V. The Age of Reformation

1. V. The Age of Reformation 1517 - 1648 AD Martin Luther

2. V. The Age of Reformation Synopsis:- Reform was untamable in the 16th century, giving rise to Protestantism, and shattering Papal leadership in Christendom. Four major traditions formed protestantism--- Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglican. The Jesuits attempted to regain advantage for Rome, and struggle to the death followed. War spread over Europe and Christendom was irreparably divided. A new way had to be found----the denominational concept of the church.

3. V. The Age of Reformation The Old Order Crumbles • Old structures and institutions die hard. Most onlookers cannot imagine life without them. So it was with the Roman Catholic church. • But the excesses of the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism were hard to excuse or condone and two outspoken men, Wycliffe in England and the Czech, John Hus dared to envision life without Mother Church. John Wycliffe John Hus

4. V. The Age of Reformation Precursors to Reformation • Wycliffe, in 1377, argued for the spiritual equality of all men and dared to suggest that earthly kingdoms should not dominate the thinking of the spiritual man. Papal temporal power is a contradiction in terms. • He went further. The Church, he said, knows nothing of hierarchy or primacy. All men are equal before God. Indulgencies, absolutions, pilgrimages, worship of saints and images and even transubstantiation had to go. Christ is present in the elements sacramentally, not materially, and the end of the sacrament is Christ in the soul. • The denial of transubstantiation was too much and Wycliffe was driven from Oxford University. He responded by sending out “poor priests” with tracts and some bible texts. Called Lollards (or “mumblers”) they were well received by the people but persecuted by the authorities.

5. V. The Age of Reformation Precursors to Reformation • John Hus in Prague, appointed preacher at Bethlehem Chapel, espoused Wycliffe’s teaching that the elect of God should see their true head in Christ, not in the pope. • Students in Prague took up his ideas with alacrity, and riots ensued. The Archbishop of Prague, on papal orders, excommunicated Hus and the riots intensified. Retribution was swift. • He was imprisoned and threatened with immolation, just before the Council of Constance was due to convene. His resistance was steadfast and in July 1415 he was burned at the stake. • Hus’s legacy lived on in Bohemia in a group of militants who became increasingly isolated until the coming of Luther.

6. V. The Age of Reformation Martin Luther • Martin Luther, born in 1483, had originally hoped to be a lawyer, but that all changed in 1505 when he joined the monastery in Erfurt. He led an austere life and was racked with guilt of personal sin. This drove him to study the scriptures where, slowly, he was driven to several conclusions:- Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone. The Scriptures are the only standard for Christian living. The believer’s world accommodates only two sacraments. • Believer’s baptism. • The Lord’s Supper. • This brushed aside the traditional view that the Church was a sacred and separated hierarchy headed by the pope. In contrast, all believers are priests called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. • Such heresy could not go unchallenged, and in 1520, Pope Leo X gave him 60 days to repent, and when that failed, excommunicated him.

7. V. The Age of Reformation Martin Luther • Luther had a profound influence on European Christianity. Local German princes supported his reforms partly because they weakened the hand of the Catholic Church and gave them more power. The proletariate, too, benefited because an oppressive burden had been lifted from them. However their expectations were greater than circumstances allowed and when they demanded liberation from serfdom, the nobles in 1525 crushed their uprising with considerable loss of life. • In 1530, when the then Emperor Charles V attempted to crush the heresy, reformation had progressed so far that the German princes banded together to oppose him. Sporadic civil war broke out until, in 1555 at the Peace of Augsburg it was agreed that each prince could decide upon the religion of his subjects. Germany swung decisively to Lutheranism, followed soon by Scandinavia. Religious practice in Europe would never be the same again.

8. V. The Age of Reformation Baptism • In Zurich in the 16th Century, as in the rest of Europe, every infant was baptized at birth and became, nominally, a member of the “Church”. “Church” and society were, therefore, one. Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz changed all of that. From their home bible studies they argued that infant baptism had no foundation in scripture. Word of this traveled fast, particularly when they began to practice adult baptism. The Anabaptists (or baptized again) were forerunners of the Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish. • The authorities in Zurich made an example of Manz by drowning him in the Limmat. The rest of the Anabaptists fled to Germany and Austria but there they met with martyrdom. Five thousand were executed by fire, water, and the sword. The rest moved to the more tolerant north, where they were united under the preaching of Menno Simons (1496 – 1561). Pacifism was their watchword and the rest of the Anabaptists adopted Menno’s name--- the Mennonites. Conrad Grebel

9. V. The Age of Reformation Baptism • The Anabaptists were the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation and held to four major principles:- • Discipleship • Daily transformation to new life with God. • ii. Love • To Christian and non Christian alike. Pacifism was the watchword. • iii. Communal sharing • Of resources and decisions. • Iv Independence • From society. Faith, they asserted, was independent of state support or compulsion.

