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Name: ______________________________
Section 1
1.
The Protestant Reformation – 1517 – 1603 A.D. (or C.E.) The Winds of Change: It is not easy to change our habits, whether it is the way one eats; the way one works; or the way one looks. In the Church many thought there was no need to change. Some saw errors and made an effort to change. Mistakes were being repeated. Without serious reform within the Church, something had to happen. “What happened” is called the Protestant Reformation.
2.
The Protestant Reformation – October 31, 1517 A date to remember! It was the day Martin Luther (1483-1546), a
German priest and Augustinian friar, posted his famous Ninety-five Theses on the church door in the German city of
Wittenberg where he lived. These were statements protesting abuses, especially the abuse of indulgences.
3.
What are Indulgences ? – By their original design, indulgences were good and acceptable. The official Church definition is: The remittance of temporal punishment due to sin for which sorrow has already been expressed and forgiveness received. (A Concise Dictionary of Theology) When a person goes to Confession TODAY (Sacrament of
Reconciliation) they receive a penance for the sins they confess and are forgiven by God through the prayers of a priest. The penance consists of prayers and actions. They could be works of mercy to lessen one’s punishment for sin. Indulgences were an acceptable way to cancel punishment associated with sin (i.e. Praying certain prayers or performing certain acts of kindness or mercy to gain an ‘indulgence’ for the penitent). Indulgences cost nothing . They were a voluntary act on the part of the penitent to cancel their punishment due to sins forgiven.
4.
What happened to Indulgences? – By Luther’s day, Indulgences were not freely performed – they were being sold
(in other words the penitent did not need to perform an act of penance for an indulgence, they merely paid for it). The money did not always go to the poor. Some of the money went to charitable projects; however, sinful people do sinful things. Money and abuse of power led to abuses. One such abuse was promising people they could free their deceased relatives from purgatory simply by purchasing an indulgence for them. The money generated by this indulgence was allegedly approved by Pope Leo X to raise money for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
This claim angered Martin Luther who was having a severe personal and spiritual struggle about his own salvation.
5.
Martin Luther’s Struggle – He prayed often and did many good works; yet he felt God was angry with him and thus he would not attain his salvation in heaven. (This is a crisis of a person’s faith in God). One day he read St. Paul’s
Letter to the Romans 1:17 “the just man shall live by faith.” In other words it is not through our merits that we are saved, but through the boundless mercy and generosity of God. Thus, salvation is a free gift from God, not a reward we earn by our own efforts. It gave Martin Luther the peace of soul he was seeking. Although Luther was an educated priest, he did not recall this passage in scripture (?how come?) from what he learned in his studies to be a priest. The truth is that this passage had been and continues to be the teaching of the Catholic Church. At this time in history,
Martin Luther remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
6.
Martin Luther sees the need for reform in the Church
– Martin Luther was upset. He posted, as a Catholic seeking reform within the Church, Ninety-five Theses. They are generally a criticism of paid indulgences and an attack on the
Pope. Luther said his peace, yet he became extreme in his statements, which put him (Luther) above the Pope and everyone else (Like a nephew chastising an uncle). The Theses were an appeal to the local bishop to correct abuses of indulgences. The bishop did not respond (the bishop is the shepherd of the flock?); so Luther went to Pope Leo X.
The Pope sent Cardinal Cajetan to Germany to see Luther, October 1518. The meeting ended in a deadlock. Cajetan upheld the primacy of the sacraments and Luther the primacy of faith.
Why couldn’t they see that one leads to the other
. Shouldn’t they know that anger leads to reconciliation? For unknown reasons, these men did not seek peace.
7.
Anger consumes Martin Luther – Luther was radical in his opinions. He questioned: The value of indulgences;
Good works; The authority of the papacy; The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; The Ordained priesthood; The monastic life; Most of the Sacraments He appealed to a Church Council in November 1518.
8.
Later he said he did not need bishops, popes or councils, and appealed to Scripture (Romans 1:17) as his judge.
Question : Can the sacred word of God judge you? Does not your response by your actions in life to the sacred word of God, as well as living your faith define you as a person whom God will judge?
9.
Martin Luther’s Excommunication from the Church
– In 1520 (2 years later) Luther refused to give up his opinion or views about the Church. His last thesis (95) reads: “And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.” (Was he still disturbed? Is he in
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need of counsel, prayer and the mercy of God?) In his zeal, Martin Luther fell from grace with the Church. Pope Leo
X excommunicated Luther. Emperor Charles V sought to declare him an outlaw.
10.
