment of Christianity

What is the protestant reformation

a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s.

It resulted in the creation of a branch of Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to differences in doctrine, disagreements in the Church's practices and teachings, such as how salvation was achieved and the authority of the Pope

Date and Location

Date: Began in 1517 (officially ending in 1648, with impacts still being felt today)

Location: Germany, then spreading throughout Europe, and then the whole world

What is the Renaissance

Date: 1400-1700s

• a movement that began in Italy based on revolutionary developments in ideas linked to mathematics, science, philosophy, theology and the arts

• Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press allowed for more efficiency in printing multiple copies of literature (beginning with religious writings such as scripture) and allowed for the distribution of ideas to occur more rapidly than ever before.

• Printed materials became more affordable and accessible to society

• With this new access to literature, people learned how to read, write and interpret ideas, and they began to closely examine and critique religion as they knew it

How was the church corrupt?

• The Pope was the most powerful man in western Europe.

• Undisputed head of a church that claimed complete spiritual authority over the west

• Considered to be the living representative of Christ on earth.

• Church had the say as to where you go after you die (hopefully heaven)

• From the late 11th century onward, the power and wealth of the Catholic Church had grown and the papacy was an armed state and power was all they desired.

What are indulgences

• papal pardons for the reduction of the time a soul spent in purgatory.

• These were acquired through monetary payment to the Church and its leaders.

Clerical corruption

Priests involved in several corrupt practices at this time as well:

•        Neglect of celibacy - not staying away from marriage and sexual relations

•        Drunkenness and Gambling

•        Simony = buying/selling Church offices, positions and privileges

•        Nepotism = favoritism towards relatives, securing them Church positions/privileges

•        Pluralism= holding more than one Church office at a time

Source of the challenge

• Martin Luther began this movement, declaring that multiple practices of the pre-Vatican II Church were immoral and corrupt.

• Luther was a Roman Catholic German Monk, highly educated in religious matters and armed with the ability to read and write

• Wrote the 95 theses which were shared nailed to churches through the printing press which enabled mass production

Nature of challenge

Internal challenge

• Based on his understanding of Scripture, Luther composed his 95 Theses in an attempt to prompt reform within the Roman Catholic Church - classified internal

The 95 Theses:

a list of 95 propositions or questions concerning the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, written by Martin Luther in 1517.

These theses were printed via the printing press and posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Theological challenge

Luther proposed the 5 solas- his beliefs about what was needed to achieve salvation

This is the theology that Luther initially hoped the Church would take on board

The 5 solas:

–       Scripture (The Bible alone is our highest authority)

–       Christ (Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King)

–       Grace (We are saved by the grace of God alone)

–       Faith (We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ)

–       God’s Glory (We live for the glory of God alone)

Sola Scriptura

‘Scripture alone’

a Christian theological doctrine which holds that the Christian Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice.

Sola scriptura rejects any original infallible authority other than the Bible.

Sola Gratia

‘Grace alone’

We can only stand before God by his grace as he mercifully attributes to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ and attributes to him the consequences of our sins

Sola fide

‘faith alone’

We are saved solely through faith in Jesus Christ because of God’s grace and Christ’s merit alone.

We are not saved by our merits or declared righteous by our good works.

•        express the teaching of Ephesians 2:8

Soli Deo Gloria

‘Glory to God only”

Glory belongs to God alone. God’s glory is the central motivation for salvation, not improving the lives of people

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Solus Christus

‘Christ alone’

Christ alone, and not the church, is our only Mediator

•        Acts 4:12 by which a person can be saved other than the name of Jesus.

Ethical challenge

Luther believed there was nothing that a person could do on Earth to assure anyone of their salvation

He believed that the priests and leaders of the Church had no power or authority to make promises or judgments about someone’s access to heaven (only God could do that).

This meant that it was unethical that they were demanding people pay Indulgences to the Church

•        Even more unethical that the money from these Indulgences were going straight into the pockets of the clergy or funding Church building projects

The corruption within the leadership of the Church was also being challenged as unethical, further contributing to the ethical nature of this challenge

Continued Existence challenge

• highlighted that the Church was no longer a trusting source for people.

• it was no longer the bearer of the Good News of Jesus Christ, but in fact the Church was drifting away from Jesus’ mission and intention for what the Church is meant to be about.

