Theological, Interpersonal and Political Roots

Theological, Interpersonal and Political Roots of the Protestant Reformation and the Resulting Catholic Reformation

'a man cannot be justified by faith alone.' This notion of Martin Luther caused one of the most seismic shifts in the history of Western Europe. After Luther broke from the Catholic Church, human beings were no longer simply Christian -- they were either Protestant or Catholic. And the contrasting notions of Protestantism and Catholicism were far different than those controversies which had distinguished the schism of Eastern and Western Orthodoxy. Protestantism represented an entire shift in worldview, from a religion that was defined by a Church hierarchy to a portable religion that was 'of the book,' or defined by the individual's relationship and his or her personal sense of faith in God.

The Renaissance's emphasis on individuality can be at least partially to 'blame' for the growing dissatisfaction with the Church. Catholic rituals, with their emphasis on the external trappings of worship and the growing political influence of the Pope, bishops, and the clergy had caused many members of the newly empowered middle classes to chafe at the Church's domination of almost every facet of society. But because of its enforcement of orthodoxy of people's views, dissent seemed impossible, until an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther published his 95 Theses, critiquing the Church's theology and its practices.

Luther was particularly disgusted by indulgences, whereby individuals could buy (with money or with good deeds) a reprieve from the suffering of purgatory for themselves or their loved ones. Luther's primary objection to the selling of indulgences was not the crass materialism of the practice, but the fact that it forgave individual sinners for a deed through payment, and did nothing to change the soul of the believer. "Luther's Theses, which outlined his theological argument against the use of indulgences, were based on the notion that Christianity is fundamentally a phenomenon of the inner world of human beings and had little or nothing to do with the outer world, such as temporal punishments" (Hooker 1996).

For Luther, some of the most significant passages in the Bible were those written by the Apostle Paul, who was attempting to define Christianity as a religion in which believers did not need to engage in the practices of the Jewish nation to be Christians. Luther wrote that piety and an open heart was the source of justification. God gave grace to the believer, not as the result of payment with specific actions or importuning a saint, but because of God's inexplicable good will. "Luther understood righteousness as a gift of God's grace. He had discovered (or recovered) the doctrine of justification by grace alone," just as the persecutor Saul was struck by God and became redeemed in Jesus (Whitford 2005). Luther, while still a monk, was haunted by his sense of unworthiness. How could a believer 'prove' that he was worthy of God, in the face of God's spiritual perfection? His only solution was that God's "acceptance is based on who one is rather than what one does. Justification is bestowed rather than achieved. Justification is not based on human righteousness, but on God's righteousness -- revealed and confirmed in Christ" (Whitford 2005). Salvation is a mysterious gift; it cannot be bought or won.

Luther was excommunicated because of his refusal to recant his 95 Theses, a terrible punishment given the dominance of Catholicism throughout Europe. Luther founded a new religion, although he had never intended to do so. Originally, he wished to reform, not fundamentally question the Church. After being cast out, Luther grew more radical. Because of his denial that adherence to rule-based laws justified the soul he elected to marry and continued his preaching. He found a great deal of receptivity to his new religion, an acceptance that might seem surprising on its surface, given the entrenched nature of Catholicism within medieval society. Part of Luther's ability to transmit his message with ease is no doubt due to his personal charisma, and his fiery, uncompromising nature. However, his creation of a religion based upon 'the book' rather than upon institutional authority made it fairly easy to disseminate: "Salvation comes to humanity through the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. The Good News is that righteousness is not a demand upon the sinner but a gift to the sinner. The sinner simply accepts the gift through faith" (Whitford 2005). Luther's emphasis on the individual's reception of that Good News fueled his skillful promotion of Bibles written in the language of the people in an accessible translation and his disdain for the abstruse philosophy of theologians such as the Scholastic Thomas Aquinas. Although a highly literate and educated man, Luther did not believe that rationalization and reason could lead one to Christ, only God. Additional philosophizing added nothing to the truth that could only be found in the actual words of the Bible.

As is evidenced in Chaucer, in medieval society there had long been simmering a strong dislike of clergymen who appeared to use their office for financial gain, rather than as an exercise of piety: "The poor resented the wealth of the papacy and the very rich were jealous of that wealth. At the same time, the popes bought and sold high offices, and also sold indulgences. All of this led to the increasing wealth of the Church -- and this created new paths for abuses of every sort. Finally, at the local level of the town and village, the abuses continued. Some Church officials held several offices at once and lived off their income. The clergy had become lax, corrupt and immoral" (Kries 2009).

But it was the middle class who was perhaps most receptive to Luther's teachings. This class of merchants and tradesmen was feeling newly empowered due to the increasingly vital role it played in society. There was no need for them to give up their worldly goods to become a monk, or to deny the value of 'the world' at all. Spirituality was a private matter between themselves and God. Thus, the notion of the 'Protestant work ethic' was born. Lutheranism was particularly popular in Germany and Scandinavia. The ethos of thrift and hard work when focused upon 'worldly things' and private humility when praying became part of the culture of Northern Protestant Europe (Kries 2009).