In dealing with a subject as complex as the Reformation
one must consider not only the actual events in the period
immediately surrounding Luther nailing his 95 Thesis to the
cathedral door in 1517, but must also take into consideration
the growth of the religion that was to be reformed from its
earliest developments. In addition to this are the political
consequences as it affects both power and commercial structures.
In this essay we will be exploring the Christian Religion
as it advances towards 1517 and also show that the theological
implications of the Reformation must stand on a lower level in
regards to the total effect.
The Christian Religion started as an off branch of the
Judaic faith with its founder not necessarily the Nazarene
carpenter whose supposed sayings were recorded at a date several
decades after his death and were then exploited by two competing
sects. The first of these sects comprised those people who
had actually known him and these tended to keep to the Judaic
faith and to see his teachings as an extension of their religion.
The second was founded by a fanatic Jew who kept his fanaticism
but made up his own religion, Saul of Tarsus, who later changed
his name to Paul. With a revolt against Roman rule which ended
in the death or exile of the original Nazarene Party Paul's
group became the dominant and accepted successor for promoting
the Christian Religion. The Religion was elevated to a state
Religion, after a long period of persecution, with the ascension
of Constantine to the position of emperor. With the protection
of the emperor it gained a position of strength in Rome and
set forth what were the accepted views of Rome and condemning
all other views as heresy. These were stamped out with as much
of the fire and sword as the original religion had been
persecuted with. One example of this was the Council of Nicea,
called by Constantine in 325 to counter the teachings of Arius
of Alexander. Arius held forth the view that the substance of
God and the Son were different as the Son had been created after
the Father. The Council came to the conclusion that both the
Father and Son were of the same substance. In effect what was
being promoted here was an example of power politics in that
Rome was determined that all other branches of the church should
be subservient to it and as long as the capital of the Roman
Empire was in Rome it would allow no other threat to its power.
With the movement of the capital to Constantinople the
Roman Church became only one branch while part of the power
moved with the emperor. Further splits occurred as the Roman
empire was broken up so that the two became in effect separate
churches. With the emperor in residence at Constantinople he
became in effect the head of the eastern branch of the church
while in the western half the Bishop of Rome was able to
maneuver into a position of power through the use of theological
threats held over temporal rulers. These threats consisted
primarily of excommunication and interdicts and played upon the
medieval belief that the monarch ruled through the grace of God.
Under an interdict only the sacraments of Baptismal Last
Rites were performed upon the citizens of a country or district
under it and with excommunication the person upon whom it was
pronounced was separated from the church and it became almost
a duty of those around that particular ruler to remove him from
the throne (not that they probably needed too much persuasion)
by any means at their disposal. Such tactics on the part of
Innocent III in regards to Frederick II, or at any rate the
threat of them forced Frederick into concessions which helped
pave the way for a divided Germany rather than uniting it as
was becoming the trend in most countries and this condition
helped create the test tube environment favorable to Luther's
questions.
We can follow this pattern of the Pope supporting a single
powerful monarch rather than a disunited group in most countries,
however in the cases of Italy and Germany where two strong
a political power in close proximity to Rome could threaten
Papal power the political game was to create dissension. A
possible comparison would be the politics pursued for centuries
by the small island of Britain. The main hope for survival here
lay in keeping all European countries on an equal basis and
should one start to become dominant, throwing its weight in with
the others to protect its own interests. In this pursuit we
have them at various times joining allegiances against Spain,
France, Russia, and Germany in combinations that had her
joining the others to fight against whichever was strongest at
the moment.
In the same way as this keeping the neighboring states
weak it became at times necessary to have some stirring event to
rally all to the cause of mother church. This could bring
about increase in revenues as well as prestige and bind the
people and rulers to some united cause. For this we have the
call for the crusade which while it was distressing to those
countries the crusaders marched through and those who were
attacked tended to divert attention from a rather distressing
miscalculation. For this it is necessary to remember that
at the time Christ died on the cross it was believed by most
of his followers that he would return to take them to heaven in
a very short time. When this event did not occur the preachments
as to when it would take place were necessarily extended and
what better time for him to return than in the year 1000. Suffice
to say that to the best of our knowledge he did not return at that
date however, in order to regain credibility some diversion was
necessary to distract the people from troubles at home and what
better way than a holy war. The Pope called his Jihad for the
temporal leaders and for whatever reason adventure, wealth,
or a wish for extension of power, they went forth. Now there
is one problem in coming in contact with an enemy that has been
given subhuman or super-evil characteristics and that is what
do we tell the troops when they find out the stories aren't
true? Especially if they discover the culture is actually
superior in many ways superior. One nice offshoot is that both
cultures tend to gain from the contact. From the Muslims came
the writings of Aristotle that had been kept alive by their scholars
which was added to the concepts that had already been adapted
from Plato, such as the concept of a soul and of a higher good.
