Reformation on the Modern World - Research Paper Example

? Reformation on the modern world Introduction The reformation period originating in medieval Europe can be seen as an outright departure from theauthority of church and directs towards the manifestations of various new ideologies as well as practices in the field of science, economics, art and literature, culture and so on which have a robust impact on the modern world. The reformation thinkers were guided by the aspirations pointed towards the restoration of spiritual purity of the early Christianity which was existent before the intensification of clergy and dogmatic theology. The reformation thinkers widely applied gospels for destabilizing the authority of Church. The Reformation age can be also considered as fruition into the age of reason cutting down the legacy of unnecessary theological illusion (Kobe). The paper will be discussing about the impact of the reformation into the modern with the recognition that it was a revolution along with special reference to science, field of art and music and religion. 2. An abridgment of the impacts on the modern world Before moving in to in depth discussion, a brief insight of the impact on the modern world can be elucidated. Firstly, the reformation era splits Christendom into Catholic and Protestant with the destruction of the religious unity of Europe and weakening the authority of church (Holt, 133). The concept of modern secular and centralized state is an attribute of reformation, boosting power to the monarchs at the expense of the church bodies. In this respect it can be stated that the immediate aftermath was the establishment of absolute monarchy and the Protestantism through religious justifications indirectly contributed to the development of the political liberty which is a predominant feature of the modern west. The notion of equality can be also seen as an evolution of the reformation era the fruits of which are enjoyed in the modern world. The infusion of individualistic ethic can be also regarded as an important feature of the Reformation era and unbiased judgment of an individual is determined by the autonomous individual, whose principles, illuminated by God was regarded as the source of judgment and authority and not by the Church. The ingrain stress of individualistic conscience in the reformation era may be regarded as a precursor of the development of the capitalist spirit and that of the underlying mechanism of the modern economic life (Weber, 42-45). 3. Science and Reformation period The modern science can be regarded as the germinating seed of the reformation period. The doctrine of creation and rationality can be said to be the indispensable part of the reformation period. The herald of scientific explanation in the reformation started from the study and direct observation of the nature. The names of the proponents like Martin Luther, Copernicus holds special reference as they can be regarded as the pioneers in introducing the scientific way of thinking (Kobe). 3.1 Medieval view The medieval world view believed that the nature was an everlasting process and that it kept going from moment to moment by miracle which was new and renewed forever. The presumption was that god; the Almighty was the one who ordered the universe with the help of the miracles. The process was also executed with the human being’s absolute faith in God (Kobe). 3.1 Rationalistic view- An exodus from the medieval view The above stated medieval view was protested in and around the fifteenth century by some intellectuals who wanted to explore the reasons of the miracles which demarcated the rationalistic view of science. The rationalistic view of nature implied that the mind of man is able to forecast the possibilities and impossibilities in the nature with proper justifications. Luther, Copernicus, other reformists and later on Marx also criticized the medieval and superstitious beliefs of the Church (Wuthnow, 492). 3.2 Luther and Copernicus Martin Luther was called the ‘Copernicus of theology’ and Copernicus was called the ‘Luther of astronomy’. The people in the medieval were not at all allowed to question against the preexistent doctrine of the medieval concept of nature. But it was Luther who incorporated the interpretation mechanism within the societal structure with rationalization in its core. Luther viewed every aspects of the nature with scientific alignments. In this respect it can be stated that Luther interpreted scripture by asking that, “What is the clear and straightforward meaning of the text?” (Kobe). Luther was highly inclined towards authentic advances in science with appreciations in the mechanical inventions of those days. He also propounded the use of medicine in the treatment of diseases. In this respect he stated that, “It's our Lord God who created all things and they are good. Wherefore it's permissible to use medicine, for it is a creature of God” (Kobe). Luther also regarded astronomy as a science and rejected the notion of astrology as superstition as it was not confirmed with the help of demonstrations (Kobe). His firm objection against the medieval legal atmosphere and his rationalistic faith gets reflected from his letter to Pope where he directly addresses, “Your See, however, which is called the Court of Rome, and which neither you nor any man can deny to be more corrupt than any Babylon or Sodom, and quite, as I believe, of a lost, desperate, and hopeless impiety, this I have verily abominated, and have felt indignant that the people of Christ should be cheated under your name and the pretext of the Church of Rome and so I have resisted, and will resist, as long as the spirit of faith shall live in me” (Letter of Martin Luther To Pope Leo X). He also held a great respect towards the Pope and found solutions from him. In this respect she states, “If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist” (Luther). Thus Luther was a revolution in himself to go beyond the dominant customs and establish the realms of scientific experimentation and rationalization on which the world is still regulating with jet speed. Astronomer Nicholas Copernicus born in 1473 was the legendary icon who dared to challenge the notion of geo centrism by substituting his own theory of heliocentric universe. Copernicus revealed the fact that sun was nucleus (center) of the cosmos and that the earth and other planets moved around it. This opinion alarmed his contemporaries who were unable to prove that an arrow shot in the air fly off the face. Anthony Lauterbach, who dined with the Luthers, appraised Copernicus by stating that, “There was mention of a certain astrologer who wanted to prove that the earth moves and not the sky, the sun, and the moon……Whoever wants to be clever must agree with nothing that others esteem. He must do something of his own” (Kobe). Although the then society was not at all ready to accept the fact. Majorly in the seventeenth century the system of Copernicus faced criticisms with other alternatives like that of Tyco Brahe's system which stated earth was stationary and the sun revolves about the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun. It was after the discovery by Issac Newton’s universal law of gravitation which generalized the terrestrial as well as celestial mechanics which strongly rationalized the view of Copernicus heliocentric view (Kobe). Thus Copernicus can be stated to bring a new revolution cutting all societal constraints in the medieval period contributing immensely to the working of the universe on which still the modern world and science is hovering around. 