Hillerbrand - Historical Dictionary of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation

Chicago, IL: FITZROY DEARBORN PUBLISHERS, 2000. – 304 p.

ISBN 1-57958-205-2

 

The Reformation of the 16th century used to be seen as one of the pivotal events in European history. Lord Acton, the famous 19th-century British historian, compared the importance of Martin Luther’s speech at the diet at Worms in 1521 with Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, surely a rather extravagant claim. But the 19th century also was the time when the ideas and ideals of the Protestant Reformation were seen as harbingers of modernity, and those disposed to a religious perspective saw the Reformation as the most authentic interpretation of Christianity since the days of the apostolic age. This exuberant perspective was discounted, of course, by Catholic historians whose notion was the diametrically reversed insistence that Protestantism had destroyed a flourishing religious culture. Late medieval Christianity was seen as having a splendid vitality and piety, only to be torn apart by the Protestant Reformation.

 

Much has been written about the “causes” of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, all the way from arguing a despicable state of the Catholic Church in the early 16th century (the favorite explanation of Protestant historians) to the notion that German society found itself in a deep state of crisis early in the 16th century of which the Reformation was an outcome. My own view of the matter is that all of this was so—and yet not so. I am convinced that the Reformation came about through a somewhat serendipitous convergence of a number of factors, some religious and theological, others not. I am also convinced that the early years of the controversy, the years between 1517 and 1522, received a great deal of importance through the figure of Martin Luther, who seemed to be acting just the right way to catapult events in the direction of the unhealable schism of the one Catholic Church. This is not to say that Martin Luther wanted this—certainly not. His role was that of the unwitting actor.

 

By beginning the story with Martin Luther, I do not mean to reject the notion, nowadays seen as the “cutting edge” of scholarship, that the events of the 16th century and Martin Luther must be placed into a broad historical context, in which the connection between Luther and the Reformation, on the one hand, and late medieval theology and piety, on the other, were far more fluid that used to be acknowledged. There were indeed connections and antecedents, and to look at the broad sweep of two centuries allows insights that It is generally stated that the Reformation had its beginnings with the indulgences proclamation of one John Tetzel and Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses of October 31, 1517. Luther’s theses were meant to invite a theological discussion about the merits of the teaching concerning indulgences (as an outgrowth of Tetzel’s teaching). But Luther sent a copy of the theses to Archbishop Albert of Mainz, who in turn informed the Roman curia of the matter asking also that the processus inhibitorius, the beginnings of heresy proceedings, be launched to ascertain the orthodoxy of Martin Luther’s notions. In the meantime, Luther’s theses had begun making the rounds in Germany, and by early 1518 an academic controversy over the theses, and the theological issues they raised, was in the making. Luther contributed fiercely to this debate, but even more importantly, he began to publish small tracts written in the German vernacular, which dealt not so much with esoteric theological topics but with major themes of Christian living—into which he infused, as goes without saying, his own new theological perspective.

 

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Institutes Of The Christian Religion

 

The first edition of what is probably the most famous Protestant theological writing in the 16th century was published in 1536, when its author, John Calvin (q.v.), was barely 26 years old. Calvin meant his book to be not more than a catechism (q.v.) offering a systematic summary of the new Protestant faith. The first edition was fairly modest in size. Calvin continued to work on the Institutes until the final, third, edition, significantly enlarged, was published in 1559. The reality of a systematic theology from Calvin’s pen has prompted the conclusion that all of Calvin’s thought can be found in the Institutes. This is certainly correct, say in comparison with Martin Luther (q.v.) from whose pen no similar treatment exists. By the same token, however, Calvin’s extensive biblical commentaries are enormously important for the full understanding of his thought.

 

The 1536 edition of the Institutes covered six chapters. Four of these dealt with the Law, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper [qq.v.]). The remaining two chapters were controversial in nature, dealing with the five Catholic sacraments, while the last chapter on “Christian Liberty” dealt with issues of the relationship between the church and society. Calvin constantly revised and enlarged the Institutes, which appeared in several French and Latin editions during his own lifetime. The definitive edition, of 1559, was over five times the size of the original edition. It was divided into four “books,” which in a general way follow the structure of the Apostles’ Creed, dealing with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the church. (See also CALVINISM).