10. V. The Age of Reformation Calvinism John Calvin • Geneva was a rebellious City. The population had rejected the Pope and Emperor and masses had stopped. William Farel, a reformer was preaching in the City, but rebellion to Rome was through hostility rather than conviction. A Reformation preacher was needed. Enter John Calvin from Picardy who arrived at Farel’s invitation. • Calvin (1509 – 1564) was at heart an organizer. He established a City administration based on Reformation doctrine. Every citizen had to accept a confession of faith and was excluded from communion if he did not conform. • Calvin’s power to excommunicate was a step too far. And he was compelled to leave Geneva for Strasbourg where, welcomed with open arms, he cared for a City full of religious French refugees. Three years later, after a change in government, Geneva called him back to establish essentially a City based on Reformation principles. Geneva became a magnet for enthusiastic reformers from all over Europe. • Divine election to eternal life was central, and Calvin strove to turn Geneva into a Bible – based autonomous canton in which local princes shared a part but over which they could not claim arbitrary autonomy.

11. V. The Age of Reformation Protestant Europe • According to Calvin, secular governments could wield secular power, but spiritual guidance came from the Church. This principle rapidly spread across Europe via Calvin’s disciples. • In France, Calvinists among the nobility, known as Huguenots, threatened to seize power and were ruthlessly crushed by the Catholic monarchy in the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. Many fled the country to the New World and South Africa, and those who remained were never a residual threat. Up to 100,000 died • The Netherlands was still occupied by Catholic Spain. Infiltration of Calvinism initiated a rebellion which ultimately displaced the Spanish and resulted in the establishment of a reformed government.

12. V. The Age of Reformation Protestant Scotland • John Knox, an ex-catholic priest in Rome, spent time in Geneva and was very impressed. He returned to England and attempted to reform the English throne. Sadly, Henry VIII had died and the reforms which he had initiated for political reasons were being challenged by his daughter to Catherine of Aragon, Mary I. Her strong Catholic beliefs were the scourge of protestant England and earned her the title of “Bloody Mary”. Knox was compelled to flee. • Scotland was much more welcoming, and in the absence of its queen (Mary Queen of Scots) in France, Parliament voted for the adoption of Knox’s proposed religious reforms. Scotland became the strongest Calvinist country in the world and Knox remained a thorn in Mary’s flesh for the rest of her life.

13. V. The Age of Reformation England breaks with Rome • Whereas reformation on the Continent was driven by conviction, England’s came from politics. That said, in a sense, England had two reformations, the first constitutional under Henry VIII and the second theological under the Puritans. • Under Henry, nothing changed doctrinally; the Pope was simply ejected. But this set the pattern for Christianity in modern nations. Belief becomes personal and private and religion, an instrument of the state. • Henry’s inability to produce a male child with Catherine of Aragon resulted in his marriage to Anne Boleyn and excommunication from the Catholic Church. In response, Henry broke with Rome and instructed that the Church in England become the Church of England under the direction of the Archbishop of Canterbury but with Henry as its head. All of this was to no avail in reproductive terms. Anne had a baby girl (Elizabeth I). • The monasteries in England, now superfluous, were taken over and their resources spirited away to London.

14. V. The Age of Reformation The Bible in English • The pioneer of the English Bible was William Tyndale. Ordained as a priest, his burning ambition was to open the eyes of the clergy to the truth of scripture, which was foreign to many of them. A Bible in English, available to all, was the answer. But even although Henry had broken with Rome, publication of his English translation was enough to send him to the stake. He died saying “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”. • His wish was soon granted. Miles Coverdale took over where Tyndale left off, and within the space of about a year, Coverdale’s Bible ( the “Great Bible”) was approved to be read in churches.

15. V. The Age of Reformation Setback to reformation in England • When Henry died in 1547 he was succeeded by Edward VI, his sickly 10 year old son born to Jane Seymour. Edward relied on royal advisors who saw fit to drive the country towards greater reformation. Consequently when he died aged 16 in 1553 and was succeeded by Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, religious freedoms were far advanced. • Mary attempted to arrest this by open persecution of the reformists, sending nearly 300 to the stake and earning her the unfortunate title of “Bloody Mary”. The country was glad to see her go in 1558 and be replaced by her half sister, Elizabeth I. Mary I • Elizabeth had the good sense to see how the wind was blowing and heralded 45 years of religious peace. This encouraged numerous Christians exiled by Mary to return home from the Continent. They, the “Puritans”, had been reading their Bibles and had developed their own ideas of a true reformation. Elizabeth had not gone far enough!

16. V. The Age of Reformation Setback to reformation in England • The returning exiles from Mary I’s reign hoped to turn England into the Scottish model. In particular, they sought the liberty to select their own clergy. Elizabeth would not hear of it. • When she died childless in 1603 she was replaced by James VI of Scotland. The returned exiles petitioned him to widen their freedom, but his only positive response was to the commission of a new Bible translation--- the King James translation. On the negative side, he was autocratic, dissolving and ruling without Parliament for a decade. The Puritans, as they were called, sought religious freedom in Holland, but soon realized that this did not solve their problems. A radical solution was required----move to the New World. In September 1620 they sailed from Plymouth to America on the Mayflower, landing at a spot they called Plymouth in New England.

