Has Christianity really overcome its long history of disagreement and conflict? (2) The Protestant Revolution: a second great division in the body of the church
Pentecostalism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Baptist, United Churches, Presbyterian or Reformed, Methodist, Seventh-day Adventism, Congregationalism, the Church of the Plymouth Brethren, the Salvation Army, the Moravian Church... These are all branches of one tree, planted by a German monk who decided to risk everything and challenge the official teachings of the Catholic Church, when he hung a sheet of paper with 95 reform articles on the doors of a church. Wittenberg Castle, in Saxony, Germany.
But why reform?
In a previous article dedicated to the history of the Catholic Church, I talked about the growth of this church and its almost complete dominance in the Middle Ages over all of Europe, and about the corruption that began to spread in it, and the practices that aroused the discontent of many, among its followers before others... and I said that these are all reasons, distant or not. Directly to the revolution launched by Martin Luther.
The immediate or direct reason, and of course the most famous, is the “indulgence.”
In the early 11th century, the Catholic Church began issuing what are known today as “indulgences,” documents in which the church pledged to exempt the bearer from the torment of purgatory.
Indulgences became widespread during the Crusades, when the Church promised soldiers participating in the “Holy War” a full absolution in exchange for their repentance and willingness to die in battle. Then, after the end of the Crusades, the clergy continued to grant indulgences to those who performed charitable works, or to those who visited the holy places in Rome. The priest has the right, according to his religious rank, to issue these instruments within specific powers. A bishop has no right to issue them except within the scope of his diocese. As for the Pope, he can issue an instrument of indulgence to whomever he wishes.
Over time, indulgences became a lucrative business for the church. The popes used to resort to it whenever they needed money. Each instrument has its price that is proportional to the priest’s assessment of the gravity of the sin committed, and with the fact that forgiveness will include old sins as well, or only recent sins, or perhaps even those that will be committed in the future!
The most famous person whose name was associated with indulgences was Pope Leo in Florence, which quickly became one of the most important banks in Europe, and earned this family a huge fortune.
Pope Leo “Indulgences” and their sale. This is the pope against whom Martin Luther will revolt, and he is the one who will expel Luther from the church. Let us first get to know Luther himself.
Lawman or cleric?
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, to his parents, Hans and Margaret Luther, in the small town of Eisleben, in the German province of Saxony. The eldest of many siblings, he received a rigorous education and entered the University of Erfurt at the age of seventeen, studying law with the hope of becoming a lawyer, as his father wanted.
However, specifically on July 2, 1505, Luther experienced an event that may seem fleeting, but it would change the course of his life, and thus the history of the entire Christian world, even though this event was nothing but a severe thunderbolt that almost claimed his life. He pledged that if he survived it, he would devote His life belongs to God. When he was saved, he left the university and joined the monastery of St. Augustine in Erfurt, leaving his law books behind and devoting himself to studying the Bible.
The second fateful event in Luther’s life came 10 years later, when Rome sent the Dominican monk Johann Tetzel in 1516 to Germany to sell its peasants indulgences in order to finance the major rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This behavior displeased Martin Luther, who protested the practice and wrote a major pamphlet that would later become known as Luther's Ninety-Five Theses.
Martin Luther a reformer by chance?
Dozens of pictures, paintings, and artwork depict that young Augustinian monk, who was not yet thirty-three years old, holding a long piece of paper in one hand and pinning it to the church door with his other hand, which holds a hammer.
What Luther established his objections with was not just a nail, but rather a wedge that was driven into the body of the Christian world and divided it - once and for all - into two parts: Catholicism, which follows the Pope in Rome, and Protestantism, which follows Luther's teachings.
What is truly surprising, and ironic to some, is that this famous “incident” never happened, and was nothing but a myth created to add drama and excitement to this historical moment. In fact, there were no eyewitnesses to this event, and even Luther himself was vague about what happened, stating nothing more than that he had sent his "thesis" to the local archbishop.
