Reformation and development of European countries, XVI-XVII centuries. Reformation in Europe, Catholic Reformation
It is difficult to overestimate the role of the church in medieval society: it owned in some European countries ah, almost a third of the lands, its main business was the sale of indulgences, and the almost omnipotent monarchs were then ready to do anything just to receive a blessing for their rule..
Martin Luther and the heroes of the reformation
The Bible, not the church. Christ, not the Pope
John Wycliffe, a professor at Oxford University, came up with such a motto, which rethinks religious values, at the end of the 14th century, long before the Reformation. He became the man who reminded Catholics of the old ideas on which Christianity grew. For which he was considered a heretic.
John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into English language
One of the forerunners of Protestantism, John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into English, but the Roman Church did not appreciate his efforts, since it was endowed with an absolute monopoly on the interpretation of the Bible. Wilcliff taught that every person is connected with God directly, and for this he does not need any intermediaries. For these acts, as well as for branding the Pope an apostate and Antichrist, he was dismissed from Oxford, and his students were forced to renounce his views.
“The Bible, not the church. Christ, not the Pope,” demanded Wycliffe
However, this could no longer prevent the spread of his ideas: the teachings of the Wyclifists became the ideological basis for the Lollard community and for the sermons of Jan Hus. The latter was burned at the stake along with his works for his ideas. Wycliffe's corpse was dug up by decision of the Council of Constance and also burned at the stake. Exemplary executions for a long time discouraged thinkers from wanting to reform the church.
Vladislav Muttikh. “Jan Hus at the stake in Constance”, 1415
“That’s where I stand. I can't do it any other way. May God help me"
Martin Luther uttered this famous phrase at the Worms Reichstag, standing before the Holy Roman Emperor, electors and archbishops. These words meant a complete refusal to renounce, after which he was forced to flee to escape the Inquisition pursuing him.
And this story began quite harmlessly - in October 1517, the Venerable Father Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg, was beside himself with the depravity of the Roman Catholic clergy. At that time, Pope Leo X, accustomed to luxury and suddenly feeling an urgent need for funds, officially, on behalf of the church, authorized the trade of indulgences throughout Europe.
Luther's righteous anger resulted in the famous "95 Theses", which the theologian compiled in the hope of eradicating vices within the church. As legend has it, the fateful tablet with theses for all of Europe was nailed by Martin Luther to the gates of the palace church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.
There is an opinion that the whole story with the nailed sign is just a beautiful legend
One of the key events of the Reformation was the Leipzig Disputation, where Martin Luther once again expressed his ideas in a dispute with Johann Eck. When Luther in his speech went so far as to justify Jan Hus from some positions, Duke George, remembering the bad legacy of the Hussites in Saxony, burst out with curses. After this, Martin Luther received the first disturbing news - a papal bull, which condemned his views. Gathering a crowd around him, the theologian burned a bull signed by the Pope himself, thereby completely breaking off relations with the Roman Catholic Church.
One of the key events of the Reformation was the Leipzig Dispute.
Pope Leo X reacted unequivocally to the criticism - he anathematized Luther, excommunicated him from the church and wanted to force him to come to the Worms Reichstag so that the theologian would publicly renounce his beliefs.
Luther at the Worms Reichstag
Luther is hidden, but his work lives on
After the end of the Worms Reichstag, Martin Luther headed home to Wittenberg. Before he had time to properly drive away from Worms, he was kidnapped by the people of the Elector of Saxony... and hid in a secluded place, in Wartburg Castle. As it turned out, Frederick the Wise, who was distinguished by an inquisitive mind, was imbued with the speeches of Martin Luther at a meeting of the Reichstag and decided to save him from inevitable punishment. Moreover, in order not to lie to Emperor Charles V during interrogation, he specifically ordered his people not to warn him about where they would hide the rebel theologian.
Martin Luther, being a prisoner of the Wartburg Castle, which he could not leave, began translating the Bible into German. However, this did not prevent the spread of his ideas: only they began to develop in a completely different direction than the initiator of the Reformation had planned. The so-called “spiritual rebellion,” the peaceful path of the Reformation, which Luther initially preached, did not receive widespread support among the people. But in Martin Luther’s native Wittenberg, pogroms began against Catholic churches, which were supported by the theologian’s followers—Zwilling and Karlstadt.
The Roman Church was not ready to tolerate pogroms in its own churches. Both sides took up arms. The religious conflict began to acquire a bloody character, and eventually resulted in a grandiose war, which was called the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). This war led to the fact that in Germany - and after it in other European countries - the Catholic and Lutheran churches began to exist in parallel.
This is how the religious map of Europe has changed
Ivan Steinert
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………2
1. Reasons for the emergence of the reform movement in Europe………………….4
2. The main trends of the Reformation……………………………………………...….10
3. Counter-Reformation and its results……………………………………...………15
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 18
List of sources used………………………………………………………19
INTRODUCTION
Reformation - a powerful religious movement aimed at reforming doctrine and organization christian church, which arose in Germany at the beginning of the 16th century, quickly spread throughout Europe and led to separation from Rome and the formation of a new form of Christianity - Protestantism.
The Reformation movement was of great importance both for the history of Europe and for world history as a whole. In the Middle Ages, the entire life of society was strictly subordinated to the Church, which by the beginning of the 16th century. exhausted all holiness. The dominance of the Catholic Church did not give any chance for the full development of personality, science, art, or market relations. But thanks to the Reformation movement, the psychology of medieval man changed. The ideas of the Reformation (especially Calvinism), which forced people to work hard and develop in order to earn God's mercy, gave impetus to the development of capitalist relations and science, which the Catholic Church often called “heresy.”
Religion, which was the basis of medieval society, has not lost its significance to this day. Therefore, knowledge and understanding of the processes of its formation and development are necessary to modern man. The Reformation, in turn, is an integral part of the history of Christianity, and therefore deserves study. She in many ways brought up the foundations of an active, active personality, as well as today’s attitude towards religious faith and work. This is the relevance of the chosen topic.
The purpose of this work is to study the Reformation as a historical process.
The objectives of the study are: to identify the causes of the emergence of the Reformation movement in Europe; studying its stages, trends, ideological leaders; analysis of the results of the Reformation.
The main source is “History of the Middle Ages: A Textbook for Students of History Departments of Pedagogical Institutes” edited by N.F. Kolesnitsky. From there information was taken about the reformation ideas of M. Luther and T. Münzer; the teachings of J. Calvin; Catholic Counter-Reformation and the Jesuit Order. Other sources used: “History of Europe” by N. Davis (materials about the Worms Reichstag; Anabaptism; Anglicanism and other movements of the Reformation in European countries), “Soviet Historical Encyclopedia” edited by E.M. Zhukova (information about the causes of the Reformation), “Catholicism” by A.A. Gritsanov (information about St. Bartholomew's Night in France).
1. REASONS FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE REFORMATION MOVEMENT IN EUROPE
The Reformation (from the Latin reformatio - transformation, correction) is a broad, complex in the social composition of its participants, socio-political and ideological movement, which took the form of a struggle against the Catholic Church and was fundamentally anti-feudal in nature; covered in the 16th century. most countries in Western and Central Europe.
The most general, deep-seated reasons that caused the Reformation are associated with the decomposition of the feudal mode of production in the West. Europe, with the emergence in the depths of feudalism of new capitalist relations and new classes, with the aggravation in these conditions of social contradictions and feudal struggle. The Reformation represented the first blow to feudalism. Due to the religious nature of medieval ideology, it turned out to be directed not directly against the feudal state, the political superstructure of feudal society, but against its religious superstructure - the Catholic Church, which was an integral part of the feudal system and gave religious sanction to the existing feudal system.
The humanistic movement of the Renaissance, with its rationalistic criticism of the medieval worldview and the affirmation of the principles of bourgeois individualism, dealt a significant blow to the medieval Catholic worldview and largely prepared the reformation movement. Of great importance was the appeal of humanists to the sources of primitive Christianity, their application of the rules of historical criticism to the texts of the Holy Scriptures, and the direct and rational interpretation of these texts.
An equally important source of the ideas of the Reformation were medieval heretical teachings, long before the 16th century. containing criticism of the Catholic Church.
The religious revival, clearly visible already at the end of the 15th century, was inspired mainly by popular discontent due to the degeneration of the clergy. The Church, which declared its intention to convene a Council every 10 years, had not in fact convened a council since the 1430s. Canonization of many saints, from St. Vincentio Ferrera (1455) and St. Bernardine of Siena (1450) to St. Casimir of Poland (1484), could not hide the fact that holiness had become depleted in the Church as a whole. Europe was full of stories about bishops who indulged in simony, about popes mired in nepotism, about depraved priests and worthless monks, but most importantly - about the worldly wealth of the Church. Also causing dissatisfaction were the extortions and extortions of the papal curia, which, in the context of growing commodity-money relations, were constantly increasing. The burgher opposition, which at first expressed the aspirations of the broad masses of the population, set as its goal the abolition of the Catholic Church as a feudal institution and the creation in its place of a “cheap church” without taxes and fees for rituals. Ideologists of the masses put a broader meaning into the concept of the Reformation - the transformation of the entire system public relations in the spirit of evangelical equality.
The impetus for the mass movement for the Reformation was Luther's speech against indulgences. Martin Luther (1483–1546) was born in the city of Eislebn (Saxony) into the family of a wealthy miner. In 1508, Luther graduated from the University of Erfurt and received a master's degree and then a doctor of theology. On October 31, 1517, on the eve of All Saints' Day, he took the decisive step of nailing a piece of paper with 95 Theses, or arguments, against indulgences to the door of the Wittenberg Fortress Church.
