October 31 is marked on the calendar as the day of the Reformation. This feast has always stirred me, because it is the feast of all Protestant churches, and ours is one of them. World Christianity has three main branches — Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. The official separation of the Orthodox Church from the Catholic Church took place in 1054, while Protestantism separated from Catholicism about five hundred years ago — in 1517.
I have often asked myself the question, “What are the reasons for the forming of the Protestant churches and their separation from the Catholic Church?” The factors that led to the Reformation are so many that we cannot examine them all in a single talk, but we will dwell on one of them, and that is the Renaissance. During this period, which began around 1350, the minds of people were being prepared to throw off the bondage of ignorance and serfdom — the two levers by which the clergy had kept the masses of the people in submission. The Renaissance is characterized by a revival of Greek and Roman culture. The great motto of the Renaissance was “ad fontes” — back to the sources — from the Gothic to the Greek and the Roman. The idea was that the closer we are to the source, the closer we are to its purity. It was believed that if Europe returned to Greek and Roman culture, it would be far richer.
Across all of Europe, general education was strengthened. In every large city, universities were established. Between 1450 and 1517, in Germany alone, nine universities were opened.
When you begin to occupy yourself with Greek and Latin, this will inevitably bring you to the New Testament. For many Christian scholars, “ad fontes” — back to the sources — meant a return to the study of the original biblical languages. And this in itself led to a better understanding of the Holy Scriptures.
One of the most eminent figures of the period of the revival was Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536). He was the illegitimate son of a priest (the Church denied priests the right to become fathers) and received his education among the “Brethren of the Common Life.” Without any particular desire he entered one of their monasteries, but before long he received permission to leave it and devoted himself to knowledge and learning. He was a convinced Christian and humanist, and he believed that the best way to reform the church was through learning: the study of the Bible in Hebrew and Greek, as well as of the early Church Fathers. He strove for church reform by peaceful means.
Erasmus contributed to the Reformation in two ways.
THE SATIRE OF ERASMUS
First, he exposed the abuses in the church, writing against the moral corruption at every level and mercilessly denouncing the ignorance, laziness, and dissolute life of the monks. Erasmus of Rotterdam was a master of satire. A modern writer notes that “only when humor lights up his mind does he become a truly profound thinker.” His most famous book, “In Praise of Folly,” was written in 1509 in the home of his friend Thomas More and was dedicated to him. In it he ironically describes how most people “pin their hopes of salvation on the strict keeping of religious ceremonies, without stopping to think that the Judge of this earth, on the last day, will ask: ‘Who has required these things of you?’”
In 1517 an anonymous work appeared, titled “Julius Excluded from Heaven.” In it the notorious former pope Julius II appears before the gates of paradise and insists on entering, but is not admitted. By common opinion the work came from the pen of Erasmus of Rotterdam, though he denied it. In all probability he wrote it for his own use and became frightened for his life when it was published without his permission. In 1559 all his works were placed on the Index of Forbidden Books of the Catholic Church.
In “Julius Excluded from Heaven” we read:
JULIUS: What the devil is going on here? The door won’t open. Perhaps the lock has been changed, or someone has tried to break it in.
THE SPIRIT OF JULIUS: Better check that you haven’t brought the wrong key. This door does not unlock with the same key as your money chest…
JULIUS: I’ve had enough. I’ll knock!
ST. PETER: A good thing our door is as if made of iron. Otherwise this fellow — I don’t know who he is — would have knocked it down. Has some giant or satrap come, some brigand? O eternal God, what do I smell? It reeks like a sewer pipe… Who is it?
JULIUS: Are you blind, that you cannot see the key and the golden oak (the family crest of Julius)? Do you not see the triple (papal) crown and my special robes (soutane), adorned with glittering jewels and gold?
ST. PETER: Yes, I recognize the silver key, though there is only one key, and yours is nothing at all like the key entrusted to me by Christ, the true shepherd of the church. And as for your insolent crown, how could I recognize it? Not even a barbarian tyrant has dared to flaunt such a thing, let alone a man who expects to be admitted. And your glittering robes make no impression on me at all; I have always despised jewels and gold — to me they are rubbish…
JULIUS: Stop your chattering, open the door! Or would you prefer that I break it in? In short, do you not see what a retinue I have?
ST. PETER: How could I not see these hardened brigands? But in case you do not know, I will tell you that this door is stormed with other weapons.
JULIUS: Enough of these speeches! If you do not obey at once, I will bring down even upon you the thunderbolt of excommunication, with which I once cast into terror even the mightiest rulers, and whole kingdoms as well. See, the bull is already prepared!
ST. PETER: What thunderbolt, what thunder, what bulls are you speaking of so pompously? We have never heard of such things from Christ.
JULIUS: If you do not obey, you will learn what they are.
ST. PETER: Before this you may perhaps have cast someone into terror with these empty words, but here they mean nothing. Here you must deal with the truth. This citadel is won by good deeds, not by abuse.
During the first years of the Reformation, an envoy of the pope in Germany wrote to Rome that the satire of Erasmus of Rotterdam was more harmful to the papacy than the denunciations of Luther. By making people laugh at the Roman system, he undermined Roman Catholicism more than the protests of the reformers did.
THE PRINTING OF THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
The second contribution of Erasmus to the Reformation, besides the exposing of the abuses in the Catholic Church, was the first printed edition in history of the New Testament in the Greek language. This took place in 1516. It drew the attention of scholars to the true gospel of Christ and to its interpretation by Christ’s own apostles. They began to regard the Scripture as more important than scholastic theology. The authority of Scripture was set above the authority of the church.
Through this edition the Bible was, as it is said, taken out from under the bushel and set on the lampstand, so that it might shed its light among men. The Holy Scripture was soon translated into the various European languages. With the help of the printing press, invented in 1454 in Germany, the Word of God began to spread in a multitude of copies, and at an affordable price. On this occasion Erasmus remarked: “I pray to God that the plowman would sing verses of Scripture over his plow, and the weaver hum them over his loom.” This Greek New Testament led many to turn to Protestantism.
There is a saying about the Reformation which goes: “Erasmus laid the egg, and Luther hatched it.” How? Through the exposing of the abuses of the Catholic Church, and through the first widely published printed edition in history of the New Testament.
Sources used:
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT THROUGH THE CENTURIES, Nov Chovek, Sofia, 1999