The Reformation

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Martin Luther

Half of the German State became Lutheran, and for the first time the Western concept of the Church being ruled under the supreme authority of the Pope was abandoned. Parish churches were established as Lutheran, and Lutheranism became the official German State religion.
Luther’s reforming impact upon the Church was cataclysmic.
He restored preaching within the Church, gave the scriptures to German people in their own language, and restored doctrine to the people on a more orthodox and scriptural basis.

However, sadly a darker side of Luther also impacted the populace of his time.
In 1524 the peasants revolted from their lords, (having been influenced by Luther’s The Freedom of a Christian man). In response, Luther wrote another pamphlet in 1525 Against the murdering thieving hordes of peasants, condemning their violent revolt, and despite being born of peasant stock himself, suggested their leaders attack them. It is doubtful that Luther foresaw the catastrophic impact of his recommendation. The nobles crushed the uprising, killing an estimated 80,000 peasants, which caused many of the remaining peasant folk to return to Catholicism.

Luther’s anti-Semitic error, was also well demonstrated.
In addition to his pamphlets attacking the peasants, he attacked the Jews, the rights of woman, and advocated the murder of Anabaptists.
Some of Luther’s writings toward the Jews equaled the evil of anything written prior. When Luther left the Roman Catholic Church he expected the Jewish communities to follow in support. When they did not, he turned on them.
In 1542 he wrote his pamphlet On the Jews and their lies.
In it he states: “What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people the Jews? I advise that their houses be destroyed… and that their prayer books and Talmudic writings be taken from them … I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews … and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them.
And, described Jews as “Poisonous, Ritual murderers, Parasites on Christian society, Worse than devils, Harder to convert than Satan himself, Doomed to hell, and that their synagogues should be destroyed and their books burnt”.
In his last years Luther took efforts to encourage the German princes to oppress and expel all Jews from their territories. Sadly, even his very last sermon was devoted to a message of like conviction, urgently calling for the same.
(anti-Semitic source : The Last Word on the Middle East, by Dr Derek Prince, and F.O.I.G.M)

Four hundred years later, the Nazis during WWII, used the writings of Martin Luther to promote their plan to liquidate the Jews. His writings are used even today, (quoted this decade by Hamas, the Islamic terrorist organization, when interviewed by BBC in response to the [17 April 2006] suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv cafe)
It is sobering to think that a man of God who was blessed with much revelation and truth, beyond perhaps anyone of his era, could also wander so far to host a satanic deception of such hatred.

In the meantime the Catholic Church remained an arm of the State and was used for the collection of money. Additionally, the two sacraments Luther retained, namely the Roman Catholic view of the Lords Supper, and doctrines surrounding baptism, had not yet been challenged. However, they too were about to change.

John Calvin
John Calvin (picture) the French Protestant reformer, arrived about ten years after Luther. He has been called ‘the organizer’ of Protestantism because of his pastoral work and his management of Church government.
Where Luther restored “justification by faith”, Calvin focused on “the sovereignty of God”.
Like Luther, he promoted “double predestination” (where some are predestined to be saved and others predestined to be damned).
This was based on his T.U.L.I.P concept.

T. Total depravity of man, (therefore unable to be involved in the salvation process).
U. Unconditional election. (God chooses to save people unconditionally; that is, they are not chosen on the basis of their own merit).
L. Limited redemption - that Christ died only for the saved, (not for all of humanity).
I. Irresistible grace. When God decides to save someone they can do nothing about it. (Because of
mans total depravity, one had to be predestined to be saved!)
P. Perseverance of the saints, or eternal security, (once saved always saved; one cannot loose their
salvation)

In 1536 he published Institutes of the Christian Religion, defending the Protestant cause, and sent it to the king of France, (Francis I) in response to him persecuting Protestants for allegedly rejecting civil authority (as some Anabaptists did). Calvin became famous as a result, and said “God thrust me into the fray”. It is claimed that this work not only gave clarity to Protestant theology, but was regarded as one of the world’s ten most influential works.

