What the Popes Could Have Done Differently to Avoid the Reformation - Term Paper Example

The Reformation Introduction The Protestant reformation started in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, when Martin Luther postedhis Ninety five Theses. Societal, political, cerebral, economic and ethical factors contributed to the movement. However, it was above all a spiritual movement led by men concerned with a legitimate restructuring of Christianity (Petty, 1). The Reformation started with Luther in Germany, then swiftly extended all through Europe due to the printing press. Before long, the transformation spread to Switzerland, France and England. The dispute for political power and territory increased everywhere reformation thoughts spread. Europe ultimately separated into two: The Protestant in the north and the Catholic in the south (Saint-Clair, 7). The Protestant renovation was a Christian progress that took place in Europe in the 16th century. This reformation rooted out of antagonism to apparent illegal behavior and corruption inside the Roman Catholic Church. The reformation is generally alleged to have begun in 1517. Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in this year, which had the truth that shook the world and drastically renewed the church of Christ (Engelsma, 3). Historians argue that the Protestant Reformation ended in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia. The treaty ended the blood-spattered war of the Reformation period. In western history, the Reformation is considered as one of the most significant events. This is due to its radical switchover of thoughts and political reformation (Brady, 1). Luthers discrepancy with the principles of the Roman Catholic Church set out a series of proceedings that in a few decades shattered Germanys religious harmony. Luther is considered as the inventor of the Protestant Reformation due to the influence of his thoughts and the vast authority of his writings. Among many who were appalled by unconvinced mechanistic religious services and widespread church dishonesty, Luther speedily acquired a huge fraction of them. Many who followed him were lured by his argument that religion must be simplified into a secure connection of human beings with God, devoid of the broad intercession of the Roman Catholic Church and its accumulation of custom (Snell, 3). Luther did not aim to establish the Reformation when he posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church. He had no plan whatsoever of disjointing from the church whose head was the Pope and whose head office was Rome. His intention with the Theses was the modification of certain behaviors and the teachings that fashioned those practices. Luther exposed himself as still very greatly affected with the ills of the church in the 95 Theses. For example, he regarded the Pope as the lawful head of the church. He was also prepared to let the practice of indulgences in the church, if only the Pope corrected the nasty abuses. The Reformation was consequently the will of God but not Luthers objective (Engelsma, 2). By his commentary, Luther enlightened other important theologians. Particularly, John Calvin played a considerable part in determining the Protestant movement. Calvin is best known for his conviction that God has destined those who shall be saved by grace, and those who will undergo eternal damnation. This is the doctrine of destiny. This doctrine is more contentious and is one of the doctrines that Protestants had a hard time approving on throughout the Reformation (Brady, 2). Luther expressed his thoughts in a language that was with no rival in precision and force and by so doing, he puffed up their inbuilt strength. Through translating Scriptures into vernacular German, he intended to make them reachable to normal worshipers. The German vernacular he used came to be the written language of all of Germany because he did this with such intellect. Germany might have come to employ numerous jointly impenetrable languages, if not for Luthers conversion of the Bible. Such a case happened in the northwestern part of the Holy Roman Empire, where native language evolved into what is now present Dutch (Snell, 3). Luther, Zwingli and Calvin led the protestant Reformation that is at times called the magisterial reformation since it used the civil power of the magistrates to further its plan. However, there was also the Radical renovation, which the Catholic Church and Magisterial Reformers discarded. The Catholic Church and the Magisterial Reformers ill-treated promoters of the Radical Reformation. The Radical Reformation abandoned any connection between Christianity and the larger, secular community, particularly civil power, as well as organizational expressions of Christianity. This reformation thus went ahead of Luther, Zwingli and Calvin. The Radical Reformers discarded everything together with various essentials of the Magisterial Reformation, which they believed compromised the clean gospel. This is because they saw themselves as going back to New Testament Christianity (Saint-Clair, 5). What leaders do or fail to do often dictate success or failure of anything. The lions share of the blame when it comes to the Reformation rests squarely with the hierarchy, which includes the papacy. This is evidenced