Aristotle became the influence for Thomas Aquinas with his
scholasticism set forth in such works as Suma Theologica which
while adding to the theological concepts did nothing towards
returning to the original teachings and tended to reinforce
the ritualistic style. Of course since this new material, while
debated, did not provoke any major schism through what was known
as "The Church" but was accepted as had earlier additions such as
the worship of Mary as the "Mother of God" would aid in the
conversion of pagan lands already supporting a female deity plus
those celebrating the renewal of the promise of spring and the end
of winter which was cover by celebrating Easter.
There is a line in the play The Best Man, by Gore Vidal where
the elder statesman of the party an ex-president is talking
to an aspiring candidate and says to him, "You believe in any means
to an end don't you." And the candidate replies that this is true.
The ex-president then ends the audience with him by saying, "What
you haven't learned is that there are no ends, only means." With
this in mind towards the power plays involved in controlling the
flow of a religion there are no real ends and the best way to
maintain power always claim to be right but also make sure that
you have powerful allies with something to gain by protecting
your position. As a result it became the policy of the church to
the legitimacy of the monarch except when extremely provoked.
When John of England was forced at Runnymead to sign the Magna
Carta it signified a surrender of his right to rule without
threat of any control except by God and instead accept some
limitations by the barons of England. Having signed the document
he immediately asked the Pope to overturn it and the Pope
seeing a chance to gain declared it null and void. Such a
decision did not sit well with England and the cry against the
interference of Rome would cause later problems for the church.
Spain on the other hand maintained a need of support both
from the Pope and for him. They were involved with what amounted
to a crusade on home territory. Because of the difficulty in
morale of fighting a people of a different religion while ones
own is in dispute obviously no toleration of dissent in
theological thought could be allowed, especially when the
supposed heathen were further along culturally than themselves.
Their final success on the field of battle came at the same
time as the melee of events that would give the final push to
the reformation heresy.
France also developed with a strong monarchy in regards
to control over its dissenting nobles, a fact which helped
produce there to little toleration of divergent beliefs among
its subjects. This absolutism led to some danger to the papacy
in that the ruler felt it could brook no dissenting voice even
from the pope and led to the placing of the papacy of French
soil during the "Babylonian Captivity". This of course meant
for a time a warning to pursue a more cautious pattern in
reaching for power and a definite limiting of its authority in
the eyes of others. The rulers of the world tend to be like
a pack of wolves save that they regard each other as the prey
and that if one should start to limp the others may pounce
unless they see some benefit for themselves in maintaining the
status quo. The move by France produced a definite limit in
the papacy.
Now we are ready to look at what may have been one of the
biggest blunders of the papacy in keeping the flock under
control (you can only threaten excommunication so many times
till it loses power as a threat) the treaty of Tordesillas (1494).
Karl Marx once stated, "Religeon is the opium of the masses."
This was followed up some years later by the poet lauriet of the
International Workers of the World, Joe hill, who wrote to the
tune of In the Sweet Bye and Bye, "You'll get pie in the sky
when you die." Well, for the average man in the field (streets
not being so well filled at the time) it was well and good to
have the promise of heavenly pleasures ahead, statesmen tend to
be more pragmatic. When you have several different countries
you are trying to control not with the use of an army but by
persuasion that it is for their benefit it is bad practice
to alienate three or four while making two happy. By 1494
Spain and Portugal were on an exploring binge and had succeeded
in freeing their territory from the Muslims. Spain and
Portugal wanted a ruling from the Pope as to how they would
divide the newly discovered lands between them, an action
which could only serve to alienate the affections of all other
parties.
By the time in 1517 that Luther made his move the Papacy had
alienated possible defenders meaning the monarches who were not
gaining anything by supporting it. The Papacy had also given a
one must consider not only the actual events in the period
immediately surrounding Luther nailing his 95 Thesis to the
cathedral door in 1517, but must also take into consideration
the growth of the religion that was to be reformed from its
earliest developments. In addition to this are the political
consequences as it affects both power and commercial structures.