4. Music and art – A significant sway of the Reformation period The extravaganza of music and art from the ancient period have been deeply rooted within the human soul and have maintained a perfect coordination between the interpretation of the human beings with the physical and spiritual world. The heritage of music and art has been also reiterated as the subsequent development of the western thoughts from the realms of the pre modern to modern to post modern. The advocates of music and art of the reformation period bears special significance as they are the ones who have brought into the forefront the incessant human desires and acted as a device of unparalleled inspiration. In the medieval period music and art was confined within the periphery of the church. The church flaunted an attitude which exposited arts and music in a pedagogical platform. The church believed that the objectives of the music and art was to provide the unlettered a foundation of knowledge regarding Christianity in a closely knit supervised domain (Wilsey 31). Johann Sebastian Bach was the unique musician whose contribution is immense in the reformation era. Music of Bach reflected the manifestations of his own church faith. He was an ardent developer of the sacred and secular music with the letters. He followed Luther in his creation. The musicologist Donald Jay described him as man who was a conscientious craftsman doing his job to the fullest. One of key contemporaries was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina who composed music within the backdrop of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Although the music was beautiful but the key consciousness and measured time was not evident from his compositions. It was often found that the lyrics were repeated. But Bach’s music was innovative and flaunted some unique meanings. Philosophy of death is a central theme of Bach’s composition but death was not visualized as a negative and vicious rather it was molded with aura of victory and redemption. He believed that death is an entryway to salvation (Wilsey, 35-37). Thus optimistic attributes and consummate innovation was the central pillar of his composition which led the world into the dynamics of rational creation. Rembrandt van Rijn was a maestro in arts and can be regarded as a chief proponent of the reformation era. The adverse circumstances in his life throttled him to unimaginable mental pain and he kept his only faith (Bible) alive in his conscience and exhibited them in his work. His creations explored the essence of faith of the individuals, realism and wisdom. He emphasized mostly on the relation of the individual with God. He also manifested the fact that the faith within the individuals is omnipotent. Scholar Dyrness told about Rembrandt that, "The art, then, focuses on the biblical story, but the artist illuminates the reaction of the people as if to say, what do you believe about this miracle worker? What is your faith response?” (Wilsey 40-41). 5. Religion and human rights Religion sets its path in the provision of several sources and scale of values by the help of which individuals govern themselves. The religions stand in the way of defining the meanings as well as measures of shame, regret, respect, responsibility and restitution which can be regarded as the crux of human rights. The reformation period through the lights of Protestant tradition exhibits a unique synthesis of religion and human rights. The Protestant Reformation can be replicated as an indispensible part of the human rights movement. Reformation proponents like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, Menno Simmons, and other sixteenth-century reformers heralded their strong movement for abolishing the ecclesiastical regime and the freedom of the individual conscience from the obnoxious prevalent laws and control of the clerics. The rallying cry became “Freedom of the Christian became the foremost agenda. The Protestant reformations have been successful in permanently breaking the unity of law and confession in the Western Christendom, and generate the base structure for the modern constitutional system of confessional pluralism (Witte, 258-259). 6. Conclusion The paper exhibits the evolution of Reformation era by breaking down the over burden of the Church’s authority through the works of distinguished proponents of the period along with its impact on the modern world. Science, music and art have been represented as the central themes in the paper through which evolution have been characterized. In the field of science the aspects of rationalization and detailed observation behind every justifications has been shown to evolve by the works of Copernicus and Luther which is indeed an ingrain characteristics on which the modern world counts. The revolutionary features are indispensable as these great men established their experimental and rationalization approach in a society which was predominated by illusory ideologies. In the fields of art and music also the aspects of uniqueness, optimism and faith on oneself is represented in a vigorous manner. Especially it can be said to be a revolution as the artist Rembrandt himself longs for death as way to get freedom from the sorrows of the world. And lastly one of the basics of the societal requirements of the modern world that is human rights have been put forwarded by the Reformist thinkers. Thus deflecting and implementing their ideas away from the medieval hegemony, the reformation thinkers have paved the way for the construction of the modern world and contributing immensely to its development. References Holt, M,P. The Social History of the Reformation: Recent trends and Future Agendas, Journal of Social History, (2003) 37.1:133-144, October 3, 2012 from: https://www2.stetson.edu/secure/history/hy10302/holt.pdf Kobe, Donald, H, LUTHER AND SCIENCE, 2004, September 29, 2012 from: http://www.leaderu.com/science/kobe.html Letter of Martin Luther to Pope Leo X, (2012), October 3, 2012 from: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/luther-freedomchristian.asp Luther, Martin, Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, (1517), October 3, 2012 from: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html Taylor, E. L. Hebden, The Reformation and the Development of Modern Science, Churchman (1968) 82.2: 87-103., September 29, 2012 from: http://www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/reformation%20of%20modern%20science.pdf Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Courier Dover Publications, (2003) Wuthnow, Robert, Communities of Discourse: Ideology and Social Structure in the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and European Socialism, Harvard University Press, 1993 Witte, John, Jr, ‘Law, Religion, and Human Rights: A Historical Protestant Perspective Author (1998), 26.2 : 257-262, October 3, 2012 from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1797855 Wilsey, John D, The Impact of the Reformation on the Fine Arts, Faith & Mission,(2006), 23 .2: 31-54, October 3, 2012 from: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1174&context=sor_fac_pubs Read More