On Hallowe'en this year protestants will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 theses to the church door in Germany. Although that date is important in the history of the Reformation, the action really began with Father Jan Hus, a Czech priest who wanted to translate the New Testament into Czech and to allow the chalice to the laity in Communion. He was rewarded in his effort by being burnt at the stake by the Roman Church in 1415.
What is noteworthy, however, is that Hus's reformation (resulting in the Moravian Church, with whom we Anglicans are in communion) could be termed a conservative reformation. He retained the apostolic succession of bishops going back to the Apostles, the three-fold Orders of ministry, the Sacraments, indeed the essentials of Catholic Faith. When our Anglican Reformation took place more than a century later, it too was conservative, retaining those Catholic essentials but reforming what needed to be changed, like clerical celibacy, denial of the chalice to laity, bans on translation of the Bible, sale of indulgences and other deleterious practices.
By contrast, the Continental Reformation sparked by Luther and quickly spreading to what is now more than 30,000 denominations, represented truly radical change, including losing the apostolic succession, eliminating the three ancient Orders of ministry, rejecting the teachings of the valid Ecumenical Councils, altering the content of the Bible, and abolishing some or all of the Sacraments. Logic tells us that one cannot reform something by completely replacing it; and so it must be with the Continental rejection of the faith, order, discipline and worship of the ancient Catholic Church which we retained.
Nevertheless, we must never give up on striving to move towards greater unity with all who claim faith in Jesus. So this year I will participate in the Tulsa community's ecumenical service for reconciliation, to take place on 25 January at First Lutheran in Tulsa. I will join Roman Catholic, Ecumenical Catholic, and Protestant, even Evangelical, clergy in leading this service to lift up our Lord's vision for oneness in his followers.
What can we take away from a review of the Reformation era? Let me suggest four things. First, the insight that religion is not the business of professionals. Lay people, indeed all of us, are under commission by virtue of baptism and confirmation, and must discern and live out our vocation, We honour and lift up the work of laity alongside our bishops, priests, deacons, monks and nuns; even as the protestant element must raise up lay and new ordained leadership to replace the ancient ministries they abolished.
Another insight is that we need to avoid cults of personalities. St. Paul alludes to this in the epistle reading today (I Cor 1: 10-18) and we are reminded of how much of contemporary Church life is centred on the cult of the pastor in huge congregations. That has led to a lot of corruption, insane wealth being accumulated by evangelical clergy, diverting enormous sums from gospel ends, and all abetted by U.S. tax policy.
There is also the matter of grace. In late mediaeval times there was too much emphasis on doing works, as if somehow God would not love you unconditionally unless you performed as required by the Church. So a rediscovery of faith and trust in God through Christ was important. On the other hand, that often led too far in the other direction and religion for a lot of protestants became only a matter of believing certain things about Jesus, or subscribing to denominational dogma, not getting to work to build the Kingdom of God on earth. It also led to a lot of accomodation of the false values of global capitalism, consumerism, jingoism, and imperialism. We must continue to strike a balance between faith and works, so that they feed each other.
Finally, there is the matter of restoring respect for Scripture. In one sense the world gained a great blessing in opening the beauty of holy writ to average people, not just scholars and clergy who could read Latin. On the other hand, the free flow of the Bible has meant that people approach it without needed research using those scholarly tools that are available. Instead symbolic materials have been interpreted literally, mythology construed as history, with groups of power-grabbers claiming a non-existing authority to interpret the Bible for others and impose their notions on them, and in many quarters the Bible (so interpreted) has been turned into an idol by the false attribution of infallibility. Only God is infallible. We need to be keenly aware of the dangers of book religion. God's ongoing revelation comes to us through the triad of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, discerned in the historic Church to guide and enrich our lives during our earthly journey..
Let us ponder these Reformation concepts and challenges as we go forward.
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