Thread: Halting the Reformation! Stop! Stop!

What were the causes for the halt in the progress of the Reformation after the death of Luther? What do you think?

Natural law; I will defend this assertion later. I do hope in the near-future to write an essay/thought on natural law and its antithesis to biblical revelation.


EDIT: And this isn't another piece on theonomy. John Robbins himself is a savage critic of natural law.

[Edited on 8--3-05 by Draught Horse]

Matt, Could you elaborate on what precisely you mean by "halt" and "after the death of Luther"? Are you distinguishing between the "First" and "Second" Reformations?

Yes, I am making that separation.

though men like Bullinger continued on, and later Turretin, why do you think the momentum changed and shifted?

Ok, the time frame that we are addressing vis-a-vis the death of Luther starts with the year 1546. John Calvin died in 1564. Melancthon and Beza were both intellectual geniuses but they lacked the charisma and influence of the men they replaced.

Moreover, the Lutheran and Calvinistic branches of the Reformation were never able to join together effectively, despite the efforts of those men. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 also ensured that territories in the Holy Roman Empire were to be affiliated religiously on the basis of their rulers, which helped to stop the rapid progress of the Reformation.

Between the years marking the deaths of Luther and Calvin, the Counter-Reformation, manifested notably in the activities of the Jesuit Order and the Council of Trent, were responding effectively to the Reformation by means of select reforms, propaganda and use of force.

Bloody Mary ruled England for a short time and executed about 300 Protestants, including some of the finest minds of the English Reformation. She was replaced by Queen Elizabeth, whose committment to the Reformation was superseded by her committment to Anglican/Erastian principles, much like her father. The 39 Articles made the Church of England Calvinistic in soteriology, but hampered reform in other areas. The House of Stuart was a thorn in the side of the Reformation for over a century.

The Reformation gained ascendency in Scotland in 1568 with the flight of Queen Mary. Scotland was solidly Presbyterian after that.

France suffered a huge blow in 1572 with the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. An estimated 100,000 Huguenots were killed in a brief period of time. The ongoing Wars of Religion (1562 - 1598) consumed the lives and efforts of many godly men. The Edict of Nantes finally allowed for peace in France, but at the cost of the conversion of Henry IV to Romanism. The liberties that were gained by Huguenots from that charter were short-lived.

William of Orange was asassinated in 1584, which hurt the Protestant cause in Holland as did ongoing war with Spain. Later Jacob Arminius coalesced a party around anti-Calvinistic principles in that country and beyond.

Spain attempted an assault on England with its armada in 1588 which, had it succeeded, would have altered the course of history in a drastic way. Thank God, it did not. The Spanish Inquisition meanwhile suppressed Protestant dissent internally.

It should be noted that the Reformation was helped by the publication of the Geneva Bible in 1560 and later the King James Version in 1611. The spread of psalm-singing thanks to the efforts of Marot, Beza, and Sternhold & Hopkins also contributed greatly to the cause during this timeframe. Also, the formulation of the Scots Confessions/Covenants, the Belgic Confession, the Helvetic Confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dordt were all strong positive developments during the era between the First and Second Reformations.

Possibly this should be a new thread, but....

Andrew said:

It should be noted that the Reformation was helped by the publication of the Geneva Bible in 1560 and later the King James Version in 1611.

Andrew, do you really think the KJV actually helped the cause of the Reformation? I had always been under the impression that it hurt the Reformation and that King James himself wanted a new English translation for that very purpose.

Also, thanks for the great summary!

Originally posted by sastark
Possibly this should be a new thread, but....

Andrew said:

It should be noted that the Reformation was helped by the publication of the Geneva Bible in 1560 and later the King James Version in 1611.

Andrew, do you really think the KJV actually helped the cause of the Reformation? I had always been under the impression that it hurt the Reformation and that King James himself wanted a new English translation for that very purpose.

Also, thanks for the great summary!

Seth,

Thanks. I do understand your point and, yes, the KJV did arise out of an effort by the Crown to supplant the influence of the Geneva Bible notes, and so forth. However, despite the King's efforts, the KJV is a masterful and faithful translation, and I do believe it to be a strong contribution to the Reformed Church. I keep my KJV next to my 1599 Geneva Bible on my shelf, and I think the Church has been greatly blessed by both. Our Webmaster has written about the origins of the KJV here.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw, concerning the KJV:

"The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the word of God divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes. In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result...they made a translation so magnificent that to this day the common human Britisher or citizen of the United States of North America accepts and worships it as a single book by a single author, the book being the Book of Books and the author being God."

[Edited on 8-3-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]

I think one leading cause was fighting among those who overthrew the Roman Catholic government.

The effects of the Reformation I think are mirrored in political revolutions. IN countries that undergo political revolutions, once the power authority is cast aside, it is rare for all factions to agree on a new structure. This tends to lead to balkanization and factional fighting of the remaining powers. A notable exception is the United States, although those dangers were present and avoided due to the good will of the men there. Once the papacy was overthrown, many groups competed against each other for power (Lutherans, Calvinists, countless forms of anabaptists, and Catholics all fought each other). This led to ecclesiastical battles which turned to the bloody Wars of Religion. I expect that the Wars of Religion had a devastating effect on the souls of people - causing them to doubt the wisdom of fighting over differences they often could not even understand.

[Edited on 8-3-2005 by Scott]

Stubborn headed Lutheran Dogmaticism that started with Luther and only got worse.

It didn't help that a bunch of us left Europe and came here!

Ok, the time frame that we are addressing vis-a-vis the death of Luther starts with the year 1546. John Calvin died in 1564. Melancthon and Beza were both intellectual geniuses but they lacked the charisma and influence of the men they replaced.

I think this, overall, is the cause of its declension.
Even with men like them, and Bullinger, they just didn't have the wider influence that the Reformation conitnued to need. But I suppose that the work God began, He wanted, for some reason, to make it more steady, (not necessarily halting it) but more streamlined - thus, the second reformation.