Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation

In 1500, just like Europe, the Catholic Church was experiencing rapid growth and prosperity as they began to engage in church building throughout Europe including the building of the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo X began various programs to raise money for the new projects including the invention of purgatory and sale of indulgence. Thus the voice of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), himself a catholic priest, challenged the pope on the sale of indulgences and other practices that he considered a corruption of Christian values or non-Christian. In 1517, he wrote his opposition down and made it public by nailing it to the church door in Wittenberg, and it became known as his 95 Theses. Luther also saw other theological differences in the Church. Unlike the church, he believed that faith alone can justify a man, not his good works.

Luther also saw how the church was using various money schemes to make the poor pay for the various programs in the church, the selling of church office positions, corrupt officials and poor bible teachings. He also believed in the conviction of his own sins and the redemption by God’s grace that is freely offered to everyone through Jesus’s death on the cross. Martin Luther wanted to open the Bible to the common people, thus he translated the bible into German and through the use of the printing press, spread it throughout Europe. His translation of the bible into the common language reflected on this idea that the teachings of the Church should be based on the Bible and the people should know the Bible, instead of repeating something traditional every Sunday. The church was too slow to respond to Luther and this gave him more legitimacy to speak out against the Church. An open debate between a Papal Representative and Luther in 1591 led to the public break between Luther and the Church, which led to his punishment and excommunication from the Church.

Within a few years, the German rulers sided with Luther as they saw an opportunity to break from the control of Rome and seize control of Church assets. The spread of Lutheranism was rapid throughout Germany, the Baltic States and northeastern Europe and became known as the Protestant Reformation – a real break from the Catholic Church. With Luther opening the door, many other theologians emerged who openly declared various theological differences from the Church, such as John Calvin and set off a frenzy of new theological ideas. Calvin, more specifically differed in that, he argued that we were all pre-destined by God, that churches should be more independent and the worship services should be simple. From the start of the Protestant Reformation in 1519, it led to increased tensions between Catholic nations and those nations that embraced Protestant beliefs. Wars in the name of religion ravaged Europe until 1648 when a peace was reached upon and the European rulers began to favor more tolerant societies.

The Catholic Reformation or the Counter Reformation, are the terms used to describe the slow reaction of the church to Martin Luther and his objects to the Church practices and began in 1545. The Counter Reformation sought to “re- Christianize” Europe under Rome through a series of clerical reforms. It oversaw the creation of new orders within the Church such as the Jesuits by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). The Counter Reformation called for more frequent masses, more respect to Virgin Mary and more orders created especially among the nuns and the women in the church. The Counter Reformation strongly defended the Catholic faith while addressed Luther’s objections such as corruption in clergy and the selling of indulgences. The Protestant Reformation and Counter Reformation changed the entire course of Western Civilization and marked the beginning of a secular society that was forming in Europe.