REFORMATION:
a term which has come to mean any religious movement which REFORMS a
pre-existing TRADITION to restore its primitive purity or ORTHODOXY. More specifically it
is associated with the religious movement that began with the protest of Martin LUTHER
against the SALE of INDULGENCES in Germany in 1517. It led to the creation of independent
CHURCHES which renounced the claims of the PAPACY and sought to return to a thoroughly
Biblical CHRISTIANITY. The REFORMERS taught that the BIBLE is the only source of
FAITH and DOCTRINE, rejected TRANSUBSTANTIATION, INDULGENCES, the WORSHIP OF SAINTS and
MARY, emphasized JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH and proclaimed the PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS.
Known as PROTESTANTS, because of Luther's protest against widespread corruption in the
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, the Reformation quickly spread throughout Northern Europe and made
significant inroads into Southern European countries where it was eventually defeated by
the COUNTER REFORMATION and the INQUISITION which ruthlessly persecuted Protestants as
HERETICS who were burnt at the stake. The movement broke into several branches led by
Martin LUTHER, and Ulrich ZWINGLI, Menno SIMONS and the ANGLICAN TRADITION originating in
England.