Several consequences resulted from this famous act of defiance. First, Luther was involved in a series of public debates, including the famous Leipzig debate with Dr. von Eck, which was followed by Luther's excommunication from the Church (June 1520). In preparation for these debates, Luther outlined the first theses of Lutheranism: Resolution, On the freedom of the Christian, To the Christian nobility of the German nation, On the Babylonian captivity of the Church of God; he then publicly burned the papal bull of his excommunication ExsurgeDomine. The second consequence was the division of Germany into supporters and opponents of Luther. In 1521, Emperor Charles V summoned Luther to the Reichstag in Worms. Luther steadfastly defended himself: “I am conquered by the Scripture I have just quoted; my consciousness is captivated by the Word of God. I cannot take anything back and will not, because it is unsafe and dishonest to act without forgiving my conscience... Unless they prove to me from the Holy Scriptures that I am mistaken, then my conscience will remain bound by the Word of God... No, I cannot and do not want to renounce anything what, because it is unsafe and not good to do anything against your conscience
Hier stehe ich. Ich rann nicht unders.[Natomyastoya. I can’t do otherwise.] » .
The Catholic Church taught that a person can be saved from sins and escape hell through the grace of God and the intercession of the saints. But for this he must perform rituals, partake of sacred sacraments and do godly deeds. One of these matters was the purchase of indulgences. Luther declared absolution for money to be blasphemy and rejected the external cult attributes of the Catholic Church, proclaiming true faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ as the only path to salvation. Instead of the Catholic doctrine of “retribution of merit,” Luther argued that salvation could only be obtained through divine grace granted to people through Christ. At the same time, he considered faith as an internal state of a person, and “grace” as a force that constantly resides in a person living righteously, helping him to overcome sins and achieve “salvation.” The thesis that “salvation” is given to a person directly from God undermined the foundations of the Catholic Church and the spiritual hierarchy, since it logically followed that it was possible to receive “grace” and “come to God” without the mediation of the church and the clergy. The place of priests in the Lutheran Church was taken by shepherds - mentors of believers in the “word of God”, who did not stand out from the crowd of believers in anything other than their knowledge of the Gospel. According to Luther's teachings, the “word of God” is contained only in sacred scripture, which he recognized as the only source of faith, rejecting sacred tradition - the writings of the church fathers, papal bulls and council decrees as the creations of people, which are characterized by human errors. Thus, the entire external Catholic cult was overthrown - the veneration of saints, icons, altars, overshadowing sign of the cross, kneeling, doctrine of purgatory. But Luther did not go all the way in establishing religious individualism; he did not allow free interpretation of the Holy Scriptures by believers and left some of the sacraments (baptism, communion and repentance). Moreover, in his interpretation of the sacrament of the Eucharist (communion), he was not far from the Catholic dogma of “transubstantiation,” arguing that although bread and wine do not turn into the body and blood of Christ, Christ is allegedly present in the sacrament of communion.
In May 1521, an imperial edict was issued outlawing Luther as a heretic and disobedient to authority. But at this time he was in safe hiding, in the Wartburg castle, which belonged to his patron, the Saxon Elector. In Wartsburg, Luther began translating the Bible into German. In this way he not only contributed to the success of the Reformation, but also laid the foundations of the German literary language. At this time, disagreements between individual factions began to sharply appear in the Reformation camp. Luther increasingly linked his fate with the interests of the princes, to whose service his reformation was subsequently put.
Contents of the article
REFORMATION, a powerful religious movement aimed at reforming the doctrine and organization of the Christian church, which arose in Germany in the early 16th century, quickly spread throughout much of Europe and led to separation from Rome and the formation of a new form of Christianity. After large group German sovereigns and representatives of free cities who joined the Reformation protested against the decision of the Imperial Reichstag in Speyer (1529), which prohibited the further spread of reforms, their followers began to be called Protestants, and the new form of Christianity - Protestantism.
From a Catholic point of view, Protestantism was a heresy, an unauthorized departure from the revealed teachings and institutions of the church, leading to apostasy from the true faith and violation of the moral standards of Christian life. He brought into the world a new seed of corruption and other evil. The traditional Catholic view of the Reformation is outlined by Pope Pius X in an encyclical Editae saepe(1910). The founders of the Reformation were “... men possessed by the spirit of pride and rebellion: enemies of the Cross of Christ, seeking earthly things... whose god is their womb. They did not plan to correct morals, but to deny the fundamental tenets of faith, which gave rise to great unrest and opened the way for them and others to a dissolute life. Rejecting the authority and leadership of the church and putting on the yoke of the arbitrariness of the most corrupt princes and people, they are trying to destroy the teaching, structure and order of the church. And after this... they dare to call their rebellion and their destruction of faith and morals “restoration” and call themselves “restorers” of the ancient order. In reality they are its destroyers, and by weakening the strength of Europe by conflicts and wars, they have fostered the apostasy of the modern age.”
From the Protestant point of view, on the contrary, it was the Roman Catholic Church that deviated from the revealed teachings and order of primitive Christianity and thereby separated itself from the living mystical body of Christ. The hypertrophied growth of the organizational machine of the medieval church paralyzed the life of the spirit. Salvation has degenerated into a kind of mass production with pompous church rituals and a pseudo-ascetic lifestyle. Moreover, she usurped the gifts of the Holy Spirit in favor of the clergy caste and thus opened the door to all sorts of abuses and exploitation of Christians by a corrupt clerical bureaucracy centered in papal Rome, whose corruption became the talk of all Christianity. The Protestant Reformation, far from heretical, served the complete restoration of the doctrinal and moral ideals of true Christianity.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
Germany.
On October 31, 1517, the young Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483–1546), professor of theology at the newly founded University of Wittenberg, posted on the door of the palace church 95 theses, which he intended to defend in a public debate. The reason for this challenge was the practice of distributing indulgences issued by the pope to all those who made a monetary contribution to the papal treasury for the reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome. Dominican friars traveled throughout Germany offering complete absolution and release from torment in purgatory to those who, after repenting and confessing their sins, paid a fee according to their income. It was also possible to purchase a special indulgence for souls in purgatory. Luther's theses not only condemned the abuses attributed to the sellers of indulgences, but also generally denied the very principles according to which these indulgences were issued. He believed that the pope had no power to forgive sins (except for punishments imposed by himself) and disputed the doctrine of the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints, which the pope resorts to for the forgiveness of sins. In addition, Luther deplored the fact that the practice of selling indulgences gave people what he believed was a false assurance of salvation.
All attempts to force him to renounce his views on papal power and authority failed, and in the end Pope Leo X condemned Luther on 41 points (bul Exsurge Domine, June 15, 1520), and in January 1521 excommunicated him. Meanwhile, the reformer published three pamphlets one after another, in which he boldly set out a program for reforming the church - its teachings and organization. In the first of them, To the Christian nobility of the German nation on the correction of Christianity, he called on the German princes and sovereigns to reform the German church, giving it a national character and transforming it into a church free from the domination of the church hierarchy, from superstitious external rituals and from laws allowing monastic life, celibacy of priests and other customs in which he saw perversion truly Christian tradition. In the treatise About the Babylonian Captivity of the Church Luther attacked the entire system of church sacraments, in which the church was seen as the official and only mediator between God and the human soul. In the third pamphlet - About the freedom of a Christian– he expounded his fundamental doctrine of justification by faith alone, which became the cornerstone of the theological system of Protestantism.
He responded to the papal bull of condemnation by condemning the papacy (pamphlet Against the damned bull of the Antichrist), and the bull itself, Code of Canon Law and publicly burned several pamphlets of his opponents. Luther was an outstanding polemicist; sarcasm and abuse were his favorite techniques. But his opponents were not distinguished by delicacy. All polemical literature of that time, both Catholic and Protestant, was full of personal insults and was characterized by rude, even obscene language.
Luther's courage and open rebellion can be explained (at least in part) by the fact that his sermons, lectures and pamphlets won him the support of a large part of the clergy and a growing number of laity, both from the highest and lowest levels of German society. His colleagues at the University of Wittenberg, professors from other universities, some fellow Augustinians and many people devoted to humanistic culture took his side. Moreover, Frederick III the Wise, Elector of Saxony, Luther's sovereign, and some other German princes sympathetic to his views, took him under their protection. In their eyes, as in the eyes of ordinary people, Luther appeared as a champion of a holy cause, a reformer of the church and an exponent of the strengthening national consciousness of Germany.
Historians have pointed to various factors that help explain Luther's astonishingly rapid success in creating a wide and influential following. Most countries have long complained about the economic exploitation of the people by the Roman Curia, but the accusations did not bring any results. The demand for reform of the church in capite et in membris (in relation to the head and members) was heard more and more loudly from the time of the Avignon captivity of the popes (14th century) and then during the great Western schism (15th century). Reforms were promised at the Council of Constance, but they shelved as soon as Rome consolidated its power. The reputation of the church fell even lower in the 15th century, when popes and prelates were in power, caring too much about earthly things, and priests were not always distinguished by high morality. The educated classes, meanwhile, were greatly influenced by the pagan humanistic mentality, and Aristotelian-Thomist philosophy was supplanted by a new wave of Platonism. Medieval theology lost its authority, and the new secular critical attitude towards religion led to the collapse of the entire medieval world of ideas and beliefs. Finally, an important role was played by the fact that the Reformation, with the Church willingly accepting complete control over itself by the secular authorities, won the support of sovereigns and governments ready to turn religious problems into political and national ones and consolidate victory by force of arms or legislative coercion. In such a situation, a rebellion against the doctrinal and organizational dominance of papal Rome had a great chance of success.
Condemned and excommunicated by the pope for his heretical views, Luther should, in the normal course of events, have been arrested by secular authorities; however, the Elector of Saxony protected the reformer and ensured his safety. The new Emperor Charles V, King of Spain and monarch of the Habsburg hereditary dominions, at this moment sought to secure the united support of the German princes in anticipation of the inevitable war with Francis I, his rival in the struggle for hegemony in Europe. At the request of the Elector of Saxony, Luther was allowed to attend and speak in his defense at the Reichstag in Worms (April 1521). He was found guilty, and because he refused to renounce his views, imperial disgrace was imposed on him and his followers by imperial edict. However, by order of the Elector, Luther was intercepted on the road by knights and placed for his safety in a remote castle in the Wartburg. During the war against Francis I, with whom the pope entered into an alliance that caused the famous sack of Rome (1527), the emperor was unable or unwilling to complete Luther's work for almost 10 years. During this period, the changes advocated by Luther came into practice not only in the Saxon Electorate, but also in many states of Central and North-Eastern Germany.
