Week 16 · AD 1501–1600

The Reformation Century

From the Ninety-Five Theses to the Book of Concord

This week

The church divides over the Gospel

Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses (1517) begin the Reformation
The Fifth Lateran Council and Trent, judged by the Confessions
Reformers disagree about the Lord’s Supper and Baptism
Major people: Luther, Charles V, Melanchthon, and Cranach
From the Leipzig Debate (1519) to the Book of Concord (1580)

The Last Supper

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Younger, with workshop, 1547, Wittenberg. Christ at the Supper, with Luther among the apostles.

Church life

Christ and the sacraments

Where Christ gives His gifts

The church is where the Gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments rightly given
Lutherans kept the Mass (the Communion service) and urged people to receive the Supper
They changed the parts that taught the Mass was a sacrifice offered by the priest
England left papal rule in 1534, and Henry VIII became “Supreme Head”

Controversy

Christ and the sacraments

Disputes over Supper, Baptism, and grace

At Marburg (1529), reformers agreed on many points but not on Christ’s presence in the Supper
Luther taught that Christ’s body and blood are truly present. Zwingli did not
Anabaptists (“re-baptizers”) at Schleitheim (1527) rejected infant Baptism
Luther’s The Bondage of the Will (December 1525) says sinners cannot save themselves

Councils and events

Rome, 1512–1517

Fifth Lateran Council

Met in Rome. Rome counts it as the eighteenth ecumenical (worldwide) council
Declared the soul immortal (1513) and said the pope has authority over all councils (1516)
Approved the Concordat of Bologna between Pope Leo X and the king of France
Closed months before Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses
Lutheran classification: Spurious

1545–1563

Council of Trent

Met in 25 sessions, from 13 December 1545 to 4 December 1563
Rome counts it as the nineteenth ecumenical (worldwide) council
Defined Catholic teaching on Scripture, justification, the sacraments, and the Mass
Condemns the teaching that God declares sinners righteous for Christ’s sake through faith alone
Lutheran classification: Spurious

Major people

Reformers and their opponents

Martin Luther (1483–1546) wrote the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517
Philipp Melanchthon wrote the Apology (defense) of the Augsburg Confession in 1531
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor from 1519, defeated the Lutheran princes in 1547
Johann Eck, a Catholic professor who debated Luther at Leipzig in 1519
Katharina von Bora, a former nun who married Luther in 1525
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Luther’s friend and Wittenberg court painter
Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, approved in 1540
Martin Chemnitz, who helped prepare the Formula of Concord and signed it in 1577

Wider world

A wider world, 1521–1582

Spanish forces and Indigenous allies defeat the Mexica (Aztecs) at Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521
The Magellan and Elcano voyage: survivors finish the first trip around the world (1522)
Copernicus’s book (1543) teaches that the Earth moves around the Sun
The Gregorian calendar (1582) drops ten days, so Easter returns to its proper season

Lutheran developments

1517–1520

The Reformation begins

Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses (1517) object to indulgences (papers sold to reduce punishment for sin)
Thesis 62 says the church’s true treasure is the Gospel of God’s glory and grace
Leipzig Debate (June to July 1519): Luther says popes and councils can err, and Scripture is final authority
In 1520, Eck brings the papal bull Exsurge Domine (“Arise, O Lord”), which threatens excommunication

1521–1534

Worms, and the Bible in German

Luther refuses to take back his books at the Diet (imperial assembly) of Worms, 17–18 April 1521
Charles V’s Edict of Worms condemns Luther and bans his writings
Hidden at the Wartburg castle, Luther translates the Gospels, Acts, letters, and Revelation into German (1522)
Luther’s complete German Bible appears in 1534

1529–1531

Catechisms and the Augsburg Confession

1529: The Large and Small Catechisms teach the Commandments, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, and Supper
25 June 1530: the Augsburg Confession (the Lutheran statement of faith) is presented to Charles V
February 1531: Lutheran princes and cities form the Smalcald League for mutual defense
1531: Melanchthon writes the Apology, a defense of the Augsburg Confession

1537–1546

Smalcald Articles and Luther’s death

The Smalcald Articles (1537) state Lutheran positions, because the pope had called a council
Luther falls ill at Smalcald and leaves. His fellow theologians sign the Articles
18 February 1546: Luther dies at Eisleben
His last written note ends, “We are beggars. This is true.”

Smalcald War, 1546–1547

Mühlberg and the Interim

Charles V’s army defeats the Smalcald League at Mühlberg on 24 April 1547
Elector John Frederick of Saxony is captured
The Augsburg Interim (a temporary order, 1548) returns Protestants to Catholic practice until a council meets
It allows married clergy and Communion with both bread and wine

1555–1580

Peace and the Book of Concord

25 September 1555: Peace of Augsburg lets each ruler choose Catholic faith or the Augsburg Confession
Reformed (Calvinist) churches are left out of the Peace of Augsburg
1577: the Formula of Concord answers twelve disputed articles
25 June 1580: German Book of Concord published at Dresden, fifty years after the Augsburg Confession

Confessional Lutheran connection

What we confess

Christ is one person in two natures, truly God and truly human (Augsburg Confession III)
Justification rests on Christ’s saving work, and faith receives it, not the believer’s merits (Augsburg Confession IV)
Compare Trent and the Confessions on Baptism and the Supper, naming shared words first

For discussion

How does Cranach’s Lord’s Supper match what the Lutheran Confessions say Christ gives in the Supper?