Importance of the Reformation in Europe - Research Paper Example

?Table of Content Synopsis Thesis Introduction Cultural and Historical Context and Background of the Reformation Martin Luther’s Spiritual RevolutionSpiritual Foundations of the New Morality: Labor as a Worldly Asceticism Freedom and Reason in the Protestant Culture The Reformation and its Political and Social Consequences Conclusion Works Cited Selected Bibliography Synopsis Western historiography has accumulated a broad scope of literature on the Reformation. History of the Reformation is a subject of many societies which are engaged in the history of religion and churches, as well as special public societies on the history of the Reformation in Germany and the U.S. The greatest attention of western researchers is drawn by the Reformation in Germany (more precisely – the study of Martin Luther’s theology), Calvinism, Christian humanism (especially Erasmus). This paper analyses the importance of the Reformation in the context of its theological foundations, historical background and influence on the subsequent development of mankind. The first chapter deals with cultural and historical context and background of the Reformation, since it allows better understanding of the nature of changes which took place during and after the Reformation. The second chapter gives a brief characteristic of the essence of religious reform. Chapters three and four analyze most important changes in the concepts of morality, freedom and reason. Chapter five describes political and social meaning of the Reformation and its influence of the further historical development. Conclusion summarizes main arguments given in the paper. Selected bibliography offers a wide range of books and periodicals on the topic of the paper. Thesis The Reformation is usually considered as a widespread anti-Catholic movement for the renewal of Christianity in Europe in the 16th century, the founders and leaders of which were Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Jean Calvin (1509-1564). But the Reformation was not simply a religious renewal; it was a profound transformation of the Christian culture. The result of this transformation was not only a new version of Christianity – Protestantism, but also a new type of man with a new attitude to life and himself. It was this type of man that appeared to be the driving force of the rapid development of western civilization. Introduction The Reformation changed the conceptual world of Christianity and laid the foundations of a new type of Christian culture. In this updated culture, as Max Weber assumed in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, a supramundane Christian spirituality acted as a semantic foundation of the new work ethic and became an inspirational force of rational and practical transformation of the world. The Reformation was a spiritual reply to the challenge for the human spirit created by socio-economic and cultural situation of the 16th century. Therefore, it would be rational first to describe the context in which the roots of a new culture got implanted. Cultural and Historical Context and Background of the Reformation Catholic culture of Western European Middle Ages was a sort of compromise between the sinful conditions of the “world” and supramundane maximalism of the Spirit. The life of a layman was full of daily cares of the world, and did not have any relation with the salvation of soul. However, it was believed that the Church—due to religious merit of its saints—accumulated more divine grace than it was necessary for the salvation of recognized righteous men. This excess amount of grace was given by Church to the laity, but not to all, only to those who in their worldly life held religious rules and supported the efforts of the church to save the world. As a matter of fact, in real life it appeared that support of the Church’s efforts did not necessarily require high personal morality. Divine grace and salvation could be “earned” by a pilgrimage, participation in the crusade, or just property or cash donations to the needs of the church. In other words, it was a sort of exchange of goods of the earth for the goods of heaven. While feudal traditions dominated in Europe, this exchange was kept within certain limits and did not violate the stability of society, but the situation changed dramatically with the expansion of commodity-money relations. The Popes and a giant machine of the Church felt an unprecedented opportunity to get richer by selling absolution for money. These “absolutions”—executed in written form—were called indulgences, and special representatives of the Church widely traded them in public places. One could buy an indulgence, forgiving the most heinous crime. It certainly could not save the criminal of worldly court, but it ensured in advance the heavenly forgiveness of relevant sin (or many sins – it depended on the amount paid). Sale of indulgences was one of the most profitable trades, but it undermined the authority of the Church. Moreover, it practically deprived of life meaning perspective those who worked honestly in the new areas of life. From the perspective of traditional ethics their activities had a shade of sin, but an honest business left no room for cash redemption of sin, while the rich robber or a feudal lord enjoying the best of his power had more money and