The Protestant Reformation

Corruption in the Medieval Catholic Church

• What forms of corruption existed within the Church during the Late Middle Ages?– Popes used excommunication to force monarchs to

obey the Church – Many priests were illiterate– Many clergy broke their vows of chastity– Some officials lead lives of luxury and leisure – Some clergy:

• Charged repentant Christians to see holy remains and objects• Sold church offices to the highest bidder (simony)• Sold indulgences

Early Calls for Reform

• John Wycliffe of England– Thought Christians didn’t need

Church or sacraments to achieve salvation

– Regarded Bible as most important source of religious authority

– Completed first translation of Bible into English

• Outcome: the Church persecuted his followers, the Lollards, as heretics

Jan Huss• Criticized wealth of Church• Wanted religious services

conducted in the language of the worshippers

• Opposed the sale of indulgences– Outcome: Was burned at stake

for refusing to accept importance of church rituals

Catherine of Siena

• Popularized Mysticism

• Believed people could experience God through intense prayer– Outcome: Maintained

that Christians didn’t need priests, rituals, or sacraments

Girolamo Savonarola

• Launched crusade against immoral society

• Encouraged book burning

• Claimed Vatican was filled with sin and corruption– Outcome: Was burned at

the stake by angry citizens of Florence

The Protestant Reformation

• By 1500s, educated Christians calling for a complete change in the Church’s ways and practice of Christianity

• In Germany, the movement for Church reform resulted in a split of the Church

Martin Luther

• Son of middle-class townspeople, became a monk at age 22

• Worried that God may not find him acceptable– Read in Romans: “He

who through faith is righteous shall live

• Luther’s justification of faith

Luther’s Protest• Luther’s ideas brought

him in conflict with the Church

• Pope Leo X selling church positions and indulgences to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica – Certificates sold by the

Church to reduce or cancel punishment of sins

– Indulgences were said to be a sure ticket to heaven

Luther’s Protest

• John Tetzel– German Church agent for

selling indulgences– Promised indulgences would

relieve for FUTURE sins– Encouraged people to buy

indulgences for dead relatives

• “Once you hear the money’s ring, the soul from purgatory is free to spring”

• Luther preached against indulgences and nailed on the Wittenberg Church his 95 theses– Statements criticizing

indulgences and other church policies

Luther’s Protest• The Ninety-five Theses spread

quickly and sale of indulgences declined– Leo X persuades Luther to

withdraw criticism– 1520- the pope formally

condemns Luther, excommunicates in 1521

• A council meets in Worms to bring Luther back and get him to take back statement

• Rushed out of Worms and hidden in a castle by Prince Frederick of Saxony

• While in exile, translates New Testament in German

Lutheranism• First Protestant faith

– Emphasized salvation by faith alone

– Emphasized the Bible’s role as the only source of religious truth

– Services centered on Biblical preaching rather than ritual and held in the language of the people

– The Church was not a hierarchy of clergy but community of believers

– The seeds are sown for more radical Protestant movements to transform Europe