March 12, 2006 Protesting & Reforming:  The Reformation Dr. Mark Burrows,  Professor of the History of Christianity Andover Newton Theological School To Listen, Right-click to save to your computer or right-click "Open in new window" to start streaming while viewing materials below. Agenda Program (PDF) Lecture Outline below, courtesy of Dr. Mark Burrows (c) 2006 Photos by George Delianides

Protesting and Reforming:  The Reformations
of Early Modern Europe

Mark S. Burrows, Ph.D.
Professor of the History of Christianity
Andover Newton Theological School
www.ants.edu

Imagine:  a late medieval church building, filled with altars, ornate paintings, shrines, relics; the aroma of incense lingering in the dimly lit nave; candles all about, and people quietly praying here and there.  No pews; a priest somewhere intoning the mass, with a single deacon attending.  The “high” altar distinguished in height from the “nave,” and fenced off by an iron “wall” separating the “holy” from the mundane.  Contrast this to the iconoclasm of the early reformers, which eventually leads to the “new” creation of the New England colonies:  the Meetinghouse,”  no longer a “church” per se but rather a place of gathering for the public work of the community – religion, of course, but also affairs of town and “state.”  No images, not even a cross.  No altar, but rather a simple table which displayed an open Bible (and nothing more!); clear windows; central pulpit; no organ, and no choir!. . . No one comes to pray here; it is the place for the gathering, the “con/gregation”!

The 16th century as the “age of reformation,” a dramatic cultural event that divided Europe into “Catholic” and “Protestant,” that was:

~ both church-dividing and church-defining:  that is, this
  was, arguably, the first period in which Christians sought
  to understand quite intentionally the nature of “church” –
  and were in a position to practice their theories by forming
  new kinds of “church”. . . And, their intent to become
  authentically “catholic” and “Christian”.

 ~ a cataclysm – or, rather, something like an earthquake
  followed by a whole series of aftershocks that rippled
  across northern and eastern Europe, and Britain; it had
  several varied trajectories:  among Protestants, the
  “magisterial” reformation (Lutheran, Calvinist or Reformed,
  and Anglican), so-called because of the alliance of church
  and civil authority; radical or left-wing (Anabaptist); and,
  Catholic. . .

 ~ an “event” led for the most part by intellectuals; that is,
  it was a learnéd movement, one shaped by an emphasis
  upon study (of scripture and ancient theological texts);
  one defined by preaching and teaching; and, one spread
  through an adept use of the new technology of printing,
  above all of pamphlets. . .

• and, let us be clear:  this was not simply a reform of the church in terms of moral criticism, or even institutional restructuring.  It was both of these, but the Reformation was first of all a theological event, a critique of the theological moorings of the western medieval church –
o its view of salvation (grace and faith), and the implication that we are “simul iustus et peccator”;;
o its approach to sacraments and the church (Christ);
o its understanding of priesthood (of all baptized) and vocation (every form of work insofar as it contributes to the community);
o and, the authority it granted to scripture as arbiter of faith and life.

• the Reformation brought about a new experience
of church – i.e., as “congregation,” gathered to hear
and receive the word of God; to respond in song
and prayer, all in the common language. . .

• one can rightly speak of a “vernacularization” and a
“secularization” of religion; that is, faith and religious life
were no longer separated from the ordinary structures of
experience.  A de-mystification of religion; and, an insistence that the secular or worldly is spiritual. . . An
emphasis upon the moral foundations of religion.

What were the intentions of the reform?  A movement that was people-focused; word-centered; grace-shaped; world-situated!

Consequences, both those intended and implied:  a striking “confessionalization” of Christian churches; defense of conscience against compulsion, but with the construction of pluralism (ecclesial and national) came an almost immediate imposition of conformity; intolerance (cf. Boccacio’s legend of the “three rings,” each identical, which a king gave privately and individually to each of his three sons as a sign of his “singular” inheritance; in 1599, an Italian named Menocchio related the story to his inquisitor, suggesting that these rings belonged to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – and was executed by order of the Holy See (in Lindberg, 367); emergence of “covenant” as defining political force; the emergence of a “this-worldly asceticism” (cf. Ernst Troeltsch) – i.e., one could become assured of one’s salvation by the success of one’s labors. . . (Max Weber:  The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism)

Consider three test cases of reformers:

1. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

• a monk and priest by training
• as theologian:  a radical Augustinian in interpreting the primacy of grace, and Christ;
• a gradualist in terms of reform (1520s:  translation of scripture into German; writing of hymns [1524]; translated mass and eventually wrote a new form of worship; catechism);
• a pragmatist in terms of worship; a conservative in terms of social and political life (opposition to the peasants; his “two kingdoms theory”)

2. Menno Simons (1496 – 1561)

• a country priest by training;
• as theologian:  a biblicist whose reading of scripture and culture led to his espousing pacifist stand (non-violence);
• a communitarian in terms of reform;
• a separatist by choice – i.e., the visible symbol of this being believers’ baptism

3. John Calvin (1509 – 1563)

• a lawyer (rhetorician) by training;
• as theologian:  a teacher (not ordained) and scholar of ancient sources; a pastor to the pastors (the “company of ministers”)
• a “worldly” reformer (“theological secularist”) by instinct:  the final section of his magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion (final ed. 1559) concludes with section on “civil government”; his formation of “The Academy,” a professional school to prepare both ministers of the gospel and civil leaders
• an destroyer (iconoclast) and builder by force of character; an intellectual with political vision and a passion for bringing about a new “public”; etc.

What, then, were the successes, and what were the failures of the Reformation(s)?

This is a story that will unfold gradually over the centuries, of course.  But we can say that this period marks a radical reorientation of “religion” – a category that only emerges in the 16th century, in modern usage:

• broadened in some sense to incorporate all of life (the mundane and “secular”);
• but also narrowed by focusing on “the word” and truncating much of the mysterious [Paul Tillich on the “profanization of the sublime”; Systematic Theology, vol. 3, pp. 379-80], the physical, and the sensory.
• emergence of conscience as central category, and a trend toward individualism.  Emphasis upon the didactic (among the magisterial reformers) and, to some degree, the prophetic (among Anabaptists and so-called “radicals”)
• emphasis upon the role of the laity in assuming responsibility for their faith and life, in church and society
• emergence of the “congregation,” over against the parish (a geographical designation)
• focus of religious experience on discourse, with the loss or diminishment of many of the arts; a new mentalité. . .

“How far was the Reformation a ‘necessary’ or fundamental event in shaping western European culture and society?  The experience of catholic countries shows that one could leave the Middle Ages by several routes, of which the Reformation was only one.  However, those people who had taken the route of public debate and mass involvement would learn by the experience.  The Reformation gave large groups of people across Europe their first lessons in political commitment to a universal ideology.  In the 16th century, religion became mass politics.  Other ideologies, ultimately more secular in tone, would take its place.  The Reformation was the first.”  Euan Cameron, The European Reformation, 422
 
 

(c) Dr. Mark Burrows 2006 & Old South Church