by the fact that partly, the sins of men and especially of the pope and priests and prelates caused the reformation (Saint-Clair, 8). The state of the Papacy for the 70 years prior to the renovation was a major cause of this religious turmoil. Many people who embrace the Papacy in high regard would have been surprised by the Papal court at that time. This is because the Papacy had turned out to be an Italian partakes. The vast Italian families provided the consecutive Popes, as if the Papacy were some kind of bequest. Moreover, nepotism was taken for granted in this system. It was evident that men who had lived a corrupt lifestyle later became Popes because they were nobles. To prevent the reformation, the papacy should have avoided favourisim accordingly in choosing the clergy who would serve in the church. There should have been accurate scrutiny of a person’s life and behaviors before he was elected to become a pope or any other clergy. (Claveau, 2). According to the notion of Roman theologians, the Pope is the highest ruler of the kingdom of Christ. It is alleged that kings, Emperors, and princes obtain their power by him and through him alone. They identify their authority to be resulting from him, who is the voice of God on earth. They also alleged that the Pope could grant states and kingdoms, crowns and scepters, on any man whom he pleases. He can also deprive at will the oldest empire in the world. They uphold that God has given two swords to the Pope, that is: the earthly and the spiritual (Bartoli, 3). In addition, there was the celestial right of kings – this was a religious and political assumption in which princes and kings alleged themselves to be in power exclusively by right and divine selection. They believed that their citizens had nothing to do with it and consequently, citizens were not accountable for their behavior. This notorious Divine right of Kings has brought horrors, calamities and the cavalcade of blood to a larger part of Europe (Bartoli, 1). Moral corruption and abuse of position in the Roman Catholic Church plagued the year’s preceding the Protestant Reformation. The priesthood was at fault of quite a lot of cruelty of concession and accountability. These included pluralism (holding numerous offices concurrently), simony (using one’s wealth or pressure to acquire an ecclesiastical office) and absenteeism (the failure to live in the parish where they were supposed to minister). The church had obligated the observing of celibacy on the priesthood. Part of the clergy frequently abused or overlooked this practice, leading to wicked behavior on the part of these clergy. The priests should have been holding only one office at a time. No priest should have held two or more offices concurrently. By this, there could not have been much opposition and consequently the movement. If the priests of the Roman Catholic church observed celibacy, then the criticisms by Martin luther would not have erupted. ,(Petty, 5). Medieval papal indignity, favoritism and shameful living brought contempt upon the papacy. Moreover, the popes themselves failed to change the Church, yet they were in a position to do so. When the Reformation in due course broke out, the papacy failed to take steps speedily to deal with the problems that led to the reformation and failed to recognize its challenge to the Church. Simultaneously, when the Church lastly started to change, the papacy helped lead the way (Saint-Clair, 10). Since the popes were in a very good position to reform the church, they should have done so to prevent major opposition. The popes also ought to have upheld their dignity so that they can win the respect of their subjects. The far-reaching moral collapse among the rich laity also exacerbated the reformation. This was a tale of extension and splendor, the most significant cause being gluttony. Externally, the protestant reformation was an attempt to eliminate certain teachings and principles of the Church and replace them with new principles. However, in reality, the force and power behind the Reformation was the greed of the German princes and other nobles. These nobles entirely encouraged and supported the influential Augustinian monk, Martin Luther in his efforts of the reformation. They anticipated that they would be able to appropriate the lands and possessions of the Church if they could push for a break with Rome (Claveau, 3). Such disgraceful dealings in the uppermost headship of the Roman Catholic Church led to rising inducement and a loss of self-belief in the church. Many people doubted the supreme influence alleged for the pope. Others still, progressively required a change of the church in leadership and members (Petty, 3). One major concern that arises is that, the popes should have tried as much to make the people believe in them and their service to the church. This would have made the followers have faith in the authority of the popes. In the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries, the increase of national monarchies came at the cost of the authority of the papacy. Pope Boniface VIII’s fights with the king of France demonstrate this fact. This struggle ended up in the pope’s humiliation and consequently death in 1303. The papacy was afterward located in Avignon, France in a seventy-year period called