Protestantism Disagrees

- By the time of Luther’s death in 1546, Protestantism was quite fragmented.

- The First Protestant Split:Left-wing (turned against state power, development of Free Churches) vs.Right-wing (churches of authorities, rulers were new bishops, like a territorial pope)

Protestants Continue to Split

The Second Protestant Split:1) Lutherans (1521 after the Edit of Worms)- First Protestant group, wanted reforms made to the Church

2) Free Churches (mid-1500s and ongoing)- Later became Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, etc. “Free” from government control

3) Reformed Churches (mid-1500s)- Favored an overhaul of the Church, not “half measures like Luther.” Also Calvinism, the most influential group believed in predestination.

4) Anglicans (a.k.a. Church of England, 1534)- Partially raised over a dispute over King Henry VIII wanting to get divorced, this Church became known as a “middle way” between Catholicism and Protestantism. It rejects the papacy although leaves in many traditions (“Catholic-lite”)

Today, there are literally thousands of Protestant denominations!

Reformed Churches - Zwingli- Eventually, Protestant reformers across Europe had different methods, ideas, and goals.

- Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) led Protestants in Switzerland, a loosely-united Central European country which became independent in 1499.

- Unlike Luther, Zwingli wanted to completely break with the Church. His churches removed all art, organs, choirs, relics, decorations, and whitewashed their walls. Scripture, prayer, sermons took place instead of a traditional Catholic Mass.

- Zwingli was killed in 1531 in a war between the Protestants and the Catholics. His body was cut into pieces and burned, then his ashes were spread. John Calvin would become the new Swiss Protestant leader.

Reformed Churches- Calvinism

John Calvin (1509-1564) from France, gained fame when he wrote The Institutes of the Christian Kingdom in 1536.

- The book’s ideas, which later became known as Calvinism, said that men and women were sinners by birth and by nature. Furthermore, God was all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-knowing (omniscient), so God already knows who is going to Heaven and Hell. This is called predestination.

- Calvin’s followers believed they were “the Elect” – the people who were destined by God to be saved from birth. Calvinists were very motivated and confident in making their mark in society.

Geneva, the “City of God”

- In 1541, 20,000 people lived in Geneva, Switzerland, which was a “model” community based on Calvinism (similar to the “umma” in Islam).

- 12 elected church council members ran the city, and this was attractive because it gave people a democratic say in their leadership.

- John Calvin, however, came to dominate the city like an autocrat. Church service attendance was required several times a week, spies made sure that no one swore, fought, got drunk, gambled, played cards, or danced, and harsh punishments were given to law breakers.

- Calvin’s city was extreme, but Calvinism spread mightily to the Netherlands and Scotland (a.k.a. Presbyterians), and dominated religion there for years to come. Calvinism spread to parts of France (a.k.a. Huguenots), but they were suppressed and many moved out (In 1571, the St. Bartholomew's massacre sparked a manhunt of killing about 12,000 Huguenots).

Anabaptists- Anabaptists were another branch of Protestants that developed. They firmly believed in baptizing/admitting adults only, because they were the only ones old enough to make a reasoned choice (Catholics, etc. baptized infants).

- Anabaptists totally shunned government authority…never held any office, shared all possessions, refused to fight or kill, would not take any political oath. As a result, many were kicked out from various places.

- For example, in 1534, some radical Anabaptists took over Munster, and burned books, took all property, and practiced polygamy (saying there was a shortage of men and women needed husbands). Both Lutherans and Catholics crushed this group, killed their leaders, and persecuted the survivors.

- In the 1600s many Anabaptists groups left to North America. They were big supporters of the separation of Church and State, and pacifists.

- Mennonites and Amish are direct descendants from Anabaptists. Later groups were influenced by them as well (Quakers = pacifists, Baptists = adult Baptism, Evangelicals = born again Christians).

England’s Protestant Reformation- England also revolted against Catholicism, but for different reasons. At this time they had only around 4 million people, but eventually would be a serious player in Europe.

- Henry VIII (1491-1547) originally thought his older brother, Arthur, would be king, but Arthur died of sickness, age 15. Arthur had married the Spanish Catherine of Aragon. Both were 15, and were married for only 5 months.

- Ending in 1485, England had previously fought a bloody 30 year civil war called Wars of the Roses, and Henry was the last male heir. This problem of succession meant stability for England and was of great concern.

- In 1509, Henry married Catherine of Aragon, mostly to cement a friendship with Spain. She was 23 and he was 17. Henry was crowned king of England upon his dad’s death at 18 years old.

- Henry was a true Renaissance Man (music, literature, philosophy, jousting, hunting, theology). He was Catholic, and denounced Luther.

Henry VIII’s “Great Matter”

- Henry and Catherine had one daughter (Mary), but needed a male heir. Catherine had horrible luck giving birth: she was pregnant 6 times in 8 years, yet only Mary survived more than months.

- By 1525, Henry had grown tired of Catherine, now 42 (he had cheated on her plenty already), and furthermore was convinced that he needed a younger woman to give him a son.

- Henry asked the Pope to annul (divorce not acceptable) his wedding for 2 reasons: Henry feared that his brother had consummated his wedding with Catherine; and The Book of Leviticus predicted childlessness for a man who married his dead brother’s wife.

- The Pope refused to annul the marriage for 2 reasons: Charles V was the nephew of Catherine, and annulling the marriage would show that the Church made a mistake.

The Church of England

- In 1529, Henry called Parliament (“Reformation Parliament” to end the Pope’s power in England.

- In 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn, a girl in the Queen’s entourage, secretly. After this, Parliament legalized Henry’s divorce with Catherine.

- In 1534, Parliament approved the Act of Supremacy, which made Henry head of the Church of England (a.k.a. Anglican, also later Episcopalian). Many saw this as heresy, and the Pope excommunicated Henry in 1535.

- During this time, some opponents were executed for “treason,” like Sir Thomas More. In 1549, there was a Book of Common Prayer which made it organized.

- Henry seized all of the Church lands in England, and boosted the treasury by about 25%!