In this essay we will be exploring the Christian Religion
as it advances towards 1517 and also show that the theological
implications of the Reformation must stand on a lower level in
regards to the total effect.
The Christian Religion started as an off branch of the
Judaic faith with its founder not necessarily the Nazarene
carpenter whose supposed sayings were recorded at a date several
decades after his death and were then exploited by two competing
sects. The first of these sects comprised those people who
had actually known him and these tended to keep to the Judaic
faith and to see his teachings as an extension of their religion.
The second was founded by a fanatic Jew who kept his fanaticism
but made up his own religion, Saul of Tarsus, who later changed
his name to Paul. With a revolt against Roman rule which ended
in the death or exile of the original Nazarene Party Paul's
group became the dominant and accepted successor for promoting
the Christian Religion. The Religion was elevated to a state
Religion, after a long period of persecution, with the ascension
of Constantine to the position of emperor. With the protection
of the emperor it gained a position of strength in Rome and
set forth what were the accepted views of Rome and condemning
all other views as heresy. These were stamped out with as much
of the fire and sword as the original religion had been
persecuted with. One example of this was the Council of Nicea,
called by Constantine in 325 to counter the teachings of Arius
of Alexander. Arius held forth the view that the substance of
God and the Son were different as the Son had been created after
the Father. The Council came to the conclusion that both the
Father and Son were of the same substance. In effect what was
being promoted here was an example of power politics in that
Rome was determined that all other branches of the church should
be subservient to it and as long as the capital of the Roman
Empire was in Rome it would allow no other threat to its power.
With the movement of the capital to Constantinople the
Roman Church became only one branch while part of the power
moved with the emperor. Further splits occurred as the Roman
empire was broken up so that the two became in effect separate
churches. With the emperor in residence at Constantinople he
became in effect the head of the eastern branch of the church
while in the western half the Bishop of Rome was able to
maneuver into a position of power through the use of theological
threats held over temporal rulers. These threats consisted
primarily of excommunication and interdicts and played upon the
medieval belief that the monarch ruled through the grace of God.
Under an interdict only the sacraments of Baptismal Last
Rites were performed upon the citizens of a country or district
under it and with excommunication the person upon whom it was
pronounced was separated from the church and it became almost
a duty of those around that particular ruler to remove him from
the throne (not that they probably needed too much persuasion)
by any means at their disposal. Such tactics on the part of
Innocent III in regards to Frederick II, or at any rate the
threat of them forced Frederick into concessions which helped
pave the way for a divided Germany rather than uniting it as
was becoming the trend in most countries and this condition
helped create the test tube environment favorable to Luther's
questions.
We can follow this pattern of the Pope supporting a single
powerful monarch rather than a disunited group in most countries,
however in the cases of Italy and Germany where two strong
a political power in close proximity to Rome could threaten
Papal power the political game was to create dissension. A
possible comparison would be the politics pursued for centuries
by the small island of Britain. The main hope for survival here
lay in keeping all European countries on an equal basis and
should one start to become dominant, throwing its weight in with
the others to protect its own interests. In this pursuit we
have them at various times joining allegiances against Spain,
France, Russia, and Germany in combinations that had her
joining the others to fight against whichever was strongest at
the moment.
In the same way as this keeping the neighboring states
weak it became at times necessary to have some stirring event to
rally all to the cause of mother church. This could bring
about increase in revenues as well as prestige and bind the
people and rulers to some united cause. For this we have the
call for the crusade which while it was distressing to those
countries the crusaders marched through and those who were
attacked tended to divert attention from a rather distressing
miscalculation. For this it is necessary to remember that
at the time Christ died on the cross it was believed by most
of his followers that he would return to take them to heaven in
a very short time. When this event did not occur the preachments
as to when it would take place were necessarily extended and
what better time for him to return than in the year 1000. Suffice
to say that to the best of our knowledge he did not return at that
date however, in order to regain credibility some diversion was
necessary to distract the people from troubles at home and what
better way than a holy war. The Pope called his Jihad for the
temporal leaders and for whatever reason adventure, wealth,
or a wish for extension of power, they went forth. Now there
is one problem in coming in contact with an enemy that has been
given subhuman or super-evil characteristics and that is what
do we tell the troops when they find out the stories aren't
true? Especially if they discover the culture is actually
superior in many ways superior. One nice offshoot is that both
cultures tend to gain from the contact. From the Muslims came
the writings of Aristotle that had been kept alive by their scholars
which was added to the concepts that had already been adapted
from Plato, such as the concept of a soul and of a higher good.
