Reformation

I. Protestant Reformation
A. refers to the desire and movement to make significant changes to the Catholic Church
B. did not start as a movement to break from the Church, but certainly ended that way
II. Lutheranism
A. Reformation in Germany
B. headed by Martin Luther
i. studied to become a lawyer, but dropped out to be a monk
ii. became a professor of Theology at the University of Wurtenburg in Germany
iii. in his studies, he had many problems with actions taken by clergy in the Church
a) these included
• sale of indulgences (outlawed, but still done), marriage annulments, and
religious relics
• argued that Church teaching had strayed from fundamental teachings of the
Gospels and that everything about the Church was man-made and had no
Biblical support
• especially liked ideas put forth by St. Augustine, and felt Church doctrine no
longer followed his teachings
• this is somewhat true, like his teaching on predestination
• St. Thomas Aquinas argued against this and instead felt that good works
could lead humans from sin to salvation, which Luther disagreed with
C. Luther's Theology
i. concluded that God's grace allowed humans to find salvation through faith
a) this means people were granted grace at birth, and did not gain grace through their
lives
ii. argued that grace manifests itself through faith
a) this meant that sincere faith alone meant one was full of grace, and did not require
works to attain salvation
D. Break with Rome
i. Luther's ideas caught little attention until a Prince and Bishop (who purchased his seat)
made an arrangement with Pope Leo X to split the profits from the sale of indulgences
a) this sale was publicly advertised, and was too much for Luther
• he responded by writing a list of 95 arguments against indulgences and, as the
story goes, nailing a copy to the door of the nearby Cathedral
• we don't know for sure that's what happened, but he certainly wrote them
• someone else published his ideas, and that gained the attention of the Church
ii. in a public debate, Luther argued that any faithful Christian had as much authority in
reading and interpreting the Bible as the Pope and clergy, since they were also men
a) says anyone who reads it is guided by the Holy Spirit to find Truth without the need
for a priest
• he was immediately charged with heresy by the Pope, but didn't back down
iii. developed 3 main principles that would later form Lutheranism
a) Justification by Faith
• salvation through faith, not works
b) Priesthood of all Believers
• ability of true believers to commune with God without priestly intervention
c) rejection of all beliefs or practices not expressly laid out in the Bible
 iv. result of principles
a) rejected fasting, veneration of saints, monastic orders (monks), and the hierarchy of
the Church including the Papacy
b) accepted only two of the sacraments- Baptism and Eucharist
• still argued that the Eucharist was not Transfigured by the priest, though Jesus
was still literally present in the host by His own power
c) began to hold church in German, rather than Latin
• still called it Mass, but by rejecting so much of the Church it was not sanctioned
E. Politics of the Reformation in Germany
i. many Germans already didn't like the Church in Rome
a) remember the power struggle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy
ii. Christian Humanists like Erasmus had already made many of the same criticisms Luther
had, which gave him some legitimacy in the German Universities
iii. Luther's writings were in local German, and the Gutenberg Press was raising literacy
rates among the common people, so his sermons spread quickly
iv. Luther was engaging and knew how to rally crowds behind him
a) publicly burned a letter from the Pope telling him to stop
v. the Pope ordered Prince Frederick of Brandenburg to punish Luther, but instead he
called a meeting to hear Luther's side
a) Emperor Charles V ruled over the Diet, and was pro-Church
• he ruled over Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, and the Spanish colonies as a
Hapsburg
• to rule all of this, much of his power depended on the power of the Church
• pushed for Luther to recant, but he wouldn't
b) before the Diet of Worms could convict Luther, he was sent into hiding by Prince
Frederick
vi. after the Diet of Worms, German territorial princes had to choose sides
a) as it spread, Lutheranism became less about a revolution of religion and more about
princes gaining power by rejecting the Church
• they no longer had to pay taxes to the Church, meaning they could keep the
money
• also began seizing wealth and land held by the Church within their territory
• they began to appoint their own people as ministers and no longer shared power
with local bishops
vii. at the same time, commoners began revolting against their landlords (Germany
remained under feudal law much longer than France and England)
a) said the Bible didn't support the power of the aristocracy (which had been said for
over 600 years)
• stopped paying rent and taxes, and in some cases openly rebelled
• this horrified Luther, who told them to go back to obeying their princes
F. Results
i. dominated half of Germany, and spread to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
III. Anglicanism
A. Reformation in England
B. while there had been tensions in the 1300s and 1400s with corruption in the Church, the
primary reason for England's split with the Church was political
C. Henry VIII
i. second of the Tudor dynasty
 ii. followed his father's footsteps by solidifying the king's power
iii. sought an annulment from his first wife, Catherine of Aragorn, for not bearing a son
a) the Pope didn't grant it, some say for religious reasons, others say for political ones,
as Catherine was the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's aunt
b) Catherine did have a daughter, Mary I, who would rule one day