While Luther remained in his enforced seclusion, the cause of the Reformation was threatened by serious riots and destructive raids on churches and monasteries, carried out at the instigation of the "Zwickau prophets." These religious fanatics claimed to be inspired by the Bible (they were joined by Luther's friend Karlstadt, one of the first to convert to the Protestant faith). Returning to Wittenberg, Luther crushed the fanatics with the power of eloquence and his authority, and the Elector of Saxony expelled them from the borders of his state. The "Prophets" were the forerunners of the Anabaptists, an anarchist movement within the Reformation. The most fanatical of them, in their program for establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, called for the abolition of class privileges and the socialization of property.
Thomas Münzer, leader of the Zwickau Prophets, also participated in the Peasants' War, a major uprising that swept through southwestern Germany like wildfire in 1524–1525. The cause of the uprising was centuries of unbearable oppression and exploitation of the peasants, which caused bloody uprisings from time to time. Ten months after the start of the uprising, a manifesto was published ( Twelve articles) of Swabian peasants, compiled by several clerics who sought to attract the attention of the reform party to the cause of the peasants. To this end, in addition to a summary of peasant demands, the manifesto included new points advocated by the reformers (for example, the election of a pastor by the community and the use of tithes for the maintenance of the pastor and the needs of the community). All other demands, which were economic and social in nature, were supported by quotations from the Bible as the highest and final authority. Luther addressed both nobles and peasants with an exhortation, reproaching the former for oppressing the poor and calling on the latter to follow the instructions of the Apostle Paul: “Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities.” He further called on both sides to make mutual concessions and restore peace. But the uprising continued, and Luther was converted again Against gangs of peasants sowing murder and robbery called on the nobles to crush the uprising: “Anyone who can should beat, strangle, stab them.”
Responsibility for the riots caused by the "prophets", Anabaptists and peasants was placed on Luther. Undoubtedly, his preaching of evangelical freedom against human tyranny inspired the "Zwickau prophets" and was used by the leaders of the Peasants' War. This experience undermined Luther's naive expectation that his message of freedom from slavery to the Law would force people to act out of a sense of duty to society. He abandoned the original idea of creating a Christian church independent of secular power, and was now inclined to the idea of placing the church under the direct control of the state, which had the power and authority to curb movements and sects that deviate from the truth, i.e. from his own interpretation of the gospel of freedom.
The freedom of action granted to the reform party by the political situation made it possible not only to spread the movement to other German states and free cities, but also to develop a clear structure of government and forms of worship for the reformed church. Monasteries - male and female - were abolished, and monks and nuns were freed from all ascetic vows. Church properties were confiscated and used for other purposes. At the Reichstag in Speyer (1526) the Protestant group was already so large that the assembly, instead of demanding the implementation of the Edict of Worms, decided to maintain the status quo and give the princes freedom to choose their religion until an ecumenical council was convened.
The emperor himself harbored the hope that an ecumenical council, held in Germany and aimed at implementing urgent reforms, would be able to restore religious peace and unity in the empire. But Rome feared that a council held in Germany, under existing circumstances, might get out of control, as happened with the Council of Basel (1433). After defeating the French king and his allies, during the lull before the conflict resumed, Charles finally decided to address the issue of religious peace in Germany. In an effort to reach a compromise, the Imperial Diet, convened in Augsburg in June 1530, required Luther and his followers to submit for public consideration a statement of their faith and the reforms they insisted on. This document, edited by Melanchthon and called Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana), was clearly conciliatory in tone. He denied any intention of the reformers to separate from the Roman Catholic Church or to change any essential point catholic faith. The reformers insisted only on stopping abuses and abolishing what they considered erroneous interpretations of the teachings and canons of the church. They attributed the communion of the laity under only one type (blessed bread) to abuses and errors; attributing to the mass a sacrificial character; mandatory celibacy (celibacy) for priests; the mandatory nature of confession and the current practice of conducting it; rules regarding fasting and food restrictions; principles and practice of monastic and ascetic life; and, finally, the divine authority attributed to Church Tradition.
The sharp rejection of these demands by Catholics and the bitter, inconsistent polemics between theologians of both parties made it clear that the gulf between their positions could no longer be bridged. To restore unity, the only way remained was a return to the use of force. The Emperor and the majority of the Reichstag, with the approval of the Catholic Church, provided the Protestants with the opportunity to return to the fold of the Church until April 1531. To prepare for the struggle, the Protestant princes and cities formed the League of Schmalkalden and began negotiations for assistance with England, where Henry VIII rebelled against the papacy, with Denmark, which accepted Luther's Reformation, and with the French king, whose political antagonism with Charles V prevailed over all religious considerations.
In 1532, the emperor agreed to a truce for 6 months, as he found himself embroiled in the fight against Turkish expansion in the east and in the Mediterranean, but soon the re-emerging war with France and the uprising in the Netherlands absorbed all his attention, and only in 1546 was he able to return to the Germans. affairs. Meanwhile, Pope Paul III (1534–1549) yielded to pressure from the emperor and convened a council at Triente (1545). The invitation to Protestants was rejected with contempt by Luther and other leaders of the Reformation, who could only expect sweeping condemnation from the council.
Determined to crush all opponents, the emperor outlawed the leading Protestant princes and began military action. Having won a decisive victory at Mühlberg (April 1547), he forced them to surrender. But the task of restoring Catholic faith and discipline in Protestant Germany proved practically impossible. The compromise on issues of faith and church organization, called the Augsburg Interim (May 1548), turned out to be unacceptable neither to the pope nor to the Protestants. Yielding to pressure, the latter agreed to send their representatives to the council, which, after a break, resumed work in Triente in 1551, but the situation changed overnight when Moritz, Duke of Saxony, went over to the side of the Protestants and moved his army to the Tyrol, where Charles V was located. The Emperor was forced to sign the peace treaty of Passau (1552) and stop the fight. In 1555 the Religious Peace of Augsburg was concluded, according to which the Protestant churches that accepted Augsburg Confession, received legal recognition on the same basis as the Roman Catholic Church. This recognition did not extend to other Protestant sects. The principle of “cuius regio, eius religio” (“whose power, his faith”) was the basis of the new order: in each German state, the religion of the sovereign became the religion of the people. Catholics in Protestant states and Protestants in Catholic states were given the right to choose: either join the local religion or move with their property to the territory of their religion. The right of choice and the obligation for citizens of cities to profess the religion of the city extended to free cities. The religious peace of Augsburg was a heavy blow to Rome. The Reformation took hold, and the hope of restoring Catholicism in Protestant Germany faded.
Switzerland.
Shortly after Luther's rebellion against indulgences, Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), priest cathedral in Zurich, in his sermons he began to criticize indulgences and “Roman superstitions.” The Swiss cantons, although nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, were in reality independent states, united in an alliance for common defense, and governed by a council, chosen people. Having achieved the support of the city authorities of Zurich, Zwingli could easily introduce a reformed system of church organization and worship there.
After Zurich, the Reformation began in Basel, and then in Bern, St. Gallen, Grisons, Wallis and other cantons. The Catholic cantons, led by Lucerne, made every effort to prevent the further spread of the movement, as a result of which a religious war broke out, ending in the so-called. The first Peace Treaty of Kappel (1529), which guaranteed freedom of religion to each canton. However, in the Second Kappel War, the Protestant army was defeated at the Battle of Kappel (1531), in which Zwingli himself fell. The Second Peace of Kappel, concluded after this, restored Catholicism in cantons with a mixed population.
Zwingli's theology, although he shared Luther's fundamental principle of justification by faith alone, differed in many points from Luther's, and the two reformers were never able to agree. For this reason, and also due to the dissimilarity of political situations, the Reformation in Switzerland and Germany took different paths.
The Reformation was first introduced in Geneva in 1534 by the French refugee Guillaume Farel (1489–1565). Another Frenchman, John Calvin (1509–1564) from the Picardy city of Noyon, became interested in the ideas of the Reformation while studying theology in Paris. In 1535 he visited Strasbourg, then Basel, and finally spent several months in Italy at the court of Duchess Renata of Ferrara, who sympathized with the Reformation. On his way back from Italy in 1536, he made a stop in Geneva, where he settled at the insistence of Farel. However, after two years he was expelled from the city and returned to Strasbourg, where he taught and preached. During this period, he established close relationships with some of the leaders of the Reformation, and above all with Melanchthon. In 1541, at the invitation of the magistrate, he returned to Geneva, where he gradually concentrated all power in the city in his hands and, through a consistory, managed spiritual and secular affairs until the end of his life in 1564.
Although Calvin started from the principle of justification by faith alone, his theology developed in a different direction from Luther's. His concept of the church also did not coincide with the ideas of the German reformer. In Germany the formation new organization The church went along random, unplanned paths under the influence of the “Zwickau prophets”; at that time Luther was in Wartburg Castle. Upon his return, Luther expelled the "prophets", but considered it wise to sanction some of the changes already made, although some of them seemed too radical to him at the time. Calvin, on the contrary, planned the organization of his church based on the Bible and intended to reproduce the structure of the primitive church as it could be imagined on the basis of the New Testament. He extracted from the Bible the principles and norms of secular government and introduced them in Geneva. Fanatically intolerant of other people's opinions, Calvin expelled all dissenters from Geneva and sentenced Michel Servetus to be burned at the stake for his anti-Trinitarian ideas.
England.
In England, the activities of the Roman Catholic Church have long caused strong discontent among all classes of society, which was manifested in repeated attempts to stop these abuses. Wycliffe's revolutionary ideas concerning the church and papacy attracted many supporters, and although the Lollard movement, inspired by his teachings, was severely suppressed, it did not completely disappear.