Aristotle became the influence for Thomas Aquinas with his
scholasticism set forth in such works as Suma Theologica which
while adding to the theological concepts did nothing towards
returning to the original teachings and tended to reinforce
the ritualistic style. Of course since this new material, while
debated, did not provoke any major schism through what was known
as "The Church" but was accepted as had earlier additions such as
the worship of Mary as the "Mother of God" would aid in the
conversion of pagan lands already supporting a female deity plus
those celebrating the renewal of the promise of spring and the end
of winter which was cover by celebrating Easter.
There is a line in the play The Best Man, by Gore Vidal where
the elder statesman of the party an ex-president is talking
to an aspiring candidate and says to him, "You believe in any means
to an end don't you." And the candidate replies that this is true.
The ex-president then ends the audience with him by saying, "What
you haven't learned is that there are no ends, only means." With
this in mind towards the power plays involved in controlling the
flow of a religion there are no real ends and the best way to
maintain power always claim to be right but also make sure that
you have powerful allies with something to gain by protecting
your position. As a result it became the policy of the church to
the legitimacy of the monarch except when extremely provoked.
When John of England was forced at Runnymead to sign the Magna
Carta it signified a surrender of his right to rule without
threat of any control except by God and instead accept some
limitations by the barons of England. Having signed the document
he immediately asked the Pope to overturn it and the Pope
seeing a chance to gain declared it null and void. Such a
decision did not sit well with England and the cry against the
interference of Rome would cause later problems for the church.
Spain on the other hand maintained a need of support both
from the Pope and for him. They were involved with what amounted
to a crusade on home territory. Because of the difficulty in
morale of fighting a people of a different religion while ones
own is in dispute obviously no toleration of dissent in
theological thought could be allowed, especially when the
supposed heathen were further along culturally than themselves.
Their final success on the field of battle came at the same
time as the melee of events that would give the final push to
the reformation heresy.
France also developed with a strong monarchy in regards
to control over its dissenting nobles, a fact which helped
produce there to little toleration of divergent beliefs among
its subjects. This absolutism led to some danger to the papacy
in that the ruler felt it could brook no dissenting voice even
from the pope and led to the placing of the papacy of French
soil during the "Babylonian Captivity". This of course meant
for a time a warning to pursue a more cautious pattern in
reaching for power and a definite limiting of its authority in
the eyes of others. The rulers of the world tend to be like
a pack of wolves save that they regard each other as the prey
and that if one should start to limp the others may pounce
unless they see some benefit for themselves in maintaining the
status quo. The move by France produced a definite limit in
the papacy.
Now we are ready to look at what may have been one of the
biggest blunders of the papacy in keeping the flock under
control (you can only threaten excommunication so many times
till it loses power as a threat) the treaty of Tordesillas (1494).
Karl Marx once stated, "Religeon is the opium of the masses."
This was followed up some years later by the poet lauriet of the
International Workers of the World, Joe hill, who wrote to the
tune of In the Sweet Bye and Bye, "You'll get pie in the sky
when you die." Well, for the average man in the field (streets
not being so well filled at the time) it was well and good to
have the promise of heavenly pleasures ahead, statesmen tend to
be more pragmatic. When you have several different countries
you are trying to control not with the use of an army but by
persuasion that it is for their benefit it is bad practice
to alienate three or four while making two happy. By 1494
Spain and Portugal were on an exploring binge and had succeeded
in freeing their territory from the Muslims. Spain and
Portugal wanted a ruling from the Pope as to how they would
divide the newly discovered lands between them, an action
which could only serve to alienate the affections of all other
parties.
By the time in 1517 that Luther made his move the Papacy had
alienated possible defenders meaning the monarches who were not
gaining anything by supporting it. The Papacy had also given a
safe conduct to John Hus of Czehoslakio who had translated the
Bible into common language. Once they had him in their control they put
him on trial, condemed him and burned him at the stake.
Spain and Portugal would
be loyal but England would have nothing to gain, France was at
war with Spain which could finance its war with the treasure from
the new discoveries, German merchants would be out for a profit
and would look favorably to getting in on the goods, Russia
which was emerging from the Tartar Yoke was under the influence
of the Eastern Church and so no friend to Rome. Politically
it was a touchy situation. In World War II Pope Pius XII was
criticized for not condemning Germany for the atrocities they were
committing From a lofty plain these actions seem intolerable
but from a more practical standpoint such action would simply
have meant the destruction of the church, the game is to stay
in power not blow it on a grandstand play. However in 1494
rather than appeasing all sides of the street on the grounds
that the strong today may be the weak tomorrow and the weak the
strong. When Luther made his move in Germany had the Pope been
ready to offer concessions of power or money the supporting
prince would probably have turned him over instead he had more
to gain by waiting. The pope was in the position of the old
spinster as told by Mark Twain. There she was dying and so when
the doctor was called he examined her and announced he could save
her All she had to do, he said, was give up smoking, drinking,
and swearing. But, she protested, she didn't do any of these
things. Saddly the doctor shook his head, there she was a sinking
ship with nothing the throw overboard.
Luther raised valid questions with the people but also ones
that were bothering their rulers. He questioned the sale of
indulgences that were taking money out of the country and sending
it to Rome to support papal policies. A similar situation
occurred in England under the reign of John. Clerical offices
were officially held by Italians who received the revenues, even
though they remained in Italy and in later reigns this policy
continued. This sparked bitter protest and led to laws being
passed to prevent the practice. More than simple nationalism
was involved here, it was simple common sense that especially
the rulers who were involved in collecting this money would
not want to see it given to some foreigner when they could get
their hands on it.
Luther of course was grateful for the support he received
and reciprocated by supporting the ruling classes over the people
which he referred to as among other things cattle. If you are
a ruler and have a choice of supporting one of two similar
religions which would you choose as the official one for your
state?
A. A religion that is likely to support your enemies in
time of war. Not only that but may use funds that it has taken
from your own subjects and a religion that has its headquarters
in some other country.
B. A religion that has at its head one of your own subjects
who is in debt to you and takes your side on issues.
It is not hard to see which religion it would be the most
beneficial to support. Of course no ruler, prince or pope can
afford to act unilaterally. One of the definitions of a state
requires that it be a political entity whose only restriction
on its actions are the reactions of other states. In this way
the support for Luther must appear to have some legality to
give it justification. At the time of the proclamation in
Wittenburg most states would align with Rome but would be open
to some maneuverability so that they would not appear completely
subjugated. England at this time was aligned with Spain against
France while France would act as a support against the papal
supported Spain. In later years when Henry VIII divorced
Charles V's aunt England would break with the church. The
fluid movement of changing alliances could only work against
the desire of Rome for a united front.
Another strike against Rome was the amount of property owned
by the church which meant owned by Rome. This property could
not be used or taxed by the crown and was held very zealously
by the church. In times past when monarches had owed large sums
to some banking house the easiest way to get out of debt was
simply to abolish the creditor by death or banishment. We
have a modern day equivalent called nationalization though it
may seem strange to compare the Knights Templar to Ma Bell.
Besides the money being taken out of the country there is
another way to find yourself losing money that could tend to
sour relationships - inflation. In Europe for centuries there
had only been a certain amount of gold on hand to back up
coinage. With the European venture into the Americas there was
a sudden influx that was put into immediate use by Spain to
finance its war with France and as a result monetary value was
thrown into a turmoil. England was in trouble also as a result
of the fighting in Flanders which was the major market for its
wool exports and to counter problems debased its currency which
made matters even worse. With the divorce of Catherine Henry
declared himself head of the Church of England and seized the
church lands and treasure for his own use. Germany too would
be lax in not taking some action to stop its own monetary
problems and while Henry's break with Rome occurred ten years
after Luther both were products of the times. The twisted
conditions that led to the end results can be shown in the
fact that there was no way to once again swing into action all
of the forces that had put down previous heresy. The attempts
in France, Spain, and in England in particular under Mary Tudor
could not put out the fires that were burning for a revolution
in Religion and in all facets of life. The teachings of Luther
that salvation was by faith rather than works and that God did
not need an intermediary in the form of a priest were only
minor factors in the success of the Reformation. The main
reasons were that a change in economic and political thought
dictated a change in religious thought.
