Introduction to The Reformation

So next is the Reformation. This is from 1517 to 1648.

We'll also be covering some of the churches that emerged out of the Reformation. I don't know if we're going to get to that tonight, but it has been said that the

Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, next to the introduction of Christianity, is probably the greatest event in history.

The Protestant Reformation really did change the world, certainly the Western world.

So it marks the end, the Reformation marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of what is considered modern times.

I know 1500, 1600 doesn't sound like modern times, but that's the way historians view it.

So what is the Reformation? What happened? It's also called what?

The Protestant Reformation. So this was a major movement within Western Christianity.

This does not affect the Eastern Church. So the Byzantine Church or the Orthodox Churches, this is all happening in the

Catholic Church, okay? So in the 16th century or the 1500s, there was posed a religious and political challenge to the authority of the

Catholic Church, to the authority of the Pope, arising from what were perceived to be errors and abuses and discrepancies by the

Catholic Church. One of the things that really kicked it off was the selling of indulgences.

So what happened was the Church had spent all of its money and maybe wasteful spending and they wanted to build this project known, what we know today as St.

Peter's Basilica. So the Vatican today, that structure was built basically from money collected from the sale of indulgences.

So the Catholic Church sent salesmen all throughout Europe and what they were doing is you could say, you know, your grandmother is in purgatory and she's suffering in the flames of purgatory.

But if you just give, you know, this much money, you can help to get her out. So if you donate, let's just say $100, we'll give you this certificate and that will get your grandmother out of the flames of purgatory.

And of course, you know, the devout Catholics, they thought, wow, I can do that.

Then they paid up. So these salesmen were going around collecting all this money. That's how St. Peter's Basilica was built.

And Martin Luther, who was a German monk, he saw this and he saw it for what it was.

Like this is not, he knew the Bible enough to know like this is not biblical. This is a con.

This is a scam. These people are being taken advantage of. This little piece of paper does not get anyone out of purgatory.

Of course, I think Luther eventually stopped believing in purgatory altogether.

But, I mean, when you look back at what happened, yeah, it was really, really an abuse.

But the idea was that the Pope had the authority, you know, he has the keys of the kingdom, just like Peter.

So he could pronounce it to be so and get people out of purgatory.

I think Luther said that, you know, if the Pope is such a godly man, why doesn't he just let everyone out of purgatory for free?

You know, I have his grace, but that wouldn't have collected much money for the church.

So when Luther saw the sale of indulgences, that made him angry. And he posted his 95 thesis to the, you know, to the door.

And then they took it and made a bunch of copies because the printing press was just invented.

Without the printing press, the Reformation wouldn't have happened. So they took Luther's writings and made endless copies and sent them throughout

Europe. And that's really how the Reformation got started. You remember hearing about this in school, probably?

Yeah. So the Reformation was the split. And by the way, you know, like I said, the

Inquisition from the last period, that there's still an Inquisition today, in a sense.

People say, well, at least they don't do indulgences anymore. Yeah, they do. You can go to Rome and there's places that you pay and you see this artifact or climb up these steps and kiss this holy item, and you can still get time off purgatory for your loved ones today.

They still do indulgences. As a matter of fact, the Pope said, if you follow me on Twitter, you will get

X amount of time off your stay in purgatory. Now, I know people think that that's a joke, but that actually took place.

The Vatican put that release out years ago, and they caught a lot of backlash.

Go ahead, look it up. I know you said you're making that up. I wish

I was. So the Reformation was the split of the Western Church into two groups, the

Roman Church and then the differing Protestant denominations. Although some would claim that there is a third and separate line of Baptist churches that existed prior as Anabaptists and Separatists, and that they go all the way back to the beginning.

So I just want to throw this out there because it is a theory. I was talking with someone just this past week who believes in this version of church history, and I'm not saying they're wrong.

I'm just saying that this is a disputed thing. So remember, the Catholic Church, they say that we're the true church.

We go all the way back to Jesus. The Orthodox Church says, no, we're the true church. We go all the way back to Jesus.

But both of those lines kind of go back and merge at some point. So there's like one line of Christianity going back way, way, way back to the first century.

But there are Baptists today and independent churches who claim that we, you know, we go back.

That there's a totally separate line of Christians that existed outside of the Catholic Church.

You understand? Some people say that's fantasy. That's all made up.

That's not true. Others firmly believe it. I think you can look at churches that practice infant baptism, and you can say, yeah, they have ties to the

Reformation churches or to the Catholic churches. But Baptists do not practice infant baptism.

So the idea is that Baptists will say, we're different. We're different from all the Protestants.

We're different from the Catholics, and we've always been different. And there's been people like us ever since.

I kind of like that theory, and I would like to identify. I can't prove that that's true, but that's a belief that's out there, just to let you know.

Any comments on that? Have you heard anything like this? Okay. Either way, the

Reformation is considered to be one of, if not the most significant events of the last thousand years.

The main figure, we already said, is a German monk named Martin Luther.

And it's not Martin Luther King, Jr., okay? We were going to do a movie, was it two or three years ago?

We did a movie here at movie night where we showed, what was it? The movie was called

Martin Luther, I think. And some people thought we were showing a movie about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Same name. I know it can get confusing, but totally, totally different.

So Martin Luther was a German monk. So now there's even more division in the so -called

Holy Apostolic Catholic Church, because it already split once in 1054, and now it's splitting again.

And this is one thing that the Catholic Church will say. And it's a powerful argument for a lot of people.

They say, we are united. We are, you know, the United Holy Catholic Church, we are one church.

And look at these Protestants. There's 30 ,000 Protestant denominations. Like, it's just filled with confusion, but we are united.

And a lot of people, because the Catholic Church is old, they go back a long way. And people view that as, well, that means credibility.

Is there really 30 ,000 Protestant denominations? Not really.

That's kind of a fake number. There's really only about between 10 and 20, maybe 18 real

Protestant traditions. So don't buy into that too much. And by the way, the

Catholic Church really isn't that united. I mean, I know Catholics who, they do not recognize

Pope Francis. You know, they do not like Pope Francis. Others love him, and there's a lot of division within the

Catholic Church, you know, truth be told. But anyways, the church is starting to fracture more and more during the

Reformation era. So there's the Reformation churches.

Which is the first Reformation church? Lutheran. Good, good.

Then you have the Church of England. You know, the event that's happening is that this week,

Prince Charles is being coronated as the King of England. You know, one of his titles is

Defender of the Faith. So Prince Charles is considered the head of the

Church of England. I've heard that he's gonna take the title Defender of the Faiths, plural.

That he's trying to be inclusive of other religions. I don't know if that's gonna end up happening or not.

But the story of the Church of England is an interesting one. King Henry VIII, who was king at the time during the

Reformation, he wanted a divorce. And the Pope would not grant him a divorce. So he said, well, forget you.

I'm breaking away, and I'm the head of the Church now. So the Church of England was formed because King Henry VIII wanted a divorce.

The Pope wouldn't get him. So he broke away from the Catholic Church. So that's the story of the Church of England.

So there was the Lutherans, the Church of England, then the Reformed churches. From the

Reformed churches, you get the Presbyterians, and on and on it goes. Then you get the Congregationalists, and the

Methodists came from the Church of England. You got the

Wesley's, and then you have the Methodists, and the Wesleyans, and it just keeps fracturing into what we have today.