iv. Henry responded to the Pope by saying as King, he was the "supreme head" of the
Church of England
a) he was excommunicated by the Pope
b) took all Church tax revenue and put it in the kingdom's treasury
c) dissolved all monasteries and redistributed their land and wealth to the aristocrats
loyal to the King
d) Parliament officially approved the separation in 1534
D. Church of England
i. began actively persecuting any Catholic who refused to convert
a) many were put to death without trial
ii. continued to use the priests and bishops originally employed by the Church, so long as
they converted
iii. used many of the same basic elements, like the Eucharist and Confession
a) today it's called the Episcopal Church in the US
E. Edward VI
i. Henry VIII's son, ruled for only 6 years
ii. pushed the Anglican church to be more Protestant
a) adopted Luther's idea of Justification by Faith, abolished the veneration of saints,
recognized only Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, began holding mass in
English, and allowed priests to marry and have families
F. Mary I
i. Henry's first daughter took power after Edward died and ruled for 5 years
ii. attempted to reestablish Catholicism, many times with violence
iii. put many high ranking officials in the Church of England to death
a) became known later as Bloody Mary
G. Elizabeth I
i. Henry's second (legitimate) child and youngest daughter took power after Mary died
ii. revoked Mary's pro-Catholic laws and restored Edward's
iii. went back to Protestantism, and was almost as deadly as Mary, but most English
approved of the change
a) this made her much more popular with her people, but not with the rest of Catholic
Europe
IV.Swiss Reformation
A. this region wasn't controlled by a king or princes, so the move away from the Church varied
by region and wasn't politically motivated, like Lutheranism and Anglicanism were
B. Zwinglianism
i. Ulrich Zwingli was a Catholic priest who began to criticize the doctrines of the Church
much like Luther had
a) his one main difference with Luther was he believed the Eucharist wasn't Christ's
body
ii. Zwinglianism became the state church of Zurich in the 1520's
iii. later (1531) they tried to spread their doctrine and fought against supporters of
Catholicism
a) Zwingli was killed in battle, and soon his followers lost control in Zurich
 C. Anabaptism
i. in 1525, followers of Zwingli began to argue that one wasn't born into a church, but had
to choose to join the church out of full conviction and faith, which was only possible
among mature, educated adults
ii. argued baptism should not be for infants, but adults
iii. emphasized simple piety and pacifism and rejected any ties between Church and State
a) they were then seen as a threat to state power and began to be repressed
• despite this they continued to spread, and some split off to be completely
separate- we know these as the Amish and Mennonites
D. Calvinism
i. John Calvin was a French Protestant who took over after Zwingli's death
ii. in 1535 he ran from France (which was strongly Catholic) to Geneva to escape
persecution
iii. wrote down his beliefs in the Institutes of the Christian Religion
a) especially pushed the idea of Predestination, proposing a strict interpretation
• God, in His infinite knowledge and power, had predestined certain souls (the
Elect) for salvation and condemned the rest to damnation no matter what people
do in their lives
• the Elect will act right by the simple fact that they were infused with the
desire by God to be proper Christians
• good works didn't bring salvation, but were a sign one was saved
b) insisted the church be governed by elected elders and ministers, prohibited all rituals
and decorations (includes icons, stained glass, and instrumental music)
c) demanded strict focus on "proper" Biblical (esp. Old Testament) practices under the
supervision of the elders
iv. soon after he became basically the ruler of Geneva, which became a theocracy
a) city ruled by a Consistory of church elders and ministers
• they supervised every aspect of the population's lives to ensure proper behavior
• this included both public and private behavior
• things like dancing, playing cards, drinking, etc became punishable by
death
• in the 1540s, the Consistory condemned about 1 in 200 people to be burned at
the stake for heresy, blasphemy, or witchcraft
v. the strictness of Calvinism actually appealed to many people, and it spread across
Europe
a) in France, Calvinists were called Huguenots
b) in the Netherlands, it became the Dutch Reformed Church
c) in Scotland, it was Presbyterianism
d) in England, they were the Puritans
V. Catholic Reformation
A. sometimes called the Counter-Reformation, but since it began at around the same time as
the Protestant Reformation, that isn't entirely accurate
B. reform had been pushed by many within the Church since the 1400s (Erasmus, Thomas
More)
i. wanted especially to change public opinion of the popes and bishops as corrupt
C. Council of Trent was the most important step in reform
i. specifically laid out differences with the Protestant Reformation
a) good works were a path to salvation, sacraments were necessary to receive Grace,
 priests transformed bread and wine to Body and Blood, the Pope was the successor
of St. Peter and the head of the Church, priests must be celibate, intercession of
Saints on behalf of worshipers, etc
ii. required theological seminaries to train priests and ended many abuses by clergy
iii. also provided list of dangerous books to be banned
a) this list helped lead to the end of the Renaissance and put a freeze on intellectual
inquiry
D. Catholic Reformation also established a group of specialists to fight against the spread of
Protestantism, the Society of Jesus
i. group known now as Jesuits
ii. matched the militant belief of Calvinists and helped spread Catholicism more than
anyone had before