the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy (1303-77). The French monarchy conquered the papacy throughout that time. Initially, there were various attempts to reinstate the papacy to Rome. However, these initial efforts only resulted in a separation known as the Great Schism. Contender popes claimed legality until the circumstances were lastly resolved in 1417 (Petty, 3) The issue of indulgences heightened the Reformation. This activity of the church aggravated Luther to publish the 95 Theses. Indulgences were pieces of paper, which the church sold to the people for the payment of the chastisement of the peoples sins. The sale of the pardon of sins for money was the lenience business, which the church practiced. The hypothetical explanation of this practice was obscured in the law books of the church at that time. The church said that, there were two types of punishment for every sin: the everlasting punishment and the sequential punishment. The church helped the offender out in the payment of the sequential punishment. The benefit to the offender was that he would escape that much chastisement either in this life or in purgatory. One could also buy the indulgences for deceased loved ones and thus spare them much anguish in purgatory. Throughout these practices, people merely viewed indulgences as total absolution of their sins and they were ignorant of the variations (Engelsma, 3). The heart of the matter that made Luther write the Theses; the indulgences should have been avoided accordingly. It was necessary for the popes and the clergy to mind for the souls of sinners and avoid selling to them these indulgences. They should have realized that payment of sin cannot be done by money. The acting Pope at Rome at that time, Leo X. Leo, sought to finish the wonderful cathedral at St. Peters, Rome. He endorsed an indulgence-selling agenda all through Germany since he needed money. There was a great monk salesman in Germany called Tetzel. He sold near Wittenberg, where Martin Luther labored. He outdid himself in building excessive alleges for indulgences. In order to finish the cathedral this pope should have sourced funds from contributions of the church members rather than selling indulgencies (Engelsma, 3). Prior to Luthers actions, the Protestant Reformation had been in the making for many years. There had been frequent efforts to change the Roman Church prior to the 16th century, but the investigation had always squashed them. Groups such as the Albigenses and Waldenses, which were outside the Roman Church, as well opposed the Roman Church. Men such as Gerolamo Savonarola, John Wycliffe and John Huss, spoke out against auricular affirmation, the papacy, purgatory, ruins worship of saints and pilgrimages. At the Councils of Pisa (1409), Constance (1414-1418) and Basel (1431), Rome made several feeble attempts to change but they were not successful (Arnold, 3). Many theologians voiced out against the Roman Catholic Churchs view on the power of the Pope. For instance, 14th century theologians John Wycliffe and John Huss alleged that consistent with the scriptures, the Popes influence and power was not valid. The Roman Catholic Church burned Huss to death in 1415 due to a belief that his views were profane it was not actually necessary for the Roman Church to kill this reformist since it instigated more opposition. The popes ought to have listened to this theologian so that they can change their views (Brady, 1). The worldliness and dishonesty in the church arrived at its worst in the fifteenth century. It was amazing that the predicament of corruption reached all through to the papacy. Giralamo Savonarola (1452-1498) of Florence, Italy was amid those who voiced for a change of the church. This blazing preacher voiced against the abuses of the papacy and the corrupt principles of the city’s leaders. However, the progress was short-lived due to religious enmity and political conditions and consequently, Giralamo was hanged and burned for heresy in 1498. This was another great mistake. Killing was not a solution; instead, incorporating his ideas to change the church could have reversed the situation (Petty, 7). As far as reacting to Protestantism or changing the Church is concerned, the pontificate of Pope Clement VII can be termed as unfortunate. This pope preceded Paul III, whom many believe to be the primary pope of the Catholic renovation and pursued the short pontificate of the violent reformer Adrian VI. The account of the Reformation would have been significantly different if Clement had half the sacred powers of either man. This pope used a lot of time indulging himself in political conspiracy and dedicated much of his papal energies to take pleasure in art and culture. In addition, he was incapable of bringing order and discipline to the Church. He was in prison in castle Sant Angelo as Protestantism extended owing to the Emperors sack and attack of Rome in 1527. Pope Clement VII was in a good position to reform the church without instigations as well as bringing order into the church. This would have happened if he would have dedicated much of his time in the service of God (Saint-Clair, 18). Although Pope Adrian VI aspired to change and renovate the Church, his short pontificate made unworkable. When Adrian came to Rome, he did not let the