The Roman Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation with their own reformation. Prior to Martin Luther, there had been voices seeking to reform the Romanite Church. The most persuasive voice came from the Devotio Moderna Movement (14th Century) which called for a return to apostolic renewal though sincere piety in the form humility, obedience and simplicity of life [Henry David Thoreau would revive this in a secular way, “simplify, simplify, simplify” Walden Pond]. Geert Goote, a Dutch Deacon, is considered to be the Father of the Devotio Moderna movement. He was dismayed and dissatisfied by the state of the Church, particularly the erosion of monastic tradition and the decline of morality among the clergy. Goote sought to restore the church to genuine piety and good religion. While Goote may have been the father, the voice or mouth of the Devotio Moderna Movement was Thomas A Kempis who penned the Bible of the movement, and one of the most read devotionals, “The Imitation of Christ.” The impact of the Imitatio et Christi was monumental in spuring people back to genuine piety particularly in the low lands of Germany, ironic because it would be Wittenberg, Germany that the Protestant Reformation would come forth via Martin Luther. There is no doubt the Devotio Moderna influenced and perhaps shaped the Protestant reforms, perhaps as proto-reform, but it lacked the zeal of Tyndale getting the New Testament into hands of the common laity, and Luther’s protests of the abuse of clerical power via Indulgences. The Devotio Moderna may have inspired some of the reformers prior to revolting against the Papacy and Roman Rite, but it actually was the heart beat of the Counter-Reformation.
When Luther, Tyndale, Calvin and Zwingli called for reform and the European world began to stir with the Scriptures in native tongues either in full or escripts in books like “To the Christian Nobility,” the Roman Church responded with fire and steel. The reformers and their followers were branded heretics and treated with savagery. Stakes were erected and people burnt, dungeons with torture devices that tore your limbs, spikes pressing in all around the flesh, and other methods that are too gruesome to relate here. Truly the reformers under the wrath of Rome were feeling they were in good company, “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:35-38). The Inquisition unleashed its armies of Dominican Monks and agents to quell the tide of Reform. In Spain they purged all non-Catholics via threats, torture, and steel. The response of the early Counter-Reformation was violence, not debate, not discussion, but bloodshed.
The Papacy which had long transformed from a spiritual see and bishopric into a political principate with popes like Julius waging war, responded like any good monarchy to revolt. Rather than contend with Luther, Calvin, and Tyndale with theology, doxology (doctrine), and canon law; the Church of Rome gave their opponents two options: recant or be burned. This was the same response Luther faced at the Diet of Worms, rather than having a debate with Romanite theologians, Luther was threatened to either submit to the Roman Church and recant his works, or suffer imprisonment and worse. The Agents of the Counter Reformation used fire, they burnt books by Tyndale, Luther, Calvin and more; and they burned the heretics if they could find them. The brutality was excessive, and only emboldened the reformers and the people reading their works. While it is true the radical sects of the Protestants led by Karlstadt did employ violence, mainly by committing iconoclasm (breaking images) and arson by torching churches, this was a moderate response to reformers being burned without fair trial by a jury that already had decided their fate. To quote Diamand McCulloch, the Catholics destroyed people, while Protestants destroyed property, “If French Protestants were militant so were Catholics crowds and they were generally more murderous: where Protestants smashed images, Catholics butchered people." (The Reformation, Diamand McCulloch, pg 308).
The response of the Romanite Church to the Protestant Reformation was feverish and for good reason. As aforementioned, the Papal State and the Pope had risen from bishop to autocrat and even monarch of Rome. The Roman Church was now a State and Polity, with its Emperor and Bishop rolled into one. The Reformation was thus seen not as only a challenge to Roman Theology and Doctrine, but by extension a challenge to the Papal State’s power. Luther’s protest against Indulgences which funded the Papal wars and building projects and purses of the clergy was being threaten. Roman Religion was merely the glue, the web that held captive the masses and convinced them to pay taxes to Rome and serve its interests. While surely there were those who felt the challenge of reformers on theological level must be answered, the truth is monetary motivations overshadowed the doxological controversies. After all, when Luther wrote His 95 Thesis against Papal Indulgences, Pope Pius and his sycophants wanted to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica via indulgences. Again money, money, money.