Calvin believed Christ would set up His reign on earth through His Church by setting up an earthly Christian kingdom prior to His return. Subsequently, Calvin established a type of ‘Christian Republic’ in Geneva where he endorsed very rigid rules of Christian behavior. Calvin’s’ Church was democratic and incorporated representative government (Congregationalism). The Pastors, Teachers, Presbyters and Deacons were elected by the members, and taught Calvins’ formal but legalistic type of theology. It was a crime not to be in church. Fifty-eight people were killed and seventy-eight were exiled because they broke the rules. Predictably, some people attempted to assassinate Calvin.
Calvin introduced congregational singing into the Church and increased the observance of communion from twice a year to monthly. Much of his reforms reached civil law, economics, trade and public policy. He said “in a Christian Commonwealth every aspect of culture must be brought under Christ’s Lordship and treated as an area of Christian stewardship”.
Where Luther considered the State supreme, Calvin said that neither Pope nor King had the right to ultimate authority. Whilst not divorced, Church and State still served as partners. Calvinism set off these reformation dynamics throughout Europe. Geneva, as a result, became a Christian republic and the uncontested center of the Protestant movement.

Many people fled to Geneva from England and France to avoid persecution from the Catholics and Anglicans during Queen Mary’s reign. In 1557 Geneva produced an edition of the New Testament, called the Geneva Bible. It divided the text into ‘easy to read’ divisions of verses, and became the bible on which America was founded. In 1559, Calvin founded a university in Geneva that became famous for training pastors and teachers.
Once trained, more than 120 of the French immigrants returned to France to preach after the Massacre of St Bartholomew’s day. These French Protestants were known as Huguenots. The unsuccessful efforts implemented to suppress them led to a generation of civil wars (1652-1698) between the Catholics and the Protestants.
When Calvin died in 1564 all of Geneva attended his funeral.

Scotland
Scotland was affected by early Lutheran influence, however the actual revolution was accomplished under John Knox (picture), an ardent disciple of John Calvin. In 1560 Knox persuaded the Scottish Parliament to adopt confessions of faith modeled on those used in Geneva. In adopting these confessions, the Parliament created the Protestant Scottish Presbyterian Church.
Mary, the Roman Catholic Queen of Scots, attempted to overthrow the new Knox-influenced Protestant Church, but after a seven year struggle she erred by alienating herself from Queen Elizabeth in claiming she was the true heir to the throne of England, (thereby threatening the Protestant element in England also). Mary’s claim to the English throne was based on the fact that she was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, (Queen Elizabeth's father).
To the Roman Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they viewed Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn (Queen Elizabeth’s mother) as illegal.
However, Mary was deposed (in the Protestant manner), when she married the Earl of Bothwell, the suspected murderer of her previous husband. Her marriage evoked anger from the Catholics so they imprisoned her. She escaped and fled to England where she remained a prisoner of Queen Elizabeth for nineteen years and then eventually executed after having been seduced into organizing plots against the queen.

England
The English Reformation was initially constitutional, therefore nothing changed doctrinally. King Henry VIII 1491-1547, (picture) and parliament simply transferred the ecclesiastical jurisdiction to themselves, having been previously exercised by the Pope.

This political break came as a result of a decision by Henry to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (the widow of his deceased brother, and the aunty of Holy Roman emperor Charles V). She had not produced him a male heir and he feared the end of his Tudor dynasty.
After much controversy, and having appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, Cranmer publicly pronounced Henry's divorce. He claimed Henry’s marriage was ‘null and void’ based on an old 14th century law, which prohibited dealings with foreign rulers (the Pope), and therefore claimed the Papal dispensation making the marriage possible in the first place was invalid.
The Pope (being pressured from Charles V) excommunicated Henry.
In response to his excommunication, Henry found little opposition from the people when he passed an act in 1534 (drafted by Thomas Cromwell) appointing the king as head of the Church of England (not the church in England) thus establishing the independent Anglican Church. Because the reform was not Protestant motivated, Henry secured from parliament the Act of Six Articles, which made it heretical to deny the main theological tenants of the Roman Catholic Church. In order to remain obedient to the articles, it became a criminal offence to be Protestant. The punishment for breaking this law was death, initially with no provision for recantation. Consequently, many Lutherans were executed for heresy and many Catholics were executed for not acknowledging the supremacy of the king.
Later, in 1547 under Edward VI, some Protestant doctrines were introduced into the Anglican Church, and Henry’s Articles were repealed.
Henry reluctantly married Anne Boleyn in 1533 (who was already carrying his child, and then executed by Henry for alleged adultery in 1536). In all Henry had six wives; two he divorced, two he executed for adultery, one died soon after childbirth, and the last survived him.