However, the British revolt against Rome was not the work of reformers and was not caused by theological considerations at all. Henry VIII, a zealous Catholic, took severe measures against the penetration of Protestantism into England, he even wrote a treatise on the sacraments (1521), in which he refuted the teachings of Luther. Fearing powerful Spain, Henry wanted to enter into an alliance with France, but encountered an obstacle in the person of his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon; among other things, she never gave birth to an heir to the throne, and the legality of this marriage was in doubt. This is why the king asked the pope to annul the marriage so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, but the pope refused to grant permission for the divorce, and this convinced the king that in order to strengthen his power, he needed to get rid of papal interference in his affairs . On the Vatican's threat to excommunicate Henry VIII from the church he responded with the Act of Supremacy (1534), in which the monarch was recognized as the supreme head of the Church of England, not subordinate to either the pope or other church authorities. Refusal of the king's "oath of supremacy" was punishable by death, and those executed included the Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher, and the former chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Apart from the abolition of papal supremacy over the church, the liquidation of monasteries and the confiscation of their possessions and property, Henry VIII did not make any changes to church teachings and institutions. IN Six articles(1539) the doctrine of transubstantiation was confirmed and communion under two types was rejected. Likewise, no concessions were made regarding the celibacy of priests, the celebration of private Masses, and the practice of confession. Strict measures were taken against those who professed the Lutheran faith, many were executed, others fled to Protestant Germany and Switzerland. However, during the regency of the Duke of Somerset under the minor Edward VI Articles Henry VIII were repealed, and the Reformation began in England: it was adopted (1549) and formulated 42 articles of faith(1552). Queen Mary's reign (1553–1558) saw the restoration of Catholicism under the control of the papal legate, Cardinal Pole, but, contrary to his advice, the restoration was accompanied by severe persecution of Protestants and one of the first victims was Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. The accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne (1558) again changed the situation in favor of the Reformation. The "oath of supremacy" was restored; Articles Edward VI, after revision in 1563 called 39 articles, And Book of Public Worship became the normative doctrinal and liturgical documents of the Episcopal Church of England; and Catholics were now subjected to severe persecution.
Other European countries.
The Lutheran Reformation was introduced in the Scandinavian countries by the will of their monarchs. By royal decrees, Sweden (1527) and Norway (1537) became Protestant powers. But in many other European countries where the rulers remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Scotland, the Netherlands, France), the Reformation spread widely among all classes of the population thanks to the activities of missionaries and despite the repressive measures of the government.
Among the founders of new Protestant churches in Catholic countries, emigrants from countries where freedom of conscience was denied played an important role. They managed to assert the right to freely practice their religion, despite the opposition of religious and political authorities. In Poland, the treaty of Pax dissidentium (Peace for those of different faiths, 1573) extended this freedom even to the anti-Trinitarians, Socinians, or, as they came to be called, Unitarians, who successfully began to create their own communities and schools. In Bohemia and Moravia, where the descendants of the Hussites, the Moravian brothers, adopted the Lutheran faith and where Calvinist propaganda had great success, Emperor Rudolf II his A message of peace(1609) granted all Protestants freedom of religion and control of the University of Prague. The same emperor recognized the freedom of Hungarian Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists) with the Peace of Vienna (1606). In the Netherlands, under Spanish rule, people soon began to appear who converted to Lutheranism, but Calvinist propaganda soon gained the upper hand among wealthy burghers and merchants in cities where there was a long tradition of autonomous government. Under the brutal rule of Philip II and the Duke of Alba, the authorities' attempt to destroy the Protestant movement by force and arbitrariness provoked a major national uprising against Spanish rule. The uprising led to the proclamation of the independence of the strictly Calvinist Republic of the Netherlands in 1609, leaving only Belgium and part of Flanders under Spanish rule.
The longest and most dramatic struggle for the freedom of Protestant churches took place in France. In 1559, Calvinist communities scattered throughout the French provinces formed a federation and held a synod in Paris, where they formed Gallican Confession, symbol of their faith. By 1561, the Huguenots, as Protestants in France began to be called, had more than 2,000 communities, uniting more than 400,000 believers. All attempts to limit their growth have failed. The conflict soon became political and led to internal religious wars. According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1570), the Huguenots were granted freedom to practice their religion, civil rights and four mighty fortresses for defense. But in 1572, after the events of St. Bartholomew's Night (August 24 - October 3), when, according to some estimates, 50,000 Huguenots died, the war broke out again and continued until 1598, when, according to the Edict of Nantes, French Protestants were granted freedom to practice their religion and citizenship rights . The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, after which thousands of Huguenots emigrated to other countries.
Under the harsh rule of King Philip II and his Inquisition, Spain remained closed to Protestant propaganda. In Italy, some centers of Protestant ideas and propaganda formed quite early in cities in the north of the country, and later in Naples. But not a single Italian prince supported the cause of the Reformation, and the Roman Inquisition was always on the alert. Hundreds of Italian convertites, belonging almost exclusively to the educated classes, found refuge in Switzerland, Germany, England and other countries, many of them becoming prominent figures in the Protestant churches of these states. These included members of the clergy, such as Bishop Vergherio, the former papal legate in Germany, and Occhino, the Capuchin general. At the end of the 16th century. the entire north of Europe became Protestant, and large Protestant communities flourished in all Catholic states except Spain and Italy. HUGENOTS.
THEOLOGY OF THE REFORMATION
The theological structure of Protestantism, created by the Reformers, is based on three fundamental principles that unite them despite the different interpretations of these principles. These are: 1) the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide), regardless of the performance of good deeds and any external sacred rites; 2) the principle of sola scriptura: Scripture contains the Word of God, which addresses directly the soul and conscience of a Christian and is the highest authority in matters of faith and church worship, regardless of church Tradition and any church hierarchy; 3) the doctrine that the church, which forms the mystical body of Christ, is an invisible community of elect Christians predestined to salvation. The Reformers argued that these teachings were contained in Scripture and that they represented true divine revelation, distorted and forgotten in the process of dogmatic and institutional degeneration that led to the Roman Catholic system.
Luther came to the doctrine of justification by faith alone based on his own spiritual experience. Having become a monk in his early youth, he zealously observed all the ascetic requirements of the monastic rule, but over time he discovered that despite his desire and sincere constant efforts, he was still far from perfect, so that he even doubted the possibility of his salvation. The Epistle to the Romans of the Apostle Paul helped him get out of the crisis: he found in it a statement that he developed in his teaching about justification and salvation by faith without the help of good works. Luther's experience was nothing new in the history of Christian spiritual life. Paul himself constantly experienced an internal struggle between the ideal of a perfect life and the stubborn resistance of the flesh; he also found refuge in faith in the divine grace given to people by the redemptive feat of Christ. Christian mystics of all times, discouraged by the weakness of the flesh and pangs of conscience by their sinfulness, have found peace and tranquility in the act of absolute trust in the efficacy of Christ's merits and divine mercy.
Luther was familiar with the writings of Jean Gerson and the German mystics. Their influence on the early version of his doctrine is second only to that of Paul. There is no doubt that the principle of justification by faith and not by the works of the Law is the true teaching of Paul. But it is also clear that Luther puts into the words of the Apostle Paul something more than is actually contained in them. According to the understanding of Paul's teaching, inherent in the Latin patristic tradition since at least Augustine, a person who, as a result of the Fall of Adam, has lost the opportunity to do good and even desire it, cannot independently achieve salvation. Man's salvation is entirely the action of God. Faith is the first step in this process, and this faith itself is redemptive feat Christ is the gift of God. Faith in Christ does not mean simply trust in Christ, but trust accompanied by trust in Christ and love for him, or, in other words, it is an active, not a passive faith. Faith by which a person is justified, i.e. by which a person's sins are forgiven and he is made justified in the eyes of God, is active faith. Justification by faith in Christ means that a change has taken place in the human soul; the human will, with the help of divine grace, has acquired the ability to want and do good, and therefore to advance along the path of righteousness with the help of good works.
Starting with Paul's distinction between the spiritual, or internal man (homo interior) and the material, external man (homo exterior), Luther came to the conclusion that the spiritual, internal man is reborn in faith and, being united to Christ, is freed from all slavery and earthly things. chains. Faith in Christ gives him freedom. To gain righteousness, he needs only one thing: the holy word of God, the Gospel (good news) of Christ. To describe this unity of the inner man with Christ, Luther uses two comparisons: spiritual marriage and a red-hot iron with fire inside. In spiritual marriage, the soul and Christ exchange their property. The soul brings its sins, Christ brings its infinite merits, which the soul now partially owns; sins are thus destroyed. The inner man, thanks to the imputation of the merits of Christ to the soul, is confirmed in his righteousness in the eyes of God. It then becomes evident that the works which influence and relate to the outer man have nothing to do with salvation. We glorify and confess the true God not by works, but by faith. Logically, the following seems to follow from this teaching: if salvation does not require good deeds and sins, together with the punishment for them, are destroyed by the act of faith in Christ, then there is no longer any need for respect for the entire moral order of Christian society, for the very existence of morality. Luther's distinction between the inner and outer man helps to avoid such a conclusion. The outer man, living in the material world and belonging to the human community, is under strict obligation to do good works, not because he can derive from them any merit that can be imputed to the inner man, but because he must promote the growth and improving community life in the new Christian kingdom of divine grace. One must devote oneself to the good of the community so that saving faith may spread. Christ frees us not from the obligation to do good deeds, but only from the vain and empty confidence in their usefulness for salvation.
Luther's theory that sin is not imputed to the sinner who believes in Christ and that he is justified by the imputation of the merits of Christ despite his own sins is based on the premises of the medieval theological system of Duns Scotus, which underwent further development in the teachings of Ockham and the entire nominalist school, within which Luther's views were formed. In the theology of Thomas Aquinas and his school, God was understood as the Supreme Mind, and the total existence and life process in the Universe was thought of as a rational chain of cause and effect, the first link of which is God. The theological school of nominalism, on the contrary, saw in God the Supreme Will, not bound by any logical necessity. This implied the arbitrariness of the divine will, in which things and actions are good or bad not because there is an internal reason why they should be good or bad, but only because God wills them to be good or bad. To say that something done by divine command is unjust implies the imposition of limitations on God by human categories of just and unjust.
