Modern Church History # 1

 

 

 

THE CHURCH'S GREATEST CHALLENGE

Martin Luther and the Great Protestant Reformation

 

 

 

 

A)    Introduction: The Context and the New Challenge:

 

            It is bound to happen! The Church's greatest challenge is bound to happen. With all the abuses that were committed by the clergy and the papacy, Reformation is bound to happen. It is not whether or not the Church was still faithful to Christ's teachings. No, the point is whether or not the Church still remembers her mission here on earth. These reformers, more than calling for a new doctrinal metanoia (complete change), were calling for a clarification of all these abuses that happened. Sad to say, the Church was too insecure and too reactive to consider them. The idea is, whatever that is against us is not with us. But the thing is, most of these reformers were not against the Church. Rather, they were against the abuses that were being encouraged by the Church. So that if this is what she saw in them, then it truly is bound to happen.

                       

B) Content: The Emergence of the Protestant Reformation

 

 

B. 1 - Causes: Remote and Proximate

 

            Like all other events in human life, Protestant Reformation did not just come out of the blues. It was an effect which surely had varied and complicated causes. Moreover, its causes could be view into two types: 1) the remote - events in the past which indirectly produced the effect; and 2) the proximate - the closest causes which directly fabricated the effect.

 

b.1.1 - The remote causes:

 

            a) Pessimistic Augustinianism - at this time, there was too much stress on Original Sin. Martin Luther equated concupiscence (tendency to commit sin) with original sin, so much so he realized that man is totally corrupt.

 

            b) Heterodox ideas - before Luther, there were John Wyclif and John Hus (Czech priest). Wyclif stressed the reading of the Scriptures and that 'magisterium' ( teaching authority of the Church) could commit error and is not infallible. John Hus criticized the luxurious life of the higher clergy.

 

            c) conciliarism - it is a movement which upholds the Geneeral Council as above the pope. This movement died after the Western Schism. The pope did not convoke a Council to address any problem in the Church. They were afraid they would resurrect the spirit of conciliarism if they would form a council.

 

b.1.2 - The Proximate causes:

 

            a) Curial fiscalism - the people were appalled by the way thee Church collected revenues. These were some of the ways how the Church was financed:

 

a) patrimonies of the states of the Church          f) subsidies

b) tributes                                                         g) visitation taxes

c) sales of offices                                              h) annates

d) income taxes                                                i) spoils

e) census                                                          j) legacy of the holy land

 

 

            b) Abuse on Indulgences - this is one of the sources of revenues for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica (1506). Pope Julius II gave a certain Albrect of Bradeburg two benefices so that he could pay the pallium. However, he cannot pay for it. Instead, the pope asked him to preach on Indulgence. Albert, in turn, asked Tetzel (Dominican) to preach Indulgence to the diocese of Martin Luther. This was the famous catchword in preaching Indulgences: "as soon as the sound of the coffers rings a soul in purgatory springs." This event started of it all - the great Protestant Reformation.

 

 

B. 2 - The Life of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

 

            Birth to convent (1483 - 1505) - Martin was born in November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. He spent his childhood in Mansfeld and studied philosophy in the spirit of severity and rigidity. The death of his friend led him to experience the fear of judgment of God and became afraid of his death. Once, he was caught by a sudden storm and was almost hit by a lightning. I n terror, he promised that if his life would be spared, he would enter a monastery and become a priest.

 

            Convent to Leipzig (1505-1519) - Martin became an Augustinian priest in 1507, studied theology in Erfurt and finished doctoral studies in just three years. He had a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary, studied St. Augustines' works on original sin, grace and predestination.

 

            In general, Martin had a scrupulous view of salvation. After all his fears and insecurities, he found consolation in Pauline teachings on faith: "the just man shall live by faith....(Rom 1: 16-17), to which he added alone. Therefore, 'sola scriptura; sola fide'

 

            The teachings found in his book 'Experience of the Tower':

§      Man is totally sinful and destined to be damned. In front of God, his attitude must be of humility.

§      But God is merciful; we are justified not intrinsically (we are corrupt within) but extrinsically (it is like putting a very handsome attire over a dirty and stinking body).

§      In giving us salvation, man is passive; he cannot do anything but have faith. Therefore, good works cannot grant us justification - sola fide.