The Papacy had become Medici and Borgia, even Tudor in that families were vying for power from the offices of pope to priest. Concerns over Catholic conscious and religion were buried under greedy people wanting to keep their posts and live lavishly. Cardinals wore giant pectoral crosses of gold and precious jewels on top of the finest linens, ate the best meals, sung mass in cathedrals of marble, gold, and art; and now they wanted more. Then came the Reformation which called all of this into question, decrying that it was not Christ’s Church, but a corruption, a Harlot. The Protestants gained grown because their cause was the same as the nobility in Germany, Switzerland, England, and more; they wanted to shake off the control and rule of Rome. Barons and other nobles were weary of sending their tax revenues (tithes) to Rome and having to be subordinates, mostly symbolically, to the Pope. While many shared the views of Tyndale and Luther, the support they received from secular powers had as much to do with donations than doctrine alone. The Reformation had devotees for different reasons, but in the end it served the interest of Christ and His Kingdom.
When Rome began to see pyres and threats of excommunication were not being heeded by Germany, England, and Zurich, the persecutions intensified in France and Spain, and parts of Germany. The inquisitors sought to stop the influx of Scripture and continued a campaign of torture that would mark the Counter-Reformation for decades to come. Rome’s response would take a turn with a new proselytization initiative. While persecution was employed at home in Europe, proselytization of pagans in the Orient, The Americas, and isles was underway. In 1540, a new crusader order was born, one hungry for souls, known as the Society of Jesus or The Jesuits. These monks would become the evangelists for Rome in the New World and Asia, while the Inquisition fought the Reformation at home. The Counter-Reformation was now making gains as it enslaved new converts in the jungles and remote places of the world. The natives on their own tithes could not often equal the nobles in Europe when it came to charity, so Rome began to sell them as slaves to Spain and its loyal patrons and children. The goods found in the New World was bountiful, with gold, livestock, fruit, spices, Tobacco being in plenty. The Papacy had found its El Dorado in goods and trade along with a slave trade that would ensure not only its survival against the Protestants but its expansion.
In the end whither a person sided with the Reformation or Counter-Reformation had much to do with fiscal reasons as much as faith. If you were a king or noble there was an advantage to breaking with Rome as Henry VIII did. It ensured your revenues stayed in your kingdom rather than going to the Papacy. However, there was incentives to stay loyal to Rome especially because of trade in the New World and the bounties that lay there. True, the Protestants also seized riches in the New Land, but they were but fledglings, kings who had newly emancipated themselves from Rome while the Papacy still had Spain and France along with its own purse to pillage the wealth of the New Colonies of the Latinate. Just as the Thirty Year’s War may have started as a religious dispute between Catholics and Protestants, it eventually devolved into politics which always is about money. While there were surely ardent zealots on both sides of the theological and doxological divide, the motivation for everyone else was money and power. Choosing to side with the Catholics or Protestants often depended on which would make your fortune. The goal to reconquer England for Rome via Mary I of England (Bloody Mary) and later Philip II of Spain via the Spanish Armada had religious reasons, but veiled under them was money and power; taking England meant estates, coffers of gold, tax revenues, and more.
In a way the Counter-Reformation has succeeded even in Reformed lands. Protestant Churches have become like the Papacy, defending their wealth and politic with fervor. Pastors and theologians acting as neo-popes and magistratiums who alter doctrine to increase cash flow. They teach that you must tithe, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty,” (Malachi 3:10-12), when the Lord Incarnate said, “When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax (tithe) came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”He said, “Yes.”
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free (exempt). Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”” (Matthew 17:24-28); and “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God,” (Galatians 4:7) and “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:28); therefore according to Christ we who are sons and children through faith and exempt from the temple tax and tithe.
Protestant leaders live lavishly and worry like Cardinals that their estates will be lost. Aside from the simple gospel and the Scriptures, Protestant Churches and their leaders look the same as the Roman Church, fat and greedy, exploiting religion to make major revenue. Instead of indulgences, Protestant leaders sell their interpretation of the Scriptures. When actually ninety precent of the Bible is self-explanatory and can be clearly understood via cross references! Protestant pastors can’t sell salvation via penance and purgatorial get out of jail donations, so instead they sell a brand, their version of church and interpretation. But in the end they have the same treasure as the Cardinals, and Pope, in their hearts. In this way the Reformed churches as aforementioned have been infected with the same strain that the Roman Church has, Mammon. So in this regard the Reformation has failed. It was unable to break the love of money in Protestant hearts.
