How the Reformers Repeated the Mistakes of the Catholics. Part 1. Martin Luther
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How the Reformers Repeated the Mistakes of the Catholics. Part 1. Martin Luther. Video
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The Reformation brought with it a great reminder to God’s church that we are saved by grace alone, not by works, by religious rules or institutions. This truth, once established, should have brought freedom to believers everywhere. However many of the leaders in the Reformation were ex-Catholic priests themselves and found it hard to break away from some of the errors that the Catholic church had fallen into.
Churches should not be be institutions but rather gatherings of believers who worship and have fellowship together. This was how the church initially spread throughout the world. Sadly, these independent fellowships were consumed and destroyed by the institutional church. If you want to know more about this you can read an excellent book called “The Pilgrim Church” by E.H.Broadbent
Martin Luther, 1528. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I have also done a video called Early Christianity in the British Isles which you can find on the web site or the YouTube channel.
I am going to look at four men who were part of the Reformation movement and show how they started well but almost immediately began to compromise repeat the mistakes of the Catholics. The four men are: - Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, Jean Calvin and Richard Hooker.
Firstly Martin Luther, probably the most famous of the Reformers. Luther was a Roman Catholic priest who objected to some of the excesses of the Catholic church. In particular the selling of indulgences which were supposed to be a way to reduce the amount of punishment a person would receive for their sins in purgatory. In 1517 he wrote his Ninety-five theses which were a list of abuses committed by the Catholic Church.
The 1517 Nuremberg printing of Ninety-five Theses, now housed at the Berlin State Library
Martin Luther's 1534 Bible. Torsten Schleese, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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A portrait of Martin Luther from the Welsh Portrait Collection at the National Library of Wales
The fundamental revelation that Luther had was that salvation cannot be earned by good deeds but only by faith in Jesus Christ and this is the free gift of God. This was of course anathema to the institutional church because it could be taken to mean that a person could be saved simply by faith in Jesus without needing the whole panoply of the church structure.
Despite this bright start Luther seemed unable to completely detach himself from his background as a Catholic priest. He became extremely self important and intolerant of anyone who disagreed with him. He translated the bible from Latin into German but instead of regarding the bible as the final authority he regarded himself as the authority on the bible. Some books he liked and others he didn’t. He relegated James, as well as Hebrews, Jude, and Revelation, to the end of the NT canonical list as he did not regard them as being on the same level as the other books.
In starting the new Lutheran church Luther did not follow the pattern of simple fellowships of believers gathering together. Instead he incorporated much of the old Roman catholic system. He emphasised the teachings of the apostle Paul above those of the gospels. This meant that his teaching became unbalanced, greatly emphasising justification by faith without the same emphasis on following Christ that we see in the gospels. There was in his teaching such an absence of any freedom of will or choice in man that he neglected to preach right conduct as part of the gospel
In fact what he did was to reproduce the old system with its parishes and clerical administration. He kept the system of infant baptism and of ordained clergy administering the Lord’s supper. He simply created a state church rather than the New Testament pattern of independent assemblies of born again believers.
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The title page of Martin Luther's "On the Jews and their Lies". Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Luther was also driven by a hatred of the Jews. I will simply quote from the wikipedia entry on his treatise On the Jews and Their lies.
In this treatise, he argues that Jewish synagogues and schools be set on fire, prayer books be destroyed, rabbis forbidden to preach, Jewish homes burned, and property and money confiscated. Luther demanded that no mercy or kindness be given to Jews, that they be afforded no legal protection, and "these poisonous envenomed worms" should be drafted into forced labor or expelled forever. He also advocates murder of all Jews, writing "We are at fault in not slaying them".
This treatise had a deep and lasting impact on the German people. Many Germans who took part in the persecution of the Jews, when Hitler was in power, said they simply thought they were doing luther’s bidding.
Why anyone would want to call themselves a Lutheran after that is a mystery to me. It’s strange how institutional religion and antisemitism seem to have marched hand in hand through history
In the following video I shall look at the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli and how he repeated some of the mistakes of Luther.
How the Reformers Repeated the Mistakes of the Catholics. Part 2. Huldrych Zwingli
Zwingli Video
Huldrych Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Like Luther he was a priest who objected to the excesses of the Roman Catholic church. Like Luther he started well, teaching from the bible and opposing moral corruption in the church. However once in a position of power he misused it terribly.
E. H. Broadbent writes in his book The Pilgrim Church: -
Luther and Zwingli destroyed as with thunderbolts the Babylonian evil (The Excesses of Roman Catholicism), but they set up nothing better, for when they came to power they trusted more in man than in God.
Basically they both opposed Catholicism but when they had power themselves they behaved like mini-popes.
Portrait of Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531). Hans Asper, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Zwingli began his reform movement in 1519, as soon as he was appointed the people's priest of the Grossmünster (Great Church) in Zürich, by rejecting the Church's liturgy in Latin and reading from the Gospel of Matthew in the common language while commenting on it. This encouraged members of his congregation to form their own Bible-study groups, which met in members' homes and applied Zwingli's teachings to interpret scripture.
In 1522, Zwingli broke with the Church over an event known as the Affair of the Sausage, when some members of his congregation (with Zwingli in attendance) broke the Lenten fast and the prohibition on eating meat by serving sausage at dinner. Zwingli defended this practice, denouncing Lenten fasting – and Lent itself – as unbiblical.
Image of Zurich in the 16th Century
Anabaptist disputation in 1525. Two mayors are at the table. Zwingli is probably one of the two figures on the rightManz is probably one of the two figures on the left. Heinrich Thomann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
He then further clarified his views through his 67 Articles delivered at something called the First Disputation with Catholic delegates in January 1523. He had started a movement of ordinary people reading the bible. Once started though he began to fear that his supporters were going too far and started to backtrack on some of the things he had said.
At the Second Disputation of 1523, Zwingli compromised on a number of points including infant baptism, alienating some of his more ardent supporters. He called those who followed adult baptism anabaptists (rebaptisers) and denounced them. The city council of Zürich condemned them through a mandate, and when four of them were executed as heretics in 1527, Zwingli made no objection.
Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism. Heinrich Thomann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Anabaptist theologian Margot Sylvia Kottelin-Longley writes about the Swiss Anabaptist Felix Manz:
Felix Manz became the first Anabaptist martyr in Zurich in January of 1527. Manz was drowned in the following manner: he was first trussed and taken by boat to the middle of the River Limmat, which runs through Zurich. A preacher at his side spoke kind words to him, encouraging him to recant. But then Manz perceived his mother, Anna Manz, with some other Anabaptists on the opposite bank, admonishing him to be steadfast in his faith. He did not recant, so he was heaved overboard. He sang with a loud voice, "Into your hands I commend my spirit" as the waters closed over his head. Zwingli thought drowning a very fitting way of executing an Anabaptist. Manz was really fortunate, though, because most Anabaptists were severely tortured first and then burned at the stake.
Even Luther was shocked by this turn of events. He wrote.
"It is not right, and I am deeply troubled that these poor people have been put to death so cruelly. Let everyone believe what he will. If he is wrong, he will have punishment enough in the fires of hell. Unless they are seditious, one should contest such people with God's Word and the scriptures. You will accomplish nothing by executions."
The Swiss anabaptists, known as the Swiss Brethren, continued to grow in numbers despite the persecution. As with all independent groups of believers they were condemned by civil and religious authorities.
How the Reformers Repeated the Mistakes of the Catholics. Part 3. Jean Calvin
Jean Calvin. Video
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Portrait of John Calvin (1509–1564). Museum Catharijneconvent, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Jean Calvin (1509 -15640 was a French reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. His system of theology, which became known as Calvinism, was marked by the doctrine of predestination and the complete sovereignty of God in deciding each individuals salvation or damnation. Many Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregational churches have been influenced by his ideas.
Like the other Reformers in this series he started well. He was training to be a lawyer when in about 1830 he had a conversion experience which he describes in his Commentary on the Book of Psalms.
God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame, which was more hardened in such matters than might have been expected from one at my early period of life.
Calvin argued for reform to the Catholic church and was eventually obliged to leave Paris because of this. In 1536 his book The Institutes of the Christian Religion was published in Basle where he had been obliged to fly to after being driven out of France. This book sealed his reputation as a great theologian
Calvin made his way to Geneva where he met the protestant evangelist and reformer William Farel. Farel convinced Calvin to stay in Geneva and work to build the church there. Calvin agreed to stay and remained there for the rest of his life with the exception of three years banishment. Over the years Calvin managed to impose on the city his ideal of a state and church organised on biblical lines. Sadly this is where he began to repeat the errors of other Reformers.
Weirdly, for someone who preached that all things are sovereignly predestined by God, Calvin introduced a system that was more religiously legalistic than the Catholic system it replaced. The City Council of Geneva required all citizens to sign a confession of faith. The penalty for failing to do so was expulsion from the city. Liberty of conscience was completely removed and strict rules were enforced regarding people's behaviour and moral habits.
Image of Geneva in the 16th Century
A Spanish doctor, named Michael Servetus, who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity fled to Geneva after being condemned by the Catholic authorities in France. He was denounced by John Calvin himself and burned at the stake for heresy by order of the city's governing council. Servetus was actually a very brilliant man and was the first European to describe the function of pulmonary circulation.
It’s not clear how many people were tortured and executed by the City Council in Geneva. A 19th century protestant scholar named Jean-Barthelemy Galiffe went through the city records for the period from 1541 to 1559 that during the period in question and found that there were fifty eight executions and seventy-six banishments. Of the fifty eight executions, thirteen people were hanged, ten were decapitated, and thirty-five burned alive. This all happened during the time when Calvin held sway in Geneva.