 

            When the Dominican Johann Tetzel preached Indulgence in Wittenberg, that was too much for him. On October 31, 1517, he sent his ninety-five theses on the Wittenberg cathedral door. All he wanted was theological clarifications. But he was misinterpreted as a heretic.

 

            Leipzig - Augsburg Confession (1519 - 1530) - in his book 'De Captivitate Babylonica (1520)', he admitted three sacraments - baptism, Eucharist and penance. In the Eucharist, he advocated reception of two species (bread and wine), denied it as a sacrifice and admitted consubstantiation. Martin Luther was formally excommunicated in Rome in January 3, 1521 by the Papal Bull 'Exurge Domine'. Luther gained the sentiments of the German people, both the peasants and the princes. He later married Catherine von Bora, a former Cistercian nun.

 

            In the Diet of Spires (1529), both Catholic and Luther's followers met with Ferdinand, regent to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The council passed a resolution that allows Catholic rites to be practiced in Lutheran territories. The Lutherans protested this resolution. No wonder, the Lutherans were called Protestants up to now.

 

            In the Diet of Augsburg, Melancthon presented the Augsburg's Confession, which is the famous Lutheran Creed. According to Melancthon, the Lutherans were ready to go back to the Church under two conditions: a) the Church imposed reception of two species in communion, b) marriage of priests.

 

            The reason why Luther was not imprisoned was because he got supports from the German princes. Friedrich of Saxony even engineered a 'friendly kidnapping' and put him in a castle for protection. The peasants were also supporting him. But when they turned out to be violent and would not listen to him, he went against them in the Peasant's Revolt. He gave his consent to the slaughter of peasants justifying that to suppress violence by violence was doing God's work.

 

            Diet of Augsburg - Peace of Augsburg (1555) - When Martin Luther died in 1546, there was period of armed conflicts between Catholics and Protestant. To resolve this problem, the Peace of Augsburg was convened. These were the elements of the treatise:

 

§      Lasting peace between Lutherans and Catholics.

§      Zwinglians and Anabaptists, not given the status of an organized religion.

§      'Ius Reformandi' - princes has the right to choose between two organized religions and imposed them on their subjects.

§      'Reservatum Ecclesiasticum' - if bishops or abbots join the Lutheran, they will lose everything, and all those will go to the Catholic Church.

§      'Declaratio Ferdinandea' - Lutheran nobles and princes are permitted to practice their religion in Catholic territories.

 

C) Content: Other Reformers and the Establishments of Protestant Churches

 

           

C.1 -Ulrich Zwingli of Switzerland

 

          He was a diocesan priest who married a rich widow in 1524. He opposed the papal authority. He published his work 'Commentary on True and False Religion' and insisted on infant baptism. He accepted only two sacraments, baptism and Eucharist. In the Battle of Kappel, the Catholics defeated the Zwinglians and Zwingli's body was quartered and burned. After the war, many Zwinglians were absorbed into the Calvinist church.

 

C. 2 - Jean Cauvin (1509 - 1564)

 

            John Calvin was a French layman who had a very brilliant education. He was affected by the Protestant Propaganda and by the excommunication of his father. He went to Geneva and established a very rigorous but organized church. He imposed rules on the Genevans through his book 'Ecclesiastical Ordnances'. Once a member did not live an upright life, he was sent to the inquisition where he would be tortured and condemned to exile.

 

            Unlike Luther, Calvin admitted good work as that which strengthened one's calling to paradise. His view on the Eucharist is just symbolic unlike Luther's consubstantiation or the Catholic's transubstantiation. His view on salvation is more optimistic and is centered on the glory of God. He died in 1564.

 

 

C. 3 - King Henry VIII and the Anglican Church

 

    Henry Tudor VIII - It was King Henry VIII who started the schism but the real founder of the Anglican Church was Queen Elizabeth I.

 

            Henry VIII was legally married to Catherine of Aragon. Due to Catherine's incapability to give him a son-heir and to Henry's infatuation with Anne Boleyn, the king decided to divorce her. However, the pope stood his ground. Divorce is not legal in the Church.

           

            In order to have his own way, Henry replaced John Fisher with Thomas Cranmer as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer officiated the marriage between Henry and Anne Boleyn in 1533. He also installed Thomas Cromwell in place of Thomas Moore as the Lord Chancellor. Later, Fisher and Moore became the most famous martyrs under Henry, when they vehemently refuse to honor the king's move in marrying his lover. In July 1533, Clement VII excommunicated Henry VIII. During Henry's reign, 600 religious houses were closed. Franciscans and Carthusians were persecuted. Those who remained loyal to Rome received similar fate as of those who died as martyrs.

