On October 31, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, a monk named Martin Luther nailed a list of ninety-five points for debate on the door of Castle Church. This document, known as the Ninety-Five Theses, challenged the Roman Catholic church’s view of salvation and papal authority.
At the time, the Church held extensive political power. With this power came instances of corruption, such as simony (selling Church positions) and nepotism (favoring family relations). The Church also had a worsening issue connected to the sacrament of penance: the sale of indulgences. In this transaction, sinners paid the Church for a document—an indulgence—that was thought to free them from the temporal penalty for their sins, whether on earth or in purgatory. Luther, however, opposed this practice. His revolutionary teachings held that justification comes through faith alone (sola fide), the Scriptures are the only authority on salvation (sola scriptura), and all believers are priests before God (sola sacerdos).
In 1530, a group of Reformation leaders met in Augsburg, Germany, to write a common statement of faith. With Luther unable to attend, a young man named Philip Melanchthon wrote and presented the confession, which became the official creed of the Lutheran church. Melanchthon, born in 1497, was well-educated in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and he taught at the University of Wittenberg at the same time as Martin Luther, whose passionate lectures inspired the young professor. Melanchthon rose in reputation as a theologian through Loci Communes, his 1521 methodical treatise on theological issues. He placed a high emphasis on formulating doctrine purely based on biblical authority.
Another Reformation leader, Ulrich Zwingli, also prioritized the authority of the Scriptures. He was born in 1484 in Switzerland and received his education at the University of Vienna and the University of Basel. Later, as a Catholic priest, he began reading the works of Erasmus, a scholar who wrote the satire The Praise of Folly to point out problems with the Catholic Church. Zwingli passionately studied the Scriptures and independently came to many of the same conclusions as Luther, causing him to lead a reformation in Zurich, Switzerland, based on strict adherence to biblical teachings. He believed that the Christian community should elect a government that would act based on biblical principles, which led to a government in Zurich with elements of theocracy. In contrast to Melanchthon, who was greatly affected and supported by Luther, Zwingli largely developed his reforms separately from Luther’s influence. Zwingli and Luther were kept separate especially by their disagreement over the extent of Christ’s presence in Communion.
Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church strove to stop the spread of reformed thinking in a movement now called the Counter-Reformation. The Oratory of Divine Love, an assembly of devout Roman Catholics, supported movements to revitalize the Church, and popes in the sixteenth century, such as Paul III, brought about much-needed reform in the Catholic Church. Paul III also strongly supported the Jesuit movement, an order of monks who were unshakably loyal to the Pope and focused on carrying out foreign mission work and opposing heresies. Protestantism also met with opposition at the Council of Trent, which began their meetings in 1545 and fervently rejected Protestant teachings. However, despite the opposition, Protestantism continued to thrive in Germany, Scandinavia, France, Scotland, Switzerland, and England, producing the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Anglicans, and many more denominations that survive to this day.
Works Cited:
Cairns, Earle E. Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church. Third ed., Zondervan, 1996, pp. 257-334.
Flam, Brian. “Philipp Melanchthon.” LutheranReformation.org, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 17 Feb. 2016. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022, lutheranreformation.org/history/philip-melanchthon/.
Lawson, Steven. “Zurich Revolutionary: Ulrich Zwingli.” Ligonier.org, Ligonier Ministries, 8 Oct. 2018. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022, www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/zurich-revolutionary-ulrich-zwingli.
Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. Updated Third ed., Thomas Nelson, 2008, pp. 240-277.
Zucker, Steven, and Beth Harris. “An Introduction to the Protestant Reformation.” Khan Academy. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/renaissance-and-reformation/protestant-reformation/a/an-introduction-to-the-protestant-reformation.
Image Credit:
Savin, Alexander. “Door of the Theses in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.” Wikipedia, WikiCommons, 29 Sept. 2016. Accessed 18 Jan. 2022. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Church,_Wittenberg#/media/File:Lutherstadt_Wittenberg_09-2016_photo06.jpg.