more services to the Church, and hence before God himself. Moral value of labor was not appreciated at all, and only a point of view remained, of perhaps of lighter and significant profit. The case, therefore, was not in the sale of indulgences – the sale only exposed the spiritual crisis. Hence follows the prevalence of apocalyptic sentiments among the “third estate” of that era (the Apocalypse is a final book of the New Testament, symbolically describing the end of the world and the second coming of Christ). This crisis particularly affected Germany, which—due to its fragmentation—was particularly subject to requisitions by united and powerful Catholic Church. The German burgher culture of the beginning of the 17th century was under the influence of the feeling of the “end of times”, the fragility of life, frailty and even the nothingness of human existence. It is in these conditions that Martin Luther—a native of burgher family, who became a monk and scholar theologian—gave his sermon. Martin Luther’s Spiritual Revolution Luther’s new ideas took him a long and hard time, because a break with tradition for him, the man deeply faithful, was bitter and painful. And even when he began to openly express his ideas, he did not expect that they will immediately become the center of a powerful spiritual and social movement that seized most of Germany and then spread throughout Europe. Everything began with the theses that Luther posted for discussion at the gates of Wittenberg church on October 31, 1517. The theses argued that buying indulgences could not reconcile the sinner with God, this requires internal remorse. The theses were not a break with the Pope’s authority; they still fit into the tradition, but subsequent events have shown that they expressed only a small part of the sentiments not only of Luther, but also of the widest social strata. Luther’s contemporaries considered this action as more important and rich in effects than Luther himself. Until that moment, these issues were discussed only in the rooms of scholars; now they have been given to the judgment of the crowd. It was stunning; it excited admiration, as though fresh air penetrated into the unbearably stifling atmosphere in which the society suffocated. All people took a deep free breath and at once began to talk. Thus began the Reformation. The Reformation did not only express spiritual interests – it was profitable for the princes as well, as they were exempt from the power and burdensome guardianship of the church. Therefore, Luther found allies among the powerful. Without this convergence of interests the success of the Reformation would never have been so quick and obvious, yet its true meaning lies not in the utilitarian and pragmatic, but in moral and spiritual sphere. First, Luther rejects the idea of salvation by virtue of any merit. At first glance, this sounds strange, because if morality does not appreciate the merits, it seems to open the way to permissiveness. However, it is actually much more subtle and complicated. There is always the danger of a purely external evaluation of the “merit” while neglecting hidden from the prying eyes internal motives, namely, the latter determine the morality of man. And if merits are evaluated by God, isn’t the man who tries to predict the divine estimation of his merits, and thinks they outweigh his sins, too arrogant? Luther (and in this matter he is followed by whole Protestantism) comes from the fact that human nature is so thoroughly corrupted by the Fall, that no religious merits can bring man to salvation. In The Bondage of the Will Luther states that man can be saved only by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. And this belief is not a personal achievement, but a manifestation of divine grace – to be chosen for salvation: the only truly believers are those who were chosen for salvation by God: But a man cannot be thoroughly humbled, until he comes to know that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsel, endeavours, will, and works, and absolutely depending on the will, counsel, pleasure, and work of another, that is, of God only (Luther, The Bondage of the Will). Since all people are equally flawed, Luther (and after him the Protestantism) eliminates the distinction between dogmatic priests and lay people: every believer has the “dedication” to communion with God, the right to preach and officiate (the principle of universal priesthood). The priest in Protestantism is deprived of the right to profess and to forgive sins; he is hired by the community of believers and is accountable to it. And, finally, Luther proclaimed the Bible the ultimate authority in matters of faith. Before the Reformation the Scripture were published exclusively in Latin and was virtually inaccessible to the bulk of the faithful. As the mediator between people and the revelation of God contained in the Bible served the Church, which interpreted the Bible according to the sacred tradition. As a result, the ultimate authority for the believer was the decision of the Pope. Rejecting (in contrast to Catholicism and Orthodoxy) sacred tradition and the power of the Pope, the Protestantism declared the Bible the only source of doctrine. And since all are equally affected by original sin, then there cannot be a special group of people who have the exclusive right to speak on behalf of the