The phenomenon of RemodelingProtestant, occurred in Europe in the 16th century, it was one of the most important of the so-called Modern Age. It was under the influence of this reform that some of the most important Modern National States were born, such as the Dutch, the English and the American (US). It was also this reform that triggered the Religious Civil Wars from the 16th and 17th centuries, which would give rise to the movement of Counter-Reform, to the meeting of the Council of Trent and the creation of Company of Jesus, in Spain. The fact is that the entire breadth that the reform movement reached began with an act of a German Augustinian monk, in the year 1517, in the city of Wittenberg. His name, martinLuther.
the act of Martin Luther (1483-1546) consisted of posting 95 theses on the wall of castle of Wittenberg challenging authorities in theology for a disputescholastic, that is, a typical discussion of medieval universities in which debaters argued and counter-argued about a predefined theme. But what did these
95 theses? The content of the arguments of the 95 Lutheran theses was aimed at the theme of indulgences (pardon granted by the ecclesial authority for the absolution of sins), practiced unfairly by the Catholic clergy of the time, as can be seen below in the text of theses 31 to 35:31. As rare as a true penitent is the one who authentically acquires indulgences, that is, it is very rare.
32. Will be condemned in eternity, together with their teachers, those who believe themselves secure in their salvation through a letter of indulgence.
33. One must be very wary of those who say that the Pope's indulgences are that inestimable gift of God through which a person is reconciled to Him.
34. For those graces of indulgences refer only to the punishments of sacramental satisfaction, determined by human beings.
35. Those who teach that contrition is not necessary to obtain redemption or indulgence are preaching doctrines incompatible with the Christian.
Wittenberg Castle, where Luther fixed his 95 theses
Luther criticized what he saw as a kind of "negotiation of salvation" through indulgences. For example, some nobleman offered the Church a certain amount to renovate a certain Cathedral and, in return, he was rewarded with a letter of indulgences from the Pope, which absolved him of sins committed during a certain time course. Those who thought themselves saved or redeemed by a letter of indulgences to Luther were in danger of committing an even greater sin than those who were willing to be acquitted.
But even before the publication of the 95 theses, concentrated on the theme of indulgences, Luther had written, in 1516, the work “Commentary on the Letter to the Romans”, in which he sought to discuss three points of Catholic doctrine: O concept of sin, The questionof thegoodconstruction and the question of freewill. As can be seen in the works of historians such as Christopher Dawson, in his work “The Division of Christianity”, sin, for Luther, was associated with the passions that affect the individual. For Catholic doctrine, sin is in the will, that is, in the act of deliberate choice. Thus, there could not be, for Luther, a complete self-denial, a complete sanctification. Penances and the pursuit of holiness would be useless, since man is born and dies in a state of sin. For Luther, man could only really be saved by his faith. As Dawson says, “the most man can reach [according to Luther] is the certainty that it will not count against him – that Christ's redemptive suffering is all-encompassing. Consequently, justice is only imputed: here is the Lutheran concept that becomes the control of the controversy.”[1]
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Controversy arises from the above point because, for Catholicism, justification is not only associated with faith, but it also continues through the sacraments, especially from Eucharist, and of good works, aided by the sanctifying grace, which is given to us with the baptism and confirmed in chrism. Furthermore, "Luther says that good works do not make a man good, or bad works make a person bad, but that a good man does good works and a bad man does bad works."[2] The problem is that, according to Catholic doctrine, a man is not entirely good or entirely bad, he is both simultaneously, and the exercise of good works can transform, through habit, the evil characteristics of this man into good features.
From the publication of his theses until the year 1521, Luther faced a myriad of theological disputes on the subject in question, as well as on other fundamental points of the Church's doctrine, thus making its criticism. His opponents were doctors of theology appointed by the Pope Leo X (1475-1521). In every dispute, at least half of the Lutheran theses were refuted. But the biggest problem was not the theological discussion that took place during this period, but rather the inadvertent use that German nobles made of Luther's Protestant theses.
Germany at that time was not unified, but formed by a series of small principalities, which were under the yoke of the Holy Roman Empire. Some nobles from these principalities took advantage of the uproar caused by Luther's theses to challenge the land possessions of the Catholic Church and other nobles faithful to the Church and expropriate them. This political use of Lutheran thought eventually spawned the first religious civil wars in modern Europe.
GRADES
[1] DAWSON, Christopher. The Division of Christianity - From the Protestant Reformation to the Age of Enlightenment. É Achievements: São Paulo, 2014. P. 114.
[2] Idem. P. 115.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
