The Reformation and Counter-Reformation
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was the most seismic event in the history of Western Christianity since the early councils. It shattered the institutional unity of the Western Church, produced new confessional traditions (Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican), and provoked a vigorous Catholic response known as the Counter-Reformation. The theological issues at stake — the nature of salvation, the authority of Scripture, the role of the Church — remain central to Christian identity today.
The Background to Reform
By the early sixteenth century, widespread dissatisfaction with the institutional Church had been building for decades:
- The sale of indulgences — an indulgence was a remission of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven. Pope Leo X authorised the sale of indulgences to fund the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Dominican friar Johann Tetzel reportedly preached: ‘As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs’ — suggesting that salvation could be purchased with money
- Clerical corruption — absenteeism (bishops who never visited their dioceses), simony (buying and selling of church offices), pluralism (holding multiple benefices), and clerical concubinage were widespread
- Renaissance humanism — scholars like Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536) called for a return to the original biblical texts (ad fontes — ‘back to the sources’) and exposed the discrepancy between the simplicity of the New Testament Church and the wealth and complexity of the medieval papacy
- Earlier reform movements — John Wycliffe (c. 1320–1384) in England and Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415) in Bohemia had already challenged papal authority, the sale of indulgences, and aspects of Catholic sacramental theology. Hus was burned at the stake at the Council of Constance
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
The Reformation is conventionally dated to 31 October 1517, when Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, reportedly posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church. The theses were a list of propositions for academic debate, primarily challenging the theology and practice of indulgences.
Luther’s theology developed rapidly in the following years, crystallising around several key principles:
- Sola scriptura (‘Scripture alone’) — the Bible is the sole authoritative source for Christian doctrine. Church tradition, papal decrees, and the decisions of councils are authoritative only insofar as they are consistent with Scripture. Luther rejected the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium as independent sources of doctrine
- Sola fide (‘faith alone’) — justification (being made right with God) is by faith alone, not by works, sacraments, or human merit. Luther’s breakthrough came through his study of Romans 1:17: ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ He concluded that righteousness is not something humans achieve through moral effort but something God imputes (credits) to those who trust in Christ
- Sola gratia (‘grace alone’) — salvation is entirely a gift of God’s grace, not earned or deserved. Luther stood firmly in the Augustinian tradition, insisting on the total depravity of human nature and the absolute sovereignty of God’s grace
- Solus Christus (‘Christ alone’) — Christ is the sole mediator between God and humanity. There is no need for saints, the Virgin Mary, or the priesthood to intercede on behalf of the believer
- The priesthood of all believers — every baptised Christian has direct access to God and shares in the priestly vocation. The ordained clergy have a particular function within the Church but are not ontologically superior to laypeople
Key Definition: Sola scriptura — the Protestant principle that Scripture alone is the supreme authority in matters of doctrine and practice. It does not mean that tradition is worthless, but that tradition must always be tested against Scripture and rejected where it contradicts the biblical text.
Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in January 1521 and declared an outlaw by Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms (April 1521). When asked to recant his writings, Luther reportedly declared: ‘Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.’
John Calvin (1509–1564)
John Calvin, a French lawyer and theologian, became the most systematic and influential of the second-generation Reformers. His Institutes of the Christian Religion (first edition 1536, final edition 1559) is the most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous statement of Reformed theology.
Key elements of Calvin’s theology include: