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In medieval times, the central
common church was the Catholic Church, meaning ‘universal’, however the critics
of the era began to question the beliefs and practices of Catholicism. “The
church had promised Christians that the path to salvation lay in the hierarchy
of the church and its sacramental system, which offered grace to the faithful
through the seven sacrements.” (p.329) One critic, Thomas à Kempis believed
that a person could work toward salvation if they focused on their own
spiritual growth. These ideas of humanism spread throughout Europe and sparked
new thoughts into the Christian humanist, Desiderius Erasmus.
As
the illegitimate son of a priest (who was supposedly celibate), Erasmus grew up
in Holland studying at the Brethren of the Common Life where the new devotion
“called for people to approach God directly in their hearts.” (p.330) In
continuing his education, Erasmus traveled to traditional universities in Paris,
though he quickly discovered that he detested this method of studies. Changing
routes, he traveled to England and learned from Henry VIII’s London teachers.
He, and his friend Thomas More, began to study a new course of humanism.
Erasmus combined the study of humanism with his religious interests and looked
to the original biblical texts. Erasmus stated that “Our first care must be to
learn the three languages, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, for it is plain that the
mystery of all scripture is revealed in them.” (p.330)
Until
that time, Jerome’s Vulgate translation of the bible was widely accepted;
however, Erasmus rejected this translation and corrected the mistakes. In
addition to translating the bible from Greek and Hebrew, he also wrote satires,
using his “wit to promote a greater spirituality in religion.” (p.330) Erasmus
believed that Christians should read the bible for themselves, instead of
accepting another’s interpretation of it.
A
man with a very different childhood from Erasmus, Martin Luther, was raised in
Germany by a family of growing prosperity. However, Luther’s life took a
dramatic turn when he was struck with fear as a jolt of lightning came close
by. He prayed to St. Anne, saying if she would help him, he will devote his
life to becoming a monk. After the storm passed, and he was alive and well,
Luther kept his word and joined a monastery. He was also truthful in saying
that he would be devoted to this life, for he immersed himself into this new
calling. Still, he felt a sense of sinfulness and held a fear of being damned
to hell. No matter how much he studied, he still felt as though he was not
worthy of salvation, until he read Romans 1:17, the “just shall live by his
faith.”
Luther’s
new central point of belief was “Justification by Faith”, meaning that a
Christ’s sacrifice was a complete transaction for all peoples of all times, so
no one needed to work for their salvation, they already had it. Luther took his
new zeal and new belief and challenged the church doctrine concerning indulgences.
“Tradition says that Luther tacked his list of arguments –the Ninety-five
Theses- to the door of the church in Wittenburg.” (p.331) His well-thought-out
arguments were appealing to many scholars who were also critics of the church.
“With Luther’s strong words ‘It is foolish to think that papal indulgences… can
absolve a man,’ the battle lines were drawn.” (p.332)
Luther
decided that he did not need to remain a monk (or friar, according to the
lecture) and he left to marry Katharina von Bora, a former nun, where he
continued to write about religious topics such as marriage, created hymns, as
well as translated the bible in to German, helping to shape the form of the
developing German language.
In
another part of Europe, John Calvin was preparing for a law career while
simultaneously studying humanist writings- among them, the works of Martin
Luther. During this time the royal authorities were attempting to suppress
reform and so Calvin left France and settled in the city of Geneva. There “he
published his first edition of his masterwork, The Institutes of the Christian
Religion.” (p.335)
The
hardworking middle class was drawn to Calvin’s vision of seeing the majesty,
power, and justice of God, as well as Luther’s vision of justification by
faith. “Perhaps Calvin’s greatest contribution to Reformation thought was to
redirect theological speculation from individual salvation to a larger question
of humans’ place in the universe.” (p. 335) It was no longer a question of Why
me, but instead a question of Why us?
When Calvin
turned to the question of salvation, he again emphasized the power of God
through Predestination. Predestination is “belief that God preordained who
would be saved or damned, even before a person was born.” (p.336) Calvin believed that if we only saw God as a
just God, we would all be damned, because we are all inherently sinners. Many
others, who also believed that we can do nothing to earn salvation, found
comfort in the idea of predestination, though Calvin did not stress this as much
as his future followers did.
Calvin used
his impressive organizational skills and dispersed many preachers to the
farthest corners of Europe to help congregations with directions on how to
establish underground groups that could adopt Calvinism in hostile territories
like France. Therefore, “a second generation Protestant, Calvin moved the
Reformation forward in important ways.” (p.337)
My
own personal beliefs reflect those of Erasmus and Luther, in that, I believe
you must read the bible and educated yourself about it in order to gain a
better understanding and a closer relationship to God. I also relate to Martin
Luther in his sense of sinfulness and fear that no matter how much he studied
or did good works, he was not worthy of salvation. I too, struggle with the
idea that God could ever truly love me and forgive me. I still feel as though I
am meant to suffer and that I do not deserve mercy. I can tell others with
whole-heartedness that He is a loving and forgiving God, but I never seem to
let that sink in to my own heart. (I am working on it).
I
also agree with Luther that God’s sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was for all
people, for all time. Jesus did not know me in a person to person manner while
He walked the earth, yet I truly believe that when He died on the cross, He did
so for all of God’s creatures in both the past and the future. Erasmus was
diligent in his studies of other languages and original biblical texts. For
this, he deserves a big gold star by his name. I do not believe that a person
can truly understand any subject, without learning it from the beginning stages
to the newest developments. My father was a mechanic, but he could not have
rebuilt an engine on the first day that he became a mechanic. Erasmus went back
to the original texts, in their original languages, to understand the culture
and the true meaning of every word written. I admire him for this, and I am
thankful that he did this.
As
far Calvin, I can agree with some of his notions, but I am not sure that I
agree with predestination. It is difficult to picture that Jesus died on the
cross for some of God’s creatures and not all of them. It is also difficult for
me to believe that God would create man in his image, and provide us with so
many gifts of love and mercy, if he did not love all of us.
Still,
I am thankful to John Calvin, and all of the reformists, for changing the
direction of the church. I feel that if they had not, we might all still be
living as Catholics under the rule of the royalty and papal judgment. Thank God
that he gave us free will to think for ourselves!
Citation:
Sherman,
Dennis and Joyce Salisbury. The West in
the World. McGraw-Hill Publications. 2014. New York, NY. Print.
Farmer, Dr. Craig. Key Issues in the Reformation. 21 June 2016. Web (video lecture).
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