Scriptures. Luther was the first to translate the Bible into German, and proclaimed its study and interpretation the first duty of every believer. Monasticism was eliminated (Luther gave up monastic order and married the former nun), the liturgy was simplified (reduced to a sermon), the veneration of icons was abolished. Spiritual Foundations of the New Morality: Labor as a Worldly Asceticism So, a person is saved only by faith and not by outward observing religious precepts. In itself the formulation of this principle is not new: it is already present in the New Testament, the epistles of St. Paul. The fundamental difference from medieval Catholicism lay in understanding of how the true faith is manifested and realized. A true Protestant faith realizes itself not in specific religious efforts, but in the earthly ministry to people through the faithful implementation of professional duties. And here not the result is important, but namely the persistence in carrying out duties, inspired by the Gospel commandments. Rationally meaningful practical service to people here gets a high value, which previously belonged only to a religious worship service to God. About this Luther clearly writes: The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship (cited in Buchanan 65). A remarkable cultural scholar Max Weber (1864-1920), who comprehensively investigated the influence of Protestantism on the development of Western European civilization, indicates that, in fact, honest hard work in Protestantism acquires the character of religious heroism, becomes a kind of “worldly asceticism” (Weber 46). In this case, religious (saving) value belongs not work itself, but to inner faith. But faith itself is not personal merit as well, but the evidence of being chosen to salvation: the only truly believers are those who were chosen for salvation by God. This means that Protestantism from the very beginning rejected any kind of self-deception that is associated with imitation of the true faith, and subsequent complacency. By inner faith, good deeds and hard honest work a Protestant should not “deserve”, but should continually prove his original salvation. But if he succeeds, he gains the assurance of salvation. This confidence gives him inner strength, but it was originally devoid of complacency, which can be generated by merit: it is impossible to earn salvation; it is given only by the ineffable grace of God. This psychological factor is very distinctly underlined by Luther in The Bondage of the Will: As to myself, I openly confess, that I should not wish “Free-will” to be granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my own hands, whereby I might endeavour something towards my own salvation… even if I should live and work to all eternity, ever come to a settled certainty, how much it ought to do in order to satisfy God. For whatever work should be done, there would still remain a scrupling, whether or not it pleased God, or whether He required any thing more; as is proved in the experience of all justiciaries, and as I myself learned to my bitter cost, through so many years of my own experience (Luther). But if salvation does not depend on man, then how should the fact be considered, that man is a personality possessing free will? This brings this paper to the most paradoxical feature of Protestantism. Freedom and Reason in the Protestant Culture Luther and Calvin after him denied the freedom of man in relation to issues of salvation and moral self-determination: Thus the human will is, as it were, a beast between the two… If Satan sit thereon, it wills and goes as Satan will. Nor is it in the power of its own will to choose, to which rider it will run, nor which it will seek; but the riders themselves contend, which shall have and hold it… And hence it follows, that “Free-will,” without the grace of God is, absolutely, not free; but, immutably, the servant and bond-slave of evil; because, it cannot turn itself unto good (Luther). But this does not mean that man is completely deprived of liberty. He becomes free, when he is attached to the grace of God, but a symptom of this initiation is the belief, expressed in following the commandments of God on Earth. Protestant feels like a member of an invisible army of the Lord’s chosen ones through whom God carries out his plan. But this feeling is without pride, because a believer does not have his own free will: he is free only insofar as his will belongs to God. In addition, man has no independent free will only in relation to divine matters. As for the practical worldly affairs, everything is given to the power of man: We know that man was constituted lord over those things which are beneath himself; over which, he has a right and a Free-will, that those things might do, and obey as he wills and thinks (Luther). Later, Calvin in The Meaning of Psalm 8:5-6 said on this occasion: It is certainly a singular honor, and one which cannot be sufficiently estimated, that mortal man, as the representative of God, has dominion over the world, as if it pertained to him by right, and that to whatever quarter he turns his eyes, he sees nothing wanting which may contribute to the convenience and happiness of his life (Calvin). A Protestant feels like a member of an invisible army of the Lord’s chosen ones, through which God implements his plan. But this feeling is devoid of pride, because