 

            It was not only the Catholics who received a cruel fate. Henry's wives even did. First, there was Anne Boleyn, then Jane Seynor, and lastly Catherine

Howard. All of them were executed for one reason or another. When Henry died, he left the Church with a very Catholic faith, but separated from the Catholic Church. He was succeeded by the nine-year old Edward who died of tuberculosis.

 

            Mary Tudor  (1553-58) - After Edward's death, the next to the throne was Mary Tudor. She was the only surviving daughter of Henry's wife, Catherine of Aragon. During her reign, Mary reverted back to the Catholic faith and deposed Protestant bishops. She was known in history as the 'Bloody Mary' because of so much persecution done against the Protestants under her reign.

 

            Elizabeth I - under Elizabeth I of England, she passed the 'law of supremacy' which states that the queen is the supreme governor of spiritual and ecclesiastical affairs. Indeed, the English monarch replaced the Pope as the head of the Church in England. The Anglicans had their 'Book of Prayers', from where all bishops must take their oath. With the imposition of the oath taking from the 'Book of Prayer', the Anglican Church was born. Out of 16 bishops, 15 refused and were consequently imprisoned. By that act, the hierarchy in England was eliminated.

 

            In 1570, Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth. As a reaction, the queen ordered execution of more than 200 martyrs. Nevertheless, the English Catholics remained loyal to the throne, such that the Anglican Church truly became the Church of the State.

           

C.4 - The Puritans

 

            The Puritans were more Calvinist than Lutheran. As a movement in England, they demanded a serious study of the Bible, training of clergy. In addition with this, the Puritans were not in favor of bishops and Catholic ceremonies; rather they wanted elders (Greek "presbyteroi")to run the parish. Thus, this led to the calling of the Puritan order in the United States, the Presbyterian. The English puritans were inclined to be suspicious of the worldly matters as source of evil. Later, they separated themselves from those who still believed in bishops (Greek, episcopoi), or the Episcopalians. Sensing that they cannot make any reform in the England, some Puritan separatists led by Brown formed a group we call today 'Congregationalists', and left England for the Netherlands.

 

C. 5 - The Anabaptists

 

            At the start of Luther's reformation, a reformed group started re-baptizing people as part of their newly found faith in Christ. This group was very radical that they even believed that Munzer was the city where the Anabaptists would reign. The Anabaptists gained many followers that both Lutheran and Catholic nobility were even driven out from Munzer. With the help of the civil rulers, the bishop was able to day siege to the city, captured the leaders and put them to death. The Anabaptists were severely persecuted in Germany, so much so, they fled to other countries. The Mennonites, Baptists, Methodists and various evangelical groups are their descendants today.

 

D: CONCLUSION:

 

1) There were so many negative results from these Reformation movements:

§      political chaos, wars and persecutions from both sides

§      destruction of religious art

§      separation from the Church of Rome

 

            and also many positive ones:

 

§      emphasis on biblical studies

§      stimulus to reform the Church

§      emphasis on grace and Holy Spirit

§      Christ-centered spirituality

§      Active participation in the liturgy

 

2) Religiously speaking, the Church in the West became more disintegrated because of these schisms. However, it became a great learning experience for the Church to listen to the demands of the Spiritual renewal of her people. 

 

 

3)  The Church today is in a journey to attain her fullness of identity - communion among Christ's disciples. The central figure of unity is Christ. The fact that we still see Christian sects pulling each other down, we still need to work for unity among us.

 

 

 

E: Guides for Reflections:

 

1) After knowing all these movements for reform, which is for you the best way to renew the Church, staying inside or leaving away from the Church?

 

2) As a Catholic, how would you contribute to the sense of unity among our separated Christian brothers and sisters?

 

3) What is your general image of Martin Luther, after being a reformer?

 

 

F: Bibliography

 

Dwyer, John C. Church History. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1985.

 

Franzen, August and John P. Dolan. A History of the Church, trans. Peter Becker. Montreal: Palm    Publisher, 1965

 

Notes on the Mediaeval Church History (unpublished). Don Bosco Center of Studies, 2001.

 

The History of Christianity, ed. Dr. Tim Dowley (Oxford, England: Lion Publishing, 1977).