The Reformation and the Fracturing of Christianity (^) ‹ 69
The English Reformation
The English Reformation was unique. England had long traditions of dissent and anti-
clericalism that stemmed from a humanist tradition. In that context, Protestantism in
England grew slowly, appealing especially to the middle classes, and by 1524, illegal
English-language Bibles were circulating. But as the English monarch Henry VIII tried to
consolidate his power and his legacy, he took the existence of a Protestant movement as an
opportunity to break from Rome and create a national church, the Church of England, or,
the Anglican Church.
Henry needed a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, because she could not
provide him with a male heir to the throne. He also needed money and land with which to
buy the loyalty of existing nobles and to establish loyalty in new ones who would owe their
position to him. In 1534, he officially broke with the Church in Rome and had himself
declared the head of the new Church of England. In 1536, he dissolved the English monas-
teries and seized church lands and properties, awarding them to those loyal to him. English
humanist Sir Thomas More, friend and counselor to Henry, refused to sweat allegiance to
Henry and was subsequently executed. It soon became apparent, however, that the Church
that Henry had created was Protestant only in the sense that it broke from Rome. In terms
of the characteristics opposed by most Protestant reformers—its episcopal or hierarchical
nature, the existence of priests, and the retention of the sacraments and symbols of the
traditional Roman church—the Church of England was hardly Protestant at all.
For the rest of the century, the unfinished Reformation left England plagued by religious
turmoil. During the reign of Edward VI, the son of Henry and Jane Seymour, England
was officially Anglican, but communities who wished to organize themselves along more
Protestant lines grew to sufficient numbers to be known collectively as Dissenters. Upon the
accession of Mary I (the daughter of Henry and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon), England
was returned to Catholicism and Protestants were persecuted. Under the subsequent reign of
Elizabeth I (the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn), England was again Anglican. While
Catholics were initially persecuted under Elizabeth, there emerged during her long reign a
kind of equilibrium in which a modicum of religious toleration was given to all.Calvin and Calvinism
Once the break from the Roman Church was accomplished, Protestant leaders faced
the task of creating new religious communities and systematizing a theology. The most
influential of the second-generation Protestant theologians was John Calvin. Converting
to Protestantism around 1534, Calvin was forced to leave his native France and flee to
Switzerland, whose towns were governed by strong town councils that had historically
competed with the Church bishops for local power. Calvin settled in Geneva where, in
1536, the adult male population had voted to become Protestant. For the next 40 years,
Calvin worked in Geneva, articulating the theology and structure for Protestant religious
communities that would come to be known as Calvinism.
Calvinism accepted both Martin Luther’s contentions that salvation is gained by faith
alone and that scripture is the sole source of authoritative knowledge of God’s will. But on
the subject of salvation, Calvin went further, developing the doctrine of Predestination,
which asserted that God has predetermined which people will be saved and which will be
damned. Those who are predestined to salvation are known as “the elect,” and, although
their earthly behavior could not affect the status of their salvation, Calvin taught that the
elect would be known both by their righteous behavior and by their prosperity, as God
would bless all their earthly enterprises.11_Bartolini_Ch11_065-074.indd 69 13/04/18 12:11 PM