What Led to the Protestant Reformations?

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Introduction

As one of the main reasons that led to the beginning of Reformation, it is necessary to name the total decline of morals in the midst of the Roman Catholic Church. The political factor can also be considered one of the important indirect causes. The new centralized nation-states in northwestern Europe opposed the concept of a universal church, which proclaimed its jurisdiction over the nation-state and its powerful ruler.¹ The ideal of such a universal Church came into conflict with the emerging national consciousness of the middle class in these new states.

Another reason for the reform movement was the struggle between representatives of the just emerging capitalist mode of production and the feudal one, whose ideology was protected by the medieval church of that time, which itself was the largest feudal lord-landowner.² Feudalism prevailed in Europe, and the overwhelming majority of the population was serf, feudal dependent, the poorest peasantry, almost completely powerless, since in order to strengthen feudal ownership of land the number of peasant duties increased, while the development of peasant farms was not allowed, contributing to the peasants’ impoverishment.

There was growing dissatisfaction with the church in all segments of the population, because the church was the largest land feudal lord and, moreover, it declared each person without exception “unable to save his soul.”³ Thus, it subjugated all sectors of the population, the secular life of human, secular institutions and all spheres of life of the state as a whole.⁴ Particular dissatisfaction was caused by requisitions by the papal curia and higher clergy, which, in the context of the growth of commodity-money relations, were constantly increasing. Secular feudal lords and monarchs demanded restrictions on exactions in the papal curia.⁵ The burgher opposition, which at first expressed the aspirations of the broad masses of the population, reflected on the abolition of the Catholic Church as a feudal institution and the creation of a new, “simple and cheap” church without requisitions and fees for demands. The ideologists of the masses put a broader meaning in the concept of the Reformation ‑ the transformation of the entire system of social relations in the spirit of gospel equality. Moreover, the political influence of the church on the life of the state and its financial base were enormous, and the fragmentation of the countries of medieval Europe and the weak centralized power only contributed to this. The mentioned claims of the church aroused grumble and indignation among the largest feudal lords, including kings.⁶ All this led to the fact that the reform movement not only embraced, but also united all sectors of the European countries population.

The Magisterial Reformations in Germany, Switzerland and England

Each country had its own specific foundations of the reform movement, and, therefore, the nature of the Reformation in each country was different. The reasons for the reformation existed everywhere, but in Germany they acted especially strongly, since, on the one hand, rarely religiosity was distinguished by such an intimate, moral character as in the then German people, and on the other hand, few nations were so humiliated before the Roman curia as the German: its political impotence was a convenient ground for the development of papal claims.⁷ As a political whole, Germany in that era was in a state of unstable equilibrium, so to speak, ceasing to be a single state, but not finally turning into a simple federation of principalities and free cities. It has long been felt here the need for state reform, which would lead the country out of its chaotic state.⁸ In conditions of social contradictions associated with the emergence of capitalist relations, fragmentation, with the intensification of feudal exploitation in the countryside, the Reformation movement in Germany was the first serious battle against feudalism as a whole. The impetus for the mass reform movement in Germany was Luther’s speech against indulgences.

Starting his reformation activity, Luther did not immediately break with the papacy and Catholicism. In his first theoretical reformation act ‑ the Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences ‑ he still remained an Orthodox Catholic.⁹ However, the Reformation in Germany developed, and Luther appeared at the head of the broad anti-Catholic movement. As the leader of this movement, Luther spoke out not only against indulgences, but also against the dogma of the infallibility of the Roman bishop. Moreover, he came to the denial of papal authority and criticized Catholic dogma. By the time the pope excommunicated Luther from the Church, his fame reached its climax.¹⁰ The reformers did not have a single attitude to the Theses, but this was not so important: these Theses united the various layers of Germany ‑ from the peasant-plebeian masses to the nobles and secular princes.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Switzerland was a confederate state. The Swiss Confederation included cantons and allied lands, and each canton possessed autonomy. The land belonged to the feudal lords, who, together with city patriciate exploited dependent peasants. The rich and omnipotent city cantons sought to completely subjugate the backward forest cantons, which depended on them both economically and politically. This, in turn, caused constant clashes among the cantons within the Swiss Confederation and violated its unity.¹¹ Moreover, the disaster for Switzerland and its population was the mercenary system, widespread at that time in Western Europe. The hired troops of the Swiss served in a wide variety of European countries that did not have their own regular troops.¹² Naturally, the ruling aristocracy of the Swiss Confederation used the recruitment of mercenaries as a source of profit. However, most Swiss considered mercenarism to be a scourge for the country, since it sucked out the strongest and most courageous men, thereby depriving the country of workers and defenders.¹³ The Swiss Reformation began with the demand to end mercenarism ‑ this is what the basic requirement of the Zwinglin Reformation became.

