(^70) › STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
In Calvinist communities, the structure and discipline of the congregation were inte-
grated into those of the town. In place of the hierarchical structure of the Roman church,
Calvinist churches were organized by function:
• Pastors preached the gospel.
• Doctors studied scripture and wrote commentaries.
• Deacons saw to the social welfare of the community.
• Elders governed the church and the community in moral matters and enforced discipline.
Geneva soon became the inspirational center of the Protestant movement.
Social Dimensions and the Radical Reformation
The Protestantism of Martin Luther and John Calvin appealed to the industrious and
prosperous commercial and merchant classes. At these higher rungs of the social hier-
archy, people could read and react to criticism of both the doctrine and practice of the
orthodox Roman Church. The strict discipline of the Calvinist communities mirrored
the self-discipline their own professions demanded, and the promise that God would
bless the worldly endeavors of the elect provided a self-satisfying justification for the wealth
and prosperity that many were enjoying. Further down the social ladder, among the artisan
and peasant classes, a more radical reformation was being shaped.
The religious beliefs of the poorer and less educated classes were always less uniform
than those of the elite. Their knowledge of Christian theology tended to be superficial and
wedded to older folklore that deified the forces of nature. What they cared about was that
the suffering they endured in this life would be rewarded in the next. Accordingly, leaders of
Protestant movements among the artisan and peasant classes interpreted the doctrines of jus-
tification by faith alone and predestination to mean that God would never abandon the poor
and simple people who suffered and that they could have direct knowledge of their salvation
through an inner light that came to them directly from God. In some circles, this was com-
bined with millenarian notions that the judgment day was near, to create a belief that the poor
had a special mission to purge the world of evil and prepare it for the second coming of Christ.
The first and largest group of such radical reformers was known as the Anabaptists. In
1534, proclaiming that judgment day was at hand, a group of them captured the German
city of Münster, seized the property of non-believers, and burned all books except the Bible.
To Protestant and Catholic elites alike, the Anabaptists represented a threat to the social
order that could not be tolerated. Their rebellion was subsequently put down by an army
led by the Lutheran Prince Philip of Hesse, and the Anabaptist movement was violently
repressed and driven underground.The Catholic Response
Although it was slow to believe that Protestantism could pose a threat to its power, the Roman
Church—which was increasingly referred to as “catholic” (meaning one, true, and universal)—
began to construct a response by the middle of the sixteenth century. Although sometimes referred
to as the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic response actually had two dimensions: one aimed
at reforming the Catholic Church and another aimed at exterminating the Protestant movement.
At the center of both dimensions was the Society of Jesus. Founded in 1534 by Ignatius
Loyola, the Jesuits (as they came to be known) were a tightly organized order who saw
themselves as soldiers in a war against Satan. Strategically, the Jesuits focused on education,11_Bartolini_Ch11_065-074.indd 70 13/04/18 12:11 PM