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April 24, 2016 |
| The Reformation | ||
In church history there was a time called the Reformation. It covers a period from the 1300s to the 1500s. At the beginning of this time the Roman Catholic church was the most powerful force in Western Europe. It put kings into power and it removed kings from power. It punished people for the smallest deviation from the church's beliefs. Some of these were tortured and killed.
The Christian church used this great power in evil ways but that power was about to come to an end. Like many powerful countries we have seen in history, eventually their leadership becomes so corrupt and their actions so evil that they build up the enemies who will eventually take them down.
As the reformation period begins, some people are starting to stand up to the church and some of these are people in power. The church still has great power, however. Its churches had great control over the many who attended church and could inspire them to rise up against the enemies of the church, including even kings.
The Reformation is often credited to Martin Luther but there were many before him who planted seeds and others after him who continued the process. In this lesson we will look at others who came before him and how the Reformation finished.
John Wycliffe was a scholar, theologian, and author. As he studied the Bible he began to realize how far the church had slipped from the teachings of the Bible.
"Wycliffe [would] come to regard the scriptures as the only reliable guide to the truth about God, and maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible rather than on the teachings of popes and clerics. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy"1
Wycliffe seems to be the first person to state this foundational belief that we Protestants still hold. It came to be called by a Latin phrase, Sola Scriptura, which means Only Scripture.
At first Wycliffe wrote and preached about excesses of the church. Many people agreed with him on these. A few years later though he began to speak against fundamental doctrines of the church, doctrines that are not in the Bible. Then later he began to speak against the papacy itself. With each of these steps some of his supporters fell away. To support him in these would be risking their own lives.
Wycliffe was much more of a revolutionary than Luther would be, more than 100 years later. While Luther wanted to reform the church, Wycliffe wanted to tear it down. Wycliffe would attack:
Wycliffe was a bold and fiery man. He described what drove him with these words.
To live, and to be silent is with me impossible - the guilt of such treason against the Lord of heaven is more to be dreaded than many deaths. Let the blow therefore fall. Enough I know of the men whom I oppose, of the times on which I am thrown, and of the mysterious providence which relates to our sinful race, to expect that the stroke will ere long descend. But my purpose is unalterable; I wait its coming2
In the statement above he says he knows it won't be long before the church gets him but he continues on because it would be treason against God to say nothing. The reformers generally shared this view. Though it placed their lives in danger it was necessary for them to speak.
We must do the same sometimes, ignoring what the cost may be to ourselves. We live in a country that is quickly turning away from its Christian roots. We need to speak even though there may be costs to speaking.
Wycliffe is probably best known for being the first person to translate the Bible into the English of his time. The translation was very popular and many copies were made. This was the first time the common person was able to read the Bible. The ability to read the words of the Bible themselves probably did more damage to the Roman Catholic church than any other factor. No longer did they need to rely on the priests to give them the truth, nor even those who spoke against the church. Now they could read it themselves
This translation was done even before the original King James translation. The modern King James version has been modernized a couple times since the original. Even so it still has a Gothic sound to it. This is what 1 John 1 says in Wycliffe's translation.
That thing that was fro the bigynnyng, which we herden, which we sigen with oure igen, which we biheelden and oure hondis touchiden of the word of liif. and the liif is schewid, and we saigen, and we witnessen and tellen to you ewrlesting liif that was anentis the fadir and apperide to us. therefore we tellen to you that thing that we sigen and herden, that also ye haue felowschip with us and oure felowschip be with the fadir and with his sone iesu crist.
The church was horrified by this translation. Their perspective on it tells a lot about the state of the church and its thinking.
Christ delivered his gospel to the clergy and doctors of the church, that they might administer to the laity and to weaker persons, according to the state of the times, and the wants of man. But this master John Wickliff translated it out of Latin into English, and thus laid it more open to the laity, and to women who can read, than it formerly had been to the most learned of the clergy, even to those of them who had the best understanding. And in this way the gospel pearl is cast abroad, and trodden under foot of swine ...3
Unfortunately Wycliffe had the bad manners to die of natural causes before the church could kill him. The best they could do was to burn his bones and that's what they did.
As Wycliffe lay dying, a young man was growing up who would carry on for him. John Huss grew up reading the writings of John Wycliffe, even though he lived in Czechoslovakia. He earned a masters degree and became a priest and later was given a church.
In his sermons, though, he taught the teachings of Wycliffe. "Hus attacked the Church by denouncing the moral failings of clergy, bishops, and even the papacy from his pulpit."4 When Rome heard of this they acted swiftly "The Wycliffe books and valuable manuscripts were burned, and Huss and his adherents were excommunicated."5
The government of Czechoslovakia was supporting Huss at the time against the church. Eventually the church declared a crusade (war) against the king. Two such attempts failed badly.
