The Reformation Movement - Essay Example

Sur The Reformation Movement The reformation was a religious movement that took place in the 16th century. Martin Luther and John Calvin were its greatest leaders. The movement had far reaching economic, political and social effects that became the basis for Protestantism. The 16th century reformers emerged from a complex world of the late medieval Roman Catholic Church. The church became deeply involved in the political life of Western Europe over the centuries. This led to the bankrupting of the church as a result of the intrigues and political manipulations, coupled with the Church’s increasing power and wealth. The 16th century reformation was not unprecedented since reformers within the medieval church such as St Francis of Assisi, Jan Hus, Valdes and John Wycliffe had addressed aspects of the life of the church earlier. A great humanist scholar of the 16th century known as Erasmus of Rotterdam was the chief proponent of liberal catholic reform that urged the limitation of Christ as the supreme moral teacher. This reveals an ongoing concern for renewal within the church years before Luther presented his ninety-five theses to the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther claimed that what differentiated him from previous reformers was that he went for the theological root of the problem which was the perversion of the church’s doctrine of redemption and grace while previous reformers attacked corruption in the life of the church. As a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, martin Luther deplored the embroilment of God’s free gift of grace in a complex system of good works and indulgent. Through his ninety-five these, martin Luther attacked the indulgence system, arguing that the pope had no authority over purgatory. In addition, he also insisted that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. The reformation movement diversified quickly and other independent reformers arose. One such reformer was Huldrych Zwingli. He built a Christian theocracy in Zurich in which state and church joined for the service of God. Although Zwingli agreed with Luther on the centrality of the doctrine of justification by faith, he expressed a different understanding of the Holy Communion. Luther rejected the Catholic Church’s doctrine of transubstantiation by which the bread and wine in Holy Communion became the actual body and blood of Christ. According to Luther, the body of Christ was physically present everywhere, but Zwingli claimed that it entailed a spiritual presence of Christ and a declaration of faith by the recipients. John Calvin was a French theologian and reformer who fled France due to religious persecution and settled in Geneva in 1536. He started a form of church government in Geneva which later became the present day Presbyterian Church. He instituted various reforms including the congregational singing of the psalms as part of worship, the teaching of catechism and the confession of faith to children. Moreover, he insisted on the enforcement of a strict moral discipline in the community by the pastors and members of the church. Henry VIII was another prominent leader of the reformers movement. He was excommunicated by the pope for marrying Anne Boleyn and having the archbishop of Canterbury sanction the divorce from his first wife, Catherine. Henry had the parliament pass an act in 1533, which appointed the king and his successors as supreme head of the church in England. This led to the establishment of an independent national Anglican church. The reformation movement flourished in various countries across Europe. In Germany, Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk and a university lecturer in Wittenberg when he translated the bible into German. Also, he continued to output his vernacular pamphlets. Luther sided with Germany’s prince when German peasants, influenced in part by Luther’s empowering priesthood of all believers, revolted in 1524. By the time reformation was coming to an end, Lutheranism had become the state religion in most parts of Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltics. In Switzerland, the reformation began in 1519 with the sermons of Huldrych Zwingli, whose teachings were mostly in line with Luther’s. In 1541, John Calvin was invited to settle in Geneva after he had spent a decade in exile. He practiced his reformed doctrine which stressed God’s power and humanity’s predestined fate. This resulted in a theocratic regime of enforced, austere morality. Calvin’s doctrines quickly spread to Scotland, France, Transylvania and Low Countries where Dutch Calvinism developed into a religious and economic force. The English reformation began with Henry’s long search for a male heir. The English king declared in 1534 that he alone should be the final authority in matters concerning the English church when pope clement VII refused to annul henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could remarry. Henry dissolved England’s monasteries to confiscate their wealth and worked to place the bible in the hands of the people by ensuring that every parish had a copy. When henry died, England tilted towards Calvin-influenced Protestantism during Edward VI reign. The reformation movement inspired cultural and intellectual development by strengthening universities in Europe, the Lutheran church music of