a believer does not have his own, independent of God free will: it is free only insofar as it belongs to God. In Luther’s work the thesis on predestination and the denial of freedom of the will was present as one of the moments of teaching, but in the preaching of Calvin this point was put forward in the first place. Calvin sought to give Protestantism a stern look of a kind of monasticism in the world and he took up the leadership of practical embodiment of the Protestant work ethic into the everyday life of the city of Geneva. Luther, having freed the church from the authority of the Pope, could not escape its dependence on the state. Calvin implemented the principle of independence of the Church community and state. Moreover, the leaders of this community (the first of them was Calvin himself) took on considerable power over their parishioners (though the preacher was elected by the community, it could not easily dismiss him unless there was a clear crime). Calvin became the de facto ruler of Geneva; he entirely subdued the consistory (the elected church board of elders). He introduced harsh laws against the slightest violations of Protestant morality. Though the consistory could impose only canonical penalties, it could pass the convict to the civil authorities, who were no longer constrained in the choice of means. Geneva lost its former merry and free-thinking image. Rich and poor, men and women were at the first request to appear before the strict tribunal, and for the slightest accident of unrestricted word, a wrong smile during a sermon, for a too smart suit, for curled hair listened to the angry reprimands, were exhibited in the pillory, were subject to ecclesiastical excommunication, fines, imprisonment. Any insult to the divine name was considered a crime, punishable by civil authorities. Everything could fall under this category: be it any subject of the former Catholic worship found during the search or a disrespectful attitude toward the preacher. In 1553 Calvin burned free-thinker Michael Servet, who fled to Geneva, pursued by the Catholic Inquisition, but did not please the fanatics of the new faith as well. But history is full of paradoxes, and it was Protestantism (and especially its Calvinist variant) that became the spiritual foundation of respect for the freedom of individual rights. Here worked the original semantic foundations of Protestantism. First, denying the freedom of man as a spiritual phenomenon, Protestantism actually substantiated the necessity of this freedom as a phenomenon of practical and civic life. The will of man is not spiritually free; it must be entirely subordinated to the will of God. But the will of God can only be known from the Scriptures, and here an individual believer and the community as a whole can rely not on some higher and originally given church authority, but only on the arguments of one’s own mind. Man is just the instrument in the hands of God, but the will of God is learned by man only through self-reflection on the Scripture. Denial of free will on theological and philosophical level turns into a practical statement of human freedom in the world affairs and in the affairs of the church. For example, the practice of Calvinism did not turn into totalitarianism, as it might be presumed from the Geneva experience of Calvin. The fact is that Calvinism with its entire inner spiritual discipline defends freedom of the church community in matters of faith (the preacher is just the elected person) and the independence of the community from the state. It is for this independence and self-defining of church community that appeared to be the basis for rapid clearance of civil society institutions, which became the basis of Western European development. Civil society is not only independent from the state, but also controls it, turning it into the state of law, protecting the interests of its citizens. Likewise is the situation with the attitude to reason. In his time Luther called reason “the devil’s whore”, but it was only condemning the arrogance of reason, claiming the independence of the divine will and commandments of the Scripture. But when it comes to the performance of the covenants of the Scripture, they are implemented not in the course of a mystical union with God (Protestantism denies any mysticism) but in the process of rationally organized practical activity. Moreover, the very interpretation of the Scripture is given to the power of human reason, because man has no other way to learn the will of God, except through reading the Bible. And because people interpret the Bible through their own reasoning, the thesis of the absolute authority of the Bible is a justification of reason. The Reformation and its Political and Social Consequences The Reformation, despite its generally religious nature had purely secular solutions to different issues, especially the mutual relations of society and the state or certain social classes among themselves. In the 15th- 17th centuries Western Europe witnessed a number of revolutions that had quite a lot in common with each other, besides the fact that they were in more or less close connection with the religious movement: it was the Czech revolution, political, social and religious in the 15th century; the German revolution, also political, social and religious in the 16th century; shortly after it subsequent