We can see religion can be a tool and servant of the politic, a means to expand power and wealth. Both sides are guilty, Roman and Reformed, and the truth is the dry rot of the Prosperity Gospel and Doctrine; that if you follow Jesus you will be wealthy and prosperous has been there from the beginning of the Reformation with rulers choosing the side that gave them greater wealth and power. Politics when mixed with religion, becomes a mutation where genuine piety gives way to superficial acts of piety, and as a result corruption breeds. Certainly this is why Jesus avoided politics and said, “"Well, then," Jesus said, "give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God." His reply completely amazed them.” (Mark 12:27). Since Constantine the Great in 323 A.D. it had been the goal to mix Cesar with God, politics and religion, Rome with the Kingdom of Heaven, but Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). And thus we see the downfall of disregarding our Savior’s words, that if you attempt to mix Roman Empire with Christian Religion, politics with faith you have missed the point. The Kingdom of Heaven is not of this world, but it unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18) but one day will be seen (Revelation 20:4-9, Revelation 21:1-53). Christ will destroy this world in fire (2 Peter 3:10-11) and all its systems.
While we must be thankful to the Reformers for restoring the Scriptures to our hands and in our tongues so that we may see the Truth and be set free. The forces behind the Reformation and Counter-Reformation did not always have the purist motives. Certainly there were true believers on each side, but also many political opportunists looking for advantage. Truly we see that Christ’s words are true, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24). In the end people will either sacrifice their political position on a point of principle and serve God, risking all, or they will let politics (money) corrupt the Church and turn it into a polity. For our Lord spoke against the soul of politics, which at the end of the day is storing up treasures not trying to make a difference, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21). In politics the politicians will always protect their treasures over trying to do what is right and best. So ultimately each person must decide, is your treasure Jesus who is the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46) that you are willing to “deny yourself, Pick up your cross daily and follow Him,” (Luke 9:23) or is it wealth, status, possessions and the things of this world, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” (1 John 2:16 NLT). You must pick your master, God or Mammon (god of money, see Ezekiel 28:11-28). Mixing the two as the Roman Church and many Protestant Churches have done leads to them serving one over the other, usually money wins, as pastors worry about saving their building and paycheck over helping and loving those among them (John 13:34-35). I myself believe the Protestant Reformation was God ordained, that we got back to the simple gospel of grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-9, Philippians 3:9, John 3:16-18) and that we got the Scriptures back which are God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). However, I am dismayed that the Protestant Churches are now no different than the Church of Rome, with their politics and money focus. Pastors having six figure salaries (600,000 to 1,000,000.00 USD) when the median income of their congregants is forty to sixty thousand a year! Church boards obsess over keeping their tax exempt status when their doctrine is faulty (2 Timothy 4:3). Our Reformed churches have followed Rome in corruption and politics, and I sincerely believe that when Jesus returns He will say to many churches that profess His name but truly love and serve Mammon (god of money), “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! ” (Matthew 7:21-23). These lawless ones were the Pharisees (Matthew 23:28 NKJV) who would change doctrine and the commands of God for monetary purposes, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” (Mark 7:8-13), and “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you [a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the [b]best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your [c]Teacher, [d]the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be [e]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be [f]exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [g]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of [h]hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that [i]sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who [k]dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and [l]self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and [m]adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. 33 Serpents, brood[n] of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” (Matthew 23:1-36).
We need to profit from this lesson Church. You cannot be of this world and its politics and be of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 6:24, 1 John 2:15-16, Romans 12:2, John 15:19-21). You cannot mix God and Mammon, Empire and Faith, the two are antithetical to one another. In the end your heart will treasure only one and you will pick your master. Will it be God the Trinity or the prince of this world? Decide now, “you must decide who you will serve, “Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word,” (1 Kings 18:21) and “Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon (god of money).” (Matthew 6:24). Amen.
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