As in German lands, the Reformation in Switzerland took place in conditions of political fragmentation and at first it did not cover all the cantons, but only a part of them. The center of the Reformation was the city of Zurich, one of the largest city cantons, claiming leadership in the confederation. The founder of the Swiss Reformation was Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531).¹⁴ Like Luther, Zwingli began the struggle against indulgences and substantiated the thesis of justification by faith, i.e., went deeper into theological problems. After Luther’s speech, Zwingli became his ardent supporter. However, Luther and Zwingli soon diverged in the interpretation of the dogma of transubstantiation. While Luther spoke of the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Zwingli gave this sacrament a purely symbolic meaning.¹⁵

The Zwinglian church was much more democratic than the Lutheran ‑ it had a republican system. Preachers and pastors were chosen by the community, and each community was in charge of church affairs and subordinated to the city magistrate. The Zwinglians who gained power did not limit themselves to religious reform; they carried out some socio-political transformations.¹⁶ The socio-economic and political views of Zwingli were characterized by certain radicalism. He denied mercenarism, opposed serfdom, defended the petty property of peasants and artisans, and was a supporter of the republican system and an opponent of the monarchy.

In England, the Reformation began much later than on the continent ‑ during the reign of Henry VIII, in the 30s of the 16th century, Reformation ideas in England began to take shape in the 14th century. The ideologist of the early English burgher Reformation was John Wycliffe.¹⁷ Wycliffe denied the papacy’s reverence and demanded the secularization of the land. In 16th century England, the Reformation began from above, emanating from the king. The main objective of the Royal Reformation was the liberation from the Vatican and the direct submission of the English Church to the king. Crucially important was the king’s desire to secularize the monastic lands.¹⁸ The reason for the Reformation was the refusal of the pope to terminate the marriage of Henry VIII with Catherine of Aragon, which would allow the king to enter into a new marriage with the maid of honor Queen Anne Boleyn.

The divorce of Henry VIII was formalized by the English Parliament, after which Henry married Anna Boleyn. In 1534, Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy, by which the king was declared head of the Church of England. Relations with the Vatican were decisively broken. The Act was not a manifestation of the struggle against Catholicism; it signified, first of all, the struggle with the pope.¹⁹ The Catholic episcopate remained the backbone of the new form of monarchy that was taking shape in England at that time ‑ absolutism.²⁰ The new English church, denying the pope’s leadership, has already ceased to be completely Catholic, but has not yet become Protestant. It was called Anglican, and Anglicanism, at first, took a middle position between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Aspects that made the Anabaptist Reformations Different from the Magisterial Reformations

Luther and Calvin were “magistrate reformers” in the sense that they were supported by governments (magistrates). While the radicals, with their strict views on Church membership, did not recognize compromises with state or city authorities, magistrate reformers depended precisely on such compromises.²¹ The Anabaptists believed that the church and government should be separated from each other. Some of the distinctive beliefs of the Anabaptists were as follows:²²

The Church is a community of dedicated Disciples of Christ who know the price of following Jesus, including their willingness to suffer for their faith. The church is different from the surrounding secular society.
Christians must be separated from the world, so they cannot serve in government or the army.
The church should “exclude” (i.e., excommunicate) those who do not live in accordance with the requirements of the church.
The rejection of Calvinist soteriology.

