Church History from the Time of Reformation - Essay Example

Church History from the Time of Reformation Table of Contents 0 Introduction 2.0 Church History from thetime of Reformation 3.0 Martin Luther’s Revolt in Germany (reformation) 4.0 The spread of the reformation message 5.0 More forces behind the Reformation 6.0 The main events of the Reformation 7.0 The counter-reformation of the Catholic Church 8.0 The Pre-conditions to the reformation 9.0 Conclusion 10.0 Bibliography 1.0 Introduction The church is one of the institutions in the economic, political, and social fields that have experienced an immense reformation since the ancient periods. The process of reformation has been associated with engineers of reforms, reformers, and anti-reformers. The three groups of people play an imperative role with respect to the history of church reformations. Moreover, it is underscored in most cases that change is inevitable; this denotes that a change is bound to happen or has to take place. However, changes are perceived to experience difficulties as far as various transformations are concerned. With respect to the aforementioned discussion, this paper is focused on examining the church reformation. The church reformation and establishment of Protestantism dates back to the 16th century.1 2.0 Church History from the time of Reformation The 16th century period, with respect to the Christian history, is described as an era when theology elements and values practiced by the Roman Catholic Church experienced opposition from various church members. Initially, a number of religious movements were witnessed attempting to generate reforms; nonetheless, this reform was objected by the hierarch of the Roman Catholic Church.2 This various movements explains the variety of the present Protestant Churches- a team of churches having a lot of its theology varying from that of the Roman Catholic. There were various events that caused the protestant Reformation. These occurrences entirely happened within a Roman Catholic religious conviction; the occurrences were, however, influenced by religious, geographical, and social contexts in the 16th century.3 The reformation is considered to have been driven by two main leaders, including Martin Luther as well as John Calvin. This triggered a large number of problems with respect to the Catholic Church values and principles; this is due to the fact these leaders had attained sufficient education. The leaders were also prolific advocates of the doctrines they held. In an attempt to counter the movements, the Catholic Church established a counter reformation to the protestant movement. This caused fierce battles, which later became warfare that was experienced in several parts of Europe.4 Reformation can be described from the outset, as the movement in history starting in 1517 that broke the institutional unity experienced by the church of Western Europe. After breaking the church unity, it made up the third largest Christianity branch known as Protestantism. In particular, the Renaissance spread across Europe; in this regard, the Europeans standard of living improved greatly. Simultaneously, more children were able to experience formal education.5 With the rising number of individuals that were able to read as well as write, the number of persons who were capable of reading the bible augmented. Many individuals started to critique the Catholic Church on its extravagance and kinds of abuses. Consequently, the number of people who believed what the Catholic Church taught and practiced began to decline. The resultant counter-church formation is what is commonly known as protestant reformation. 3.0 Martin Luther’s Revolt in Germany (reformation) As a Saxon monk greatly influenced with various questions with respect to the practices and doctrinal basis of the Catholic Church operations, Luther became the Reformation leader in Germany. For a number of years, Luther protested that a portion of the clergy sold indulgences (temporal relief of sins) without apparently indicating that people should also be honestly repentant for those sins. This attack was particularly directed to the monk Johann Tetzel; the monk was blamed for deceiving people.6 Luther held a number of beliefs about the Catholic Church; this led to the formation of his protest.7 He believed that people were not supposed to give money to be forgiven their sins as God had the sole mandate to pardon sins as opposed to the Church. According to him, people were characteristically sinful and had to look for salvation by believing in the almighty God, visiting Holy places, and through practicing good acts. In the same context, priests should be the subjects to the land’s law in a similar manner as ordinary women and men; this also implies that priests were not divine beings. At the same time, all people should be permitted to read the Bible. The Catholic Church held that, if the entire congregation of Christians was permitted to read the Bible, they would have their own thoughts and, as a result, the Bible would turn out to be more significant than the Church. Luther also believed that the Church must not display crucifixes and rich images of saints; priests should also not wear elaborate clothing. Moreover, he believed that priests did not possess the power to turn wine and bread into the blood and body of Christ during Communion. Due to these ideas, he rejected the pope’s authority and set up the Bible to be the only source of Christian truth. In that regard, he declared the vows taken by nuns and monks as not binding and that monasteries must be abolished. He further rejected the clergy’s celibacy. Out of the seven sacraments, Luther held only two of them: the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) and baptism. 