From the point of view of nominalism, Luther's theory of justification does not seem irrational, as it appears from the point of view of intellectualism. The exclusively passive role assigned to man in the process of salvation led Luther to a more rigid understanding of predestination. His view of salvation is more strictly deterministic than Augustine's. The cause of everything is the supreme and absolute will of God, and to this we cannot apply the moral or logical criteria of the limited reason and experience of man.
But how can Luther prove that the process of justification by faith alone is sanctioned by God? Of course, the guarantee is given by the Word of God, which is contained in Scripture. But according to the interpretation of these biblical texts given by the fathers and teachers of the church (i.e. according to Tradition) and the official magisterium of the church, only active faith, manifested in good works, justifies and saves a person. Luther maintained that the only interpreter of Scripture is the Spirit; in other words, the individual judgment of every Christian believer is free due to his union with Christ through faith.
Luther did not consider the words of Scripture to be inerrant and recognized that the Bible contained misrepresentations, contradictions, and exaggerations. About the third chapter of the Book of Genesis (which talks about the fall of Adam) he said that it contains “the most improbable tale.” In fact, Luther made a distinction between Scripture and the Word of God that is contained in Scripture. Scripture is only the outward and fallible form of the infallible Word of God.
Luther accepted the canon of the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament and, following the example of Jerome, classified the books added to the Christian Old Testament as apocrypha. But the reformer went further than Jerome and removed these books from the Protestant Bible altogether. During his forced stay in the Wartburg, he worked on a translation of the New Testament into German (published in 1522). He then began translating the Old Testament and in 1534 published full text Bibles in German. From a literary point of view, this monumental work marks a turning point in the history of German literature. It cannot be said that this was the work of Luther alone, because he worked in close collaboration with his friends and, above all, with Melanchthon; nevertheless, it was Luther who brought his exceptional sense of words to the translation.
Luther's principle of justification by faith alone, which reduced the mystery of salvation to the spiritual experience of the inner man and abolished the need for good works, had far-reaching consequences regarding the nature and structure of the church. First of all, he annulled the spiritual content and meaning of the entire system of sacraments. Further, with the same blow, Luther deprived the priesthood of its main function - the administration of the sacraments. Another function of the priesthood (sacerdotium, literally, priesthood) was the function of teaching, and this was also abolished because the reformer denied the authority of Church Tradition and the teaching of the church. As a result, nothing any longer justified the existence of the institution of priesthood.
In Catholicism, the priest, through his spiritual authority acquired during ordination (ordination), has a monopoly on certain sacraments, which are channels of divine grace and as such are necessary for salvation. This sacramental power elevates the priest above the laity and makes him a sacred person, a mediator between God and man. In Luther's system such sacramental authority does not exist. In the mystery of justification and salvation, every Christian directly deals with God and achieves mystical union with Christ thanks to his faith. Every Christian is made a priest through his faith. Deprived of sacramental powers - its magisterium and its priesthood, the entire institutional structure of the church crumbles. Paul taught salvation through faith, but at the same time through membership in the charismatic community, the church (ecclesia), the Body of Christ. Where is this ecclesia, Luther asked, this Body of Christ? This, he argued, is an invisible society of chosen believers, predestined to salvation. As for the visible assembly of believers, it is simply a human organization which at various times receives various shapes. The ministry of a priest is not some kind of rank that gives him special powers or marks him with an indelible spiritual seal, but simply a certain function, which consists primarily in preaching the Word of God.
More difficult for Luther was to achieve a satisfactory solution to the problem of the sacraments. Three of them (baptism, eucharist and repentance) could not be discarded, since they are spoken of in Scripture. Luther wavered and constantly changed his mind, both regarding their meaning and their place in the theological system. In the case of repentance, Luther does not mean the confession of sins to the priest and the absolution of these sins, which he rejected completely, but the outward sign of forgiveness already received through faith and through the imputation of the merits of Christ. Later, however, not finding a satisfactory meaning for the existence of this sign, he completely abandoned repentance, leaving only baptism and the Eucharist. At first he recognized that baptism is a kind of channel of grace through which the faith of the recipient of grace is assured of the forgiveness of sins promised by the Christian gospel. However, infant baptism does not fit into this concept of sacrament. Moreover, since both original sin and committed sins are destroyed only as a result of the direct imputation of the merits of Christ to the soul, baptism in the Lutheran system lost the vital function attributed to it in the theology of Augustine and in Catholic theology. Luther eventually abandoned his earlier position and began to argue that baptism was necessary only because it was commanded by Christ.
Regarding the Eucharist, Luther did not hesitate to reject the sacrificial nature of the Mass and the dogma of transubstantiation, but, literally interpreting the words of the institution of the Eucharist (“This is My Body,” “This is My Blood”), he firmly believed in the real, physical presence of the body of Christ and his blood in the substances of the Eucharist (in bread and wine). The substance of bread and wine does not disappear, it is replaced by the Body and Blood of Christ, as Catholic doctrine teaches, but the Body and Blood of Christ permeate the substance of bread and wine or are superimposed on it. This Lutheran teaching was not supported by other reformers, who, more consistently taking into account the premises of their theological systems, interpreted the words of the institution of the Eucharist in a symbolic sense and considered the Eucharist as a remembrance of Christ, having only a symbolic meaning.
Luther's theological system is expounded in many of his polemical writings. Its main provisions were clearly outlined already in the treatise About the freedom of a Christian (De Libertate Christiana, 1520) and subsequently developed in detail in many theological works, written mainly under the fire of criticism of his opponents and in the heat of controversy. A systematic exposition of Luther's early theology is contained in the work of his close friend and adviser Philip Melanchthon - Fundamental Truths of Theology (Loci communes rerum theologicarum, 1521). In later editions of this book, Melanchthon moved away from Luther's views. He believed that the human will cannot be considered entirely passive in the process of justification and that the indispensable factor is its consent to the word of God. He also rejected Luther’s teaching on the Eucharist, preferring its symbolic interpretation.
Zwingli also disagreed with Luther on these and other aspects of his theology. He took a more decisive position than Luther in affirming Scripture as the only authority and in recognizing as binding only what is written in the Bible. His ideas regarding the structure of the church and the form of worship were also more radical.
The most significant work created during the Reformation was (Institutio religionis christianae) Calvin. The first edition of this book contained a detailed presentation of the new doctrine of salvation. This was basically Luther's teaching with minor modifications. In subsequent editions (the last one was published in 1559), the volume of the book increased, and the result was a compendium containing a complete and systematic presentation of the theology of Protestantism. Departing from Luther's system in many key points, Calvin's system, characterized by logical consistency and amazing ingenuity in the interpretation of Scripture, led to the creation of a new independent Reformed Church, different in its doctrines and organization from the Lutheran Church.
Calvin preserved Luther's fundamental doctrine of justification by faith alone, but if Luther subordinated all other theological conclusions to this doctrine at the cost of inconsistencies and compromises, then Calvin, on the contrary, subordinated his soteriological doctrine (the doctrine of salvation) to a higher unifying principle and inscribed it in the logical structure of the doctrine and religious practice. In his exposition, Calvin begins with the problem of authority, which Luther "confused" with his distinction between the word of God and Scripture and the arbitrary application of this distinction. According to Calvin, man has an innate "sense of divinity" (sensus divinitatis), but the knowledge of God and his will is revealed entirely in Scripture, which is therefore from beginning to end the infallible "norm of eternal truth" and the source of faith.
Together with Luther, Calvin believed that by doing good deeds a person does not acquire merit, the reward for which is salvation. Justification is “the acceptance whereby God, who has received us into grace, regards us as justified,” and it entails the forgiveness of sins by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. But, like Paul, he believed that the faith that justifies is made effective through love. This means that justification is inseparable from sanctification and that Christ justifies no one whom he has not sanctified. Thus, justification involves two stages: first, the act in which God accepts the believer as justified, and second, the process in which, through the work of the Spirit of God in him, a person is sanctified. In other words, good works make no contribution to justification, which saves, but they necessarily follow from justification. To protect the moral system from corruption as a result of removing good works from the mystery of salvation, Luther appeals to the obligations associated with life in the community, to the purely human motive of convenience. Calvin sees in good works a necessary consequence of justification and an unmistakable sign that it has been achieved.
This doctrine, and the related doctrine of predestination, must be seen in the context of Calvin's concept of God's universal plan for the universe. The highest attribute of God is his omnipotence. All created things have only one reason for existence - God, and only one function - to increase his glory. All events are predetermined by him and his glory; the creation of the world, the fall of Adam, redemption by Christ, salvation and eternal destruction are all parts of his divine plan. Augustine, and with him everyone Catholic tradition They recognize predestination to salvation, but reject its opposite - predestination to eternal destruction. Accepting it is tantamount to saying that God is the cause of evil. According to Catholic teaching, God unerringly foresees and immutably predetermines all future events, but man is free to accept grace and choose good, or to reject grace and create evil. God wants everyone, without exception, to be worthy of eternal bliss; no one is ultimately predestined either to destruction or to sin. From eternity God foresaw the continual torment of the wicked and ordained the punishment of hell for their sins, but at the same time he tirelessly offers sinners the gracious mercy of conversion and does not bypass those who are not predestined for salvation.
Calvin, however, was not troubled by the theological determinism that was implied in his concept of the absolute omnipotence of God. Predestination is “the eternal decrees of God by which he decides for himself what is to become of every individual.” Salvation and destruction are two integral parts of the divine plan, to which human concepts of good and evil are not applicable. For some it is predestined eternal life in heaven, so that they become witnesses of divine mercy; for others it is eternal destruction in hell, so that they become witnesses of the incomprehensible justice of God. Both heaven and hell display and promote the glory of God.
