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Protestant and Catholic Reformation. The Early Luther. Martin Luther was born in Germany on November 10, 1483. He was studying law when he was caught in a ferocious thunderstorm and vowed that if he survived he would become a monk.
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The Early Luther • Martin Luther was born in Germany on November 10, 1483. • He was studying law when he was caught in a ferocious thunderstorm and vowed that if he survived he would become a monk. • He struggled with the sacrament of penance or confession being able to forgive all of someone’s sins.
To overcome his difficulties with confession and sacraments his superiors recommended that he study theology. • His study led him to believe that humans were saved not through their good works but through faith in the promises of God, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. • The doctrine of salvation or justification by grace through faith alone became the primary doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.
The Bible became for Luther, as for all other Protestants, the chief guide to religious truth. • Justification by faith and the Bible as the sole authority in religious affairs were the twin pillars of the Protestant Reformation. • In 1517 Pope Leo X had issued a special jubilee indulgence to finance the ongoing construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. • “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
Luther was greatly distressed by the sale of indulgences, certain that people were simply guaranteeing their eternal damnation by relying on these pieces of paper to assure themselves of salvation. • He issued his Ninety-Five Theses which were a stunning indictment of the abuses in the sale of indulgences. • Pope Leo X did not take the issue seriously and thought Luther was a drunk who needed to sober up. • At the Leipzig Debate (July 1519) Johann Eck forced Luther to move beyond indulgences and deny the authority of popes and councils.
Edict of Worms • Luther refused to recant his heretical doctrines. • Charles V was outraged and by the Edict of Worms, was made an outlaw within the empire. • His works were to be burned, and Luther himself was to be captured and delivered to the emperor.
An Urban Phenomenon • None of the evangelicals (Old English translation of the Greek word evangelion) came from the upper echelons of the church; many were from urban middle-class backgrounds, and most were university-trained and well educated. • They represented those social groups most ready to challenge clerical authority-merchants, artisans, and literate urban laypeople.
An Urban Phenomenon • Urban people proved particularly receptive to Luther’s teachings. Many were literate and were eager to read the Scriptures, and merchants and artisans resented the clergy’s tax-exempt status and the competition from monasteries and nunneries that produced their own goods. • Many reform priests led their urban parishioners away from Roman liturgy.
Dissent • Luther experienced dissent within his own ranks in Wittenberg from people such as Andreas Carlstadt, who wished to initiate a more radical reform by abolishing all relics, images and the Mass. • When it became apparent that Luther’s movement threatened the unity of Christendom, the older generation of Christian humanists, including Erasmus, broke with the reformer. A younger generation of Christian humanists, including Philip Melanchthon became staunch supporters.
Peasants’ War • In the mid 1520’s peasant dissatisfaction stemmed from several sources. No economic improvement, influential local lords continued to abuse their peasants by asking for more taxes, and the peasants looked to Luther. • Revolt erupted in SW Germany in June 1524 and spread northward and eastward. • Luther responded in Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, he called on the German princes to “smite, slay, and stab” the stupid and stubborn peasantry. • He knew reformation depended on the full support of the German princes and magistrates and therefore supported the rulers.
Peasants’ War • By May 1525, the German princes had ruthlessly suppressed the peasant hordes and by this time Luther was even more dependent on state authorities for the growth and maintenance of his reformed church.
Church and State • Since Luther downplayed the role of good works in salvation, the sacraments also had to be redefined. • Luther kept only two of the Catholic church’s seven sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. • Baptism signified rebirth through grace. Regarding the Lord’s Supper, Luther denied the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. • Luther argued that the word of God as revealed in the Bible was sufficient authority in religious affairs. • By 1530, in the German states that had converted to Lutheranism, both princes and city councils appointed officials who visited churches in their territories and regulated matters of worship. They quickly became territorial or state churches in which the state supervised and disciplined church members.
Luther instituted new religious services to replace Mass. • Now a service consisted of a German liturgy that focused on Bible reading, preaching the word of God, and song. • Luther married a former nun, Katherina von Bora, in 1525. His marriage and family provided a model of family life for the new Protestant minister.
John Calvin (1509-1564) • Of the second generation of Protestant reformers French John Calvin stands out. • In 1536 He published Institutes of the Christian Religion in which he synthesized Protestant thought. • He adhered to the doctrine of justification by faith alone to explain salvation. • He believed in the absolute sovereignty of God.
Calvin taught predestination. He called it “eternal decree” and said that God had predestined some people to be saved (the elect) and others to be damned (the reprobate.) • Calvin identified three tests that might indicate possible salvation: an open profession of faith, a “decent and godly life,” and participation in the sacraments of baptism and communion. Material wealth and worldly success were not indications. • Calvinism became the militant international form of Protestantism.
Calvin kept two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism was a sign of the remission of sins. He believed that Jesus was present in the Lord’s Supper in a spiritual sense. • Calvin achieved success in Geneva that lasted to his death in 1564. It allowed the city to become a vibrant center of Protestantism. • By the mid-sixteenth century, Calvinism replaced Lutheranism as the international form of Protestantism.
The Catholic Reformation • By the mid-sixteenth century a reformed papacy gave the Catholic church new strength. • There is a revival of mysticism and monasticism which were medieval features. Mystical people claimed they got visions because their soul is connected to God.
Old orders (the Benedictines and Dominicans) were reformed. • The Capuchins emerged when a group of Franciscans decided to return to the simplicity and poverty of Saint Francis of Assisi. They cared for the sick and preached directly to the people. • The Theatines reformed the secular clergy and encouraged clerics to fulfill their duties among the laity. They opened hospitals and orphanages.
The Society of Jesus • The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, became the chief instrument of the Catholic Reformation.