A decade prior to this, Tyndale’s work had seen a significant impact on the availability of the Scriptures when in 1525 he finished translating the New Testament wherein he smuggled fifteen thousand copies in six editions, within five years, into England. Whilst reading scripture was frowned upon initially, noblemen were allowed to read it if they did not expound on it. Albeit, scripture was still forbidden for all woman, craftsman, servants, farmers and laborers.

In 1549 a common book of prayer was introduced to the Anglican Church and enforced by law to provide uniformity.
Queen Mary I (picture) “bloody Mary”, (as named by John Foxe), the only surviving daughter of Henry and Catherine, attempted to restore Roman Catholicism during which time many believers were burned at the stake (including Thomas Cranmer, who was now Protestant and considered the Pope as anti-Christ). Others fled to places like Calvin’s Geneva, whereupon they received training for their return later during Elizabeth I reign, where in 1563 she restored Protestantism and changed her title from ‘Supreme Head’ to ‘Supreme Governor’. The Catholics were then persecuted.

The three main Churches of the Reformation period; the Lutheran, the Reformed, and the Anglican all reduced the effects of medieval Catholicism in England. However, large numbers of people in Elizabeth’s time did not consider the reforms to have gone far enough under the 1563 Protestant Restoration. These people became known as ‘dissenters’ and eventually formed Calvinist offshoots known as the Puritans, Quakers and Separatists.

The Reformed and The Anabaptists.
People dedicated themselves to study the scriptures, as they slowly became more accessible, and began to challenge the Church/State autocracy even more.
In Zurich, Switzerland during the same period as the Lutheran Reformation in Germany, a reformist by the name of Huldreich Zwingli (picture) who was known for his vigorous denunciation of the sale of Indulgences challenged the Church/State marriage. After being at the point of death from the plague, Zwingli started his reforming program by convincing the council of Zurich to judge religious issues only on Scripture. In Zurich between 1523 and 1525, under Zwingli’s leadership, Catholic relics were burned, adoration of saints was abolished, Communion replaced the Latin Mass, and priests and monks were released from their vow of celibacy.

Even in their departure from the Catholic Church, there was yet a marked difference between the Lutherans and the Reformed Churches (Swiss) over what was to be retained or rejected. Luther would allow whatever the Scripture did not prohibit, whereas Zwingli rejected whatever the Scriptures did not prescribe, and in doing so removed more Catholic tradition. As a result, Zwingly had a more radical effect on reforming medieval Roman Catholic tradition than either Calvin or Luther.

The Lords Supper became an issue of division during the Reformation period.
Calvin rejected Luther’s’ notion of the literal presence of Christ in the Lords Supper, and also Zwinglis’ idea that it was only a memorial. Calvin taught that the believer does partake of Christ at the Lords supper, however not through the material elements, but spiritually by faith.

Zwingli had a Congregational view of Church government at first, however is known to have reverted back to the Episcopal system. Failure to achieve a doctrinal alliance with the Lutherans left him concerned about the political security of Zurich, which was still vulnerable from Catholic resistance. The Central Government lacked support to enforce conformity to his reformation so a tug of war for religious dominance ensued. Two civil wars broke out; one in 1529 and again in 1531 between the Protestants and Catholics. Zwingli died in the latter war.

Baptism
A group (influenced by Zwingli), called the Anabaptists led by Michael and Margaretha Sattler, began preaching in Zurich with conviction for further reformation. The Anabaptists maintained a sharp distinction between Church and State, (whereas Luther and Calvin did not). Zwingli had previously spoken out against the Anabaptists claiming they had taken his doctrines too far and therefore disassociated himself from them.
One such doctrine was ‘baptism by full immersion’, the need to baptise after infant baptism, (which Zwingli, Luther and Calvin rejected).
Ana, in Anabaptist means “again”. The Zurich council dismissed the new doctrine and made ‘believers baptism’ by full immersion a crime. This caused Sattler and his movement to go into hiding. They held a secret meeting at Schleitheim, which was to be their only synod. There, Sattler outlined a constitution, which was later called The Schleitheim Confession.

It emphasized:
1. The need for a close walk with God
2. No oaths or swearing.
3. Love, and the distribution of wealth.
4. Religious toleration and no war.
5. Promotion of a clean break between Church and State.
6. Congregationalist Church Government.