4.0 The spread of the reformation message After Pope Leo X condemned the teaching of Luther in a bull (decree by pope), Luther consequently burned the document and the canon law (a copy) of the church. The holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, ordered him to withdraw in 1521. However, Luther denied openly that he would only withdraw if he was persuaded by a testimony entrenched in the scriptures. Consequently, several other leaders, who knew Luther and bought to the reformation course, helped the spread of reformation. This was made possible by the knowledge of other languages, such as Greek and Hebrew that enabled Bible readers to read it in its original version.8 Having bought the ideas of Luther of being justified by faith, reformers, in other lands, also zealously spread the reformation agenda. They include Erastus of Rotterdam, Zwingli of Switzerland, d’Etaples of France and John Colet in England. This list cannot be complete without mentioning John Calvin. He made Geneva the global centre of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches. 5.0 More forces behind the Reformation As mentioned above, political and economic aspects of the society in the 16th century must have contributed greatly to the changes and advances in the Church. The reformation was partially the Renaissance development. The difficult political circumstances in Europe also assisted to extend the religious revolt; this was due to the fact that a large number of local leaders wanted to be independent from the then imperial rule of Charles V. Eventually, a number of tradesmen and peasants were looking for more rights from leaders and landlords9. The challenge by Luther, as far as the traditions and old religious doctrines are concerned, became a rallying factor as various forces of discontent experienced strengths; this contributed to the breaking of set-up ties. Extensively, various groups, including peasants and princes, praised him for being their special leader. However, gradually, the groups entirely realized that his efforts and dedication did not work for any special group. As a result, in 1530, a number of his followers avoided the perceived special leader. Nonetheless, in 1530, the spread of reformation had overwhelmingly extended beyond Luther’s control.10 6.0 The main events of the Reformation The reformation witnessed a number of reforms that exists in the history of the church as the key pillars of the present Christianity. In this regard, Germany is the place where the most dramatic events of reformation took place despite spreading across Europe. It was in a Wittenberg’s church that Luther established a list of 95 theses as new ideas in 1517; Luther also burned the papal decree in 1520. This led to his condemnation by the Diet of Worms. Ultimately, German nobles in 1525, being encouraged by his course, put down the revolt of the peasants.11 Another important happening in the reformation took place in 1529; in this period, the protestant, as a word, was formally adopted. In Germany the Speyer’s Diet decreed that alterations of religion should stop and that the Catholic Church’s authority be restored. Nonetheless, the Lutheran minority within the Diet protested against the Diet’s decree. It was in the beginning of this protest that the contemporary term for the Protestantism religious denominations emerged.12 The suffering and vehemence of the war augmented the turmoil of the reformation via the close of the war of thirty years in 1648. Charles V always fought to withhold the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire against the claims of Germany and France princes. However, he required their assistance as he fought the Muslims who had moved extremely to the Germany doors. Afterwards, Charles battled the Schmalkaldic war between 1545 and1547. Even though he managed to battle down the Protestants, he did not succeed to hold the reformation movement.13 Peace treaties, nonetheless, followed the religious wars. The Augsburg’s 1555 peace treaty was the most important. In the treaty, Charles V had to agree that each ruler of every Germany state chooses freely either Lutheranism or Catholicism. The religion of the state was still a reserve of the ruler; nonetheless, the treaty brought a temporary religious calm to Germany. As a result, the Lutheran faith moved to cover northern Germany, as well as Scandinavia. Through Huldrych Zwingli, the Lutheran faith influenced Switzerland; nonetheless, similar to Dutch and French, they got their Protestantism from John Calvin’s led movement, which was established a generation later. In the same spirit, John Knox came out zealously and brought the Presbyterianism in Scotland. In England, the reformation started in 1533 when Henry VIII could not agree with the pope, who had rejected to permit the marriage of Henry to Catherine of Aragon. Protestantism doctrine, however, waited until 1549 to be introduced to the Church of England during the Edward VI’s reign.14 7.0 The counter-reformation of the Catholic Church As observed above, the changes and advancements in the Church were just irreversible; the only way the Catholic Church could be safe and even regain ground lost to the Protestantism movement was to reform. This came in the wake that the movement was moving from one country to the other. The church, later, took an action. The Catholic Church issued decrees through the council of Trent between 1545 and 1563 to amend the abuses, as well as reaffirm its traditional doctrines and traditions. The most dynamic program was established by the Jesus society (the Jesuits). Ignatius of Loyola was the master of this order; it was initiated in 1534. He was a soldier and Spanish nobleman, who later became a monk. The pope sanctioned this Jesuit in 1540.15 The policy that was established in counter-reformation was used in the 16th century’s in the succession of able popes. Their conscientious administrators eliminated much of the revolt’s incentive. By the end of the 16th century most of the grounds that had been gained by the Protestantism movement were regained in footing by the Roman Catholic Church. Europe was then divided amid two kinds of Christianity16 8.0 The Pre-conditions to the reformation The history of the Church transformations cannot be complete without talking about the preconditions that conceived the reformation. This gives a chance to synthesis and understands the obstacles and point that triggered this transformation. It begins by showing that Europe was transforming; Europe was changing. The old feudal kingdoms were now changing to form the current nation states. Newly powerful kings in a number of countries had been exercising their powers for several years. Typically, they were testing the boundaries of power of the church. In particular, in the area of revenues, countries attempted several methods of limiting the ability of the pope to collect money; nonetheless, secular rulers also attempted to interfere with the church’s government. Mostly, the secular rulers attempted to institute reforms which would demote the powers of the papacy.17 Europe had experienced the Black Death in the 1300’s; between mid and late 