The Reformations | Medieval Europe

 Protestantism was exposed to the dangers, threats, and problems that had led to the emergence of the monastic movement. Yet there was an affirmative attitude to change the system of the Church. On the Imitation of Christ and Contempt for the World, was a positive response to Jesus Christ and simply motivated citizens to pursue staying connected with the Church. Yet the Reformation grew rapidly and the formative centers of Christian thought and life shifted from the monasteries to the marketplaces. Cities became centers of thought and reformation.

There was a new emphasis on the doctrines of creation and redemption. To be a Christian does not mean renouncing the world. The Christian is called to work in the world in order to redeem the world. This is done because the world is falling; but it is not evil. Giving yourself to the world was in the aspect of working out of the Christian doctrine of redemption. Failing to do work in the world, results in not being redeemed. 

Believers being “called out” of the world, was rejected by reformers. Reformers accepted the idea that the Christian is called to serve God in the world. This idea, has a relationship to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Reformers rejected the status between “spiritual” and “temporal” order. Works did not sit well with Reformers. Luther stated: “What seem to be secular works are actually the praise of God and represent an obedience which is well pleasing to him.” 

The Protestant work ethic is not “work”. Work does not define the spirituality of man. Protestants found everyday work in the world having hardly any value. God calls his people, not just to faith, but to express that faith in areas of life. This is the “double calling” that Protestants believe in, which is that one is called, in the first place, to be a Christian, and in the second, to live out that faith in the world. 

Max Weber (1864-1920) set out to identify the characteristics of “modern capitalism” of the medieval period. He found early capitalism possessed a strong ethical basis, which linked to personal asceticism in respect to material goods. According to Weber, Calvinism generated the psychological preconditions essential to the development of modern capitalism. The “spirit of capitalism arose from the assurance of salvation. Under Calvinism capitalism was seen as praiseworthy according to Weber.

It is clear there was political and social change throughout Europe from the Reformation. Quentin Skinner for instance argued that the Reformation, more specifically the development of Calvinism, was instrumental in effecting the transition from a medieval notion of worldly order. Calvinism offered an “ideology of transition”, in the individual’s position within the world was declared to rest upon his or her efforts.

Ruler’s played an exponential role in the Reformation. Calvin claimed that any ruler who exceeds the bounds of his or her authority, ordained by God, ceases to be a ruler for that reason, and no longer can have the privilege to rule. These points by Calvin, are marking an important point of transition between feudalism and modern democracy. Important new political theories had been let loose in the French political arena. 

In recent years, a growing body of scholarly work has emerged that argues that the decisive contribution to the emergence of the natural sciences is attributed to Protestantism. Seeing nature as “natural”, was linked with the Protestant hostility toward images. John Calvin assessed that wisdom was invisible, Calvin commended and ventured to express some little jealousy of natural scientists. Robert Merton (1910-2003) suggested that certain types of Protestantism played a significant role in stimulating the consolidation of a scientific culture in seventeenth-century England. Protestantism certainly brought the topic of science into the world of the Reformation.

The Reformation is a movement in which religious ideas played a major role. There were other factors- social, economic, political, and cultural were all involved in the history of the Reformation. It is important to remember these factors, because they play a significant role in today’s society. Modern interpreters may have issue with the factors of religion, because their world has not been directly shaped by religion, they assume that this has always been the case. 

There are three physical agencies of Diffusion: people, books, and correspondence. Vernacular was one of the most distinctive emphases of the Reformation. Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin all made sure their ideas were written in a language that their followers could read. This changed the history of the Reformation. For instance, Martin Luther’s decision in 1520 to switch from being an academic reformer (arguing in Latin to an academic public) to a popular reformer (arguing in German to a broader public) was significant in how the history of his ideas spread throughout Europe.

The widespread adoption of printing books revolutionized how ideas spread across Europe. For example, Calvin never returned to Paris after 1536, yet his works were substantial in Paris. Books were effective in allowing Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin the capability to spread their ideas through writing rather then traveling from village to village to spread their ideas or message. Books originating from Geneva were regulated to exclude Reformation ideas. This forced the trade and communication of the Reformation to travel underground. Until the wars of religion finally slowed the expansion of the Genevan publishing industry.

The interchange of people increased the pace of the Reformation. For example, during the reign of Mary Tudor, many English Protestants left England to Protestant cities (such as Frankfurt, Geneva, and Zurich). When they returned to England when Elizabeth I came to power, these individuals brought the experience of Reformed church life back to their homeland and accelerated the pace of the Reformation.  

The key texts that spread the diffusion of ideas were the following: The Catechisms, Confessions of Faith, and Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Catechisms was a popular manual of Christian doctrine intended for religious instruction and was highly associated with the Reformation. More generally known as the Greater Catechism, it was published by Luther to have pastors and laypersons understand the basic Christian teachings. The work for instance, had a detailed analysis of the Lord’s Prayer, Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles’. Followed by the Greater Catechism, came the Lesser Catechism was published in 1529 for simplicity of expression which ensured that it was widely used and appreciated. The Lesser Catechism was a huge success; it was widely used and adopted for Lutherans and their institutions. The Lesser Catechism question-answer format; this is a strong reason why the Lesser Catechism was successful.   

Confessions of Faith was published to distance the confusion between the magisterial and radical Reformers ideas. Confessions of Faith set the “official” ideas of the Reformation. In general terms, Protestant theologians can be thought of as recognizing three levels or strata of authority: Scripture, The Creeds of Christendom, and Confessions of Faith. Scripture was regarded by the magisterial Reformers as possessing supreme authority in matters of Christian belief and conduct. Magisterial Reformers believed the Creeds of Christendom as representing the consensus of the early church.

 

 Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, was widely read and appreciated in western Europe. The material was re published multiple times, but the success of the 1559 Institutes of the Christian Religion reflects its organization and important ideas. The biggest change was the reordering of the material into four books arranged as follows: The knowledge of God the creator, the knowledge of God the redeemer, the manner of participation in the grace of Jesus Christ, and the external means or aids which God uses to bring us to Jesus Christ. The Institutes of the Christian Religion, was successful because it allowed a puzzled reader to follow the structure of the work. Calvin’s Institute of the Christian Religion, is considered one of the most influential means of transmission of the ideas of the Reformation.