The Protestant Reformation in Germany

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The Protestant Reformation in Germany

• Freedom v. Authority

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• Martin's mother, Margarette came from a small but
  very well-off family.
• Despite her soft upbringing, she did her share of
  the family's workload but with three children to
  look after she was a harsh disciplinarian.
• Luther recalled once that for thesake of
  stealing a nut, my motheronce beat me until the
  blood flowed.
• Hans also ruled his son with aniron fist.
• Martin later recalled "my father oncewhipped me
  so hard I ran away I hated him until he
  finally managedto win me back."

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• Hans had high hopes for his first son and had his
  heart set on Martin becoming a lawyer which would
  enable the Luthers to climb even higher up the
  social ladder.
• Young Martin followed his father's wishes without
  protest.
• He was sent to the best schools in the area and
  then to the University of Erfurt.
• In 1505 Hans was devastated to learn that his
  son, without consulting him, had decided to
  embrace religion and had sought admission to the
  house of the Augustinian Hermits in Erfurt.

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• Both parents lived to see their son married in
  1525 and the birth of several grandchildren
  before Hans died in 1530 and Margarette in 1531.
• The Luthers, who were disappointed that their son
  had not become a middle-class lawyer, both
  witnessed his transformation into one of the most
  famous and infamous figures of the medieval world.

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The Cast of Characters
Martin Luther, an obscure German monk. Changed
the medieval world and threatened the Catholic
Church like no other.
Leo X, one of the most extravagant Popes in
history. Made the mistake of not seeing Luther as
a threat to the power of the Catholic Church.
Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor from 1500-1558.
Opposed Luther and tried to outlaw him and his
followers as heretics.
Hans and Margarette Luther, pious and hardworking
Germans whose son changed the world forever.
Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony from
1486-1525. Supported Luther and his teachings.
Protected him in his early years so the
Reformation had a chance to flourish.
Katharine von Bora, Luthers wife. Luther found
peace when he married this ex-nun whom he had
helped to escape from a nunnery.
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Martin Luther Driven to Defiance

• I would never have thought that such a storm
  would rise from Rome over one simple scrap of
  paper... -- Martin Luther

Martin Luther, an obscure Augustinian monk
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• Few if any men have changed the course of history
  like Martin Luther.
• In less than ten years, this dedicated German
  monk
• Upset a Church that had ruled for a thousand
  years
• Set in motion a sequence of revolution, war, and
  conflict that would reshape Western
  civilization and bring it into the Modern Era.

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• Luthers story is an account of
• The birth of the modern age
• The collapse of medieval feudalism
• The beginning of the ideals of freedom and
  liberty that are at the core of the 21st century.

Martin Luther detail from the Freedom Window War
Memorial Chapel Washington Cathedral. (Noted are
Moses, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, Paul
Revere and George Washington.)
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• But it is also an intensely human tale
• It is the story of a man who begins his journey
  in the depths of despair, triumphs, but turns to
  despair again when he is faced with forces he
  cannot comprehend or control.
• As his followers sought to build a new and just
  Europe around him, he could only turn on them in
  frustration, declaring that their only goal
  should be Heaven.
• Martin Luther stands as a hero, the man who
  built the bridgebetween the Medieval and
  theModern. His tragedy was thathe would never
  find thecourage to cross it himself.

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• Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by
  the Catholic Church, which held spiritual
  authority over all the nations of Europe.
• For the intensely spiritual Luther, the Church's
  promise of salvation was irresistible.
  (According to legend, he was caught in a
  thunder-storm, terrified by the possibility of
  imminent death, and vowed to become a monk.)
• But after entering the monastery, Luther became
  increasingly doubtful that the Church could
  actually offer him salvation at all. His views
  were upheld by a trip to Rome, where he found
  that the capital of Catholicism was laden with
  corruption.

