Protestant and
Catholic
Reformation
The Early Luther
 Martin Luther was born in Germany on
November 10, 1483.
 He was studying law when he was
caught in a ferocious thunderstorm and
vowed that if he survived he would
become a monk.
 He struggled with the sacrament of
penance or confession being able to
forgive all of someone’s sins.
 To overcome his difficulties with confession
and sacraments his superiors recommended
that he study theology.
 His study led him to believe that humans
were saved not through their good works but
through faith in the promises of God, made
possible by the sacrifice of Jesus on the
cross.
 The doctrine of salvation or justification by
grace through faith alone became the primary
doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.
 The Bible became for Luther, as for all other
Protestants, the chief guide to religious truth.
 Justification by faith and the Bible as the sole
authority in religious affairs were the twin
pillars of the Protestant Reformation.
 In 1517 Pope Leo X had issued a special
jubilee indulgence to finance the ongoing
construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in
Rome.
 “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the
soul from purgatory springs.”
 Luther was greatly distressed by the sale of
indulgences, certain that people were simply
guaranteeing their eternal damnation by
relying on these pieces of paper to assure
themselves of salvation.
 He issued his Ninety-Five Theses which were
a stunning indictment of the abuses in the
sale of indulgences.
 Pope Leo X did not take the issue seriously
and thought Luther was a drunk who needed
to sober up.
 At the Leipzig Debate (July 1519) Johann Eck
forced Luther to move beyond indulgences
and deny the authority of popes and councils.
Edict of Worms
 Luther refused to recant his heretical
doctrines.
 Charles V was outraged and by the Edict of
Worms, was made an outlaw within the
empire.
 His works were to be burned, and Luther
himself was to be captured and delivered to
the emperor.
An Urban Phenomenon
 None of the evangelicals (Old English
translation of the Greek word evangelion)
came from the upper echelons of the church;
many were from urban middle-class
backgrounds, and most were university-trained
and well educated.
 They represented those social groups most
ready to challenge clerical authority-merchants,
artisans, and literate urban laypeople.
An Urban Phenomenon
 Urban people proved particularly receptive to
Luther’s teachings. Many were literate and
were eager to read the Scriptures, and
merchants and artisans resented the clergy’s
tax-exempt status and the competition from
monasteries and nunneries that produced their
own goods.
 Many reform priests led their urban
parishioners away from Roman liturgy.
Dissent
 Luther experienced dissent within his own
ranks in Wittenberg from people such as
Andreas Carlstadt, who wished to initiate a
more radical reform by abolishing all relics,
images and the Mass.
 When it became apparent that Luther’s
movement threatened the unity of
Christendom, the older generation of
Christian humanists, including Erasmus,
broke with the reformer. A younger
generation of Christian humanists, including
Philip Melanchthon became staunch
supporters.
Peasants’ War
 In the mid 1520’s peasant dissatisfaction stemmed
from several sources. No economic improvement,
influential local lords continued to abuse their
peasants by asking for more taxes, and the peasants
looked to Luther.
 Revolt erupted in SW Germany in June 1524 and
spread northward and eastward.
 Luther responded in Against the Robbing and
Murdering Hordes of Peasants, he called on the
German princes to “smite, slay, and stab” the stupid
and stubborn peasantry.
 He knew reformation depended on the full support of
the German princes and magistrates and therefore
supported the rulers.
Peasants’ War
 By May 1525, the German princes had ruthlessly
suppressed the peasant hordes and by this time
Luther was even more dependent on state authorities
for the growth and maintenance of his reformed
church.
Church and State
 Since Luther downplayed the role of good works in
salvation, the sacraments also had to be redefined.
 Luther kept only two of the Catholic church’s seven
sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
 Baptism signified rebirth through grace. Regarding
the Lord’s Supper, Luther denied the Catholic
doctrine of transubstantiation.
 Luther argued that the word of God as revealed in the
Bible was sufficient authority in religious affairs.
 By 1530, in the German states that had converted to
Lutheranism, both princes and city councils
appointed officials who visited churches in their
territories and regulated matters of worship. They
quickly became territorial or state churches in which
the state supervised and disciplined church
members.
 Luther instituted new religious services
to replace Mass.
 Now a service consisted of a German
liturgy that focused on Bible reading,
preaching the word of God, and song.
 Luther married a former nun, Katherina
von Bora, in 1525. His marriage and
family provided a model of family life for
the new Protestant minister.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
 Of the second generation of Protestant
reformers French John Calvin stands out.
 In 1536 He published Institutes of the
Christian Religion in which he synthesized
Protestant thought.
 He adhered to the doctrine of justification by
faith alone to explain salvation.
 He believed in the absolute sovereignty of
God.
 Calvin taught predestination. He called it
“eternal decree” and said that God had
predestined some people to be saved (the
elect) and others to be damned (the
reprobate.)
 Calvin identified three tests that might
indicate possible salvation: an open
profession of faith, a “decent and godly life,”
and participation in the sacraments of
baptism and communion. Material wealth
and worldly success were not indications.
 Calvinism became the militant international
form of Protestantism.
 Calvin kept two sacraments, baptism and the
Lord’s Supper. Baptism was a sign of the
remission of sins. He believed that Jesus
was present in the Lord’s Supper in a spiritual
sense.
 Calvin achieved success in Geneva that
lasted to his death in 1564. It allowed the city
to become a vibrant center of Protestantism.
 By the mid-sixteenth century, Calvinism
replaced Lutheranism as the international
form of Protestantism.
The Catholic Reformation
 By the mid-sixteenth century a reformed
papacy gave the Catholic church new
strength.
 There is a revival of mysticism and
monasticism which were medieval
features. Mystical people claimed they
got visions because their soul is
connected to God.
 Old orders (the Benedictines and
Dominicans) were reformed.
 The Capuchins emerged when a group
of Franciscans decided to return to the
simplicity and poverty of Saint Francis
of Assisi. They cared for the sick and
preached directly to the people.
 The Theatines reformed the secular
clergy and encouraged clerics to fulfill
their duties among the laity. They
opened hospitals and orphanages.
The Society of Jesus
 The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits,
became the chief instrument of the
Catholic Reformation.