The Protestant Reformation

I suggest you print out the Table of Reformation Views. As you work through the following skeleton outline, follow the links to the material on each reformer, and try to connect the points on the Table of Reformation Views with what you read about each Reformer.

Read Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential Guide, chapter 6.

Luther

Read the selection entitled "Sin and Justification," by Martin Luther, in Kerr pp. 140-143, and answer the questions in D2L.

Also read the Catholic response formulated at the Council of Trent (selection entitled "Justification and Works" in Kerr pp. 176-178).

Zwingli and the Anabaptists

Calvin

Notes from class

We began to draw a very basic contrast between Catholic and Protestant emphases. Remember, this table is a gross simplification; both Catholics and Protestants have a lot of variety and subtlety in their thinking, and recently they have come agree on much more than they disagree. Still, it's useful to have a basic idea of these contrasts.

The important thing about this table is that the ideas in each column are connected: each point fits in logically with the others in the column.

Why such divergence? Catholics and Protestant both believe their views are supported by scripture, but Protestants try to base their views on the Bible alone, whereas Catholics (following Irenaeus) regard the teaching of the Church (which has been handed down in apostolic succession from bishop to bishop) as the true standard of faith (scripture is a part of that tradition, but the Church determines its interpretation).

{DAY 2}

The Church of England

Roman Catholic Response

The Church was not insensitive to the criticisms of the Protestant Reformers. There were movements of reform and spiritual renewal within the Church itself. But the Roman Church rejected the major doctrinal changes advocated by the Protestants. For example, read Luther's arguments against transubstantiation in Kerr p. 146-148, and the Council of Trent's reaffirmation of transubstantiation in Kerr pp. 178-179.

the Origins of Protestant denominations

The churches that followed the reformers never formed a united Protestant church, but instead split into various movements and groups, eventually resulting in the formation of hundreds of denominations. Study the list of "Churches, denominations, and sects." (Instructor's link to a Chart of Protestant Denominations in America.)

Also read Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential Guide, chapter 7.

Notes from class

Today we worked through the Table of Reformation Views, noting the connections between different views and what we can observe in churches today:

• Scripture
  • The more radical reformers (those toward the bottom of the Table of Reformation Views) were more insistent on following only scripture, and not adding practices they considered human inventions.
  • That is why Zwingli stopped keeping the fast of Lent, boarded up the organ, and removed the paintings and sculptures of saints in his church in Zurich: he felt none of these were supported by scripture.
  • That is why the only music in many early Reformed or Calvinist churches was the singing of psalms.
  • That is why, in the picture of the United Church of Christ church (which comes from the Reformed/Calvinist branch of the Reformation), there were no pictures on the walls or musical instruments.
• The Eucharist
  • The reformers all rejected the idea that the Eucharist is a sacrifice that atones for sins.
    • That is why the Episcopal writer McIlvaine was so upset when some other Episcopalians started to say the Eucharist was a sacrifice performed on an altar by a priest. He insisted that Christ was sacrificed only once, and that the Eucharist was a meal commemorating that sacrifice, and that ordinary believers are all "priests" and don't need a priest to do anything for them.
    • Strangely, though, Episcopal churches do still have "priests" and "altars," so McIlvaine didn't totally succeed in keeping the Episcopal church from those Catholic-like views.
    • Most Protestant churches have tables instead of altars, and "pastors" instead of priests.
  • If the Eucharist is not a sacrifice, then the bread and wine do not have to be Christ's body and blood. The reformers therefore rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, but they disagreed as to whether Christ was present in those elements in some way:
    • Luther said the substance of Christ's body and blood was mingled with the substance of the bread and wine (consubstantiation).
    • Calvin said Christ was really in the elements, but only spiritually, not physically.
    • Zwingli said Christ was not there at all; the bread and wine were just symbols that remind people of him.
  • The more radical reformers said the Eucharist was just a mermorial of a meal symbolizing Christ's death.
    • This view has come to dominate protestantism; it was affirmed even by the Episcopalian McIlvaine.
    • That is why most Protestant churches have tables with the words "do this in remembrance of me," rather than altars.
  • Remember that these fierce debates over how to interpret the Eucharist go back to different views of sin and salvation: if you want to atone for individual sins one at a time, then a repeated atoning sacrifice makes sense; if you are more concerned with original Sin, then remembering a single past sacrifice makes sense.
  • Also, as Christians became more and more influenced by the Enlightenment, the ideas of transubstantiation and the repeated sacrifice of Christ seemed more and more magical and supernatural, and many Christians found it easier to believe that a commemorative meal can have a psychological effect, than that a supernatural transformation and sacrifice can have a direct effect on one's heavenly "account book."
• Baptism / Church & Society
  • Almost all the reformers continued to baptize infants.
    • This makes sense, because most of them continued to see the Church as tied to the state and as coextensive with society: when you are born into society you become a part of the church, so you should be baptized right away.
    • This remains true of many European churches, which remain tied to the state.
    • Even in America, where churches are not tied to the state, churches in the Reformed / Calvinistic tradition continue to baptize infants.
    • These churches typically have small baptismal "fonts" that hold the small amount of water needed for pouring some on an infant's (or adult's) head. These are sometimes near the entrance, symbolizing admission to the church.
  • The most radical reformers, the Anabaptists, argued that only adult baptism is valid.
    • This kind of baptism represents a voluntary choice to separate oneself from society somewhat by joining the Church.
    • Accordingly, Anabaptist churches have typically been minority movements, sometimes persecuted, that refused to participate in government. The Amish are a good example.
    • Some other minority movements that broke off from the Anglican church, such as the Baptists, likewise saw themselves as separate from the state and society, and baptized only adults, even though they did not come from the Anabaptist movement itself.
    • These churches often have large basins in which adults can be fully immersed in water; these are often recessed into the wall behind the stage.

Main point: by looking at a church's layout, you can tell a lot about which branch of the reformation it came from: the Lutheran, Reformed/Calvinist, or more radical branches, whose views are summarized in the Table of Reformation Views.