Response

Lecture 5: The Catholic

Reformation

It can be assumed that the Catholic Church could never

have predicted the force of the Protestant Reformation.

This is especially so in terms of the numbers of

noblemen and other wealthy individuals who were

attracted to the theology of Luther and Calvin. The

Church did try respond but their response -- internal

reform -- was weak. One reform did come, it came from

man who was not even a member of the clergy. Ignatius

Loyola (1491-1556) was a soldier and Spanish reformer

who sought to create a new religious order. He fused

the best of the humanist tradition of the Renaissance

with a reformed Catholicism that he hoped would

appeal to powerful economic and political groups, that

is, those types of people now attracted to Luther and

Calvin.

Founded in 1534, the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits,

formed the backbone of the Catholic or Counter

Reformation. The Jesuits combined the ideas of

traditional monastic discipline with a dedication to

teaching and preaching. Why they did this is pretty

clear -- they wanted to win back converts. As a

brotherhood or society, the Jesuits sought to bypass

local corruption and appealed to the papacy to leading

international movement -- they would not attach

themselves to local bishops or local authorities. The

purpose of this international movement was to revive a

Catholic or universal Christianity.

As theologians, the Jesuits highlighted one central flaw

in Protestant theology, that of predestination.

Predestination offered hopes of salvation for the literate

and prosperous. It also, however, included the

possibility of doom, despair and the abyss for other

individuals. In response, the Jesuits offered hope -- and

that hope to the form of religious revival based on

ceremony, tradition in the power of the priest to offer

forgiveness. In essence, the Jesuits made Christianity

more emotional. Keep in mind, that one of the reasons

why the Reformation indeed took place was because

the people wanted a more emotional and direct spiritual

life. The Jesuits urged princes to strengthen the Church

in their territories. They even developed the theology

that permitted "small sins" in the service of a just

cause. In other words, a small sin was okay if and only if

it led to some greater good.

By the 17th century, the Jesuits had become some of

the greatest teachers in your, especially in France. They

had also become one of the most controversial religious

groups within the Church. Was their religion merely a

disguise for political power? Or, where they the true

voice of a reformed Church? The Jesuits helped to build

schools and universities, design churches and even

helped to produce a unique style of art and

architecture. This style -- called the Baroque -- was

emotional and was intended to move the heart.

By the 1540s, the Counter Reformation was well

underway. There were several attempts to reform the

Church from within. For example, the Jesuits imitated

the Dominicans and Franciscans. Oddly enough, many

looked to humanists like Erasmus as a key to the

Church's total reformation. Many reformers attacked

abuses as had Luther, but they avoided any clash with

the spiritual authority of the clergy or the Pope.

The Counter Reformation also took aggressive and

somewhat hostile measures against the followers of

Luther and Calvin. The Church tried to counteract

Protestantism by offering something more dramatic,

emotional and sentimental to the faithful. For

individuals unmoved by the appeal of the Jesuits and

who still adhered to Protestant heresy, the Church

resorted to more severe measures. The Inquisition,

founded in the 13th century, expanded its activities and

heretics were subject to punishment, torture and death.

Keep in mind, however, that wherever Protestantism

obtained official status -- England, Scotland, Geneva,

Germany, and Scandinavia -- Catholics were

persecuted.

One instrument that the Catholic Church had at its

disposal was censorship. After 1520, the Church was

quick to censor and burn books which might have

spread the Protestant Faith. The Church intended to

destroy all heretical literature: all Protestant books were

burned; so too were the works written by reform-

minded Catholic humanists; Petrarch and Erasmus had

to go as well. The Index of Prohibited Books became an

institution within the Church and was not abolished until

1966. The policies of the Counter Reformation --

education, preaching, church building, persecution, and

censorship -- did succeed in bringing some people back

to the Church. And, in 1545, the Council of Trent met to

institute concrete changes in policy and doctrine.

Between 1545 and 1563, the Council modified and

unified Church doctrine: it abolished numerous corrupt

practices and abuses and also gave final authority to

the Pope. In general, the Council purged the Church. It

clarified issues like faith, good works, and salvation. It

passed a decree that said the Church would be the final

judge in biblical matters. The Council demanded that

the Scriptures be understood literally.

All compromise between Protestant and Catholic was

rejected. The Reformation had split Europe and the

repair of that split was just not to be. The Reformation

shattered the religious unity of Europe -- to this end, the

Christian matrix was demolished. Within the matrix

more windows were opened and more walls smashed,

and the Church, as an institution, suffered a severe

setback in terms of its moral authority and political

power. By strengthening the power of monarchs, the

Reformation helped to produce the modern state.

Protestant rulers, of course, rejected papal claims to

power. Not only that, these rulers asserted their own

authority over their own churches (e.g. Henry VIII in

England).

In an indirect way, Protestantism contributed to the

growth of political liberty. Liberty as an ideal, however,

was still 200 years in future. There were tendencies

unleashed during the Reformation that provided

justification for challenging the authority of monarchs.

Since all men are governed by the laws of God,

punishment should be given to those who break these

laws -- kings included. So, in 1649, the English execute

Charles I.

the Reformation also contributed to the establishment

of an ethic of individualism. Protestants interpreted the

Bible for themselves. They faced salvation or damnation

on their own. The Reformation has also been seen as

involving out of early capitalism. For Max Weber,

Protestants found salvation without assistance. How? By

hard work, thrift, sobriety and a work ethic. So,

Protestants to fill the calling by a work ethic, the

Protestant work ethic, an individualistic work ethic with.

The end result of the Reformation was basically this: (1)

Luther, Calvin, the Anabaptists and Jesuits all forced

every man woman to make a choice. The Medieval

Matrix implied that one had to conform to the standards

of the Church and everything it represented. But what

was now different was that the individual had a choice

regarding what it was he wished to conform to. (2) The

Reformation also split Europe, a division which would

eventually lead to European wars, civil wars, king

killing, revolts and rebellion. Europe would not truly

recover from Martin Luther's Reformation until the 18th

century, if it can be said it ever did recover.