The Causes of the Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was one of the most influential and important movements in the history of Europe. While at first glance it may seem to only affect the religions of the day, it had a large political and social impact as well due to the far reaching power of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation was a result of irreconcilable doctrinal differences between the Catholic Church and Protestant reformers, the Papacy’s abuse of power, and Catholic reform attempts that were both long overdue and failed to address the concerns of the Reformers.

The Renaissance’s emphasis on classical education led to an increase in educated and literate people who were able to form their own doctrines based their interpretations of the Bible. These developing differences in doctrine between the future Protestant leaders and the Catholic Church, made the Reformation inevitable. Catholic tradition has always said that sinners must do penance for their sins, while Luther, as a blameless monk living a seemingly exemplary life “had no confidence that my merit would assuage [God].” Another prominent leader of the Reformation, John Calvin, also believed that people are saved based on mercy and not on their works, saying that “we maintain that this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on free mercy, without any respect to human worth.” The Protestant reformers’ belief in the necessity of God’s mercy for salvation was a result of their belief in humanity’s inherently sinful nature, while many in the Catholic Church held a different view of human nature. Catholic humanist Pico della Mirandola express this belief in his Oration of the Dignity of Man , where he says “man is the most fortunate of creatures… For it is on this very account that man is rightly called and judged a greater miracle and a wonderful creature indeed.” While doctrinal differences can be dividing, in this case they weren’t the primary motivation for the split from the Roman Catholic Church.

The greatest catalyst for the Protestant reformation was the Papacy’s abuse of power. Martin Luther was often critical of the Pope’s authority, saying that “such superiority is impossible.” Not only did he question his authority, but he accused the Papacy of “juggling [the scriptures], that the Pope, whether be bad or good, cannot err in matters of faith” and said he “usurped the word ‘priest’ for his [monks and priests] and by these means have separated themselves from ordinary Christians.” This constant criticism of the Papacy is what caused the Protestant movement to be regarded as hostile and unwelcome in the Catholic church, preventing it from changing the church from within.

After the Protestant Reformation was well underway, the Roman Catholic church realized that some reforms were necessary in order to protect it from the popular movement. Rather than addressing the reformer’s concerns, the Catholic Church made changes designed to protect their membership. Pope Paul III created the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, in order to protect the Catholic Church “through the training of the young and ignorant in Christianity and through the spiritual consolations of the faith of Christians hearing confessions.” By “training” the young and ignorant, the society of Jesus protected the future of the Catholic church. The success of these reforms can be seen in Teresa of Avila’s The Way of Perfection , where she says “I have confidence, my Lord, in these servant of Thine who are here, knowing that they neither desire nor strive after anything, but to please thee. For thy sake they have left the little they possessed wishing that they possessed more so that they might see Thee with it.” This shows that there were still numerous people who supported the Catholic Church enough to give all they owned happily. While these changes were successful in limiting the damage done to the church by the reformation, they were too late to stop the Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation shaped the history of Europe, created multiple religions and led to a number of conflicts over religion in the near future. Europe was no longer ruled solely by the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity was never to be united throughout Europe again. Sparked by doctrinal differences, and the Papal abuse of power; the Reformation was kept alive by the Catholic church’s nominal reforms that were too late to change the minds of the multitude of Protestant converts.

Sources:
Teresa of Avila’s The Way of Perfection
Pico della Mirandola’s Oration of the Dignity of Man
The Works of John Calvin