"God has given us the Papacy. Let us enjoy it!"
Pope Leo X
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• Wracked by despair, Luther finally finds release
  in the pages of the Bible, when he discovers that
  it is not the Church, but his own individual
  faith that will guarantee his salvation
• Rom 328 "We maintain therefore thata man is
  justified by faith apart from theworks of the
  law."
• Rom 51-2 "Being therefore justified by faith,
  we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
  Christ through whom we also have our access by
  faith into this grace in which we stand.
• Gal 215-16 We, being Jews by nature, and not
  Gentile sinners, yet knowing that a man is not
  justified by the works of the law but through
  faith in Jesus Christ, even we had to become
  believers in Christ Jesus, that we might be
  justified by faith in Christ, and not by the
  works of the law, because no one will be
  justified by the works of the law.
• Gal 311-12 Now that no man is justified by the
  law before God is evident for The righteous will
  live by faith. The law is not of faith but The
  man who does them will live by them.

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The Problem of Authority Luthers discovery
uncovered the problem of authority. Is the Bible
the sole basis for religious authority (as Luther
claimed) or are the Bible and Church tradition
the basis for authority (as the Roman Catholic
Church claimed)? Heres how one Protestant
denomination today characterizes Luthers
contribution to Reformation theology
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• With this revelation, he turns on the Church,
  attacking its practice of selling Indulgences in
  the famous95 Theses.
• The key points of Luther's theseswere simple,
  but devastating
• A criticism of the Pope's purpose in raising the
  money "he is richer than Croesus, he would do
  better to sell St Peters and give the money to
  the poor people....
• A straightforward concern for his flock
  "indulgences are most pernicious because they
  induce complacency and thereby imperil
  salvation."

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• Luther was not only a revolutionary thinker, he
  would also benefit from a revolutionary
  technology the newly invented machinery of
  printing.
• A single pamphlet would be carried from one town
  to another, where it would be duplicated in a
  further print run of thousands.
• Within three months, all Europe was awash with
  copies of Luther's 95 Theses.
• Martin Luther had inadvertentlychosen
  unavoidable conflict with the most powerful
  institution of the day the Catholic Church.

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ReformationEurope(Late 16c)
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Martin Luther Reluctant Revolutionary

• "Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me,
  Amen..." -- Martin Luther

Pope Leo X, Luthers Adversary
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• The Catholic Church brought all its considerable
  power to bear to try and muzzle Luther, including
  accusations of heresy and excommunication.
• But protected by his local ruler, Frederick the
  Wise, Luther continued
• To write ever more radical critiques of the
  Church
• To develop a whole new system of faith one that
  puts the freedom of the individual believer
  above the rituals of the Church.

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ISSUE MEDIEVALROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH MARTIN LUTHER
Salvation Faith plus good works required for salvation Faith alone the basis for salvation
Religious authority Religious authority rests with the Church Bible is the basis for religious authority
Mans relationship to God Church served as intermediary between God and man Priesthood of all believers (no intermediary required)
Sacraments Baptism, penance, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders. Extreme Unction Sacraments, dispensed by the Church, are essential for salvation Baptism, Holy Eucharist
Communion Transubstantiation Process whereby the bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ Consubstantiation Process whereby the bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ are both present
Calling Limited to religious vocations Broader concept of calling made secular life respectable
Church government Hierarchical (Pope, cardinals, archbishops, priests, laymen) Challenged papal authority
Civil government Church has authority in religious matters state has authority in temporal matters. If there is a conflict, Church authority takes precedence. Denied the right of rebellion (e.g., the Peasants Revolt)
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DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS
PROTESTANTS CATHOLICS (COUNCIL OF TRENT)
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH Christ's sacrifice atones for all sins, and it is only necessary to believe in it to be saved. There is nothing humans can do by their own efforts to add or detract from it. Both FAITH AND GOOD WORKS (acts of devotion, charity, the sacraments, etc.) are necessary for salvation.
The PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS All believers have equal access to God and no other earthly intermediaries are needed. This does not mean that the flock does not need teachers, but there are no special sacramental functions belonging to any particular class. The CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD is necessary as only priests can perform the sacraments necessary for spiritual health and correctly interpret the meaning of scripture.
The SCRIPTURES AS THE ONLY SOURCE OF TRUE DOCTRINE Studying and understanding the scriptures is therefore important to all believers. Translating the Bible into the vernacular tongues and making it available to all is essential. SCRIPTURE IS ONLY ONE WAY IN WHICH DOCTRINE IS REVEALED. The decisions of church councils, encyclicals from the Pope, tradition, etc., are all part of it. Only the priesthood of the church can correctly interpret the meaning of scripture. Do not try this at home.
The LORD'S SUPPER IS SYMBOLIC and the body and blood of Christ are not physically present. To believe otherwise is to commit idolatry. The EUCHARIST IS A MYSTERY in which the sacrifice of Christ is reenacted the bread and wine become spiritually transformed into the true body and blood of the Lord.
NO HEAVENLY INTERMEDIARIES ARE NEEDED to intercede with God. Although the Virgin Mary, saints, and angels are all in heaven, they should not be the objects of prayer or veneration. The making of images encourages idolatrous worship that should be directed at the more abstract concept of God. Although the saints and angels should not be worshipped, their INTERCESSION IS VALUABLE AND NECESSARY to helping the Christian to achieve salvation. The Virgin Mary is especially honored by God, and should be also by believers. Religious images should not be worshipped, but they help to inspire devotion. (These fine points were often lost on the average peasant.)
God's foreknowledge and omnipotence mean that EVERYONE IS PREDESTINED TO THEIR FATE either to be or not to be one of the elect. Human action avails nothing. GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE DOES NOT RESTRICT HUMAN WILL, and each individual is still responsible for earning their own salvation.
The Bible only documents TWO SACRAMENTS BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER (so called to distinguish the Protestant practice from the Catholic Eucharist) There are SEVEN SACRAMENTS Baptism, Holy Eucharist (see above), Penance (confession/ absolution), Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction (last rites). Of these, Baptism can be performed by anyone in an emergency and marriage (a historical newcomer to the list) is technically bestowed by the two partners on one another. All the rest can only be performed by a priest or bishop
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• His ideas spread like wildfire, aided by the
  newly invented printing press.
• Finally he was called before the German imperial
  parliament in the city of Worms and told he must
  recant.
• Convinced he would not survive the trip to Worms
  but with absolute faith he declared "I am not
  afraid for God's Will will be done and I rejoice
  to suffer in so noble a cause.
• Risking torture and execution, Luther refused to
  recant and proclaimed his right to believe what
  he wished.

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• His stand became a legend that inspired a
  continent to revolution, overturning the
  thousand-year old domination of the Church.
• But as the reformation expanded into a movement
  for social freedom, Luther found himself
  overwhelmed by the pace of change. His
  theological reformation had become a social
  revolution.

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• The reform movement spread rapidly away from
  Germany
• To Switzerland and Holland where Calvin and Knox
  founded societies based on Luther's principles
• To England, where it would take a bloody civil
  war before Cromwell could establish his
  Protestant democratic state
• To the newly discovered lands of America, where
  the Puritans would found John Winthrops City on
  a Hill on Luther's foundations of religious
  freedom.

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• But Luther never left his province in Germany
  again.
• Instead he married an ex-nun named Katharine von
  Bora, whom he had helped to escape from her
  nunnery, and they had a large family together.
• Luther was able to devote himself to the simpler
  pleasures of life gardening, music, and writing.
• Luther finally died in the year 1543.
• Seized by a crippling heart attack, he held onto
  his righteousness and rage until the very end.
• "When I die, he said, I want to be a ghost...So
  I can continue to pester the bishops, priests and
  godless monks until that they have more trouble
  with a dead Luther than they could have had
  before with a thousand living ones."