In summation – Martin Luther went into hiding. He began to correct what was wrong in the Church, yet he ended up denying some of the most important teachings of the Catholic Church, some of which are the most Sacred teachings which he had earlier in his life held close to his heart.
Section 2
11.
The Results of Martin Luther’s Actions – From Luther to Lutheranism - Luther left Worms and returned to
Wittenberg. The local ruler, Frederick the Wise protected him. Luther spread his ideas through the printing press.He translated the Bible into German and wrote books, pamphlets, hymns and Christmas Carols.His sermons attracted many who were upset by the abuses in the Catholic Church.As people in Germany flocked to Luther’s new Church they obtained a new identity – Lutherans .
12.
Changing Times become restless – Discontent resulted in fights and brawls between Catholics and Lutherans. In towns where Lutheranism prevailed, the new religion occupied the existing Catholic Churches as their own, now
Lutheran Churches. Lutheran Parishes were led by ministers (not priests) who were often married with a family. The
Latin Mass was replaced with a communion service. Religious Orders were not permitted.Only 2 sacraments of the
Church were recognized: Baptism and the Eucharist ( not the same as the Eucharist in the Catholic Faith.
). The authority of the Pope was rejected.
13.
Violence Begins – There are no winners – Emperor Charles V was Luther’s sworn enemy. He sought to wipe out
Lutheranism. Luther died in 1546. Charles was unsuccessful for two reasons: (a) he was constantly at war with the
French and the Turks; and (b) Although in 1547 he defeated the Lutheran princes at the battle of Mühlberg, it was empty since so many Germans had become Lutheran. Neither Catholics or Lutherans could claim victory in Germany, so in 1552, they compromised. Three years later the peace settlement was confirmed by the Diet of Augsburg.
14.
The ‘Diet of Augsburg’ – Each of the German princes (almost 200) and the free cities could either remain Catholic or become Lutheran. The ordinary citizens had no choice. They followed the choice of their ruler or moved elsewhere.
Northern & eastern Germany became Lutheran; West Germany remained Catholic. This division has endured to the present day.
15.
Were all Reformers Lutheran? – Not everyone agreed with Luther. He abandoned the Catholic Church
(discontinuing the apostolic lineage). There were also Protestants more radical than Luther. Huldrych Zwingli (1484–
1531) a priest from Zurich, Switzerland, met with Luther, 1529 in Marburg. They argued.
16.
Luther had abandoned the Holy Mass , yet believed in the Eucharist – the real presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated bread and wine. Zwingli insisted the Eucharist was only bread, a symbol to remind us of the Last Supper.
Luther found Zwingli TOO radical.
17.
Reformer/Radical/More Radical – More radical reformers criticized Zwingli as a hypocrite. They said he was not abiding by Sacred Scripture: collecting tithes (church taxes) and baptizing infants. These extremists (nasty people) were called Anabaptists (‘nonbaptizers’). They opposed infant Baptism. Anabaptists were often uneducated farmers and craftsmen who wanted to be left alone in their isolated communities. They were not numerous. Some were violent and thus were persecuted everywhere by Catholics and Protestants. Some of their group, the Amish and Mennonites, eventually emigrated to America where the Quakers gave them refuge in colonial PA.
18.
“Upon this rock, I will build my Church” (MT 16: 18) Made more clear in MT 21:15-17 –
Jesus established the
Church on the ‘rock’, St. Peter. The Apostolic Succession from Peter to the present Pope Benedict XVI is ‘unbroken’
ONLY in the Catholic Church, despite some scandal throughout the decades. One of the greatest weaknesses of
Protestantism is the lack of someone (like the Pope) who speaks with authority on controversial issues and preserves the unity of the Church. Note: Luther rejected the Pope’s authority; Zwingli rejected Luther’s authority; and on and on. Thus some who reject all authority seek God alone. There are many over 42,349 Protestant churches with distinct denominations in 238 countries. How sad is the loss of the Apostolic Succession for those who ‘broke’ away! Yet, we are ONE Church in the eyes of God.
19.
A synopsis of Sections 1 & 2. Can you find the DATES for these? Pope Leo X offers an indulgence to raise money for St. Peter’s Basilica_______ Martin Luther posts his Ninety-five Theses on the church door in
Wittenburg________. Luther appeals to Pope Leo X _________. Martin Luther is excommunicated ________.
Emperor Charles V declares Luther an outlaw ___________. Lutheranism becomes a separate Christian sect _______.
Charles V defeats Lutheran princes at Mühlberg __________. The Diet of Augsburg ends fighting between Lutherans and Catholics in Germany __________. Zwingli and the Anabaptists begin in Switzerland __________. The Amish and Mennonites immigrate to America ____________.
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