J.S. Bach and even the capitalism of Dutch Calvin merchants. Additionally, various groups and movements in contemporary Christianity descended from the reformation movement. For example, the Anglican Church was established by Henry VIII during the reformation period in England. In Scotland, john Knox led the establishment of the Presbyterian Church. Evangelicalism Evangelicalism represents a potent force in modern Christendom since a full third of Christians in the world fall under the evangelical umbrella. Evangelicalism represents a confederated movement of Protestants from the 18th century to present believing in the need for conversion experience, a personal relationship with Jesus and relying on the bible as the standard for faith and practice. Evangelicalism consist of three important elements. Firstly, love is one the most important elements of evangelicalism. The purpose of evangelism is to show the unlimited and unconditional love of God to all mankind regardless of color, religion, age, ethnic background or financial status. It is important to know how God loves each person in the whole world no matter how sinful or wicked they are. Another important element in evangelism is faith. Working in evangelism requires one to trust in his work no matter how tough the situation is or how bad the person. No matter how bad the soul is, one needs to have faith in God who is the master of the soul and can make it good again. Hope is another common element in evangelism. Hope works hand in hand with faith. One needs to have faith in God and then hope he will come through no matter the situation and difficulties. Evangelicalism features three main branches which have distinguishing characteristics. One of such branches is the Baptist. Many Baptist groups hold to a doctrine called once saved, always saved. Many Baptist have taken the Calvinist notion of perseverance of the saints. They believe that once you have been saved, no matter what you do, you will still be saved. Pentecostalism is another major branch of evangelicalism. The fundamental basis of the Pentecostal movement is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is believed that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is given today, and from this event the ability to speak in tongues, to heal and prophecy, is given. In addition, Wesleyanism, which manifest today in Methodist church and holiness churches. The Wesleyan churches teach that the church has the responsibility in the society surrounding it. In order for the individual Christian to live a life that pleases God, they must have concern for the poor, the disenfranchised and the needy persons in society. Evangelicalism has been so popular and influential due to the various new ways that evangelist can spread the gospel. For example, dramas and gospel presentations have been used in Christian evangelism based entertainment events to entertain crowds. Furthermore, the Christian music industry has enabled evangelism to become popular. Gospel musicians entertain people in concerts and encourage attendees through preaching and prayer. Such events have been influential in spreading the evangelical message. Evangelicalism has also been popular due to the availability of televised sermons on live TV. Most prominent evangelist have their sermons televised hence their evangelical message has a large audience. How Christians Have Responded To the Tension between the Church and the World Both liberal and conservative Christians reacted to worldly matters that affected them in four different ways. Pietism and evangelicalism stressed feelings rather than arguments. Claims that everything had to be proven mathematically led to some people coming to the logical conclusion that religious truths had to be abandoned. Pietism and evangelicalism had international appeal since several evangelist such as Wesley, Spener and Francke all embraced religion based on feelings of absolute dependence on God (Weaver). The Oxford movement reaction to the world was a reassertion of traditional religious authority founded on belief in the rightness of ancient Christian tradition and office of the papacy. for example leaders of the oxford movement - John Henry Newman and William George ward were not catholic and they had no intention to become roman Catholics but their appeal to tradition led them to accept and argue for position that were both catholic and Anglican. The biblical movement began in the 19th century due to threats in biblical authority and emergence of new methods of historical scholarship. This led to serious conflicts as Christian scholars questioned the credibility of the biblical history and the gospels as a reflection of the life of Jesus. 19th century Scholars such as Erasmus were interested in historical and literary matters and so they questioned such aspects of biblical material. Lastly, Christianity and social concern was another indication on how Christians responded to tensions between Christianity and the world. It entailed a strong focus on the world during the enlightenment period. In the late 19th century when industrial revolution had a lasting effect on work and family life, some Christians believed that the principles of the gospel could be joined with Marxism to come up with Christian socialism. Works Cited Weaver, Mary Jo. Introduction To Christianity. ConnectIcut: Cengage Learning, 2008. Read More