REF - The Protestant Reformation Continues & The Catholic Reformation (Lesson)

The Protestant Reformation Continues & The Catholic Reformation

Other Protestant Reformers

Zwingli

In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli was preaching reform with his main tenets: the opposition to Indulgences, the Mass, monasticism, and clerical celibacy. He was a humanist who often preached using Erasmus' edition of the New Testament in Greek. He led a mini-theocracy within Zurich which advocated:

• Supremacy of the Bible
• Baptism and Communion as symbolic ceremonies (not sacraments)
• Rejected celibacy of clergy
• Emphasized simplicity in worship

Zwingli's dispute with Luther over the role of the Eucharist became the first major dispute among the Protestants in regard to issues of doctrine. The Colloquy of Marburg in 1529 marks Zwingli's official split with Luther over the issue of the Eucharist.

 

Knox

John Knox spread Calvinist ideas to Scotland establishing the Presbyterian church. By 1560, Scotland's parliament adopted Presbyterianism as the state religion.

 

The Anabaptists

The Anabaptists were a Protestant sect that believed in adult baptism, revelation, religious tolerance, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.

They were a voluntary collective of believers. This perhaps informs as to why they may advocate a separation of church and state - there was no connection or allegiance to a state. They opposed the taking of oaths, paying of taxes, serving in the military, or holding public office.

The name comes from the idea of "re-baptism" as they believed you should only be baptized in the church once you were an adult. They believed only adults could make the decision to commit to Christ and therefore rejected the practice of infant baptism.

They believed the laity was equally equipped to preach and had no official church hierarchy. Women were granted many rights not seen in other areas. It was this idea of equality regardless of wealth that concerned many outside observers. Their beliefs were considered too radical for the time and they were persecuted by most.

In 1532, a radical sect of Anabaptists took control of the German city of Münster. John of Leydon promptly established a theocratic government that endorsed commonly held property and polygamy. All books with the exception of the Bible were burned. They also killed those who opposed their takeover. Combined armies of Protestants and Catholics retook the city and executed the leaders.

Not all Anabaptists agreed with the hostile takeover of Münster and many began to distance themselves prior to the recapture of the city. Menno Simons, an ex-priest turned Anabaptist, preached simplicity in life and religious practice and gained many followers as a more moderate leader. The Mennonites advocated pacifism and Amish and Quaker offshoots soon followed.

While they were most influential in Western Germany, Anabaptists were also present in the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Russia, and England.

 

My Church is Better than Your State

With the beginning of the spread of new Protestant religions, there arose challenges to the current political landscape. While many leaders and princes embraced the break from the Catholic Church and its’ iron-grip of power over the actions of leaders, the Protestant Church brought a new problem. The princes, particularly those of the Holy Roman Empire, saw the Protestant Reformation as an opportunity to gain more power and control over their regions without the interference of a non-secular entity. They also saw it as an opportunity to gain control over religious institutions, something which had not happened before. With the Catholic Church, there was never a question as to the supremacy of the church over the state. However, now some Protestants, including the Anabaptists and John Calvin (discussed in the previous lesson) refused to recognize the subordination of the church to the secular states. Examples of Protestant groups that became the basis for the challenge of royal control over religions include:

Huguenots

The Huguenots were French Protestants who followed the tenets of Calvinism. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, they challenged both the Catholic Church and the French crown. They fought for religious freedom, especially in the French Wars of Religion, which we will study in the next lesson. Many fled France and those who stayed were persecuted. Members of the Huguenots tended to be the more elite of society, including high-ranking military officials which threatened the stability of the monarchy, which remained Catholic.

 

England

In 1534, King Henry VIII of England officially broke away from the Catholic Church and established the Anglican Church, or the Church of England. This church remains in place today, however, the reason for its formation is as interesting as is the story of Henry.

Watch the video below. You can access a transcript here Links to an external site.. Please note this video is approximately 35 minutes long. If you are unable to watch the video in one sitting, you can access the timings for each section in the transcript or below the video. Please note the video may take a few minutes to load.

 

The Wives of Henry VIII and the Establishment of the Anglican Church

The Wives of Henry VIII
Slide Topic	Timing	Slide Topic	Timing
Intro	Duration 31 Seconds	Henry & Anne of Cleves	Start - 24:21, Duration 1 minute, 24 seconds
Henry VII, Arthur & Catherine of Aragon	Start - 0:31, Duration - 5 minutes, 47 seconds	Henry & Katherine Howard	Start - 25:46, Duration 1 minute, 15 seconds
Henry & Catherine of Aragon	Start - 6:18, Duration - 3 minutes	Henry & Katherine Parr	Start - 27:01, Duration- 1 minute, 22 seconds
Henry, Catherine & Anne	Start- 9:18, Duration - 10 minutes, 7 seconds	Summation of the Wives	Start - 28:23, Duration - 16 seconds
Henry & Anne	Start - 19:25, Duration - 3 minutes, 21 seconds	The Heirs	Start - 28:39, Duration - 6 minutes, 11 seconds
Henry & Jane	Start- 22:46, Duration 1 minute, 35 seconds

 

 

Puritans

The Puritans were a group in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in England who wanted to “purify” or further reform the practices of the Church of England. They believed that the practices were still too much like the practices of the Catholic Church and that the English Reformation had not gone far enough to rid the Protestant Church of Catholic beliefs. During the time of Elizabeth I (Henry’s daughter) and James I (Elizabeth’s cousin), the Puritans gained some power at court but by the middle of the 17^th century, they were considered to be dissenters. Many of the dissenters began Separatist congregations while others migrated to North America and established the Massachusetts Bays colony.

 

And the Church Responds

Throughout the Reformation, the Catholic Church refused to acknowledge the new religions created. Over time, they could not ignore the changes and attempted to stem the tide of those leaving the church. The attempts took many forms:

• Authorizing Ignatius Loyola to create the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
• Authorizing the Inquisition
• Encouraging the Baroque art movement
• Censorship
• Calling the Council of Trent

 

Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation.

The success of the Reformation forced Pope Paul III to call a general council of the church.

The Pope appointed a reform committee to prepare for the meeting:

• The report presented to the Pope criticized fiscal practices and simony.
• It was so critical that Paul tried to have it suppressed.
• Protestants gained copies of it, reprinted them, and used it as justification for the split.

Eventually, the meeting did take place in 1545 at the city of Trent in Italy.

Took 3 sessions over 18 years to complete due to plague, war, and politics. It spanned the career of 4 popes.

Trent was strictly under the Pope's control. Voting was limited to higher levels of clergy; university theologians, lower clergy & laity were not permitted to vote. Leading Protestants were invited, but were not permitted to participate. None came.

Most important reforms dealt with internal church discipline:

• Curtailed the selling of church offices
• Foreign bishops forced to move to their dioceses
• New rules made these same bishops more visible (more masses, annual visitations)
• Parish priests are now required to be neatly dressed, better educated, and active among parishioners
• No more concubines

Yet no concessions to Protestants. Instead, they reaffirmed Catholic dogma:

• Tradition and scriptures are equally important
• Good works are key to salvation
• Seven sacraments upheld
• Transubstantiation upheld
• Purgatory upheld
• Continued veneration of saints, relics & sacred images
• Restricted selling practices of Indulgences, but upheld them in general
• Created the Index of Forbidden Books
• Marriage is now only valid with the presence of 2 or more witnesses (1 must be a parish priest)

The Council of Trent was the leading influence on Catholicism for 400 Years (The 2nd Council of Trent was not held until 1962.)

 

Review

Review what you have learned by completing the activity below.

 

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ZWINGLI PORTRAIT BY HANS ASPER, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS