Protestanism Essay, Research Paper

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church continued to assert its

primacy of position. The growth of the papacy had paralleled the growth of the

church, but by the end of the Middle Ages challenges to papal authority from

the rising power of monarchical states had resulted in a loss of papal temporal

authority. An even greater threat to papal authority and church unity arose in

the sixteenth century when the unity of medieval European Christendom was

irretrievably shattered by the Reformation.

Martin Luther was the catalyst that precipitated the new movement. His

personal struggle for religious certainty led him, against his will, to question the

medieval system of salvation and the very authority of the church. His chief

opposition was Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who, due to multiple

circumstances, was unable to impede Luther?s movement. He opposed the

Catholic doctrine of faith and good works for salvation, instead proposing a

doctrine of salvation through faith. His publishing of the Ninety-Five Theses,

which covered the abuse of indulgences, is often seen as the beginning of the

Reformation movement. However, the movement was not only confined to

Luther’s Germany.

Native reform movements in Switzerland found leadership in Ulrich

Zwingli, who eventually sought an alliance with Luther and the German

reformers, and especially in John Calvin, whose Institutes of the Christian

Religion became the most influential summary of the new theology. On most

important doctrines, Calvin was in agreement with Luther. Calvin differed from

Luther in his belief in the concept of predestination, derived from his belief in

God?s supreme authority. This concept became the central focus of succeeding

generations of Calvinists.

One of the more radical Reformation groups, the Anabaptists, set

themselves against other Protestants as well as against Rome, rejecting such

long-established practices as infant baptism and sometimes even such dogmas

as the Trinity and denouncing the alliance of church and state. They believed in

nonviolence and strict separation of church and state, equality, and voluntary

congregations.

England during the Reformation was one of continuous change. The

English Reformation, provoked by the marital troubles of Henry VIII, reflected

the influence of the Lutheran and then of the Calvinistic reforms, but went its

own ?middle way,? retaining both Catholic and Protestant elements.

Following Henry?s reign, Edward VI moved the Church of England toward

Protestantism, followed immediately by a reversion to Catholicism by Mary I.

Elizabeth then reverted to Protestantism, and tried to merge Catholicism and

Protestantism into the Anglican church. The Protestant Reformation did not

exhaust the spirit of reform within the Roman Catholic church.

In response both to the Protestant challenge and to its own needs, the

church summoned the Council of Trent, which would not compromise with the

Protestants by reaffirming traditional teachings, making both faith and good

works necessary for salvation. They reestablished the sacraments, relics, clerical

celibacy, and the practice of indulgences. Responsibility for carrying out the

actions of the council fell in considerable measure on the Society of Jesus, which

was grounded on the principles of absolute obedience to the papacy and to

militarily protect the word of God. The chronological coincidence of the

discovery of the New World and the Reformation was seen as a providential

opportunity to evangelize those who had never heard the gospel.

Trent on the Roman Catholic side and the several confessions of faith on

the Protestant side had the effect of making the divisions permanent. In one

respect the divisions were not permanent, for new divisions continued to

appear. Historically, the most noteworthy of these were probably the ones that

arose in the Church of England. The Puritans objected to the ?remnants of

popery? in the liturgical and institutional life of Anglicanism and pressed for a

further reformation. Because of the Anglican union of throne and altar, this

agitation had direct political consequences, climaxing in the English Revolution

and the execution of King Charles I in 1649. Just as many other denominations

that would form such as the Quakers and Nonconformists, Puritanism found its

most complete expression, both politically and theologically, in North America,

where denominations could find some sanctuary from the persecution of the

homeland.