The Anabaptists were not Catholics because they looked like Protestants at first glance, proclaiming the reformist principle of Sola Scriptura and rejecting all complex Roman Catholic rites, hierarchies, and sacred objects. At the same time, they were not Protestants either, since they inwardly maintained Catholic thinking, upholding concepts such as free will, denying double predestination, emphasizing the importance of the community in the matter of salvation, preserving the main monastic values, using a strict system of punishment, and confronting state control over the church.²³ However, the political realities of the early sixteenth century required a link between states or cities and the Churches of the Protestant Reformation. The social views of radical congregations and thinkers were so menacing and destabilizing that they were gradually squeezed out of cities into the countryside and deprived of any political or social power.

Counter Reformation Response to Protestants

The bishops’ councils represented one of the main mechanisms of Counter Reformation. In particular, the Ecumenical Council of Trent was a decisive reaction to Protestantism, which responded to new doctrines of church authority, justification, and sacraments. Regarding authority in matters of doctrine, Trent Council ruled that truth is contained in “written books of the Bible and unwritten traditions ‑ that is, those that were received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ himself or were received from the apostles themselves (being dictated by the Holy Spirit), and came to Christians, being passed from hand to hand.²⁴ The principle of Sola Scriptura has been repealed; also, the Council anathematized (excommunicated) all who taught the justification of sola fide (only through faith) by imputing Christ’s righteousness alone.²⁵ The Council reaffirmed the Catholic doctrine of the sacraments, including the doctrine of transubstantiation.²⁶ Moreover, it reaffirmed the belief that the Mass is a true atoning sacrifice, which represents the repeated bloodless sacrifice of Christ on the altar of the cross for the faithful participating in the Eucharist.

By decision of the Council, an Index of Prohibited Books was compiled, which included the works of many European humanists. The military order of the Catholic reaction ‑ the Order of the Jesuits ‑ was created. Unlike other monastic orders, members of the Jesuit order lived in the world and led a secular lifestyle, acting as politicians, diplomats, educators, doctors. They occupied departments in all European universities, created schools and colleges where boys were brought up in the Jesuit spirit.²⁷ During the early bourgeois revolutions, the Jesuits sided with the feudal monarchy and did everything possible to preserve its foundations.

The Catholic Counter-Reformation managed to stop the expansion of Protestantism in most of Europe. For some time, it consolidated shaken papal throne and strengthen the forces of the papacy and Catholicism. Nevertheless, it was not able to eliminate the split of Catholicism and prevent the formation Protestantism. The Counter-Reformation faced complete failure in the Scandinavian countries, England and Scotland; in particular, in the Scandinavian countries, the Roman Catholic Church completely lost its position.

Bibliography

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2014.

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2014.

Hillerbrand, Hans J. The Protestant Reformation. New York: Perennial, 2009.

McGrath, Alister. Reformation Thought. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

Rublack, Ulinka. The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Spitz, William Lewis. The Protestant Reformation: 1517-1559. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

Witte, John. The Protestant Reformation of the Church and the World. Westminster John Knox Press, 2018.

Footnotes

John Witte, The Protestant Reformation of the Church and the World (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 4.
Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2014), 437-442.
Lewis W. Spitz, The Protestant Reformation: 1517-1559 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 25-28.
Spitz, The Protestant Reformation, 29.
Ulinka Rublack, The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 105-111.
Ulinka Rublack, The Oxford Handbook, 114-115.
Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2014), 44-46.
Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2, 45.
Alister McGrath, Reformation Thought (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 78.
William Spitz, The Protestant Reformation, 62.
John Witte, The Protestant Reformation, 89-93.
John Witte, 94.
John Witte, 95.
McGrath, Reformation Thought, 81
McGrath, Reformation Thought, 128.
John Witte, The Protestant Reformation, 98-99.
William Spitz, The Protestant Reformation, 106.
McGrath, Reformation Thought, 87-89.
McGrath, 90-91.
McGrath, 92.
Ulinka Rublack, The Oxford Handbook, 190-197.
Rublack, 196-199.
Rublack, 199-200.
Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: Volume 2, 147-148.
Gonzalez, 149.
Gonzalez, 149.
Rublack, The Oxford Handbook, 253.

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