Reformers
Martin Luther (1483-1546) Plummer cites Döllinger who held that "It was Luther's overpowering greatness and wonderful many-sidedness of mind that made him the man of his age and his people." No matter how ready Western-Europe was for reform, it needed someone to provide a catalyst for that reform to become organised and to gather pace.
In essence Luther rediscovered the Gospel in Romans 1v17
'For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’
and made the quantum leap from the hitherto prevailing position that we must do our best before God who will help us, to a "reformed" position that sees God freely justifying us by faith. This paradigm shift from seeing the Gospel as being condemnatory to seeing it as a message of liberation is the fundamental concept at the heart of the Reformation of the Western Church in the sixteenth century. Another of Luther's important contributions was to argue the reduction of the number of sacraments from seven to two - leaving just baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) was the first theologian of the Reformation and the father of the Swiss Reformation. Unlike Luther, he was influenced by the teachings of Aquinas and Erasmus and therefore approached things from a very different position. Zwingli held that Scripture is supreme and also that no doctrine should be contrary to reason. Zwingli rejected any concept of "real presence" in the elements of the Lord's supper, instead insisting on the purely symbolic nature of the bread and wine. (This contrasts with Luther's position of consubstantiation.)
Zwingli also held a different position on baptism to Luther who retained a Roman view. Zwingli held that baptism was merely an outward sign of faith and did not, in and of itself, bestow new birth and the forgiveness of sins.
John Calvin (1509-1564) was the systematitian of the Reformation. His "Institutes of the Christian Religion" (1536) set out a new way of exploring our relationship with God. Calvin wrote many polemical treatises, including several against the Roman Catholic Church and against Lutheranism. It is for his writing on the areas of the Lord's Supper and predestination that Calvin is best known. He developed the concept that those who come to faith in God have been predestined to do so by God.
As is sometimes the case, this area of teaching was magnified by subsequent disciples of Calvin to the point where it assumed a disproportionate importance amongst his writings. With regard to the Lord's Supper, Calvin held a more Augustinian view noting "that at the heart of the Supper there takes place a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a true offering of Christ in His Body, the Church, to the Father." This is in stark contrast to the prevailing Roman doctrine of transubstantiation. On baptism, Calvin held that it was only efficacious for the elect.
Centres of Reform
There were other important Reformers, but almost as significant as the people, became the places where Reform sprang to life. Europe was economically and politically in transition and the city-state was a an important concept. If a city Reformed, its supporting hinterland would be deemed to have Reformed as well. Hence centres like Geneva, Zürich, Strasbourg and Frankfurt became centres of one kind of Reform or another.
Countries resistant to Reform spawned religious refugees and as these became more numerous, a tide of people seeking Reform were drawn to the Reformation centres. Often they would return home as soon as the Reformation ideas were more widely accepted. This flow of people and the flourishing of printing meant that the new ideas of the Reformation were quickly and widely spread throughout Western Europe.
The Church
The Reformation challenged people to think as individuals and to see their personal relationship with God as the most important factor. Those in this kind of relationship formed the church. Therefore, almost overnight, the role of the church (establishment) changed to become the thing that supported the family of believers rather than the thing that gave them their defining identity.
The consequences of this were far reaching. Not only were specific doctrines of the church called into question, but also the organisation, structure and role of the church and clergy. New denominations began to appear, namely Lutherans, Swiss Reformed, Anabaptists and followers of Calvin all of which proved to be a polemic to Roman Catholicism.
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