Chapter 10

The Protestant Reformation

Reformation

The Reformation (also called the Protestant Reformation) was a religious movement of the 1500s that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Many other consequences occur because of the reformation and some make God’s direction hard to see. He often uses the motives of people for his own good and perfect plan.

Martin Luther

The Reformation was begun by Martin Luther, a passionate Catholic monk and university professor who was committed to God more than the church. Luther wanted to change the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences, a church practice that allowed people to pay money to be forgiven of sins. Profits from the sale of indulgences were being collected to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther published his 95 Thesis (or arguments against church practices) by nailing them to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517.

The invention of the printing press helped to spread the ideas of Luther and the Reformation. Luther believed that every person should have a direct relationship with God, so there was little need for priests unlike the prior relationship where the people depended on the priests for forgiveness or the Eucharist. Luther and other Protestant Reformation leaders also believed that salvation was by faith alone, which opposed the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching of salvation by works. With Bibles being printed in local languages, people began to read the Bible for themselves. The Reformation diminished the authority of the clergy (church officials) and gave many kings and princes the excuse they wanted to limit the power of the Catholic Church while increasing their own power. This change leads many of the rulers in Europe to become accountable to themselves and God only.

John Calvin

John Calvin was one of the prominent Protestant Reformation leaders. He was an educated and articulate theologian. Calvin was an influential religious leader of the city of Geneva after he left France as a religious refugee. Geneva became a model religious city based on the Reformed teachings and practices of Calvinism. John Calvin’s teachings, explained in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, spread throughout many of the nations of Western Europe.

Several other Protestant reformers were influential in Europe, including Huss in Bohemia, Wycliff in England, Knox in Scotland, and Zwingly in Switzerland.

Effects of the Reformation

Although Luther was merely trying to reform Catholic practices, his writings triggered the establishment of Protestant churches which broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation split the Christian world, and it prompted a century of bloody warfare between Protestants and Catholics not to mention suspicion and fear for centuries afterwards.

The Reformation brought huge and unexpected changes to European society - changes that were reflected in the European colonies of the New World. No longer did the Roman Catholic Church control all religious thinking as it had since the Roman Empire. Since it was possible to question and criticize the teachings of mother church, it also became possible to question other long-held beliefs in areas such as science, politics, and society.

The Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church responded to the Reformation by launching a reformation of its own. That Counter-Reformation adopted important reforms. The sale of indulgences was stopped, for example. At the Council of Trent the Catholic Church met to reform itself, but it reaffirmed most of its past teachings and practices. It reaffirmed its belief in the authority of the Pope and the doctrine of salvation by works, a teaching opposed by the Protestant Reformers. The Catholic Church also committed itself to stopping the spread of Protestantism and established a missionary program to promote Catholicism throughout Europe. The Jesuits were designated as Catholic missionaries to promote the Catholic Church and stop heresy.

The Counter-Reformation identified books to be burned in a list called the index, it also held the ability to suspend all public worship practices called the interdict, and it stepped up the work of the Inquisition, a system of church courts which placed heretics and sinners on trial. Torture and imprisonment were often used to extract confessions from Protestants and wayward Catholics. The person charged with heresy was considered guilty until proven innocent. Today, the term “inquisition” is used to describe any harsh or persistent interrogation.

Henry VIII

England officially became a Protestant country in 1534 when King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church because the Pope would not allow Henry to divorce his first wife. Henry went on to marry Anne Boleyn, hoping she would give him a son and heir to the British throne. Henry’s only son Edward did succeed him on the throne, and Protestantism was made more influential in England. However, when Edward died, he was followed by Mary who was a strong Catholic. “Bloody Mary” tried to restore Catholicism to England, persecuted the Protestants brutally, and burned many at the stake. After Mary’s death without any heirs, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne of England. Queen Elizabeth I was one of history’s most brilliant rulers. Elizabeth returned Protestantism to England, but she also encouraged a more tolerant attitude toward Catholics. The Church of England, or Anglican Church, blended the teachings of Protestantism with some of the practices of Catholicism. There was opposition to Anglicanism from other Protestants who opposed any connection with Catholic rituals. Those radical Protestants were called “Puritans” because their goal was to purify the Church of England of all Catholic rituals. There were others who wanted nothing to do with the “Catholic” practices so they just separated themselves and formed new churches, separatists.

Queen from 1558 to 1603, Elizabeth presided over the Renaissance in England. During what came to be known as the Elizabethan Period, a golden age when England produced much of its greatest literature, William Shakespeare wrote and performed his plays at the Globe Theater in London. The English language underwent extraordinary development and expansion during the Renaissance.

Queen Elizabeth was intelligent and confident; she tolerated religious differences and maintained peace in her kingdom. Called “Good Queen Bess” by her subjects, Elizabeth never married and was also known as the “Virgin Queen.” The American state of Virginia, originally a British colony founded shortly after the death of Elizabeth, was named after England’s Virgin Queen.

It was also during Elizabeth’s reign that England defeated the “invincible” Spanish Armada of 130 warships sent to invade England and forcibly bring “her” back to Catholicism. At that time Spain was the most powerful country in the world, controlling an empire that stretched from Asia to the Americas. Spain’s Catholic king Philip II wanted to add England to his empire and return England to the Catholic faith. The Spanish invasion army failed to show up at a French port to meet the Armada. British ships came among them at anchor, and they scattered. With their battle formation broken, the Spanish fleet was unable to fend off the smaller, faster, and more maneuverable British warships.

The defeat of the Armada in 1588 was a blow to the pride and confidence of Spain. The British victory proved that England was ruler of the waves.

The Wars of Religion

Due to increasing conflict over religion, the warfare which broke out in the 1500s between Protestants and Catholics in Europe lasted for more than a hundred years. Both sides were convinced they were fighting a holy war with God on their side. Consequently, the fighting was especially bloody.

In France the Protestants, known as Huguenots, fought a bitter civil war against the Catholic Church and Catholic controlled government. Many Huguenots fled France to escape religious conflict and war, Calvin for example.

Religion wasn’t the only issue involved. Some rulers used the religious wars as an opportunity to seek advantage against rival powers. The last of the religious wars was the Thirty Years’ War, which involved nearly every country in Europe and is sometimes considered to be the first world war. By the time it was over, one-third of Germany’s population was dead, and Europe lay devastated. It was the worst disaster since the Black Death, but this disaster was man-made.

At the end of the war, the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) decreed that the ruler of each country could choose the religion for his own nation. Southern Europe (including France, Italy, and Spain) generally chose to remain with the Roman Catholic Church while northern Europe (including Germany, England, and Scandinavia) generally chose to be Protestant, a geographic division that remains with us today. Another consequence of the Thirty Years’ War was that France replaced Spain as the strongest country in the world.