Expert: Father Dave Bechtel - 1/10/2012

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
We doing a project for National History Day. We are doing our project of The Revolution Reaction and Reform. Can you help us by providing in knowledge you have over this subject? And can we use your name as a Primary Reference to use with your answer?

ANSWER: Dustin,

Before I answer this I need to know if by "Revolution, Reaction and Reform" you mean "Protestant Reformation and Catholic Response."

If by "Revolution, Reaction and Reform" you mean "Protestant Reformation and Catholic Response" I can answer the question.  Please clarify. I have no problem if you use my name as a primary reference, however be advised that this is not considered scholarly nor would it be considered sufficient research for an academic paper.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: That is what were researching. The reaction part however is going to be over not only the reaction of the Catholic Church, but also over the how to people responded as well.
Thank you and we are also doing research through books and via online resources. It just helps to have some names to back up or research with.

Answer
In a sense the Catholic Church brought the Reformation on itself because of the rampant moral corruption among the hierarchy. A monk by the name of Martin Luther is said to have posted a document called "The 95 Thesis" on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral on October 31.  Whether this event is historical is dubious--but it would have been the common practice of the day.  People would post items for discussion or debate.  It is this document of Luther's which is believed to have sparked what would morph into "The Reformation." In this document Luther takes issue with both doctrinal points of the Church and moral abuses. Luther was an Augustinian Catholic Priest and Scripture Scholar. Luther was right to go after the moral corruption.  His problem was that he would not submit to Church authority on doctrinal matters and he eventually broke with the Catholic Church founding "Lutheranism." To be sure Luther never wanted to break with the Church but he felt there was no other way to reform the Church then to start over. John Calvin is another reformer who believed Luther did not go far enough and from him and John Knox come the Presbyterians. Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church over the issue of an Annulment and from his break with the Church come the Anglicans or Episcopalians.  From the Anglicans comes the Methodists founded by Charles Wesley and the Baptists founded by John Smyth. #Please note that this is a brief summary#

From all of these churches comes what is known today as the "Mega Church."  Mega Church pastors are very clever at attracting members.  Their model is not based on the Gospel of Christ, but rather what the "market" wants in a Christian Religion.  They basically do research to find out what Christians are looking for in a Church and then they give it to them. Their churches are filled but their starting point is flawed: what people want rather then what God has given us in Christ. Mega Churches like all corporations grow, flourish, then eventually die as people begin to get tired of the same old self help prosperity gospel preached week in and week out.  The Gospel preached by mega churches of of no help when an infant dies, or the person gets incurable cancer, etc.  There is no room for a theology of suffering in these churches---and suffering is a mystical part of Christianity.

It is difficult if not impossible to find agreement among Protestants on any doctrinal matter though they along with Catholics affirm the full Divinity and Lordship of Jesus Christ and that from him alone comes salvation. Protestants are however agreed on two fundamental principles upon which the Reformation was founded: Scriptura Sola and Fide Sola.

Scriptura Sola is Latin for "Scripture Alone."  Fide Sola is Latin for "Faith Alone."  The doctrine of Scripture Alone states that Scripture is the sole infallible rule of Faith for the Christian #and the Church# there is no authority in the Church equal to or higher then that of Scripture.  Scripture is the supreme court of final appeal on all matters of faith, practice and doctrine.  The doctrine is not a denial of the authority of Tradition, nor the authority of the Church.  According to those who profess to hold to this doctrine the Church has authority and Tradition has authority but they are not on a par with Scripture.  #Heiko Oberman distinguishes between T 2 #Catholic# T 1 #Traditional Reformed Protestant and according to him the historical view# and T 0 #Fundamentalist Protestant distortion of the doctrine.#  Another way Protestants make the distinction is "Scriptura SOLO" for T 0, and "Scriptura SOLA" for T 1.

If you read works by the popular Catholic Apologists on the subject you will find that they tend to confuse "Scripture ONLY" #Scripture SOLO# with "Scripture ALONE" #Scriptura SOLA# and they have also done this in formal debates. It is therefore important to understand the distinction. It is beyond the scope of this answer to provide a critique as it would take too much space for an already lengthy answer. If you want the Catholic view simply write a follow up.

Fide Sola #Faith Alone# has to do with Justification, or how one is justified.  Protestants tend to view our Justification #how we are put in right relationship with God# as a legal imputation.  This is to say that the sinner is made righteous through Faith Alone--and that God looks upon the sinner through the lens of Christ.  This is to say that the sinner is DECLARED righteous like a judge would DECLARE someone "Not guilty."  The person who is declared not guilty is legally not guilty of the crime even though they may have committed a crime in fact.  Protestants seem to view Justification in this manner.  According to Protestants we are saved by Faith Alone, but not by a Faith that IS alone.  This is to say that the role of good works is not salvific or meritorious before God---rather they are a product of a Living Faith.  A Living Faith produces good works, a dead Faith does not.  Thus while good works are a product of Faith---they serve more to VINDICATE Faith---but they play no direct role in our salvation. The Letter of James says "We are not saved by Faith Alone" which the Protestant interprets to mean that James is contrasting a Living Faith with a Dead Faith.  A Living Faith produces good works a dead Faith does not, therefore a Dead Faith cannot save.

Scholars claim that the "Material Cause" of the Reformation was "Faith Alone" while the "Formal Cause" was Scripture Alone.  I suggest that is backwards: The Formal Cause is "Faith Alone" the Material Cause "Scripture Alone" because Justification by Faith Alone gives form to the material of Scripture for the Protestant.  I would suggest that "Justification by Faith Alone" is the ESSENCE of Protestantism for it gives form to Scripture.  In other words Protestants read the whole of Scripture through the principle "Justification by Faith Alone."  

The Catholic reaction to this culminated with "The Council of Trent" which responded to the Protestant reformers.  The dates of the Council of Trent are 1546-1563.  The Council cleaned up many of the moral abuses taking place within the Church. The Council of Trent also helped to clarify doctrinal points such as the number and nature of the Sacraments, the Catholic position on Scripture, Tradition, and the Church, the Catholic Position on Justification, etc.  As a result of the Reformation there have been for the past 500 years ill feelings between Catholics and Protestants.  Protestants continue to claim that Catholics teach things Scripture does not teach, and continue to claim that the Church seems to make up doctrine at will claiming it to come from God.  Catholics continue to see Protestants as heretics who reject the one true Church--essentially replacing the Magesterium of the Church with the Magesterium of the Individual---or if not the Individual, replacing the Magesterium of the Church with the Magesterium of the Theologian/Biblical Scholar.

However this attitude changed significantly with the advent of Vatican II.  Vatican II seeks open dialog with Protestants on the issues which divide us, and insists we are brothers and sisters in Christ.  Whereby perviously a Catholic dare not enter a Protestant Church or visa-versa, now Catholics and Protestants when the occasion calls for it would enter each other's churches. To be sure Catholics and Protestants are still very much divided but for the most part still respect each other as fellow Christians.  Some fundamentalist sects of Protestantism refuse to consider Catholics Christian, nevertheless the Catholic/Protestant relationship has improved significantly over the years.