Download The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation
By the time of the Reformation, Europe
had been officially and primarily Christian
for over 1000 years
• Official religion of Rome in 391 CE
• Christianity officially split into two camps in
1054
• The patriarch of Constantinople never had the
administrative authority of the pope (e.g.
Russian Orthodox Church break away)
In Middle Ages every European state
established Christianity as official
religion
• Rulers were crowned by the
Church
• Bishops were early on, the
ruler’s chief advisor and
administrators
• The Church taxed a high
proportion of people’s income
• The state enforced conformity
by enforcing attendance and
allowing the Church set up
separate courts for prosecuting
moral offenses
• The state would later on put on
trial and execute heretics on
behalf of the Church
Jews were discriminated against in
medieval Christendom
• In 1295 the Church degreed they
wear badges as a mark of
humiliation
• They were prohibited from
appearing in public on Christian
holidays
• Their practice of usury made Jews
even more unpopular
• Blamed for the bubonic plague
• Forced to live in ghettos
• Expelled from England in 1290,
France in 1306 and 1394, and the
Iberian peninsula in 1490s
• Were seen as impossibly disloyal to
the state
Kings vs The Church
• Kings were increasingly uncomfortable with
the Church’s claim to have given the kings
their power
• Kings wanted sole jurisdiction in their lands
• Kings resented papal taxation power of their
subjects
• Kings wanted the power to appoint bishops
• Tension grew after the Renaissance
The Great Western Schism
• In 1309 the French king was
able to move the papacy to
Avignon
• An election of a competing
pope in 1378 in Rome
created two separate
papacies
• A third competing pope in
1414 only led to more
confusion
• Unity was restored in 1417
through a series of Church
councils
The failure of counciliarism
• The success of the councils gave hope that the
Church would be democratized
• Reform would be possible by giving priests and lay
people more voice in Church governance
• The new pope, Martin V, rejected the idea that
councils could legislate over the pope’s wishes
• Martin V and his successors concentrated on reviving
and strengthening their power through military
might and magnificent display
• Popes too often neglected piety and pastoral duties;
concentrated on politics and lived lavishly – their
reputation as spiritual leaders was diminished
Problems of the Church
• Shortage of educated and moral priests
• Church courts monitored personal behavior
and had the potential to split communities
apart
• The Inquisition bred fear
• Church taxes were sent to far away Rome
• The Church seemed more concerned with
money and worldly affairs and was not
focused on its spiritual mission
• The Laity felt alienated from the Latin mass
Early reform movements
From 1100 – 1300 the problems of the Church produced several separate mass movements
seeking to change it (e.g. the Hussites). In general, these groups wanted the following: (1) A deemphasis of the hierarchy and the authoritarianism of the Church, (2) an increased role for the
laity, (3) A less greedy, less worldly Church, (4) A greater emphasis on Christ’s humility and love for
humanity, (5) A translation of Scripture into the vernacular.
Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
• A devout priest and
professor of theology at the
University of Wittenburg
• Was obsessed with his own
sinfulness
• Disgusted by behavior of
popes that he witnesses on
visit to Rome
• Inspired by new Greek
translation of the Bible
• Decries the practice of
selling indulgences
October 31, 1517 Luther hangs his
95 Theses
Protestantism was never a unified field. But there are
fundamental disagreements between Catholics and
Protestants on sources of religious truth
Catholicism
Protestantism
• Religious truth is found in 1)
Scripture known only by
clergy, 2) Church
rituals/traditions, 3) papal
decisions
• God’s will for his people is
found only in Scripture and
its working out by faith
alone
The three planks of the Protestant ministry
• The Bible
should be
translated into
the vernacular
• Reduce the
power and
prestige of
clergy
• Eliminate the
trappings of
The Catholic
Church
Differing views on salvation
Catholics believed that
salvation was won through
two mutually supportive
means
• Faith in God and the
resurrection of Jesus
• The performance of good
works, especially the seven
sacraments, which forgave
sins and produced grace
Protestants believed that no
human being could merit
salvation through his or her
own efforts; salvation was
entirely up to God.
• Faith alone justified a person in
God’s eyes
• Performing sacraments might be
ok, but not a ticket to Heaven
• Catholic rituals and veneration
of saints and relics was seen as
superstitious, distracting, and
not grounded in Scripture
Reasons for Protestant success
• The Catholic Church
was slow to react
• The printing press
• Rising literacy rates
• Political support from
German princes
• Holy Roman Emperor
too weak to respond
• Why did Luther succeed where so many
earlier critics of the Church had failed?
• What does the spread of Protestantism say (or
not say) about the state of the Catholic
religion in early modern Europe?