Michael Servetus. Christian Fritzsch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sebastian Castello. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Some of these executions were for ordinary crimes such as murder and robbery. However many of them were for witchcraft, divination and causing the spread of the plague. While Calvin cannot be held directly responsible for all of this he never repudiated this horrible superstitious system.
It is interesting to me that all the church denominations which followed Calvinist teachings became harsh and legaglistic institutions themselves. God has given every individual a free choice as to whether they accept Jesus or not. Calvin’s close associate Sebastian Castello broke with him on this point. He became angry with Calvin over the execution of Servetus and said it was blatant murder. In 1554 he published a treatise called “Against Calvin’s Booklet” opposing Calvin’s teaching on the treatment of heretics. In this treatise he said
"To kill a man is not to protect a doctrine, it is to kill a man."
This is something with which I concur. Castello was simply saying something that countless other believers have said; that the clergy should stop persecuting people who disagree with them.
How the Reformers Repeated the Mistakes of the Catholics. Part 4. Richard Hooker
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Richard Hooker Video
Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian. He was an extremely influential figure in the development of Protestantism in England in the 16th Century. He opposed the Puritans whom he regarded as extremists. Hooker believed in reason and that scripture alone is not sufficient for the guidance of the church.
The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (original spelling, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie) is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published in 1594. The fifth book was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously. Basically he believed in church order and tradition and that the Puritan position, that scripture alone should govern all human, conduct was wrong. He minimised the authority of scripture and didn’t even question many church practices that weren’t based in scripture.
Richard Hooker, Wenceslaus Hollar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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The sacraments (taking holy communion) were regarded by Hooker as essential for salvation. Infant baptism was not questioned. Hooker did not like those who said that the Christianity should return to the purity and simplicity of the early church. He claimed that much of what the apostles did was not recorded in scripture and therefore the church could develop rites and traditions which were outside of scripture.
Hooker believed that the way forward was for everyone to be a member of the Church of England. He wrote:
“We hold that… there is not any man of the Church of England but the same man is also a member of the commonwealth, nor any member of the commonwealth which is not also a member of the Church of England.”
While Hooker avoided extremes of language his writings had a big influence on the Church in England and on the nation at large,
Title page. “Of the lawes of ecclesiastical politie”. Richard Hooker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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The sacraments (taking holy communion) were regarded by Hooker as essential for salvation. Infant baptism was not questioned. Hooker did not like those who said that the Christianity should return to the purity and simplicity of the early church. He claimed that much of what the apostles did was not recorded in scripture and therefore the church could develop rites and traditions which were outside of scripture.
Hooker believed that the way forward was for everyone to be a member of the Church of England. He wrote:
“We hold that… there is not any man of the Church of England but the same man is also a member of the commonwealth, nor any member of the commonwealth which is not also a member of the Church of England.”
While Hooker avoided extremes of language his writings had a big influence on the Church in England and on the nation at large,
Title page. “Of the lawes of ecclesiastical politie”. Richard Hooker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The problems continued into the 17th century. There was a big push in the country for uniformity of religion. The Puritans in the Church of England attempted to make the church more Protestant and less Catholic but they were facing an uphill task. Things changed with the advent of the English Civil War in 1642.
Men of various creeds fought side by side for the cause of liberty of conscience; Episcopalians, Puritans, Presbyterians, independents and Baptists joined together and this helped increase the mutual respect between them. When the war was over the Council of State (1653) declared that no one should be conform to the public religion. There was now, under Oliver Cromwell’s protectorate some liberty of conscience for Protestants at least. Quakers were not included in this new liberty and were routinely beaten, fined and put in prison because of their refusal to take up arms or show honour to men.
Oliver Cromwell,After Samuel Cooper, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Title page of a collection of Farewell Sermons preached by ministers ejected from their parishes in 1662. Ejected Puritan Ministers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The real legacy of Hooker was that there were continual efforts to create uniformity of religion in England. In all there were six Acts of Uniformity passed; the first in 1548 and the last in 1872. They all had the basic object of establishing some sort of religious orthodoxy within the Church of England.
The 1662 Act of Uniformity required all ministers assent to everything in the Book of Common prayer. This led to the Great Ejection when two thousand ministers were ejected from their livings. Nonconformity became a cause in itself and various Acts were passed to crush it. No Nonconformist could hold public office nor could he hold a meeting of more than five people. Ejected ministers were forbidden to go within five miles of any place where they had formerly ministered. The prisons soon became crowded with Independants, quakers and Baptists.
This is what always happens when states try to enforce religious conformity. I have been through the stories of four reformers and they all erred in the same way. Having once shaken off the shackles of Catholicism they then attempted to put their own shackles on believers. It is Jesus who builds His church. The church does not belong to any organisation or institution.