17. V. The Age of Reformation Setback to reformation in England • Those who hoped for better things with a new king were disappointed in Charles I who even tried to foist High Church principles on the Scots Presbyterians. The Scots resorted to arms, forcing Charles to recall Parliament in order to raise money for war. The new Parliament split into Royalist and a larger Parliamentary party which sided with the Puritans, leading ultimately to the Westminster Assembly which formulated the Confession of Faith and a Larger and Shorter Catechism, still used today. • Schism between the Parliamentarians and Royalists led to civil war. Charles led the Royalists, opposed by the Puritan Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658). Cromwell’s army was on crusade against the enemies of righteousness. Prayers were offered before battle and hymns sung during the offensive. • Victory for the Puritans was swift. Charles was dethroned and executed. Cromwell became Lord Protector and the country a commonwealth. Religious liberty was offered but spurned through factional fighting and Cromwell ultimately died a disappointed man. Within two years the throne had been reinstated.

18. V. The Age of Reformation Denominations appear • As the age of reformation drew to a close, growing religious freedom led to divisions within the church. • Civil war erupted sporadically in France between the Catholics and Huguenots and was only terminated by dividing the two groups on territorial grounds. Likewise, strongly Calvinist Holland rose against its Spanish Catholic oppressors and expelled them. • But the most devastating religious war was the Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648) fought between Calvinist and Catholic German Princes. Eventually the Scandinavian countries became involved and devastation spread across Europe. • The passage of time impressed upon the protagonists the folly of this combat and eventually, through the Treaty of Westphalia, coexistence of different religious groups in the same territory was recognized. • Denominationalism was born.

19. V. The Age of Reformation Religious tolerance in America • The oppression which had driven many religious groups to America, coupled with the primary objective of the colonies --- to make money for England --- led to widespread religious tolerance. Anyway, if any faction did feel threatened, it could strike camp and move onward into the wilderness. Lack of space was not a problem. • That said, the concept of denominationalism was hammered out in the New World. Sects, well known at the time, believed that they exclusively possessed the truth, and all others were wrong. The denominational concept, however, carried the germ of inclusiveness.

20. V. The Age of Reformation The principles of denominationalism • The principles which encapsulate denominationalism include the following:- • Since no man can claim to have complete truth, differences in the church are inevitable. • Even although these differences may not offend fundamental truths, they are not unimportant. Every Christian must practice what revelation has taught him about Scriptures. • Since no church can claim exclusive knowledge, the true Church is unlikely to reside in any single ecclesiastical structure. • Denominationalism does not imply schism. It is possible to be divided on many issues and yet still be united in Christ. • The unity of the fundamentals of the Christian faith is more cohesive than the diversity of human nature.

21. V. The Age of Reformation Rome strikes back • The dramatic sweep of reformation across Europe took place when Rome was caught up in politics, power struggles and hedonism. Pope Paul III’s life left little to be desired. During his reign (1534 – 1549) he had four illegitimate children; but the apparently irresistible tide of reformation highlighted the inexorable slide in Papal authority. Paul rose to the challenge. • Within the church there had arisen a fundamentalist group driven by belief rather than self gratification. Paul identified these priests and promoted them to high authority. Among these was Ignatius Loyola, son of a Spanish nobleman who had, within the Church, surrounded himself with equally zealous friends---the Society of Jesus or Jesuits. Paul III approved them as a new religious order and sent them out into Europe, India and even Japan to counteract the heresy of reformation. The band grew in strength and zeal and before long the tide of Protestantism had been driven north, away from Spain and France into Northern Europe. • More importantly, Paul persuaded the Emperor to call a Council (of Trent) which he filled with Jesuits. They set the scene for modern Catholicism by rejecting the reformers’ belief of justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone and authorization by Scripture alone. The rift between Rome and the Reformers grew. Calvinists and Jesuits were at daggers drawn.

22. V. The Age of Reformation Christianity for the world • In 1492, the middle of Luther’s lifetime, Christopher Columbus, under a Spanish flag, discovered the “Americas” when he landed on San Salvador in the West Indies. Both Spain, sailing west from the Azores and Portugal, sailing east were commissioned by the pope to make converts of all nations they discovered. • Within 50 years, Spain had plundered the New World from California to the tip of South America. Brutality, sadly, was often the tool of conversion. By 1521, the Aztec Empire had been destroyed and the Incas fell in 1533, all within Luther’s lifetime.

23. V. The Age of Reformation Christianity for the world • Francis Xavier (1506 – 1552), associate of Ignatius Loyola, was commissioned by Rome to be papal legate to Portugal in its exploration of the Far East. He landed in Goa in 1542 and moved on from there to the southern tip of India, then Malaysia and finally Japan. The Society of Jesus had reached the Land of the Rising Sun. Conversions proceeded apace until his base near Nagasaki boasted 30,000. This continued till the end of the 16th century, when local potentates, sensing serious competition, decimated the Christians in a massacre.