He went into hiding and translated the New Testament into German, and his ideas spread rapidly with the development of the printing press. Luther formed a new church called the Lutheran Church and Germany was divided into two groups of for and against Luther’s groups.
The first anti-Catholic groups were called Protestants. Unfortunately for Luther, many of his followers miss-interpreted the Scriptures, and many churches appeared with different teachings from his. Protestant Reformation, which began as a move to reform, the Catholic Church, ended up splitting the Church into not only Catholic and Protestant, but many other groups besides.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
John Calvin produced the first defined presentation on Protestantism, which was titled ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’. Sometime in 1522-34, John had what he called a ‘sudden conversion’ and accepted Protestantism. He was actually responsible for the establishment of a reformed German Church organisation. The Town Council also accepted Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Ordinances, which set up a theocracy in Geneva; a government based on Church rule. Calvin mainly believed in the absolute sovereignty of God, and the person’s complete inability to contribute anything towards their own salvation. That second point is known as pre-destination.
Henry VIII
Henry VII wrote a book called ‘Defense of the Seven Sacraments’ which went against Luther’s idea that there were only two real Sacraments. The Pope gave Henry the title ‘Defender of the Faith’. Henry wanted a divorce with his current wife so that he could marry Anne Boelyn. Pope refused his request, so in 1533, Henry made himself the head of the Church of England and ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to give him a divorce. The Pope excommunicated Henry in 1535.
Mary Tudor
Mary tried to undo the religious laws made by her father and brother. Between February 1555 and November 1558 273 men and women were condemned by Mary’s government and burnt at the stake. Mary became known as ‘Bloody Mary’, and died in 1558.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth succeeded Mary and was the true founder of Anglicanism. She published 39 articles defining Anglican belief. She also created a new type of Church known as the Elizabethan Settlement. Anyone who went against this belief, was known as Puritans and were regarded as traitors to the English Crown. The Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity, were two Acts of Parliament which put Queen Elizabeth in charge of the Church of England. Everyone had to conform to this, with many Puritans being fined or imprisoned, and many fleeing to Holland and America to avoid persecution. All Catholics refused this and were known as Recusants. English priests were banned from celebrating the Sacraments so they asked for help from Rome.
In 1585 an Act was passed against ‘Jesuits, seminary priests and other such like disobedient subjects’ which made it high treason for any English-born person to train as a priest and return to England. Any people who helped priests were also included in this Act. Over 300 people, 123 of whom were priests, were executed during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531)
Zwingli was ordained as a Catholic Priest in 1506, and in 1522-23, he attempted to reform the Church in Switzerland. As a result, all statues, organs and images were taken away from the churches and Mass was banned in 1522. Zwingli taught that the Scriptures were the only authority in matters of faith, and he accepted only two Sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist. These, he only regarded as symbols, and didn’t believe that they carried any grace as the Catholic Church taught. He believed the Eucharist was just a simple meal to help Christians remember Jesus’ saving work. He also taught pre-destination, that people’s fates were fixed and there was nothing they could do about it. Zwingli was killed in battle against the Swiss Catholic Cantons.
By David Tunstall
