Reformation Causes and Effects, British Literature Unit 1 Introduction, B.A English Literature 2020

Reformation- Causes and Effects

    The Reformation changed England’s official religion from Catholicism to the new Protestant faith.  Attempts to reform (change and improve) the Catholic Church and the development of Protestant Churches in Western Europe are known as the Reformation. The Reformation began in 1517 when a German monk called Martin Luther protested about the Catholic Church. His followers became known as Protestants. Many people and governments adopted the new Protestant ideas, while others remained faithful to the Catholic Church. This led to a split in the Church. 

    The Reformation spread quickly throughout Europe was initiated in response to the growing sense of corruption and administrative abuse in the Church. It spread to the creation and rise of the Protestantism. This contributed to the rise of the Reformation in the 16th century. The Reformation movement was the result of the dissatisfaction with the beliefs of the Catholic Church. The domination of Church was increasing day by day in sphere of life. The power of the Pope and priest had increased considerably. The Pope enjoyed his unlimited powers. Pope and the priest indulged in immoral activities and exerted money from the people. The hold of the Church over political institution was becoming unbearable. The movement started by people to evaluate the teaching of the Church came to be known as Reformation. 

THE CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION

    The Reformation was the greatest religious movement in the early church. It was a revival of Biblical and New Testament theology. The Reformation officially began in 1517 when Martin Luther challenged the Roman Church on the matter of Indulgences. While Luther had no idea of the impact this would make on the German society and the world, this event changed the course of history.

    The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. These events were, in part, associated with the wider process of the European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity across all of Europe during this period. Many factors contributed to the process: the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism, the rise of the common law, the invention of the printing press and increased circulation of the Bible, the transmission of new knowledge and ideas among scholars, the upper and middle classes and readers in general. However, the various phases of the English Reformation, which also covered Wales and Ireland, were largely driven by changes in government policy, to which public opinion gradually accommodated itself.

Based on Henry VIII's desire for an annulment of his marriage (first requested of Pope Clement VII in 1527), the English Reformation was at the outset more of a political affair than a theological dispute. The reality of political differences between Rome and England allowed growing theological disputes to come to the fore. Until the break with Rome, it was the Pope and general councils of the Church that decided doctrine. Church law was governed by the code of canon law with final jurisdiction in Rome. Church taxes were paid straight to Rome, and the Pope had the final word in the appointment of bishops.

The break with Rome was affected by a series of acts of Parliament passed between 1532 and 1534, among them the 1534 Act of Supremacy which declared that Henry was the "Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England". Final authority in doctrinal and legal disputes now rested with the monarch, and the papacy was deprived of revenue and the final say on the appointment of bishops.

The theology and liturgy of the Church of England became markedly Protestant and  was a matter of fierce dispute during the reign of Henry's son Edward VI. The violent aspect of these disputes, manifested in the English Civil Wars, ended when the last Roman Catholic monarch, James II, was deposed, and Parliament asked William and Mary to rule jointly in conjunction with the English Bill of Rights in 1688 (in the "Glorious Revolution").  

 “There are two leading aspects in which the Reformation, viewed as a whole, may be regarded; the one more external and negative, and the other more intrinsic and positive. In the first aspect it was a great revolt against the see of Rome, and against the authority of the church and of churchmen in religious matters, combined with an assertion of the exclusive authority of the Bible, and of the right of all men to examine and interpret it for themselves. In the second and more important and positive aspect, the Reformation was the proclamation and inculcation, upon the alleged authority of Scripture, of certain views in regard to the substance of Christianity or the way of salvation, and in regard to the organization and ordinances of the Christian church” (William Cunningham, The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation).

THE EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION

A.   It is impossible to understand modern history apart from the Reformation. We cannot understand the history of Europe, England or America without studying the Reformation. For example, in America there would never have been Pilgrim Fathers if there had not first been a Protestant Reformation.

B.  The Reformation has profoundly affected the modern view of politics and law. Prior to the Reformation the Church governed politics; she controlled emperors and kings and governed the law of lands.

C.   The meaning of much western literature is really quite meaningless apart from an understanding of the Reformation. Moreover, for all practical purposes Martin Luther stabilized the German language.

D.   In the realm of science, it is generally granted by modern historians that there never would have been modern science were it not for the Reformation. All scientific investigation and endeavor prior to that had been controlled by the church. Only through sheer ignorance of history do many modern scientists believe that Protestantism, the true evangelical faith, opposes true science.

E.  The Reformation laid down once and for all the right and obligation of the individual conscience, and the right to follow the dictates of that individual conscience. Many men who talk lightly and glibly about “liberty” neither know nor realize that they owe their liberty to this event.