The Main Movements of the Age of Reformation
The Main Movements of the Age of Reformation
The term “Reformation” is used in a number of senses, and it is helpful to distinguish them. Many works of theology and church history use the term to group together four elements: Lutheranism, the Reformed church (often referred to as “Calvinism”), the “radical Reformation” (often still referred to as “Anabaptism”), and the “Counter-Reformation” or “Catholic Reformation.” In its broadest sense, the term “Reformation” is used to refer to all four movements, although the term is sometimes used to refer to specifically Protestant movements around this time. Some recent studies use the plural form “Reformations” to emphasize that this was a multifaceted movement.
For historians, the importance of this period lies in the social and political ramifications of the Reformations; the birth of confessional Europe; the intensification of religious, social, and sexual discipline on the part of secular and ecclesiastical authorities; the rise of capitalism in its modern forms; and the origins of the wars of religion.
Yet the period is of pivotal importance to the development of modern Christian theology, as will become clear in this chapter. The rise of new forms of Christianity raised fundamental questions about the nature of the church, what was required in order to be “saved” (and the language to be used to discuss this), the location of theological authority, the role of tradition in Christian life and thought, and above all the question of how the Bible was to be interpreted. Theological debate and disagreement flourished during this restless and unstable period in western Europe, which played a major role in shaping theological debate of later periods.
This chapter also considers some of the developments which took place during the later part of this period, as western European forms of Christianity (primarily Protestantism) migrated from their European context to the “New World.” Christian theology gradually began to expand beyond its western European base and become a global phenomenon – a development which received final consolidation in the modern period, to which we shall turn in the next chapter.
In response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic church moved to put its own house in order. It was prevented from calling a reforming council in the 1530s and early 1540s due to political instability in Europe resulting from tensions between France and Germany. Eventually, the pope of the day (Paul III, 1468–1549) was able to convene the Council of Trent (1545). This set itself the task of clarifying Catholic thought and practice and defending them against Catholicism's evangelical opponents. It remains a landmark in Catholic thought.
Map 3.1 Centers of theological and ecclesiastical activity at the time of the European Reformation.
In what follows, we shall consider six main movements which emerged within this “Age of Reformation” and note something of their theological significance.
The German Reformation: Lutheranism
The Lutheran Reformation is particularly associated with the German territories and the pervasive personal influence of one charismatic individual: Martin Luther (1483–1546). Luther was particularly concerned with the doctrine of justification, which formed the central point of his religious thought. The Lutheran Reformation was initially an academic movement, concerned primarily with reforming the teaching of theology at the University of Wittenberg. Wittenberg was an unimportant university, and the reforms introduced by Luther and his colleagues within the theology faculty attracted little attention. It was Luther's personal activities – such as his posting of the famous “Ninety-five Theses,” protesting against selling indulgences to raise money for the rebuilding of St. Peter's basilica in Rome (October 31, 1517) – which attracted considerable interest and brought the ideas in circulation at Wittenberg to the attention of a wider audience.
The Lutheran Reformation really began in 1522, when Luther returned to Wittenberg from his enforced isolation in the Wartburg. At this point, Luther's program of academic reform changed into a program of reform of church and society. No longer was Luther's forum of activity the university world of ideas; he now found himself regarded as the leader of a religious, social, and political reforming movement which seemed to some contemporary observers to open the way to a new social and religious order in Europe. In fact, Luther's program of reform was much more conservative than that associated with his Reformed colleagues, such as Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531). Furthermore, it met with considerably less success than some anticipated.
Figure 3.1 Martin Luther (1483–1546).
Source: Photo: akg-images.
Lutheranism remained restricted to German territories, and – apart from expansion into Scandinavia – never gained the foreign power bases that seemed to be, like so many ripe apples, ready to fall into its lap. Luther's understanding of the role of the “godly prince” (which effectively ensured that the monarch had control of the church) does not seem to have had the attraction that might have been expected, particularly in the light of the generally republican sentiments of Reformed thinkers such as John Calvin (1509–64).
The Swiss Reformation: The Reformed Church
The origins of the Swiss Reformation, which brought the Reformed churches (such as the Presbyterians) into being, lie in developments within the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confederatio Helvetica, hence the modern abbreviation “CH” for Switzerland) in the early sixteenth century. Whereas the German Reformation had its origins primarily in an academic context, the Reformed church owed its origins to a series of attempts to reform the morals and worship of the church (but not necessarily its doctrine) according to a more biblical pattern. It must be emphasized that, although John Calvin gave this style of Reformation its definitive form, its origins are to be traced back to earlier reformers, such as Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger (1504–75), based in the leading Swiss city of Zurich.