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Charles V Powerful Adversary

• Charles V decided that extinguishing Luther would
  leave the Pope without a rival.

Charles V, Luthers most powerful adversary
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• At the age of 19, Charles V was the richest and
  most powerful person of his time, but all the
  power in the world did not stop Martin Luther
  from challenging his Catholic empire.
• Born in 1500, Charles inherited a vast empire
  from his parents
• When his father Philip I died in 1516 Charles
  inherited control over The Netherlands,
  Luxembourg, Artois and Franche-Comté,
  and the Free County of Burgundy.
• In 1516 his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II
  died and he inherited Aragon, Navarre, Granada,
  Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Spanish America, and
  joint kingship with his mother (who was insane)
  over Castile.
• Then in 1519 when his grandfather Maximilian I
  died, Charles inherited the Hapsburg lands in
  Austria and was elected Holy Roman emperor.

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• Charles V settled in Germany and sought to become
  the leader of a universal empire. Through his
  reign he would face ongoing battles with France,
  resist the advance of the Ottoman Turks, and fail
  to check the Reformation (because of political
  expediency and inattention).
• Like many others, Charles under- estimated the
  dissatisfaction of hisCatholic subjects and the
  influencea humble German monk would have
  through his defiant pen.
• Despite being a devout Catholic Charles V was
  acutely conscious of Papal power and it was in
  his interest for the Vatican to be put in its
  place.

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• At the Diet of Worms Charles absolutely opposed
  Luther but had other things on his mind thus
  saving Luther from execution as a heretic.
• Charles was soon preoccupiedby battles with
  France and theOttoman Turks and did not check
  the spread of Protest-antism sweeping his
  Empire.
• He spent the rest of his life waging war in
  France, Germany and Spain. It was only after his
  death in 1558 that a peace treaty was signed with
  France.

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• Charles V, the most powerful man of his time
• Failed to achieve his dream of a universal
  empire, thwarted by the political realities of
  Western Europe.
• Failed to stop the Reformation and although he
  bitterly opposed the views of Martin Luther he
  never acted against him.
• However, he is remembered today for his
  integrity, strength of will, and sense of duty.

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Frederick the Wise Strong Advocate

• "Time, perhaps, will show if I have been a good
  diviner." -- Frederick the Wise, 1517

Frederick the Wise, Luthers strong advocate and
benefactor
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• Frederick the Wise is remembered as the man who
  saved Martin Luther from the fury of the Catholic
  Church.
• Frederick was born in Hartenfels Castle, Torgau
  in 1463, the first son of the Elector Ernst of
  the House of Wettin.
• In 1486 he succeeded his father, together with
  his younger brother John, as sovereign of
  Ernestine Saxony.
• He was a man of peaceful conciliation and kept
  his territory out of all warfare during his reign.

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• In 1502, Frederick founded the University of
  Wittenberg where Martin Luther taught.
• During Luther's lifetime Wittenbergwas the home
  and intellectual centreof the reformation
  movement.
• Frederick was a reliable protector ofthe
  movement, although only activein the background.
• At a crucial period for the early Reformation,
  Frederick protected Luther from the Pope and the
  emperor, and took him into custody at Wartburg
  castle after the Diet of Worms (1521).
• This put Luther under the imperial ban.
• Fredericks collection of diplomatic stalling
  tactics prevented his capture.
• Frederick saw Luther as unjustly persecuted
  because he could not be found guilty of any real
  crime.

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Wartburg Castle
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• Frederick, however, had little personal contact
  with Luther and remained a Catholic, although he
  gradually inclined toward the doctrines of the
  Reformation.
• He formed his own opinion after listening to his
  advisers and the opinion of a recognized expert,
  Renaissance humanist Erasmus von Rotterdam.
• He died at his hunting lodge in Lochau in 1525.