revolutions in Scotland and the Netherlands, as well as religious wars in Switzerland and France, which were in political sense revolutionary too; in the 17th century a new Czech revolt, which became the cause of the Thirty Years’ War; then the first revolution in England, which was the second religious reformation in this country; and, perhaps, the Hungarian uprising of the late 17th century. The connection of the Reformation with the political movement was so strong that it even became one of the causes of the reaction against the Reformation and was the occasion to the fact that the church and state repressions began to cooperate. It should be mentioned, first of all, that in this era the demand of the state to have the same faith for all the subjects led to the resistance of those who did not want to subject their conscience to dictates of power, and it only intensified the struggle, which had very different sources. It didn’t matter whether the Reformation came from top or bottom, or whether the religious issue was solved by a monarch or a parliament, whether the church had monarchical or republican organization – every individual had to submit to the state church, or every minority had to take the faith of majority; one individual or part of the people could always see in the requirements of power, which disagreed with their conscience, the dictates of the wicked, which should be resisted by the debt before God. Due to this fact peoples began the struggle against the subjects of government for freedom of conscience, when the Protestants in arms were ready to protect the rights of their religion. This was the first struggle against the overwhelming state of modern times, and this, incidentally, was a very important political aspect of the Reformation. A long historical controversy began between personal liberty and governmental coercion, and it was the first time when individual defended his rights under the banner of religious idea, the very idea of ??freedom of conscience, which was protected also by Christian martyrs, when they did not want to obey the dictates of the pagan emperors in their role of high priests. In this struggle of personal and state principles in the matter of faith governments were sometimes forced to make concessions, which were considered not in the sense of recognition of certain rights, but as the gracious privilege, given to some part of state subjects. A true confessional state never accepted it—for example, Philip II of Spain, or Louis XIV—and in the latter cases the state still continued to be a simple tool of the church. Compared with this, religious tolerance was a big step forward, indicating that the state began to be exempted from religious exceptionalism: the idea of ??tolerance, as a matter of fact, became one of the major cultural and political ideas of the 18th century. On the other hand, the religious reformation took place in the era of almost universal increase of royal power and the intensification of the struggle of ??representative institutions against it. This was the era when the state elements took the advantage over the feudal and municipal forms of the old political order, and when, on the other hand, in the public life royal absolutism displaced representative institutions. The estates, whose political rights suffered the most damage, especially the nobility revolted against the strengthening of royal power. That is why political movements in the 16th century sometimes had the character of directly feudal reaction. The latter can be said of many countries, but especially of France, where in the era of religious wars a strong desire to restore the feudal way of life grew among Protestant and Catholic nobility, so that provincial governors dreamed to become hereditary vassal rulers of their areas and small signori resumed the times of feudal anarchy. At the same time, of course, parliaments, in which the nobility had also played a primary role, had to defend their rights as well, and in defense of their right the Protestant (Calvinistic) theory of democracy was put forward. The struggle in the 16th and 17th centuries consisted of a series of religious and political revolutions. Example was given by Scotland, where in 1559 the regent of the kingdom was overthrown and at the same time the Reformation was made, since the regent sought to strengthen royal authority and the rights of the church over the secular society. Soon afterwards, in Scotland, it was followed by another revolution which overthrew the Catholic Mary Stuart. Mainly the nobility acted in both cases. Similar reasons became the cause of the revolt in the Netherlands against the fanatical and despotic Philip II of Spain – the uprising, which was accompanied by the introduction of Protestantism in the country, and the Netherlands revolution ended in falling away from the monarchy of the United Provinces for the formation of an independent republic. At the same time reformation and political movement against the Catholic Church and the royal power took place in France, which had no political results, although it tried to limit the royal authority. In all these cases, state parliaments became the banner of Calvinistic principles of democracy, created under the influence of the republican order in Geneva. But the most remarkable historical fact of the category under consideration was, of course, the