Although most of the early Reformed theologians, such as Zwingli, had an academic background, their reforming programs were not academic in nature. They were directed toward the church as they found it in Swiss cities such as Zurich, Bern, and Basel. Whereas Luther was convinced that the doctrine of justification was of central significance to his program of social and religious reform, the early Reformed thinkers had relatively little interest in doctrine, let alone one specific doctrine. Their reforming program was institutional, social, and ethical, in many ways similar to the demands for reform emanating from the humanist movement.
The consolidation of the Reformed church is generally thought to have begun with the stabilization of the Zurich Reformation after Zwingli's death in battle (1531) under his successor, Heinrich Bullinger, and to have ended in the 1550s with the emergence of Geneva as its power base and John Calvin as its leading spokesman. The gradual shift in power within the Reformed church (initially from Zurich to Bern, and subsequently from Bern to Geneva) took place over the period 1520–60, eventually establishing the city of Geneva, its political system (republicanism), and its religious thinkers (initially Calvin and after his death Theodore Beza, 1519–1605) as predominant within the Reformed church. This development was consolidated through the establishment of the Genevan Academy (founded in 1559), at which Reformed pastors were trained. Although Geneva became part of Switzerland in 1814, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, it was an independent city at the time of the Reformation. This means that the term “Swiss Reformation” is being used slightly loosely and anachronistically at this point.
The term “Calvinism” is often used to refer to the religious ideas of the Reformed church. Although still widespread in the literature relating to the Reformation, this practice is now generally discouraged. It is becoming increasingly clear that later sixteenth-century Reformed theology drew on sources other than the ideas of Calvin himself. To refer to later sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Reformed thought as “Calvinist” implies that it is essentially the thought of Calvin – and it is now generally agreed that Calvin's ideas were modified subtly by his successors. The term “Reformed” is now preferred, whether to refer to those churches (mainly in Switzerland, the Low Countries, and Germany) or religious thinkers (such as Theodore Beza, William Perkins, and John Owen) that based themselves upon Calvin's celebrated religious textbook, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, or to church documents (such as the influential Heidelberg Catechism of 1563) based upon it.
The Radical Reformation: Anabaptism
The term “Anabaptist” literally means “rebaptizer,” and refers to what was perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Anabaptist practice: the insistence that only those who had made a personal, public profession of faith should be baptized. Anabaptism seems to have first arisen around Zurich, in the aftermath of Zwingli's reforms within the city in the early 1520s. It centered on a group of individuals (among whom we may note Conrad Grebel, c.1498–1526) who argued that Zwingli was not being faithful to his own reforming principles. He preached one thing and practiced another. Although Zwingli professed faithfulness to the theological principle “by Scripture alone” (Latin: sola scriptura), Grebel argued that he retained a number of practices – including infant baptism, the close link between church and magistracy, and the participation of Christians in warfare – which were neither permitted nor demanded by Scripture. In the hands of such thinkers as Grebel, the sola scriptura principle would be radicalized; reformed Christians would believe and practice only those things explicitly taught in Scripture. Zwingli was alarmed by this, seeing it as a destabilizing development which threatened to cut off the Reformed church at Zurich from its historical roots and its continuity with the Christian tradition of the past.
A number of common elements can be discerned within the various strands of the Anabaptist movement: a general distrust of external authority; the rejection of infant baptism in favor of the baptism of adult believers; the common ownership of property; and an emphasis upon pacifism and nonresistance. To take up the third of these points: in 1527, the governments of Zurich, Bern, and St. Gallen accused the Anabaptists of believing “that no true Christian can either give or receive interest or income on a sum of capital; that all temporal goods are free and common, and that all can have full property rights to them.”
It is for this reason that Anabaptism is often referred to as the “left wing of the Reformation” (Roland H. Bainton) or the “radical Reformation” (George Hunston Williams). For Williams, the “radical Reformation” was to be contrasted with the “magisterial Reformation,” which he broadly identified with the Lutheran and Reformed movements. These terms are now widely accepted within Reformation scholarship.
The English Reformation: Anglicanism
The English Reformation took a somewhat different direction from its continental counterpart. Although there was at least some degree of popular pressure for a reform within the church, the leading force for reform was Henry VIII (1491–1547), who ascended the English throne in 1509. In 1527, Henry took the first steps to dissolve his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This decision resulted from Henry's desire to ensure the succession to the English throne. The only child of this marriage, Mary Tudor, was female; Henry wanted a male heir. The pope refused to dissolve or annul the marriage, which would have opened the way to a remarriage.