In Calvin's system there are two sacraments - baptism and the Eucharist. The meaning of baptism is that children are accepted into a covenant union with God, although they will understand the meaning of this only in later life. Baptism corresponds to circumcision in the Old Testament covenant. In the Eucharist, Calvin rejects not only the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but also Luther's doctrine of the real, physical presence, as well as Zwingli's simple symbolic interpretation. For him, the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist is understood only in a spiritual sense; it is not mediated physically or materially by the Spirit of God in the spirit of people.
The theologians of the Reformation did not question all the dogmas of the first five ecumenical councils regarding Trinitarian and Christological teachings. The innovations they introduced concern primarily the areas of soteriology and ecclesiology (the study of the church). The exception was the radicals of the left wing of the reform movement - the anti-trinitarians (Servetus and the Socinians).
The various churches that arose as a result of disagreements within the main branches of the Reformation still remained true, at least in essential matters, to three theological doctrines. These branches from Lutheranism, and to a greater extent from Calvinism, differ from each other mainly in matters of institutional rather than religious. The Anglican Church, the most conservative of them, retained the episcopal hierarchy and rite of ordination, and with them traces of the charismatic understanding of the priesthood. Scandinavian Lutheran churches are also built on the Episcopalian principle. Presbyterian Church (M., 1992
Luther M. The Time of Silence Has Gone: Selected Works 1520–1526. Kharkov, 1992
History of Europe from ancient times to the present day, vol. 1 –
8. T. 3: (end of the fifteenth – first half of the seventeenth century.). M., 1993
Christianity. Encyclopedic Dictionary
, vol. 1–3. M., 1993–1995
Medieval Europe through the eyes of contemporaries and historians: A book to read,
hh. 1 –
5.
part 4: From the Middle Ages to the New Age. M., 1994
Luther M. Selected works. St. Petersburg, 1997
Porozovskaya B.D. Martin Luther: His life and reform work. St. Petersburg, 1997
Calvin J. Instruction in the Christian Faith, vol. I–II. M., 1997–1998
| Protestantism |
|
Reformation Doctrines of Protestantism Pre-Reformation movements of the Church of the Reformation Post-Reformation movements "The Great Awakening" Restorationism In addition to economic and national oppression, the preconditions for the Reformation were humanism and the changed intellectual environment in Europe. The critical spirit of the Renaissance allowed us to take a fresh look at all cultural phenomena, including religion. The Renaissance's emphasis on individuality and personal responsibility helped to critically reexamine church structure in a kind of revisionism, and the fashion for ancient manuscripts and primary sources alerted people to the inadequacy of early Christianity and modern church. People with an awakened mind and a worldly outlook became critical of the religious life of their time in the person of the Catholic Church. Forerunners of the ReformationJohn Wycliffe Economic pressure, multiplied by the infringement of national interests, caused a protest against the Avignon popes in England back in the 14th century. The spokesman for the discontent of the masses then became John Wycliffe, a professor at Oxford University, who proclaimed the need to destroy the entire papal system and secularize the monastic-church land. Wycliffe was disgusted by the "captivity" and schism and after 1379 began to oppose the dogmatism of the Roman Church with revolutionary ideas. In 1379, he attacked the authority of the Pope by expressing in his writings the idea that Christ, and not the Pope, was the head of the church. He argued that the Bible, not the church, is the only authority of the believer and that the church should be modeled on the New Testament. To support his views, Wyclif made the Bible available to the people in their own language. By 1382, the first complete translation of the New Testament into English was completed. Nicholas of Herford completed the translation of most of the Old Testament into English in 1384. Thus, for the first time, the English had the complete text of the Bible in their native language. Wyclif went even further and in 1382 opposed the dogma of transubstantiation, although the Roman Church believed that the essence of the elements changes while the external form remains unchanged. Wycliffe argued that the substance of the elements remains unchanged, that Christ is spiritually present during this sacrament and is felt by faith. To accept Wycliffe's view was to admit that the priest is not able to influence the salvation of a person by prohibiting him from receiving the body and blood of Christ at the Eucharist. Although Wycliffe's views were condemned in London and Rome, his teaching on equality in the church was applied to economic life by the peasants and contributed to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Students from the Czech Republic who studied in England brought his teachings to their homeland, where it became the basis for the ideas of Jan Hus. The Czech Republic at this time was experiencing the dominance of the German clergy, who sought to acquire land in the Kuttenber mines. Jan Hus, pastor of Bethlehem Chapel, who studied at the University of Prague and became its rector around 1409, read Wycliffe's writings and absorbed his ideas. Hus's sermons came at a time of rising Czech national consciousness, which opposed the power of the Holy Roman Empire in the Czech Republic. Hus proposed a reform of the church in the Czech Republic, similar to that proclaimed by Wyclif. In an effort to suppress popular discontent, Emperor Sigismund I and Pope Martin V initiated a church council in Constance, at which John Hus and his associate Jerome of Prague were declared heretics and burned at the stake. John Wycliffe was also declared a heretic. Lutheran ReformationReformation in GermanyBeginning of the Reformation in GermanyIn Germany, which to the beginning 16th century still remained a politically fragmented state, dissatisfaction with the church was shared by almost all classes: the peasants were ruined by church tithes and posthumous taxes, the products of artisans could not compete with the products of monasteries, which were not taxed, the church expanded its land holdings in the cities, threatening to turn the townspeople into lifelong debtors . All this, as well as the huge amounts of money that the Vatican exported from Germany, and the moral decay of the clergy, served as the reason for the speech of Martin Luther, who October 31 1517 nailed his "95 Theses". In them, the doctor of theology spoke out against the sale of indulgences and the power of the Pope over the remission of sins. In the doctrine he preached, he proclaimed that the church and the clergy are not a mediator between man and God. He declared false the claims of the papal church that it could give people through the sacraments "remission of sins" and "salvation of the soul" due to the special powers from God with which it supposedly was endowed. The main position put forward by Luther was that a person achieves “salvation of the soul” (or “justification”) not through the church and its rituals, but through faith, given to him directly by God. During this time, Luther had good reason to hope for the realization of his idea of “spiritual rebellion”: imperial rule, contrary to the papal bull of 1520 and the Edict of Worms of 1521, did not prohibit reformist “innovations” completely and irrevocably, transferring the final decision to the future Reichstag or church cathedral. The convened Reichstags postponed consideration of the case until the convening of the church council, only forbidding Luther to print new books. However, following the movement of a radical burgher group, accompanied by spontaneous uprisings of the masses, an uprising of imperial knighthood took place in the country. In 1523, part of the knights, led by Ulrich von Hutten and Franz von Sickingen, dissatisfied with their position in the empire, rebelled, proclaiming themselves to be continuers of the cause of the Reformation. Hutten saw the tasks of the movement raised by the Reformation as preparing the entire German people for a war that would lead to the rise of chivalry and its transformation into the dominant political force in an empire liberated from Roman dominance. Very quickly the knightly uprising was suppressed, but it showed that Luther’s aspirations to come to the Reformation through peaceful means would no longer be realized. Proof of this was the Peasant War that soon broke out, led by Thomas Münzer. The Peasants' War by Thomas MünzerThe Peasant War was a consequence of the peasant masses interpreting the ideas of the Reformation as a call for social change. In many ways, these sentiments were facilitated by the teachings of Thomas Münzer, who in his sermons called for rebellion and a socio-political revolution. However, the inability of the peasant masses and burghers to unite in a joint struggle led to defeat in the war. After the Augsburg Reichstag, the Protestant princes began to form a defensive League of Schmalkalden, the inspiration for the creation of which was Philip, Landgrave of Hesse. Reformation in Germany after Luther's deathImmediately after Luther's death, German Protestants faced a severe test. Having won a number of victories over the Turks and French, Emperor Charles V decided to take up internal affairs. Having concluded an alliance with the pope and William of Bavaria, he sent his troops to the lands of the princes participating in the League of Schmalkalden. As a result of the ensuing Schmalkalden War, the Protestant troops were defeated; in 1547, the emperor’s troops captured Wittenberg, which had been the unofficial capital of the Protestant world for almost 30 years (Luther’s grave was not looted by order of the emperor), and the Elector of Saxony, Johann Friedrich and Landgrave Philip ended up in prison. As a result, at the Reichstag in Augsburg on May 15, 1548, an interim was announced - an agreement between Catholics and Protestants, according to which the Protestants were forced to make significant concessions. However, Karl failed to implement his plan: Protestantism had taken deep roots on German soil and had long been the religion of not only princes and merchants, but also peasants and miners, as a result of which the implementation of interim met stubborn resistance. Reformation in Denmark and NorwayAt the request of King Christian, Melanchthon sent an experienced reformer priest, Johannes Bugenhagen, to Denmark, who led the implementation of the Reformation in the country. As a result, the Reformation in Denmark was guided by German models. According to Danish historians, “With the introduction of the Lutheran Church, Denmark became a German province in ecclesiastical terms for a long time.” In 1537, by decree of the king, a commission of “learned people” was created to develop a code for the new church, which included Hans Tausen. Luther was familiarized with the drafted code, and with his approval, in September of the same year, the new church law was approved. Reformation in Sweden and Finland
Triumph of Gustav Vas. Woman in a Yellow Dress - Catholic Church In 1527, at the Västerås Riksdag, the king was proclaimed head of the Church, and the property of the monasteries was confiscated in favor of the crown. The affairs of the Church began to be managed by secular persons appointed by the king. In 1531, Olaus's brother Lawrence became Archbishop of Sweden. Under his leadership, a Church Council was held in Uppsala in 1536, at which Lutheran church books were recognized as mandatory for all of Sweden. Celibacy was abolished. In 1571, Lavrentiy Petri developed "Swedish Church Rules", which defined the organizational structure and character of the self-governing Swedish Church. Pastors and laity were given the opportunity to choose bishops, but the final approval of candidates became the prerogative of the king. At the same time, it should be noted that due to the absence of violent confrontation between Roman Catholics and adherents of the Reformation, which took place in the countries of Central Europe, the differences in the external nature of the services of the reformed and Roman Catholic Churches were minimal. Therefore, the Swedish rite is considered to be an example of a high-church tradition in Lutheranism. It is also formally considered that the Church of Sweden has Apostolic Succession, so Lawrence Petri was ordained bishop by Peter Magnusson, Bishop of Westeros, ordained to his rank in Rome. The Reformation was also carried out in Finland, at that time claimed to be part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The first Lutheran bishop in Finland (in Abo) was Mikael Agricola, who compiled the first primer of the Finnish language and translated it into Finnish New Testament and parts of the Old Testament. Reformation in the BalticsThe Reformation in the Baltics began with the lands of the Teutonic Order. In 1511, Albrecht of Brandenburg was chosen as his grandmaster. He tried to pursue a policy independent of Poland, as a result of which in 1519 the Poles devastated all of Prussia. Then Albrecht decided to take advantage of the spread of the Reformation in Prussia, in 1525 he secularized the order and received it from the Polish king as a duchy. The German emperor deposed Albrecht, the pope excommunicated him from the church, but Albrecht did not give up his cause. Reformation processes affected the lands of the Livonian Confederation quite early. Already in the 1520s, Luther's students Johann Bugenhagen, Andreas Knopcken and Sylvester Tegetmeyer performed here. The reformer of Dorpat was Melchior Hoffman. Their sermons found a lively response among both the nobles and the burghers and urban poor. As a result, in 1523-1524. The main Catholic churches in Tallinn and Riga were destroyed and the Catholic clergy expelled. Parts of the Bible were translated into Latvian by Nikolaus Ramm. In 1539, Riga became part of the Protestant cities. The Landtag in Valmiera in 1554 proclaimed freedom of faith, which actually meant the victory of Lutheranism. But the triumph of one or another creed in various parts of the former Livonian Confederation was largely due to who they began to belong to after the Livonian War. AnabaptistsAfter the defeat in the Peasant War, the Anabaptists did not show themselves openly for a long time. Nevertheless, their teaching spread quite successfully, and not only among peasants and artisans. In the early 30s, a large number of them were in West Germany.