When Alexander Fleming looked down at a piece of mold and
discovered penicillin it wasn't by accident. Years and years
of preparation had gone into that moment and gave him the
ability to recognize it for what it was. Such was the case
in religion, when Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the cathedral
door it was all of the other events, a few of which we have
mentioned here, that helped it to survive as the Reformation.
be loyal but England would have nothing to gain, France was at
war with Spain which could finance its war with the treasure from
the new discoveries, German merchants would be out for a profit
and would look favorably to getting in on the goods, Russia
which was emerging from the Tartar Yoke was under the influence
of the Eastern Church and so no friend to Rome. Politically
it was a touchy situation. In World War II Pope Pius XII was
criticized for not condemning Germany for the atrocities they were
committing From a lofty plain these actions seem intolerable
but from a more practical standpoint such action would simply
have meant the destruction of the church, the game is to stay
in power not blow it on a grandstand play. However in 1494
rather than appeasing all sides of the street on the grounds
that the strong today may be the weak tomorrow and the weak the
strong. When Luther made his move in Germany had the Pope been
ready to offer concessions of power or money the supporting
prince would probably have turned him over instead he had more
to gain by waiting. The pope was in the position of the old
spinster as told by Mark Twain. There she was dying and so when
the doctor was called he examined her and announced he could save
her All she had to do, he said, was give up smoking, drinking,
and swearing. But, she protested, she didn't do any of these
things. Saddly the doctor shook his head, there she was a sinking
ship with nothing the throw overboard.
Luther raised valid questions with the people but also ones
that were bothering their rulers. He questioned the sale of
indulgences that were taking money out of the country and sending
it to Rome to support papal policies. A similar situation
occurred in England under the reign of John. Clerical offices
were officially held by Italians who received the revenues, even
though they remained in Italy and in later reigns this policy
continued. This sparked bitter protest and led to laws being
passed to prevent the practice. More than simple nationalism
was involved here, it was simple common sense that especially
the rulers who were involved in collecting this money would
not want to see it given to some foreigner when they could get
their hands on it.
Luther of course was grateful for the support he received
and reciprocated by supporting the ruling classes over the people
which he referred to as among other things cattle. If you are
a ruler and have a choice of supporting one of two similar
religions which would you choose as the official one for your
state?
A. A religion that is likely to support your enemies in
time of war. Not only that but may use funds that it has taken
from your own subjects and a religion that has its headquarters
in some other country.
B. A religion that has at its head one of your own subjects
who is in debt to you and takes your side on issues.
It is not hard to see which religion it would be the most
beneficial to support. Of course no ruler, prince or pope can
afford to act unilaterally. One of the definitions of a state
requires that it be a political entity whose only restriction
on its actions are the reactions of other states. In this way
the support for Luther must appear to have some legality to
give it justification. At the time of the proclamation in
Wittenburg most states would align with Rome but would be open
to some maneuverability so that they would not appear completely
subjugated. England at this time was aligned with Spain against
France while France would act as a support against the papal
supported Spain. In later years when Henry VIII divorced
Charles V's aunt England would break with the church. The
fluid movement of changing alliances could only work against
the desire of Rome for a united front.
Another strike against Rome was the amount of property owned
by the church which meant owned by Rome. This property could
not be used or taxed by the crown and was held very zealously
by the church. In times past when monarches had owed large sums
to some banking house the easiest way to get out of debt was
simply to abolish the creditor by death or banishment. We
have a modern day equivalent called nationalization though it
may seem strange to compare the Knights Templar to Ma Bell.
Besides the money being taken out of the country there is
another way to find yourself losing money that could tend to
sour relationships - inflation. In Europe for centuries there
had only been a certain amount of gold on hand to back up
coinage. With the European venture into the Americas there was
a sudden influx that was put into immediate use by Spain to
finance its war with France and as a result monetary value was
thrown into a turmoil. England was in trouble also as a result
of the fighting in Flanders which was the major market for its
wool exports and to counter problems debased its currency which
made matters even worse. With the divorce of Catherine Henry
declared himself head of the Church of England and seized the
church lands and treasure for his own use. Germany too would
be lax in not taking some action to stop its own monetary
problems and while Henry's break with Rome occurred ten years
after Luther both were products of the times. The twisted
conditions that led to the end results can be shown in the
fact that there was no way to once again swing into action all
of the forces that had put down previous heresy. The attempts
in France, Spain, and in England in particular under Mary Tudor
could not put out the fires that were burning for a revolution
in Religion and in all facets of life. The teachings of Luther
that salvation was by faith rather than works and that God did
not need an intermediary in the form of a priest were only
minor factors in the success of the Reformation. The main
reasons were that a change in economic and political thought
dictated a change in religious thought.
When Alexander Fleming looked down at a piece of mold and
discovered penicillin it wasn't by accident. Years and years
of preparation had gone into that moment and gave him the
ability to recognize it for what it was. Such was the case
in religion, when Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the cathedral
door it was all of the other events, a few of which we have
mentioned here, that helped it to survive as the Reformation.
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