Reformation – or Reformations?
Reformation – or Reformations?
The term “Reformation” is traditionally used by historians and theologians to refer to the western European movement, centering upon individuals such as Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin, who were concerned with the theological, moral, and institutional reform of the Christian church in that region. The Reformation movement was complex and heterogeneous, and its agenda went far beyond the reform of church teachings and practices. It addressed fundamental social, political, and economic issues, too complex to be discussed in any detail in this volume. The agenda of the Reformation varied from one country to another, with the theological issues that played major roles in one country (for example, Germany) often having relatively little impact elsewhere (for example, in England).
More recent scholarship, noting the emergence of distinct reforming movements throughout Europe at this time, has rightly suggested that we should speak of “reformations” in the plural, to avoid implying that this was a single coordinated movement. The use of the plural form also ensures that the significance of the mainline Protestant Reformation is safeguarded, while at the same time recognizing that this same era gave birth to the Catholic Reformation, the radical Reformation, and the later movement now generally known as the “Second Reformation.”
Although many popular accounts of the Reformation focus on Martin Luther and the University of Wittenberg in north-eastern Germany during the late 1510s and early 1520s, it is important to note that the movement also gained strength, independently at first, in the Swiss city of Zurich around the same time. Through a number of complex developments, the Zurich Reformation gradually underwent a series of political and theological modifications, eventually coming to be associated primarily with the city of Geneva (now part of modern-day Switzerland, although then an independent city-state) and John Calvin.
In response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic church moved to put its own house in order. Prevented from calling a reforming council at an earlier date due to political instability in Europe resulting from tensions between France and Germany, the Pope of the day (Paul III) was eventually able to convene the Council of Trent in 1545. This set itself the task of clarifying Catholic thought and practice and defending them against its evangelical opponents.
The Reformation itself was a western European phenomenon, concentrated especially in the central and northern parts of this region, although Calvinism penetrated as far east as Hungary. However, the emigration of large numbers of individuals to North America, which becomes increasingly significant from 1600 onward, led to post-Reformation Protestant and Catholic theologies being exported to that region. Harvard College is an example of an early center of theological education in New England. The Society of Jesus also undertook extensive missionary operations in the Far East, including India, China, and Japan. Christian theology gradually began to expand beyond its western European base and became a global phenomenon – a development that continued in the modern period. Our attention now turns to a consideration of the terminology linked with the Reformation and post-Reformation periods.