After attempts to reconcile with the church, it was determined that Huss would go to Rome for questioning. Despite a solemn promise from the church that he would be returned safely, he made out his will before he left. A few weeks after he arrived they threw him in the dungeon. The justification they gave for breaking their promise of safety was that the Pope "could not be bound by promises to a heretic."6
At his trial, as was that practice in church trials, he was not allowed to defend himself. Many charges were made against him and he was found guilty with the punishment being to be burned at the stake.
"After hearing the sentence, Huss fell on his knees, and said, 'Lord Jesus pardon my enemies! Thou knowest that they have falsely accused me, and that they have had recourse to false testimony and vile calumnies against me; pardon them from thy infinite mercy!'"7
He was given an opportunity to recant, to take back what he had said. He would not. So he was burned at the stake. This enraged the many supporters of Huss who continued to work against the papacy.
There were many other people working for reform of the church or for the abolition of the papacy, but Martin Luther is the next big name. His goal was to reform the Roman Catholic Church from the inside. His initial effort, the 95 thesis, was mostly aimed at the money making scams of the church, though it touched other areas. None-the-less these were seen as attacks on the power base of the Pope. When they excommunicated Luther it became impossible to work for reform within the church.
The church that he started, the Lutheran Church, is still more of a reformed Catholic church than a protestant church. This is true even today as the Lutheran church has made great efforts to find common ground with the Roman Catholic Church, in a movement toward reunification.
Perhaps the reason that Luther is given so much credit for the reformation is that he was able to live a normal life span and taught and wrote for all that time. When the church invited him to Rome to explain what he was saying, he refused, despite the promise of safety. He had the example of Huss to keep him from that. He was also careful not to be captured and dragged off to Rome. He also benefited from powerful people who protected him after he was excommunicated.
The reformation gained force as John Calvin and other reformers joined in and a growing number of people began to turn away from the evils of the Catholic Church and agree with reformist beliefs. Sola Scriptura became a motto that appealed even to those within the Catholic Church. A quick comparison of the Bible and the Catholic Church showed how man-made traditions had corrupted the Catholic Church and therefore how they could not be considered as important as the Bible.
The Catholic Church called a council to discuss what should be done. This was the Council of Trent. At the council there were many in favor of reformation though some of them only wanted reformation because they wanted the power and control of the Pope to come down to their level.
There was little agreement between the two sides until the Archbishop of Reggio preached a sermon to them. In it he asked the question whether the reformers really believed in Sola Scriptura or if that was just a slogan they were using. He said, look at the Sabbath. The Pope, by the authority given him by God through Peter, moved the Sabbath to Sunday. If the reformers really believed in Sola Scriptura they would have returned to the Sabbath, but they had not. Therefore, he argued, Sola Scriptura was just a slogan.
This is a difficult thing for Protestants to understand because it seems like a trivial matter. It's important to understand it from the Catholic perspective. One of the Pope's titles is "Vicar of Jesus Christ"8. This means that he is the acting Messiah, while the Messiah is gone, which means he has all authority to change any laws and that he is infallible in such matters. The reformers attempts to reform the church were ultimately attacks on the authority of the Pope. Even the indulgences that Luther despised were sold on the authority of the Pope.
So the arguement presented in the sermon is not about the Sabbath really. The Sabbath was just the example he was using. He could have said that the Pope, by the authority he is given, moved Passover, first to Sunday and then to Friday. The point is not what was done but the authority by which it was done. Nothing in scripture allowed that change of the date for Passover anymore than it did for the Sabbath.
By questioning the practices of the church, using the Bible as the standard, the reformers were questioning the authority of the Pope. How then could they claim Sola Scriptura when they continued to observe the non-scriptural changes of the Pope.
With that sermon the reformers gave up their efforts to reform the church and together they proceeded to write down the doctrine as it then was, without any reform, as the official doctrine of the Catholic Church. Every false teaching and false practice was locked in. In these writings they pronounced curses upon anyone with the smallest deviation in belief. They also pronounced curses on anyone who even read the writings of the reformers such as Wycliffe, Huss, and Luther.
In that way the Roman Catholic Church hardened its position and refused any reform. They didn't realize it was already too late. The reformation would not be stopped and Protestantism was established. With that, the Catholic Church would lose the power it had had to persecute, jail and execute those who dared to disagree with it. The writings of the Council of Trent have never been revoked but the church has little power or even desire to enforce them.
There are many things we can learn from the reformers.
As Wycliffe said, it would be wrong before God to stay silent. Whether the church is in error or the world is in error, we are called to represent the truth.
The reformers courage should also stand as an example for us to follow. They knew they were risking their lives but they continued on. The Apostles faced the same hard choice.
There is a saying going around the modern church, "If God takes you to it, he will take you through it". The truth is that sometimes God sends people into situations that will take their lives. This was true for the Apostles as well.
We also saw a church that was filled with traditions that came from man. It determined these traditions were as important as the Bible. It became a cruel, murderous church.
The Reformation Garbage Can (2014-05-25) - takes a look at the major beliefs and practices that the reformers removed from Catholicism as they created what would be Protestantism
When Good Turns Bad (2010-03-07) - the story of Luther
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe
2 3 7 The History of Romanism, John Dowling