struggle of the royal power against the Parliament in England, which led the country to two revolutions. And there the political clash was at the same time the clash of religions: the struggle included, on the one hand, the royal power based on the state aristocratic church and the teachings of the divine right of its absolutism, and, on the other, the Parliament, which defended the rights of nation and strived to more democratic reform of the church. For some time England even had the republic of independents, whose religious and political doctrine had in the first place the principle of freedom of conscience and democracy. The second English Revolution ended that struggle in favor of Parliament and Protestantism, in favor of political and religious freedom, and England entered the 18th century with stable elements of its public life, which later had a very strong influence on other countries of Western Europe. In the age of religious culture the masses were generally more able to perceive the general ideas in the religious envelope; social movements were sectarian in nature and sects, of both medieval and Reformation periods, have all the essential features of social movements. The voice of people gradually began to be listened by the ruling classes and governments, which at first had only repression at their disposal; social reforms were made one of the goals of progressive politics. Conclusion The value and meaning of Reformation cannot be evaluated. This phenomenon influenced so many areas of human existence, that each of them requires a separate research. This paper focused on several important aspects, and conclusion can underline the following ideas. In Protestantism the truth of faith is inseparable from the work of reason and the work of faith (honest work as a “worldly asceticism”) becomes a matter of practical reason. The human reason is given the interpretation of faith and a complete guide to its practical implementation. Thus Protestantism gave a powerful impetus to the streamlining of all activities and creation of the New Age of Science. Sanctifying the rational enterprise of free individual, Protestantism became the spiritual foundation of a new civilization based on the principles of individual freedom, market economy, rule of law and the rational technical transformation of nature. In political sense the Reformation had important consequences as well. In the age of religious culture the masses were generally more able to perceive the general ideas in the religious envelope; social movements were sectarian in nature and sects, of both medieval and Reformation periods, have all the essential features of social movements. The voice of people gradually began to be listened by the ruling classes and governments, which at first had only repression at their disposal; social reforms were made one of the goals of progressive politics. Works Cited Buchanan, Mark. The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. NY: Thomas Nelson Incorporated, 2007 Calvin, John. “The Meaning of Psalm 8:5-6”, Commentary on the Psalms, Vo1, retrieved 04.05.11 from Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will, 1525. Retrieved 04.05.11 from Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism. NY: Penguin Books, 2002 Selected Bibliography Bast, Robert J., eds. The Reformation of Faith in the Context of Late Medieval Theology and Piety: Essays by Berndt Hamm. Boston: Brill, 2004 Bouwsma, William J. John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989 Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991 Carlsmith, Christopher. “Mocking Pope and Preacher: Popular Propaganda in the Age of Reformation,” Teaching History: A Journal of Methods 31, no. 1, 2006 Carney, Eldridge J., eds. Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001 Cottret, Bernard. Calvin: A Biography. Trans. M. Wallace McDonald. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000 Heal, Felicity. Reformation in Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005 Luther, Martin. First Principles of the Reformation: Or the Ninety-Five Theses and the Three Primary Works of Dr. Martin Luther. Edited by Henry Wage. Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1885 Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will, 1525. Available at Mullett, Michael. “Counter – Reformation and Catholic Reformation Revisited,” History Review: 21, 2000 Mullett, Michael. Martin Luther. London: Routledge, 2004 Mullett, Michael. The Catholic Reformation. London: Routledge, 1999 Pettegree, Andrew. “Reformation Europe Re-formed,” History Today, December 1999, 10 Pettegree, Andrew. “The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church,” History Today, January 2006, 61 Pettegree, Andrew, eds. The Reformation World. London: Routledge, 2000 Shaw, Barry. “The Impact of the English Reformation: 1500-1640”, The Australian Journal of Politics and History. Vol: 45. Iss: 1, 1999. P. 129 Vorster, J.M. “Calvin and Human Rights,” The Ecumenical Review 51, no. 2, 1999, 209 Waring, Luther Hess D. The Political Theories of Martin Luther. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1968 Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism. NY: Penguin Books, 2002 Witte, John Jr. Law and Protestantism: The Legal Teachings of the Lutheran Reformation. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002 Read More