John of Leiden at the baptism of girls Calvinist ReformationReformation in SwitzerlandA situation similar to the German one also developed in Switzerland, where the authority of the Catholic Church fell due to abuse, debauchery and ignorance of the clergy. The monopoly position of the church in the field of ideology here was also undermined by the successes of secular education and humanism. However, here in Switzerland, purely political ones were added to the ideological prerequisites: the local burghers sought to turn a confederation of cantons independent from each other into a federation, secularize church lands, and prohibit military mercenaryism, which diverted workers from production. However, such sentiments prevailed only in the so-called urban cantons of the country, where capitalist relations had already emerged. The more conservative forest cantons maintained friendly relations with the Catholic monarchies of Europe, whose armies they supplied with mercenaries. The close connection between political and ideological protest gave rise to the Reformation movement in Switzerland, the most prominent representatives of which were those committed in remembrance of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. While Luther made an alliance with the princes, Zwingli was a supporter of republicanism, an exposer of the tyranny of monarchs and princes. Zwingli's ideas became widespread in Switzerland during his lifetime, but after the death of the reformer they were gradually supplanted by Calvinism and other movements of Protestantism. The core tenet of the teachings of John Calvin was the doctrine of “universal predestination,” according to which God destined each person for his fate: for some, eternal damnation and sorrow, for others, the chosen ones, eternal salvation and bliss. A person is not given the opportunity to change his fate; he can only believe in his chosenness, applying all his hard work and energy to achieve success in his life. worldly life. Calvin affirmed the spiritual nature of the sacrament and believed that only the elect receive God's grace during its administration. Calvin's ideas spread to Switzerland and beyond, serving as the basis for the Reformation in England and the Dutch Revolution. Reformation in ScotlandIn Scotland, the initial manifestation of Luther's ideas was brutally suppressed: Parliament tried to ban the distribution of his books. However, this attempt was largely unsuccessful. And only the decisive influence of the political factor (the Scottish lords, by supporting English Protestantism, hoped to get rid of French influence) legitimized the Reformation. Reformation in the NetherlandsThe main prerequisites for the Reformation in the Netherlands were determined, as in other European countries, by a combination of socio-economic, political, cultural changes with increasing different layers society's dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church - its privileges, wealth, extortions, ignorance and immorality of the clergy. Opposition to the policies pursued by the government, which brutally persecuted dissenters, even to the point of equating heretical views with a crime against the state, also played an important role in the spread of reform ideas. J. Lefebvre d'Etaplemes and G. Brisonnet (bishop of Meaux). In the 20-30s of the 16th century, Lutheranism and Anabaptism became widespread among wealthy townspeople and the plebeian masses. A new rise of the reformation movement, but in the form of Calvinism, dates back to the 40-50s.
Reformation in EnglandThe Reformation in England, unlike other countries, was carried out “from above”, at the behest of the monarch Henry VIII, who thus tried to break with the pope and the Vatican, as well as strengthen his absolute power. Under Elizabeth I, the final edition of the Anglican Creed (the so-called “39 Articles”) was compiled. The “39 Articles” also recognized Protestant dogmas about justification by faith, about Holy Scripture as the only source of faith, and the Catholic dogma about the only saving power of the church (with some reservations). The church became national and became an important support of absolutism, it was headed by the king, and the clergy was subordinate to him as part of the state apparatus of the absolutist monarchy. The service was performed in English. The teaching of the Catholic Church on indulgences, on the veneration of icons and relics was rejected, and the number of holidays was reduced. At the same time, the sacraments of baptism and communion were recognized, the church hierarchy was preserved, as well as the liturgy and magnificent cult characteristic of the Catholic Church. Tithes were still collected, which began to go to the king and the new owners of the monastery lands. Russia and the ReformationThere was no Reformation as such in Russia. However, due to close contacts with the states of Central Europe, as well as military clashes, masters began to appear in Russia, as well as prisoners of war, who were allowed to practice their faith by the Russian tsars. The most massive resettlement occurred during the Livonian War, during which not only artisans, but even hierarchs of the Lutheran Church found themselves deep into the Russian Kingdom. So in the city, the Finnish reformer Mikael Agricola, the bishop of the city of Abo, traveled to Moscow as part of an embassy. In the poetic “Exposition on Luthors” by the Moscow scribe Ivan Nasedka, who relied on the experience of the polemical writings of the Ukrainian Zacharia Kopystensky. A number of researchers associate the activities of Peter I in transforming the Russian Orthodox Church (abolition of the patriarchate with the subordination of the church to secular power, restrictions on monasticism) with Protestant influence. However, very exotic personalities were periodically classified as Lutherans in Russia. The Old Believer book “Russian Grapes” tells about a certain Vavil, famous for his ascetic deeds and burned in 1666: “Byash... of the foreign race, Luthor faith, artistic teachings, all the artistic sciences passed... in the more glorious Academy of Paris, studying for a long time, languages but by many... good and well-versed verbs.” Counter-Reformation, then internally these were processes that can be called reformation in the Catholic Church itself. Paul IV (a member of the commission of Paul III) expelled from Rome 113 bishops who illegally left their dioceses, under him hundreds of monks were sent back to their monasteries. Even cardinals suspected of immorality were persecuted. In addition, a new type of monastic orders were established - the Theatines, Capuchins, Ursulines and Jesuits. The latter began actively promoting Catholicism, both in Protestant countries, and in territories where before there were no Christian missionaries at all. Upon entering the order, the Jesuit swore an oath not only to the general, but also to the pope himself. Largely thanks to the activities of the Jesuits, it was possible to return the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Catholic Church. Results of the Reformation The results of the reform movement cannot be characterized unambiguously. On the one hand, the Catholic world, which united all the peoples of Western Europe under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, ceased to exist. The single Catholic Church was replaced by a multitude of national churches, which were often dependent on secular rulers, whereas previously the clergy could appeal to the pope as an arbiter. On the other hand, national churches contributed to the growth of the national consciousness of the peoples of Europe. At the same time, the cultural and educational level of the inhabitants of Northern Europe, which until then was, as it were, the outskirts of the Christian World, significantly increased - the need to study the Bible led to the growth of both primary educational institutions (mainly in the form of parochial schools) and higher educational institutions, which was reflected in the creation of universities to train personnel of national churches. For some languages, writing was specially developed in order to be able to publish the Bible in them. The proclamation of spiritual equality stimulated the development of ideas about political equality. Thus, in countries where the majority were Reformed, the laity were given greater opportunities in governing the church, and citizens - in governing the state. The main achievement of the Reformation was that it significantly contributed to the change of old feudal economic relations to new capitalist ones. The desire for economy, for the development of industry, for the abandonment of expensive entertainment (as well as expensive religious services) contributed to the accumulation of capital, which was invested in trade and production. As a result, Protestant states began to outstrip Catholic and Orthodox states in economic development. Even the Protestant ethic itself contributed to the development of the economy. |
In modern historical science, the term “Reformation”, which is translated from Latin as “transformation” or “correction”, is usually understood as a socio-political movement that swept the countries of Central and Western Europe in the period of the 16th-17th centuries. His goal was to transform Catholicism, mired in mercantile interests, and bring it into conformity with biblical teaching.
The brake on social development in Europe
According to researchers, the history of the beginning of the Reformation (renewal of Christianity) in Europe is inextricably linked with the emergence of a new and rapidly developing bourgeois class. If during the Middle Ages the Catholic Church, being a vigilant guardian of feudal foundations, fully met the interests of the ruling classes, then under the conditions of new historical realities it became a brake on social development.
Suffice it to say that in a number of European states up to 30% of the land cultivated by serfs was church property. Various production workshops were created at the monasteries, the products of which were not taxed, which led to the ruin of secular artisans, who were everywhere inferior to them in the competition.