people build a triumphal archway in his respect on the basis that it was a pagan practice. However, the Church in general was not prepared to undertake the thorough renovation that Adrian VI called for. It took time for the papacy to recover trustworthiness with respect to change. Moreover, the Reformers were attacking the papacy as an establishment essentially converse to the gospel, even when popes started taking seriously their apostolic errands. The doctrinal problems of the papacy had to be coherently addressed. The papacy should have actually reduced the many doctrines that they had implied in to the church of Christ. This would have made the followers of Christ have a smooth time and establish a closer relationship with God (Saint-Clair, 11). Financial, political and religious issues that had been developing for centuries, set the period for the Reformation. Monasticism and academic divinity had reduced; the papacy was dishonest; holiness was on the upswing; men with a spirit of examination and independence were discovering the new world; the printing press had been made-up; the Greek New Testament republished and there was a renewal of the Greek and Roman classics. The Reformation brought true Christianity while the Renaissance brought humanism (Arnold, 4). The Reformation began to splinter off into different factions as it progressed throughout Europe. Ultimately, these factions yielded the modern-day Protestant denominations including Calvinists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans. The Reformation also gave way to bloody thirty years warfare between Catholics and Protestants (Brady, 1). The Protestant Reformation has been mistakenly termed as Protestant revolution as much of the Reformation was economic and political. Many people did not comprehend that Protestants had to have political and economic authority to hold off Rome, if they were to live on. Besides, it was ordinary for a prince and his entire province to turn Protestant. Later, even kings and entire countries embraced the Protestant faith. Fate forced the Reformers to take part in politics and economics (Arnold, 6). Influential followers of Luther, for instance princes and liberated cities, agreed to Lutheranism for various reasons, some for the reason that they genuinely hold up change and others out of slender selfishness. A jurisdiction would accept Lutheranism in various areas, since a huge bordering state had done so. In further regions, rulers received it, as they wanted to keep control over their subordinates who had accepted it previously. In spite of the fact that the emperor of all the majestic cities was antagonistic to the reformation, almost all of them became Lutheran (Snell, 3). Arnold, points out three major outcomes of the reformation. First, it has intensely affected the contemporary view of politics and law. Before the Reformation, the Church governed politics in that it controlled kings and emperors and governed the law of lands. The second outcome is in the sphere of science. Present historians normally argue that the Reformation paved way for modern science. The church had power over all scientific inquiry and venture prior to the reformation. Thirdly, the reformation put down the right and responsibility of the personality conscience, and the right to pursue the dictates of that personality conscience. Thus, liberation was an outcome of this historical episode. Conclusion The protestant reformation was one of the most remarkable events in the history of religion and it left a lifelong impact. Its major outcome is the division of the Roman Catholic Church into Protestants and Catholics. Apparently, the main causes of this event include the issue of indulgencies by the Roman Catholic Church in addition to the immoral behaviors of the clergy in the church and corruption among other causes. The popes should have done a number of things to prevent this movement. They should have dedicated much of their time in the church to win the confidence of the followers and to create order in the church. They also ought to have reduced the various persecutions that they instigated on some reformers. In addition, the popes should have made their followers believe in their service and authority through engaging in honorable practices within the church. Another major concern is that the popes should have done away with some doctrines that did not benefit the church in any way. It is important to note that although Martin Luther of Germany who voiced against these practices initiated the reformation, it was not an association that was justified through him – it sustained and advanced through other changers of the 16th century, particularly John Calvin. It went through with authority and with blessing for the church. Work Cited Arnold, Jack. “The Cause and results of the Reformation”. 1999. Web. Bartoli, George. “Was the Protestant Reformation a Failure?” 2010. Web. Brady, Matt. “What Is the Protestant Reformation?” 2003. Web. Claveau, Victor. “Causes of the Reformation.” 2004. Web. Engelsma, David. J. “The Reformation and Twentieth Century Protestantism”. 2000. Web. Petty, Dan. “The Background of the Protestant Reformation.” 2010. Web. Saint-Clair, Geoffrey. “Whos Who in the Reformation?” 2001. Web Snell, Mellisa. “The protestant reformation” 2010. Web. Read More