1400’s, the society was recovered from the negative impacts. The plague had augmented the preoccupation with death amongst the entire categories of people. Nevertheless, there was also a renewed hope in the late 1400’s across several human endeavours. The mid class was improving on a new trade wave. Money had emerged as a kind of wealth alongside land. The Turks had extended their empire to the Europe region; Turks were usually feared. They threatened Austria in the period of reformation, leading the Holy Roman Emperor to approach the issue gradually than he thought he could when punishing heretics. This is because he needed their sympathetic leaders to assist him in battling the Turks. At the same time, the appearance of Martin Luther coincided with the arrival of the printing press across Europe. The Gutenberg Bible was first printed in 1456, an indication of the spread of the printing technology advancing rapidly in Europe. Therefore, Luther was readily accessible to the mass media.18 In that context, the influence of the humanism order cannot be overestimated. The humanism movement started in the 1300’s. This movement called for an introduction of a scholarship based on the classics study, always unknown and ignored in monastery library, and the study of the initial Hebrew and Greek when interpreting the Bible. The first Greek New testament of Erasmus was the first version to be printed; it was published in 1516, a year before the 95 theses of Luther. The other central precondition of reformation was the renaissance. In its demonstration as an art, was highly used by the times debauched-Popes. The time debauched-Popes who used untold amounts of money to have the new form of art installed everywhere. One of the major examples was St. Peter’s Church which was being financed partially by indulgences sale in Germany. The church has a rich history of reformation that can help us understand the today’s orientation of the church as noted in the discussion above. The developments in the world in terms of education and subsequent social, economic, and political power could not be separated from the church. These forms the pre-conditions, basis, and platforms for the changes to take place. The advancement in education and technology means that people in the past began to understand how to read and develop writing skills in order to interpret the bible, as well as communicate their opinions.19 This factor was strengthened by the advancement of technology; this means that people who had developed opinions could easily share them with the masses. Therefore, critical and basic analyses of the doctrines and scriptures had to originate from a basic point of faith. This could be the main point that triggered the changes that were observed in the past, as well as at the present moment. The rulers of the period also wanted to get into the affairs of the church so that they can have a control on the resources and power that were associated with the church. In this respect, the power of the church was being reduced to allow the rulers to enjoy particular powers that they found causing problems; this is because the powers were vested in the church. Moreover, the peasant traders also wanted to attain freedom so that they can transact businesses in a more focused and beneficial way. This means a more radical approach to attaining freedom was inevitable; the engineers of church Reformation could take advantage of the aspect to sell their noble beliefs. Although this was not smooth, martin Luther managed to fight for freedom among various protestant movements. This was later picked up by John Calvin who established the reformed and protestant churches in Geneva as the world center. This was also a very great contribution to the growth of the church’s Protestantism after Martin Luther. This is very important period because it did not only promote Protestantism but also the non-Lutheran approach of Protestantism. In this respect, John Calvin’s contribution forms some of the most radical developments of the Church reformation. 9.0 Conclusion It can, therefore, be observed that there have been major events and activities that were most visible from the writing of the 95 thesis by Martin Luther in the 1517 to the present day church situation. These occurrences can largely be attributed to Luther’s elite status and Bible understanding. Moreover, the various developments are significantly are associated Calvin and Luther with respect to the diverse struggles of experiencing the historical reformation. Coupled with the counter-reformation by the Catholic Church, the various developments explain the current situation as far as the Church is concerned.20 The Church has the freedom to interpret the bible as the basic doctrine and scriptures justified by faith for the sake of Christianity. At the same time, Catholic Church can practice its traditional doctrines and traditions in an accommodative manner that does not endanger its footing in the world. Bibliography Bettenson, Henry, and Chris Maunder. Documents of the Christian church. London: Oxford University Press, 2011. Bray, Gerald. Biblical Interpretation: Past & Present. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996. Bredero, Adriaan . Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. Cairns, Earle. Christianity through the Centuries. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.  Corbishley, Mike. Cultural Atlas for Young People: The Middle Ages. New York: Facts on File, 1990. Demarest, Bruce. The Cross and Salvation. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1997. Geisler, Norman L. Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991. Gonzalez, Justo. "The Reformation to the Present Day, Vol. 2." The Journal of Religion 46, no. 3 (1990): 37-46 Gonzalez, Justo. Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Reformation. Vol. 1. New York: Harper Collins, 2010. Hall, Stuart. Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991. Hastings, Arthur. In His Honor: A Pictorial Journey Through the Early Years of the Christian Church. Muskego, WI: H. H. P. Publishing, Incorporated, 1994. McGrath, Alister. Christianitys Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution--a History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-first. New York: Harper Collins, 2007. Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Reformation of the Bible: The Bible of the Reformation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. Read More