As a result, Henry gradually moved to replace papal authority in England with his own authority. The creation of an English national church was part of this vision. Henry seems not to have been particularly interested in matters of doctrine or theology, preferring to concentrate upon the practicalities of religious and political power. His decision to appoint Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) as archbishop of Canterbury led to at least some Protestant influence being brought to bear on the English church.
When Henry died in 1547, he was succeeded by his son, Edward VI (1537–53). Edward was only nine years old when he came to the throne; as a result, real power was exercised by his advisors, who were generally of a strongly Protestant persuasion. Cranmer, who remained in office as archbishop during Edward's reign, was able to bring in noticeably Protestant forms of public worship, and encouraged leading Protestant thinkers (such as Martin Bucer, 1491–1551, and Peter Martyr Vermigli, 1499–1562) to settle in England and give theological direction to the Reformation. However, Edward died unexpectedly early in 1553, leaving the nation in a state of religious flux.
Edward was succeeded by Mary Tudor (1516–58), who was strongly Catholic in her sympathies. She set in motion a series of measures which suppressed Protestantism and restored Catholicism. Some of the measures were deeply unpopular, most notably the public burning of Thomas Cranmer at Oxford in 1556. Cranmer was replaced as archbishop of Canterbury by Reginald Pole (1500–58), a moderate Catholic. At the time of Mary's early death in 1558, Catholicism had not yet been entirely re-established.
When Elizabeth (1533–1603) succeeded her half-sister to the throne, it was not entirely clear what direction her religious policies might take. In the event, Elizabeth pursued a complex policy, which seems to have been aimed at appeasing both Protestants and Catholics while allowing the queen to have supreme authority in matters of religion. What is usually referred to as “the Elizabethan Settlement” (1558–9) established the national English church as a Reformed episcopal church, having broadly Protestant articles of faith with a more Catholic liturgy.
The Catholic Reformation
This term is now generally used to refer to the revival within Catholicism in the period following the opening of the Council of Trent (1545). In older scholarly works, the movement is often designated the “Counter-Reformation”: as the term suggests, the Catholic church developed means of combating the Protestant Reformation, in order to limit its influence. It is, however, becoming increasingly clear that the Catholic church countered the Reformation partly by reforming itself from within, in order to remove the grounds of Protestant criticism. In this sense, the movement was a reformation of the Catholic church as much as it was a reaction against the Protestant Reformation.
The same concerns underlying the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe were channeled into the renewal of the Catholic church, particularly in Spain and Italy. The Council of Trent, the foremost component of the Catholic Reformation, clarified Catholic teaching on a number of confusing matters and introduced much-needed reforms in relation to the conduct of the clergy, ecclesiastical discipline, religious education, and missionary activity.
The movement for reform within the church was greatly stimulated by the reformation of many of the older religious orders and the establishment of new orders (such as the Jesuits). The more specifically theological aspects of the Catholic Reformation will be considered later in this book in relation to its teachings on Scripture and tradition, justification by faith, and the sacraments. As a result of the Catholic Reformation, many of the abuses which originally lay behind the demands for reform – whether these came from humanists or Protestants – were removed.
This movement for reform within the Catholic church was accompanied by an explicit theological engagement with the views of Protestant writers, such as Luther and Calvin. This new theological confidence is evident in the works of writers such as Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621). It is also reflected in the growing body of catechetical literature of this age, including the landmark “The Totality of Christian Doctrine (1555) by Peter Canisius (1521–97).
Figure 3.2The Council of Trent in session.
Source: Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome, Italy/Bridgeman Images.
The Second Reformation: Confessionalization
The period now generally known as the “Second Reformation” attempted to consolidate the insights and achievements of the initial phase of Protestantism. This process is often referred to as “confessionalization,” referring to the emergence of forms of Christianity which defined themselves with reference to “confessions of faith,” such as the Augsburg Confession (1530). As Protestantism grew in strength, tensions between different Protestant groups – above all, Lutheran and Reformed churches – became of increasing significance, eventually rivaling the older tension between Protestantism and Catholicism.
In the 1560s, Calvinism began to make major inroads into previously Lutheran territory in Germany. Three major Christian groups were now firmly established in the same geographical area: Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Catholicism. All three were under considerable pressure to identify themselves and to distinguish themselves from their rivals. Lutherans had to explain how they differed from Calvinists on the one hand and Catholics on the other. Theology proved the most reliable way of identifying and explaining these differences: “We believe this, but they believe that.” The period 1559–1622, characterized by its new emphasis upon doctrine, is generally referred to as the “period of orthodoxy.” A new form of scholasticism began to develop within both Protestant and Catholic theological circles, as both sought to demonstrate the strengths of their positions and the weaknesses of those of their opponents.