Contemporary Civilization (Ideas and Institutions Section VII: The rP otestant Movement of Western Man) 1958 7. A Postscript to the Age of Reformation Robert L. Bloom Gettysburg College Basil L. Crapster Gettysburg College Harold A. Dunkelberger Gettysburg College See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/contemporary_sec7 Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Cultural History Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, and the New Religious Movements Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Bloom, Robert L. et al. "7. A Postscript to the Age of Reformation. Pt. VII: The rP otestant Movement." Ideas and Institutions of Western Man (Gettysburg College, 1958), 71-75. This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ contemporary_sec7/7 This open access book chapter is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 7. A Postscript to the Age of Reformation Abstract Estimates regarding the results of the Reformation differ as widely as do the names used to characterize it. As it has been called a revolt, a reaffirmation, a reaction, or a reformation, so its results have been assessed as a shattering of Christendom, a resurgence of the gospel, a return to religious scholasticism, or a real quickening in the faith of Western man. Therefore, any conclusions as to its influence which we might draw will of necessity be somewhat affected by the views of the writers. With this in mind, we shall examine several important ramifications of the Reformation. [excerpt] Keywords Contemporary Civilization, Christianity, Church, Catholicism, Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Revival Disciplines Catholic Studies | Christian Denominations and Sects | Christianity | Cultural History | History | History of Christianity | History of Religion | New Religious Movements | Religion Comments This is a part of Section VII: The rP otestant Movement. The Contemporary Civilization page lists all additional sections of Ideas and Institutions of Western Man, as well as the Table of Contents for both volumes. More About Contemporary Civilization: From 1947 through 1969, all first-year Gettysburg College students took a two-semester course called Contemporary Civilization. The ourc se was developed at President Henry W.A. Hanson’s request with the goal of “introducing the student to the backgrounds of contemporary social problems through the major concepts, ideals, hopes and motivations of western culture since the Middle Ages.” Gettysburg College professors from the history, philosophy, and religion departments developed a textbook for the course. The first edition, published in 1955, was called An Introduction to Contemporary Civilization and Its Problems. A second edition, retitled Ideas and Institutions of Western Man, was published in 1958 and 1960. It is this second edition that we include here. The opc y we digitized is from the Gary T. Hawbaker ’66 Collection and the marginalia are his. Authors Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, and W. Richard Schubart This book chapter is available at The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/contemporary_sec7/ 7 7 . A Postscript to the Age of Reformation Estimates regarding the results of the Refor mation differ as widely as do the names used to characterize it . As it has been called a revolt, a reaffirmation, a re~ction, or a reforma­ tion, so its results have been assessed as a ~teri qg_QJ Christendom, a r esurg enc~ of the gos_p_el ,__ a e.t..:.u to_rel,:i:gi_ous srcholasticism, or a r eal .qu ickening in the faith 9f W~s ~r n man. Therefore, any conclusions as t o its influence which we might draw will of necessity be somewhat affected by the vi.ews of the writer s . With this in mind, we shall examine sever al i mportant ramifications of the Reformation , The shatter ing of Christendom was the 1Il..9J3J · bvious r esult. Prior to t e sixteenth century ther e had been only small heret­ ical groups, and in a sense it cannot be said that they were outside the Church . After the sixteenth century there was not only the major division between Catholic and Pr otestant , but VII p. 72 also a p r oliferation within Pr otestantism. The medieval ideal of a united Christendom gave way before the na rrower loyalties to national chur ches and national sta t e s . of the . c. o ncept of Chr iste ndom in.vi ted a new CGm- ~~~~~~~~a~t=~ ' h a c hu c h had t fine c l early in order to make its a p eal a s attr active as pos- ..§j__e . Suc h competition ma y well have had much to d o with a quickening o f faith, however short- lived it turned ou t to be. Never since has there been suc h widespread i nterest in and dis­ cussion of the Christian life by princ e as well as pries t , by burgher a s well as monk . Catholic s did c o rrect reviou ly yrevalent abuses . PJ:otes_t an ts devis~ new ~nd var ing m.e_an f romotin piety. AnabA ists p rac~e d~~t as been er med an "inner -wo;r'ldly asceticism" a par t from sociej;y . Luthe an laid s !ress on the p erso~l p~ety ~~ - ~he indiv ~ dual with i n the world. criv inists - u j;_ i.nto .e.ff_e_ct a__r_i goJr OIUS _ind!.Yj,9ua ! __and SOCia u ri tanism--.!J?._ ~ v ery qayw if . B• all P;ro est_llnts . reJ211!_ iated a double standar d _Q~e f o ~ tpe r e l~ gious and another f r the lait _. And all Prote a n ts laid s ress op a new individu alism, on....___.,.. the immediate :r:·'e la,.tiop. o f eyery_ C_hr ist_ ia ~OU o _Go!;l. The questio n of whe her the p ~r o l if era i o n whi c h appeared with the Refor mat i o n was good ©r b a d has set o ff a great debate which continues i n heat ed fashion to the pre s e nt . The Catholic claim~ that p r ivate interpretation o f Scripture by each indi­ vidual produces the anarchy of a thousand sects . He argues that emphasis on faith alone is destructive of char itable works. He insists that Protestantism let loose on Eu r op e a c haos of individuali s m in philosophy and morals ; and tha t, in or der to recover from this Ghaos·, Pr o testants turned to the states whCise princes u sed religion to fur ther their own military, political, and economic aims . In s u mmary, the Catholic c har ges that Pr ot­ est ant pluralism has set up a disintegrative p rocess i n Christi­ anit y which can be traced t hrou gh the e ightee nth century Enlight­ enment t o the materiali stic wor ship of s c ience , tech nology, and the totalitarian state , The Pr otestant answer s to these char ges are grounded on the belief tha t God a lone is t he s u p reme aut hor ity o The Prot­ estants rejected the idea that s uch a uthor ity was granted by God to any hist orical institution , They believed that this l authority is communicated to men through the Scrip t ure -- the j Living Wo r d -- which makes possible t he perso nal e ncounter with God . Because t hey insisted that man i s fallen and fallible;/the Protestants held t hat the reception of God ' s c ommunication is always warped and will vary wit h eac h individual . I n a brief span we shall c onsider the impact of tre Pr ot­ estant movement upon the state, t he eco nomic o rder, the family, the arts , and the schools . I n t he political arena, t he new pluralism produced an a o izing c ent ·tU of r eli im..t~- ars 0 Cat o 1c a n Pr otestant intoler a nce fanned disputes into per­ secutions , and p e r secutio ns int o open hostilities and bloodshed. People act ed o n t he p r emise t hat it was ne cessary to fight and VII p. 73 kill for t h e state that championed t heir faith . The struggle began immediately after Lu ther ' s death in Ger many wit h the Smal­ kald War ( 1547-1552) , spr ead t o Fr a nce in t he int ermitt ent wars of religion, (1562-1598) , continued in the Low Coun t r ies in asso­ ciation with their stru ggle for i ndepe ndence ( 1568-1609) , and reached its devastating climax i n t he Thirty Year s ' War ( 1618- 1648) . Related to this struggle was the English Pur i t an Revolu­ tion (1642-1660) . These r eligiou s war s p r oved tha t it was no longer possible -- or wor th the price -- to r e u nite Western Christendom by for ce . Wi t h them ended a l l bu t a l e gendary fic­ tion abou t a Holy Roman Church and a Holy Roman Empire u niting all Europe .