Reformation

Background

In fifteenth-century Western Europe, nation-states emerged in which power was concentrated in the monarch. Monarchs sought to bring the church under national control, and papal authority steadily weakened. The papacy was deeply involved in Western European politics. The sale of indulgences, the trade in relics (objects venerated as holy), and clerical corruption also undermined the church's spiritual authority. Others had called for reform before Luther. Jan Hus of Bohemia was condemned at the Council of Constance and executed in 1415.

Course of Events

• 1517 Martin Luther, a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, published the Ninety-five Theses, criticizing the sale of indulgences. The immediate occasion was Pope Leo X's authorization of indulgence sales in Germany to fund the construction of St. Peter's Basilica. Luther is said to have posted the theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31.
• 1521 Excommunicated by the pope, Luther refused to recant his views even at the Diet of Worms, convened by Emperor Charles V. He was subsequently declared a heretic by the Edict of Worms.
• 1523 In Zurich, Switzerland, Huldrych Zwingli presented the Sixty-seven Articles at a public disputation. Reforms followed in Zurich, including Scripture-centered preaching, the removal of images, and simplified worship.
• 1529 Luther and Zwingli met at the Marburg Colloquy but could not resolve their differences over the Lord's Supper. Luther took "This is my body" (Matthew 26:26) literally and held that Christ is truly present in the Supper. Zwingli regarded the Supper as a symbolic memorial.
• 1536 John Calvin published the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in Basel. Calvin went on to lead the reform in Geneva. The Institutes was expanded several times, and the final Latin edition appeared in 1559.
• 1545 The Catholic Church convened the Council of Trent. The council reaffirmed existing doctrine and tradition as well as the seven sacraments, and it established an index of prohibited books.
• 1555 Under the Peace of Augsburg, the princes of the Holy Roman Empire were permitted to choose either Catholicism or Lutheranism as the religion of their territories. This did not, however, grant freedom of religion to individuals. Calvinism was not recognized until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Results and Influence

The Western church divided into Roman Catholicism and the various branches of Protestantism. During this period the Lutherans, the Reformed (who carried on the traditions of Zwingli and Calvin), the Anabaptists (who rejected infant baptism), and the Church of England became established. The principles emphasized by the Reformers were later summarized as the Five Solas, including sola scriptura (Scripture alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and sola fide (faith alone). The doctrine of justification, that one is declared righteous through faith, and the idea of the priesthood of all believers, that every believer is a priest before God, also became foundations of Protestantism.

Most Protestant denominations in Korea are likewise rooted in this movement. Korean Presbyterianism carries on the Reformed tradition running through Calvin and John Knox, and the Lutheran Church in Korea carries on the tradition of Luther. Methodism arose from the movement led by John Wesley within the Church of England. As for the origins of the Baptists, some trace them to the Anabaptists, while others locate them among the seventeenth-century English Separatists. Many Korean churches observe a Sunday near October 31 as Reformation Sunday. The year 2017 marked the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of the Ninety-five Theses.

Assessment

Protestants regard the Reformation as a return to Scripture and the gospel. The Catholic Church pursued its own renewal through the Council of Trent and other means, and Catholic dictionaries describe the Reformation as a sixteenth-century movement of church renewal. Historians also examine political and social factors, such as the growth of nation-states and the support of princes and cities. Divisions arose even within the Reformation camp over issues such as the Lord's Supper, and religious conflict escalated into war; these developments are often cited as limitations of the Reformation.