On this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, I’ve been blogging about some of its leaders, courtesy of desiringgod.org. If you’re unfamiliar with church history, you may be asking those questions. Here’s a brief look at the church before the Reformation.
It’s impossible, in a brief blog, to trace all church history leading to the 16th century Reformation. To catch a century-by-century glimpse, go to http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/centuries/2nd-century-11631961.html.
European society was hierarchical. For centuries, church authority was increasingly concentrated in the Rome bishop. That process climaxed in the bishop of Rome becoming pope, with a claim to have descended from the apostle Peter and to be Christ’s representative (“vicar”) on earth. He, not the written Word of God, was the church’s authority.
Doctrines and traditions, alien to the New Testament, crept into the church. Church and state (king) were the ruling authorities in society. Eventually, the Roman Empire became the “Holy Roman Empire”, ruling much of Europe.
The hierarchy of authority meant the pope had power to dispense grace, which he did by ordaining bishops and priests who “poured” that grace out to the masses by means of the Mass.
Dispensing grace was quite mechanical. “Worshipers” were uneducated and illiterate. Their faith wasn’t expressed, merely implied. That is, they habitually came and systematically received “grace” through the bread of the Mass. Since the Mass was said in Latin, the people didn’t understand a word. Apparently, many priests didn’t either; they didn’t learn Latin, just the words of the Mass so they could repeat them.
The focal point of the church was the altar. And at that altar an “unbloody sacrifice” was made. Christ’s body was offered to God. God’s anger was appeased (again and again). Sins were forgiven. Grace was given as the substance of the bread and wine were transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ (“transubstantiation”).
The system was based on an understanding of salvation from Augustine (354-430 A.D.). Augustine taught that we exist to love God—something we can’t do naturally. So God “justifies” us. That is, through the sacraments, recipients receive the grace of love. By each Mass, we are made a more righteous, loving person who leaves to live more righteously and lovingly. In this way, we merit salvation. “God will not deny grace to those who do their best” was a common slogan.
But how could you tell if you were doing your best to live a loving life? How could you be sure you merited salvation? That problem was solved in 1215 when a church council required all Christians to regularly confess their sins to a priest. To neglect confession meant damnation. In order to probe the penitent’s heart, the priest asked questions from an official list. For example, “Are your prayers, alms, and religious activities done more to hide your sins and impress others than to please God?” “Have you muttered against God because of bad weather, illness, poverty, the death of a child or a friend?” Obviously, instead of relieving a guilty conscience, confession revealed deeper, darker sins.
The church’s official teaching recognized that no one would die righteous enough to have merited salvation. Therefore: purgatory. Unless one died unrepentant of a mortal sin, he could have his sins slowly purged through punishment in order to eventually enter heaven. The process could take literally thousands of years. But it could be speeded up if the living said prayers for the souls in purgatory or asking for the grace of the Mass to be applied to them.
Increasingly, Christ was seen as the Doomsday Judge, terrible in holiness. Who could approach him? Hence, his mother (to whom he would surely listen) became the mediator. Although the church officially declared Mary and all others saints were to be venerated, not worshiped, the distinction was too fine for the masses. In fact, all the saints were regarded as gods and their relics (bones, jewelry, pieces of clothing, etc.) were treated as objects with powers to avert evil and bring good fortune.
There was the danger of saints and relics becoming idols. So the church declared relics, pictures and images “the Bible of the poor”. This, they explained, is how the illiterate learn.
And then there were the indulgences. After hearing a confession, the priest would prescribe various acts of penance. Any sins for which penance was not done in this life would be dealt with in purgatory. But there was good news. Saints, who had sufficient merit to bypass purgatory and go directly to heaven, had merit to spare. The church could give them to worthy recipients—for a price. At the start, the price was participation in the First Crusade; then money was enough for spiritual bliss.
One might expect ordinary people would reject such religion. But current historical research has shown in the 15th and 16th centuries, it was more popular than ever. “More masses for the dead were paid for, more churches were built, more statues to saints were erected, and more pilgrimages were made than ever before.”
This, in brief-sketch-form was the church. You couldn’t go down the street to another. This was it And this is why the church needed reforming.
It started sometime in the 1320’s. A man named John Wycliffe was ordained as a priest and sent to Oxford. There his theological views made him controversial and his connections to the royal family made him influential. In 1378, Wycliffe publicly declared the Bible, not the pope as the supreme spiritual authority. He organized a translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible into English. The “morning star of the Reformation” had appeared. In 1517 the priest Martin Luther would nail his 95 theses to the Wittenburg door. The “morning star” became a thunderstorm.
Thank God.
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