Not only that, when you hear about Luther's 95 objections, you think that they are firm, decisive, non-negotiable demands for reforming the church, but in reality they were closer to a proposal for public discussion among church scholars, or in the debates that began to spread in traditional universities, which were mostly created by Catholic Church. However, although Luther did not intend to launch a comprehensive attack on Catholic Rome, the tone of his objections was not devoid of accusations, as in Thesis 86, for example, which boldly asked:
“Why does the Pope, whose wealth today is greater than that of Crassus, want to build St. Peter’s Basilica with the money of poor believers and not with his own money?” Crassus was a famous Roman politician and military man who died in 53 BC. In his time, he was the richest man in Rome, and perhaps in the world. He owned a third of Rome's real estate, and his wealth exceeded its annual revenues.
So, Martin Luther, the man who sparked a religious revolution that shook the entire Christian world, was nothing more than a theologian loyal to the Catholic Church, but his faith was tested when he saw the corruption of the clergy who were selling indulgences for money, which raised to him the great question about the nature of salvation. There is no written evidence that it is achieved by such deeds or even by good deeds, but rather by faith in Jesus Christ, and by this faith only.
Even when the peasants' revolt broke out against the empire and the church in 1524, which was largely influenced by Luther's ideas, and demanded the abolition of feudal burdens, more political representation, and religious reform, in order to improve the miserable living conditions experienced by the simple people of Germany, and remove the injustice imposed on them, Luther did not support This revolution, he wrote a pamphlet against it entitled “Against the Peasants, Murderers and Thieves,” and supported the right of the German rulers to suppress the uprising. Indeed, the peasant revolt was severely suppressed by the German nobility, and they used their entire arsenal of weapons to confront the revolutionaries, including cannons. An estimated 100,000 peasants were killed.
Also, and in the same context, it can be said strongly that Luther’s reforms would not have turned into a true revolution had they not come at an appropriate historical moment. Indulgences had been sold for more than three centuries, and many had previously criticized them, and Luther was not the first to talk about them. Church reform, but was preceded by several reformers, such as Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), one of the first reformers, who called for a more humble life and a greater focus on Christian service. Next came Jan Hus (1369-1415), a Czech missionary who argued that the Bible was the only source of church authority, and that every person should be able to read the Bible in a language he understood. And John Wycliffe (1324-1384), the Englishman who said that priests must marry, presented a proposal very close to Luther’s, which is that faith alone is the condition for salvation. There is also Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), the Dutch humanist who criticized popular superstitions in the church and urged a return to the original teachings of Christ.
As for why the movements of these people did not turn into a revolution, as happened with Luther, it is because they did not come at the appropriate historical moment in which the appropriate social, political, economic, and religious factors came together.
As for those who say that Luther’s revolution was purely religious, and that it arose solely as a result of the bankruptcy of the Church as a spiritual force, he is simplifying and reducing matters. It is true that the Church was deeply involved in the political life of Europe, and was influenced by its conspiracies and machinations. It is also true that manifestations such as the sale of indulgences and other forms of corruption and the building of wealth at the expense of believers have to some extent questioned the spiritual authority of the Church, but they did not undermine it. Rather, the Church remained It enjoys great loyalty and high affiliation from most of its followers. The most important variable is the increasing attempts of the political authorities to reduce the public role of the Church, and this is what we will discuss in talking about the subsequent events in which Luther presented his famous thesis.
Like wildfire in Europe
Luther's theses spread like wildfire through Germany, first when his friends translated them in 1518 from Latin into German. Also, Luther and his companions were granted great powers of dissemination thanks to an advanced revolutionary invention, the “printing press,” which enabled humanity to transmit vast amounts of information and share them easily among a large number of people. Luther's anti-clerical writings and articles, which were written in German, the language of the people, rather than the more ambiguous and "formal" academic language of Latin, spread, convincing many of his cause quickly and easily, and it did not take more than a year for his theses to reach France, England, and Italy.