Sattler was arrested, his tongue was cut out, and his body burnt with hot irons before suffering martyrdom by burning at the stake in Rottenburg. Margaretha was drowned the following day.
Over a period of a few years, between 4,000 and 5,000 Anabaptist believers were killed by Catholics and Protestants (usually by drowning).
They were eventually driven into Bohemia where they lived in communal settlements under the leadership of John Hutter where eventually they became known as the Hutterites.

The Hutterites were sought out and persecuted for many generations thereafter. At a terrible price, the Anabaptist and Hutterites restored the biblical doctrine of “baptism by immersion” to the Church. They also promoted more tolerance toward believers of other persuasions.
So although Zwingli worked under the shadow of Luther, and was confined to the small city-state of Zurich; the Swiss, and the Anabaptist influence, left a significant and lasting contribution to the Reformation and the Protestant Church.

Baptists
The first English Baptist was John Smith (who baptised himself) and had to flee from King James I. James, previously James VI of Scotland, was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and persecuted all Christians who weren’t Anglican. The priests would mark the role of people absent from church. Deserters could have their noses and ears cut off. Thus, the KJV was initially rejected by the Puritans for the first forty years because it was associated with the persecutor (the Anglican Church).

In 1612 John Smith formed the Arminian Baptist Union, and established the Baptist Church.
It was the Arminian Baptist who for the first time advocated that one could be saved, then later loose their salvation through persistent sin. Many Baptists were imprisoned. They grew into two streams; the general (Arminian) and the particular (Calvinists). There were 300 Baptist churches by 1660.

Results of the Reformation
Spirituality was taken from the highly privileged clergy, and became a direct expression of the individual’s faith. Scripture was now available in the vernacular of the common tongue, and being understood. Religious intolerance however, raged unabated, and the main denominations continued to persecute one another for at least another century. A greater sense of ‘Nationalism’ within the various Churches became more evident. As a result, it gave the people a greater freedom to explore, and express themselves with a lesser risk of persecution.
In general, the power and wealth lost by the feudal lords and the Roman Catholic Church passed to the middle classes and to the monarchal rulers. Additionally, the destruction of the medieval system of authority removed traditional restrictions on banking and opened the way for the growth of trade and capitalism.

Counter Reformation – (also known as the Catholic Reformation)
The Roman Catholic Church, of course, was opposed to most of the changes that the Reformation brought. However, some clergy, Popes, and Catholic orders did begin to reform themselves in other ways and began to serve the poor as a result of the outcry against rich clergy and the Great Papal Schism. In 1537 Pope Paul III appointed the ‘College of Cardinals’ to report with the intent to consider further reform. The report recommended along with other things, that prostitution amongst the clergy had to cease, and the sale of indulgences should also be terminated.

In 1540 Ignatius Loyola (picture) founded a new order called the Jesuits, or ‘Society of Jesus’. They became stormtrooper-type Catholic evangelical soldiers, and were confirmed in 1540 as representing Pope Paul III. Their objective was to further the Catholic faith by preaching and teaching to the missionfields whatever was deemed important to the pope at the time.
The education of a Jesuit was designed to strengthen Roman Catholicism against the Protestant expansion. A Jesuit priest’s preparation was two years in seclusion in prayer, five years learning philosophy and classical studies, seven years teaching and four years studying theology, followed by another year in retreat. Education became their main thrust and for 150 years they were leaders in European education with more than 500 colleges by 1640.

Pope Paul III convoked the Council of Trent in 1545 to address doctrinal and disciplinary matters raised by the Protestants. However the council, while attended by Protestants, was dominated by the Jesuits who rejected everything and anything that was Protestant. They returned the Catholic Church, defensively, to medieval concepts. It confirmed the Apocrypha as Canonical, declared the Roman Church as being the only interpreter of Scripture, and affirmed the authority of tradition.
As a result, the Pope, working in alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V did not hesitate to implement both diplomatic and military measures against the Protestants.

The Reformation, therefore, brought wars between the Catholics and the Protestants, both believing each had the duty to subdue the other belief to the truth of their own; and would readily kill to ensure it. The horrors of the 30yr war (1618-1648) saw many atrocities including rape, and murder to force conformity, leaving Germany exhausted with one third of its population dead, and France emerging as the dominant power. Europe reactively began to search for answers outside of religion, hence the dawning of the Age of Reason (1648-1789).