Aspects: Christianity

Beliefs: Church determined where an individual goes after death/ Pope a living representative of Christ

Ethics: Corruption of the church/ indulgences
Social Structure: Pope has the highest authority

Sacred stories: Bible as central sacred text, include other writings of church fathers, council, papal encyclicals

Rituals: Seven sacraments, good works to get into heaven

Aspects: Protestantism

Beliefs: 5 Solas
Ethics: Ethics based directly on individual interpretation of Scripture.
Social Structure: Reject papal authority/   Ministers/pastors seen more as guides or preachers
Sacred Stories: Bible alone as the sole sacred story/ authority
Rituals: recognise only two sacraments (baptism and Eucharist)/ No good works, but faith alone

Responses overview:

1. Ignore the challenge 1517

2. Write a letter to refute the challenge 1518

3. summon Luther to a meeting to condemn the challenge 1518

4. Issue a papal bull defending the church practice and condemning the challenge 1518

5. call a public debate to condemn the challenge and show why Luther’s beliefs were wrong 1519

6. Write another papal bull to condemn the challenge 1520

7. Excommunicate to condemn the challenge 1521

8. Summon Luther to an imperial Assembly to condemn the challenge 1521

9. Call a council to define, consolidate and reaffirm the church beliefs 1545-1563

Ignore the challenge

October 1517

Stance: Indifference

•        Initially the Church and Leo X ignored Martin Luther and his proposals.  

Write a letter to refute the challenge

February 1518

Stance: against

•        The newly invented Gutenberg printing press assisted in the distribution of Luther’s teachings across Germany and Europe.

•        Archbishop Mainz (who had bought his position as archbishop and was using money from the sale of indulgences to repay the debt incurred) reported what Luther had done to Pope Leo X because of Luther’s objection to indulgences.

•         Luther had written Archbishop Mainz a letter expressing his own discontent with his use of Indulgences

•        Pope Leo X was forced to respond.  Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk and Pope Leo X asked the vicar-general of the Augustinian monks to write to Martin Luther to tell him to recant.

 

summon Luther to a meeting to condemn the challenge

October 1518

Stance: against

•          Luther was summoned to a meeting with the pope’s representative Cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg Bavaria, who demanded that Luther recant – which he had no intention of doing.

Luther had thought that he would have an opportunity to debate his beliefs, but this was not the case.

Issue a papal bull defending church practice and condemning the challenge

November 1518

Stance: against

•        Leo X wrote a papal bull stating that the selling of indulgences should be maintained.

Call a public debate to condemn the challenge and show why Luther’s beliefs were wrong

June-July 1519

Stance: Against

•        At this debate in the German state of Saxony, Luther said scripture was the only authority he would accept.

•         This is where he formally expressed his 5 solas for the first time

•         Luther’s ideas continue to spread.

Write another papal bull to condemn the challenge

June 1520

Stance: against

•        Leo X wrote another papal bull – Exsurge Dominae – telling Martin Luther to recant or be excommunicated.

•        Luther publically burnt this letter in December, 1520

Excommunicate to condemn the challenge

January 1521

Stance: against

•        Luther was formally excommunicated in Rome.

Summon Luther to an imperial assembly to condemn the challenge

April 1521

Stance: against

•        Luther was called to appear at the Diet of Worms.

•        This council included church representatives as well as other more secular representatives such as Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

•        Luther again refused to recant his theological positions, so the holy Roman Emperor Charles V, ordered his arrest

•        Some of Luther’s supporters ‘kidnapped’ and hid him in Wartburg Castle, to keep him from harm, where he translated the bible into German as well as writing a variety of treaties (extended comments) against the church.

Call a council to define, consolidate and reaffirm church beliefs

1545-1563

stance: against

•        The Council of Trent was called.

•        This response had less to do with Luther and more to do with defining themselves against the Protestant Churches which had now sprung up around Europe.

•        It addressed a wide range of subjects, including scripture, the Biblical canon, sacred tradition, original sin, justification (the action of declaring or making something or someone righteous in the sight of God), salvation, a uniform text for sacraments and Masses, the veneration of saints, the (re-)establishment of the pope as the head of the Church hierarchy.

Council of Trent

held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento (Trent) and Bologna northern Italy was one of the Roman Catholic Church's most important ecumenical councils.

Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.

1.       Most important movement of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s first significant reply to the growing Protestants Reformation.

Condemn and refute the beliefs of the Protestants, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin

Make the set of beliefs in Catholicism even clearer.

 

2.       Protestants endorse justification by faith alone (sola fide) -separate from anything (including good works)

 

3.       The Protestant Reformers rejected the Apocrypha as part of the biblical canon.

The Council damned anyone who rejected these books.

Many doctrines unique to Catholicism, such as the teachings of purgatory, prayers for the dead, and salvation by works, are found in these books.

 

4.       Transubstantiation - the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus

(Protestant groups denied this doctrine)

 

5.       Protestants believe in Scripture alone. (doctrine of Sola Scriptura)

Council - 2 sources of special revelation - Scripture and traditions of the church

 

6.       Indulgences

Called for reform, but continued this practice

Damned those who “say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not have the power to grant them.”

 

7.       Affirmed doctrine of purgatory

 

8.       Affirmed the excellence of celibacy

Condemned concubinage

Validity of marriage dependent upon the wedding taking place before a priest and two witnesses.

 

9.       Gregorian Calendar (request of Pope Gregory XIII)

Approved a plan to correct the errors to the Julian calendar (would allow for a more consistent and accurate scheduling of the feast of Easter. The reform included reducing the number of leap years in four centuries from 100 to 97.)

Protestant countries in Europe initially refused it.

 

Influence of stances and supporting responses on the challenge itself

-          Despite various attempts to silence Luther, the Church was not successful in getting him to change his beliefs

-          Upon his excommunication and after his exile, Luther was free to establish his own Church, inspiring other reformers to take a similar path, and subsequently establish various Christian denominations.

Intended outcomes for stances and supporting responses

-          The intended outcome was to put a stop to Luther and the spreading of false teachings.

-          Also, the church did not want to lose power, credibility and control in Christian Europe.

-          Church wanted to prevent future reformers to challenge church teachings and dogmas.

-          The church felt threatened by the idea of translating scripture into other languages because it would mean that others would have access to the Word of God and not just church leaders.

Why was the church not successful in dealing with the challenge

1. Printing Press – It was easier to print and publicize news due to the invention of the printing press in 1440. This resulted in Martin Luther publishing and spreading the 95 Theses.

2. The church was become less powerful and credible due to the emerging scientific discoveries, people were becoming less dependent on church teachings.

3. Due to the way the church was responding to challenges, people became less trusting of institutional church.

4. Finally, people were embracing of Martin Luther’s Theses and later on theology, because it was more inclusive and it demanded that Christians need to go back to the roots of the Gospel and discover what Jesus intended for the church.

How did the responses influence the religious tradition

-          The RCC lost a considerable amount of adherents through the various schisms that resulted from the Reformation.

-          In the end, the RCC sought to define themselves as distinct from the other Christian denominations and protect themselves from further schisms

-          The decisions made at the Council of Trent shaped the operation and mission of the Catholic Church for the next 400 years (until Vatican II)

Impact of protestant reformation on wider society

•        New sects/orders of religion emerged in society

•        Wars and disagreements occurred between religions

•        Different geographical/political territories became associated with different denominations

•        Power of secular rulers increased compared to relative power of the RCC (which decreased)

•        Bible was translated into the vernacular (by non-Catholic denominations)

•        Educational opportunities expanded, particularly through the Lutheran Church

Quotes from 95 theses

-          Martin Luther Theses: 2 - Only God can give salvation - not a priest.

-          Martin Luther Theses : 6 - Only God can forgive -the pope can only reassure people that God will do this.

-          Martin Luther Theses : 19 - There is no proof that a person is free from sin.

Wider society (wars)

• Adherents of the RCT were killed during the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) and the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) subsequently caused after the reformation, where the “impassioned debate of theological precepts but also murderous violence” (University of Arizona) created a bloody image of religion that undermined its role as a foundation for social unity and peace, leading to secularisation and abandonment

• The challenge resulted in the splitting of the Church with Luther and his followers forming new Protestant churches that still exist today, demonstrating the widescale scope of the challenge exemplified by Germany which “was a disaster zone, perhaps 80% protestant” (Marshall) that contributed to the “500 year poisoned relationship, Catholics and Protestants”