During this period, the term "Lutheranism" first appeared, initially coined as a derogatory term for what was considered heresy, but over the course of the 16th century, Lutheranism became the name of the world's first true Protestant faith. The term "Protestant" was first used in a political context in 1529, during a meeting of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, with the German princes in the city of Spaldingen. At the meeting, the princes refused to sign the Emperor's decision affirming the authority of the Pope in the Catholic Church. The Emperor described these princes as “Protestantis,” or in Latin, “Protestanti.”
Luther himself was not a fan of the term "Lutheranism", and preferred to call his philosophy "evangelicalism", from the Greek term meaning good news, and so the three names came to be. But as new branches of Protestantism emerged, it became important to distinguish exactly what faith the followers of each professed.
So, Luther quickly became a thorn in the side of the papacy. After Pope Leo An arrest warrant was issued for him, and all of his writings were banned.
Politics saves Luther
As I mentioned previously, one of the most important reasons for the success of Luther’s revolution is related to the fact that it came at an appropriate historical moment in which the religious combined with the political, economic, and technical as well. Therefore, what prevented the Catholic Church from being able to control Luther, and from trying him and perhaps burning him like other “heretics,” is a matter related to politics as much as it is related to religion. In what is known today as Germany, the administration was entrusted to a group of princes, subject to the authority of the Roman Emperor, but some of these princes were not happy with this submission, the most prominent of whom was Frederick III, Prince of Saxony, who kept Luther safe from his potential captors, by “kidnapping” him and hiding him among The walls of Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.
In the next article, I will expand on the impact of these princes’ relationship with the Emperor on the one hand, and with each other on the other hand. The conflict between the pro-Catholic and pro-Lutheran German princes turned into an all-European war, the disastrous Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) that killed up to 20% of Europe's population.
Concealed in the Wartburg Castle, Luther devoted himself to what he thought to be the most important work; Translation of the New Testament from Greek to German. Indeed, the priest expelled from the church arrived day and night to finish the translation alone within 11 weeks, and to publish the Gospel in 1522 in German, and for its teachings to become accessible to the ordinary German public for the first time, as he no longer needed priests to read Christ’s message to him in Latin. This translation encouraged another similar translation in English. In 1525, the Englishman William Tyndale translated the New Testament, making it the first Bible printed in the English language.
A statue of Emperor Constantine, the first Roman emperor to follow Christianity
Calvin and other reformers
Martin Luther is often accused of declaring his objection to various church ideas and practices, but he did not present an actual systematic proposal for reform or a specific alternative system. Rather, he abandoned this matter and focused on other matters that he believed were more important. This is what prompts us to talk about John Calvin, the French lawyer who fled his country after converting to Protestantism, and headed to neighboring Switzerland, where he published his book “Institutio Christianae religionis” in 1536, which is considered the first systematic theological treatise of the Reformation movement. New.
Calvin agreed with Martin Luther's teaching about justification by faith, but with important differences, most notably the role of civil and canon law and its place in creating a state of discipline that prevents any abnormal behavior. Calvinism was more "disciplined" than Lutheranism, because Calvinists believed that all matters related to public life were... Responsibility of church and state. This led to the development of more stringent systems of government and law in Calvinist societies, which enables us to say that Calvinism is more "extreme" than Lutheranism.
As for England, the roots of the reform were political and religious. In order to divorce his wife, King Henry VIII revolted against the authority of the Pope, established the Anglican Church, and appointed himself its supreme head. This radical change in the structure of the church was the prelude to religious change in England, including the use of the English language in prayers. In Scotland, John Knox, who was influenced by the ideas of John Calvin, led the establishment of Presbyterianism, a system of church government based on democracy. This change was very important, because it finally made the union of Scotland and England possible.
Catholic Counter-Reformation
Of course, the Catholic Church did not stand idly by, although at first it tried to ignore Luther’s ideas, but their rapid and widespread spread forced the Mother Church to respond to this enormous threat with steps and decisions in a reform process known as the “Counter-Reformation,” which aimed to renew the Catholic Church from within, and reaffirm Its teachings and practices.
