Protestant Reformation

Although its historical origins are in 16th-century Europe, the Protestant Reformation reshaped the [Page 1404]Christian tradition globally in a process of change that continues in the 21st century. “Protestant Reformation” itself is a blanket term used to refer to a series of theological and political developments that took place throughout much of Christian Europe mainly during the 16th century. This was no uniform movement: Theological positions, interpretations of scripture, and views of how the Christian Church should operate often varied considerably between the leading Protestant reformers of the time. The Protestant Reformation also followed very different paths in different regions of Europe, being warmly received in some areas and resulting in persecution, violence, and warfare in others. Yet the movement was united in its emphasis on the need to purify and reform the Church; the position of scripture as the Church's chief source of authority, salvation by faith rather than by works, and a denial of the role of the pope as universal head of the Church. As a result, compromise and reconciliation with Rome became increasingly difficult, especially after the Catholic Church's own attempts to reform, define, and reinvigorate itself in the Catholic Reformation, which also had its beginnings mainly in the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation therefore resulted in the confessional splintering of what was then the entire Western Christian world, and with it the establishment of several religious traditions including Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, and Anglican, which survive today across the globe. This entry examines the three main “branches” of the Protestant Reformation: the Lutheran Reformation, the so-called Radical Reformation, and the rise of Reformed (or Calvinist) belief and practice.