Erasmus von Rotterdam, a northern Renaissance
humanist, remained a Catholic and wanted to
reform the church from within.
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Pope Leo X Patron of the Arts

• "The Church needs a reformation. And this cannot
  be the work of a single man, as the pope but it
  must be that of the whole world." Martin Luther

Pope Leo X, Luthers adversary
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• Pope Leo X was born Giovanni de Medici in 1475
  and raised in Italy's most culturally
  sophisticated city, Florence, as part of the
  prestigious de Medici family
• Renowned patrons of the arts
• Benefactors of scholarship
• Masters of political intrigue

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• He became one of the most extravagant of all
  Popes.
• He was more a patron of the arts, as his parents
  were, than a significant ecclesiastical figure.
• He was a skilful administrator and became Pope at
  the age of 37 in 1513.

Raphaels portrait of Leo X in the company of
two cardinals (1518)
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• Immediately Leo demonstrated his appreciation of
  art by initiating a massive building project to
  beautify the Vatican.
• The pomp and extravagance of his court was an
  indirect cause of the Reformation.
• To acquire the enormous sums of money for
  renovation, he encouraged the sale of
  "Indulgences."
• These promised to remove the temporal punishment
  due to sin after it wasforgiven.

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• In Germany this practice aroused the anger of
  Martin Luther, who issued ninety-five arguments
  for church reform. Luther wrote in his 95 Theses,
  his criticism of the Church why doesn't the
  Pope build the basilica of St Peter's out of his
  own money?
• German nobles saw an opportunity to cut off
  currency flowing to Rome that was very much
  needed at home, so they backed Luther's cause.
• In 1520, Leo issued the papal bull Exsurge Domine
  demanding Luther retract 41 of his 95 theses, and
  after Luther's refusal, excommunicated him.

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• Some historians believe that Leo never really
  took Luther's movement or his followers
  seriously, even until the time of his death in
  1521. They also contend that if he had been more
  interested in religion than artwork, the
  Reformation may never have happened.
• Pope Leo X was also the Patron of the artist
  Raphael and granted King Henry VIII of England
  the title 'Defender of the Faith'.
• He was the last pope to look at the papacy as a
  temporal monarchy.

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Katharine von Bora Wife Companion

• "There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming
  relationship, communion, or company than a good
  marriage." Martin Luther

Katharine von Bora, Luthers wife
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• Martin Luther found peace when he married an
  ex-nun named Katharine von Bora, whom he had
  helped to escape from her nunnery in an empty
  fish barrel and had taken refuge in Wittenberg.
• Katharine von Bora was born in 1499, the daughter
  of an impoverished nobleman.
• In 1504 she went to the convent school of the
  Benedictine order in Brehna (near Halle) and
  entered the convent of Nimbschen, near Grimma in
  1508.
• In 1515 she took her vows and became a nun.
• In 1523 she left the convent and ended up in
  Wittenberg.
• By June 1525, echoing a trend across Europe as
  former nuns and monks married, she became Mrs.
  Martin Luther.

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• Katharine was 16 years younger than Martin and
  together they had six children.
• Luther doted on his large family.
• He was able to devote himself to the simpler
  pleasures of life music, gardening, and writing.
• Katharine took over the household, particularly
  the household expenses.
• It is said that Dr. Luther did not havea clue
  about how to run a household.
• Katharine also proved herself to be agood
  housewife and gardener.
• Luther's household included
• His wife and six children
• One of Katharine's relatives
• Six of Luther's sister's children (after 1529).
• Students to help the family's financial situation.

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Causes of the Reformation?

• Church corruption
• Avignon Papacy
• Marsilius of Padua ? Defensor Pacis Defender of
  the Peace
• Attacked papal authority
• The Christian community is the sum of ALL its
  parts!
• Greed of secular leaders ? 1/3 of Europe ? church
  land
• Papal need for money ? indulgences
• Printing Press
• Martin Luther

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ReformationEurope(Late 16c)