Theological, Interpersonal and Political Roots Term Paper

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The Good News is that righteousness is not a demand upon the sinner but a gift to the sinner. The sinner simply accepts the gift through faith" (Whitford 2005). Luther's emphasis on the individual's reception of that Good News fueled his skillful promotion of Bibles written in the language of the people in an accessible translation and his disdain for the abstruse philosophy of theologians such as the Scholastic Thomas Aquinas. Although a highly literate and educated man, Luther did not believe that rationalization and reason could lead one to Christ, only God. Additional philosophizing added nothing to the truth that could only be found in the actual words of the Bible.

As is evidenced in Chaucer, in medieval society there had long been simmering a strong dislike of clergymen who appeared to use their office for financial gain, rather than as an exercise of piety: "The poor resented the wealth of the papacy and the very rich were jealous of that wealth. At the same time, the popes bought and sold high offices, and also sold indulgences. All of this led to the increasing wealth of the Church -- and this created new paths for abuses of every sort. Finally, at the local level of the town and village, the abuses continued. Some Church officials held several offices at once and lived off their income. The clergy had become lax, corrupt and immoral" (Kries 2009).

But it was the middle class who was perhaps most receptive to Luther's teachings. This class of merchants and tradesmen was feeling newly empowered due to the increasingly vital role it played in society. There was no need for them to give up their worldly goods to become a monk, or to deny the value of 'the world' at all. Spirituality was a private matter between themselves and God. Thus, the notion of the 'Protestant work ethic' was born.

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Lutheranism was particularly popular in Germany and Scandinavia. The ethos of thrift and hard work when focused upon 'worldly things' and private humility when praying became part of the culture of Northern Protestant Europe (Kries 2009).

The Roman Catholic Church was naturally alarmed by the rapid spread of Lutheranism, and its offshoot of Calvinism, a Protestant faith that stressed predestination and the utter inability to do anything to make one's self 'chosen' before God, given the depth of all of humanity's sins. "Founded in 1534, the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits formed the backbone of the Catholic or Counter Reformation. The Jesuits combined the ideas of traditional monastic discipline with a dedication to teaching and preaching," and strove to reestablish the populist appeal of Catholicism amongst the people (Kries 2004). The Jesuits preached the doctrine of the freedom of the will and said that God was loving and accepting. He did not prejudge souls, but rather was eager for them to believe in the one, true faith.

As well as positive strategies, during what became known as the Counter Reformation, the "Church was quick to censor and burn books which might have spread the Protestant Faith. The Church intended to destroy all heretical literature: all Protestant books were burned; so too were the works written by reform-minded Catholic humanists" (Kries 2004). The Council of Trent clarified matters such as the correct interpretation of the Bible, stressing that only literal interpretation were acceptable, and created a more specific criterion for the selling of indulgences. Perhaps most importantly is attempted to create a more morally zealous framework for subsequent clergy, in terms of their personal behavior.

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