The same applies to the sphere of trade, where the church had various benefits, while the laity who tried to engage in this type of activity were subject to exorbitant duties. On top of everything else, the clerics themselves were inexhaustible in all sorts of extortions and extortion, finding justification for them in the Christian teaching that they deliberately distorted.
The bourgeoisie as the driving force of reforms
In the current situation, it was the bourgeoisie, which appeared in the 15th century and gained strength by the beginning of the next century, that contributed to the beginning of the reformation - the renewal of Christianity - in Europe. Representatives of this class not only managed to occupy leading positions in the country's economy, but also began to lay claim to political hegemony. Not wanting to abandon Christianity, the bourgeoisie, nevertheless, rebelled against the existing form of Catholicism, demanding its simplification and reduction in cost.
Business people, who grew in number every year, did not want to spend money on building grandiose churches and organizing magnificent prayer services. They preferred to invest it in production, creating more and more new enterprises. The general hatred was also reinforced by the frankly obscene behavior of the priests themselves, who shamelessly trampled upon the moral principles commanded by Christ.
In addition, one of the reasons for the beginning of the Reformation in Europe was the change in its intellectual environment and the establishment of the principles of humanism, which were a characteristic feature of the Renaissance. The spirit of free criticism established over the years gave the opportunity not only to the progressive people of that time, but also to the broad masses to take a fresh look at the phenomena of culture and religion. However, in each European country this process had its own characteristic differences. In particular, it is noted that where the arbitrariness of the clergy was limited by legislative measures, the church managed to maintain its position longer.
Freethinker from the shores of Britain
The beginning of the Reformation in England was laid by Oxford University professor John Wycliffe. In 1379, he issued an appeal directed against the basic dogma of the Roman Church on papal infallibility. In addition, the venerable scientist and teacher advocated for the secularization (confiscation in favor of the state) of church lands and the abolition of most institutions of Catholicism. He openly declared that the head of the church is Jesus Christ, and not the Roman Pontiff, who arbitrarily arrogated this honor to himself.
To give his statements more credibility, Wycliffe translated the Bible into English for the first time, making its reading accessible to the broad masses of the country's secular population. A little later, the full text of the Old Testament became available to his compatriots. Thus, the people were able to comprehend Christian teaching in its true form, and not in the edition that the Catholic clergy offered them. This also largely served as a stimulus and marked the beginning of the Reformation in England.
Czech follower of John Wycliffe
When talking about who started the Reformation in the Czech Republic, they usually mention the name of its national hero Jan Hus, who opposed the dominance in his country of the clergy sent from the Holy Roman Empire. The formation of his worldview was largely influenced by Czech students who returned to their homeland after studying in England and there came under the influence of the ideas of John Wycliffe.
Having become the rector of the University of Prague in 1409, Jan Hus widely propagated the views of the English reformer and, on their basis, called for radical changes in the Czech church. His speeches resonated with the broad masses, and in order to stop the growing unrest, Pope Martin IV, with the support of Emperor Sigismund I, initiated a trial in which the Czech reformer and his closest associate Jerome of Prague were sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The Birth of Lutheranism
However, despite the significance of the activities of John Wycliffe and Hus, the beginning of the Reformation in Europe (renewal of Christianity) is usually associated with the name of the prominent German theologian Martin Luther. It was his name that named one of the religious movements that emerged at the beginning of the 16th century - Lutheranism. Let us dwell briefly on the event that is considered to be the beginning of the Reformation in Germany.
Fertile ground for the implementation of religious reforms was created by the dissatisfaction with the church that gripped all segments of the population. The peasants could no longer tolerate the tithe tax, which was destructive for them, and the artisans went bankrupt, unable to withstand competition with the monastic workshops exempt from taxes, as mentioned above. Receiving huge profits, the clergy annually sent a large part of the income to the Vatican, indulging the insatiable appetites of the popes. In addition, in the cities, the land holdings of the church expanded every year, which threatened to plunge their inhabitants into bondage.
What event marked the beginning of the reformation in Germany
However, the main events were destined to take place not on the islands of Britain, and not in the Czech Republic, but in Germany. Against the backdrop of general discontent, on October 31, 1517 (this date is usually considered the beginning of the Reformation), a copy of a letter sent by Doctor of Theology Martin Luther to the Archbishop of Mainz appeared on the doors of the Cathedral in Wittenberg. In this document, which consisted of 95 points, he harshly criticized many of the foundations of contemporary Catholicism.
In particular, he opposed the sale of indulgences ─ letters of remission of sins, issued to everyone for a certain fee. This type of business brought enormous profits to the churchmen, although it was contrary to Christian teaching. As you know, Christ called faith given to a person from above, and not church rituals, as the only path to the salvation of the soul.
Even at the very beginning of the Reformation in Germany, Luther taught that neither the pope nor the clergy are mediators between people and God, and their claims to the right of remission of sins through the holy sacraments are false. In addition, the German freethinker questioned the legitimacy of all papal decrees and decrees of the church, pointing out that the only authority in spiritual life could be the Holy Scriptures.
Celibacy, a vow of celibacy and eternal chastity taken by all Catholic clergy, also came under his criticism. Luther pointed out that this opposition to human nature actually results in a fall into the gravest sins. The document that appeared on the doors of the cathedral contained other, no less harsh reproaches against the church. Since printing was already established in Germany at that time, Martin Luther’s appeal, replicated in local printing houses, became the property of all residents of the country.
Break with the official church
Having received news of what had happened, the Vatican did not attach serious importance to it, since cases of isolated riots among the clergy had occurred before. That is why the beginning of the Reformation in Germany passed without any dramatic events. However, the situation changed radically after Luther openly supported the previously convicted Jan Hus and expressed no confidence in the church tribunal that passed the verdict. This was already seen as a violation of the authority of not only the church hierarchs, but also the pope himself.
Not stopping there, in December 1520, Luther publicly burned a papal bull - a message that condemned his views. This was an act unprecedented in its courage, which meant a complete break with the church. Secular authorities tried to somehow hush up the scandal, and the newly elected head of the Holy Roman Empire, which, in addition to Germany, then included Italy, the Czech Republic and partly France, summoned the freethinker and tried to convince him of the need to renounce heretical views.
Beyond secular laws
By refusing and remaining adamant in his convictions, the daring theologian placed himself outside the law throughout the territory controlled by the emperor. However, nothing could stop the advancing wave of religious reformation in Europe. Thanks to his speech, Martin Luther became widely known not only in Germany, but also abroad, and gained many supporters.
Streak of persecution and persecution
If the beginning of the Reformation (renewal of Christianity) in Europe was limited relatively little blood, then after Luther’s open break not only with the church, but also with the secular authorities, repressions followed. The first to die at the stake of the Inquisition were two monks who dared to conduct anti-papal propaganda in the Netherlands.
Following them, dozens of other freethinkers laid down their lives on the altar of the Reformation. Luther himself escaped certain death only thanks to the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise, who almost by force hid the one who laid the foundation for the Reformation in one of his castles. Fleeing from persecution, Luther did not waste his time: having translated the text of the Bible into German, he made it accessible to all his compatriots.
The beginning of mass protests
But the fire of religious rebellion flared up with uncontrollable force, finally resulting in serious social upheaval. Despite the fact that representatives of each segment of the population interpreted Luther's teachings in their own way, all of Germany was soon engulfed in popular unrest. A particularly significant contribution to the reformation was made by the burgher movement, whose participants were city residents led by Gabriel Zwilling and Andreas Karlstadt.
Demanding that the authorities carry out immediate and radical reforms, they showed exceptional unity and organization. Soon they were joined by the broad masses of rural residents, who were also vitally interested in changing the existing order. It should be noted that both of them did not speak out against Christianity, but only condemned the greed and selfishness of those who arrogated to themselves the right to be expressors of God's will and derive considerable income from this.
The rebellion that developed into the Peasants' War
As has often happened in history, fair demands very quickly grew into a “senseless and merciless” rebellion. Crowds of people began to destroy churches and monasteries. Many architectural monuments of the Middle Ages and entire libraries of unique manuscripts were destroyed in the fires.
Following the mob, the knighthood joined the ranks of the reformers, whose representatives also had good reason to hate the Roman clergy. The apogee of everything was the Peasant War led by Thomas Münzer, which engulfed Germany in 1524 and soon spread to the whole of Central Europe.
Who are Protestants?
To conclude the story about what events served as the beginning of the Reformation in Germany, it is necessary to explain the origin of the term “Protestantism,” which later came to be called the direction of Christianity founded by Martin Luther in the first half of the 16th century. The fact is that after the end of the Peasant War in 1526, the so-called Edict of Wormos, by which the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared Luther a criminal and a heretic, was canceled.
However, just three years later, at a meeting of the Reichstag - the highest legislative and advisory body of the empire - this document was again given legal force, which caused a protest from representatives of 14 cities, where the ideas of the rebellious theologian found universal recognition. It was thanks to these protesters that all supporters of the Reformation subsequently began to be called Protestants, and the direction of religion itself became Protestantism.
Conclusion
The beginning of the Reformation (renewal of Christianity) in Europe, briefly described in this article, resulted in a long process, as a result of which, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, another direction of followers of the teachings given by Jesus Christ appeared - Protestantism. Subsequently, it was divided into several reformation churches, the most numerous of which today are Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglican.
Related articles
The best amulets against the evil eye and damage Amulet against the evil eye with hands for children
How to read the Psalter correctly
Delicious dishes with sausages
A glimpse of Bella. Romantic chronicle. A glimpse of genius. Messerer about Akhmadulina Boris Messerer glimpse of Bella romantic chronicle
I dreamed that I was sailing on a boat on the river
How to cook beef entrecote in a frying pan
About the company Foreign language courses at Moscow State University
Which city and why became the main one in Ancient Mesopotamia?
Why Bukhsoft Online is better than a regular accounting program!
Which year is a leap year and how to calculate it