For example, in 1534, Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits, who were one of the most important movements in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Jesuits were distinguished by their missionary activity, and their commitment to order and discipline. In 1545, the Church opened the "Council of Trent" to deal with the issues raised by Luther. It included senior church officials who held 25 sessions over a period of about 18 years, mainly in the city of Trent in northern Italy. Despite this, the issue of the Counter-Reformation is still somewhat controversial, between those who say that it was a real and radical movement, and those who saw it as a formal measure, which only changed some superficial matters and secondary matters, while the essentials were strengthened and stabilized. First, and as a matter of course, the Council rejected the doctrine of justification by faith alone - which was the main focus of Martin Luther's 95 Theses - and affirmed the importance of good works in the process of salvation. While he stressed the importance of the Bible as a source of Christian faith, he at the same time stressed the importance of interpreting the Bible in accordance with the tradition of the Catholic Church.
While Luther had rejected the absolute authority of the Pope, and believed that the Pope was not infallible, the Council affirmed this authority, the doctrine of the Pope's infallibility in matters relating to faith and morals, and his role in maintaining the unity of the Catholic Church. Even in matters that are considered secondary to some, such as the dispute over icons, which Luther considered a form of idolatry, and strongly opposed their use in churches, because they distract believers from focusing on the true faith in God (until now, Protestant churches are distinguished from their Catholic and Orthodox sisters by the absence Icons or any drawings inside the church building), the church insisted on the importance of the icon based on the fact that it helps uneducated people understand the Holy Bible, reminds of the lives of the saints and their sacrifices, and creates a meditative spiritual state during prayer. All that was done was to alert church officials to the correct use of images, and to guard against the possibility of it turning into idolatry.
The same applies to the issue of marriage for priests. Church laws still oblige priests to be celibate as a symbol of the priest’s commitment to religion and to devote himself completely to priestly service. Only some priests in the Eastern Catholic Church are exempt from this rule, and a married priest does not advance through the ranks of the priesthood. This issue is still under discussion today, and Pope Francis recently expressed his openness to discussing the issue of the marriage of priests, but he did not change the church’s official position on the matter.
Martin Luther, founder of European secularism
This last title may seem strange, especially to those familiar with Luther’s life and opinions, as the first thing he is criticized for, in the West in general, is his violent criticism of other religions, especially the Jews. He attacked them in many writings, and he believed in the traditional traditions that say that the Jews betrayed Jesus Christ and killed him. He often called for brutal violence against them. Many thinkers and historians believe that his position on the Jews (although his reasons were religious and not racist), in addition to his essential position in the intellectual history of Germany, provided a reference for later members of the Nazi Party, supporting their anti-Semitic policies.
As for Luther’s establishment of secularism in Europe, it came from nowhere he knew, and this was definitely not his intention. On the contrary, he was a cleric who strongly believed in the importance of religion in all aspects of public life, and what he wanted for the church was to be stronger, healthier, and therefore more widespread. But by emphasizing that the Bible alone is the source of spiritual authority, and that forgiveness and salvation are achieved by faith alone and not by good works, nor by the intercession of saints, nor by church deeds, Luther here gave individuals the freedom to think and believe in themselves, deprived the church of important authority, and opened the door wide. In the face of the emergence of the spirit of doubt, scientific questioning, and the philosophy of “Enlightenment,” all of which were among the most important factors in the emergence of secularism.
In addition, Luther's Protestant Reformation divided Europe into two religious camps: Catholic and Protestant. This, in turn, led to a decline in the influence of the Catholic Church, and opened the way for the emergence of new political and social movements calling for the separation of religion from the state. But this would not happen until the year 1648, when the famous Treaties of Westphalia were signed that redrew the map of all of Europe, but the path to reaching that peace was arduous and bloody, as religious wars were raging on most of the continent’s lands, claiming the lives of about 8 million Europeans, and destroying what they destroyed. Of economies and property.
These wars and this treaty, in addition to talking about the intellectual, philosophical and political activity that coincided with them, will be the subject of the next article.
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