Review: Martin Luther & Ulrich Zwingli were early reformers who exploded onto the scene in the 1520s in Germany and Switerland leading to widespread reforms. Several factors led up to this, including a decline of confidence in the papacy and humanistic scholarship.

Formal Principle of the Reformation: Supreme Authority of Scripture (Sola Scriptura)
Material Principle of the Reformation: Justification by faith alone (Sola Fide)

John Calvin: (France/Switzerland: 1509-1564)

• Converted while studying law in Orleans, France in his early 20s. (around 1530)
• Writes the first version of his Institutes in 1535, intended as an accessible summary of the evangelical faith, but it gains wide audience amongst reformers.
• Detained in Geneva by William Farel to help with reforms there in 1538, but exiled three
  years later to Strasbourg. Returns to Geneva in 1541, and after more than a decade of struggle brings full reformation to the city
• Founds a college and academy that trains hundreds of pastors and publishes the final version of the Institutes, now a sweeping work of theology, in 1559.

The Council of Trent (1546-1564)

• Catholic council of bishops called by the Pope to respond to the reformers ideas.
• No reformers invited.
• Sola Scriptura explictly denied: Scripture (including Apocrypha) is equal to “tradition”.
• Sola Fide explicitly denied: Being justified is a state of grace that can be lost and regained through the sacramental system.

The Reformation in England

• William Tyndale: Translates the bible into English after fleeing to Germany using Erasmus’ New Testament in 1526 and sends 16-thousand copies back to England.
• King Henry VIII initiaties a break from Rome over a dispute over his first marriage. Denies the papacy, but upholds most other Roman doctrines.
• His evangelical second wife and anti-pope bias leads to many protestant-leaning Englishmen reaching high positions. English bible reading is also legalized in 1538.
• King Edward VI takes the throne at age 9 in 1547 and the Church of England is truly reformed over the next several years.
• Bloody Mary comes to the throne and martyrs many protestants, returning England to Rome for six years. Upon her death, Elizabeth I reinstates most of the earlier reforms, though does not appreciate the Puritans who pushed for more.
• Book of Prayer (versions 1549, 1552, and 1559) brings bible-soaked English liturgy to every church in the nation.

Pertinent Reformation Timeline

1483 Martin Luther born.
1484 Huldrych Zwingli born.
1505 Luther becomes a monk.
1509 John Calvin born in Noyon, France.
1516 Erasmus publishes his Greek New Testament.
1517 Luther posts his ninety-five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1519 Zwingli begins preaching in Zurich.
1521 Diet of Worms. Luther taken into protective custody in Wartburg Castle.
1522 Luther completes his German translation of the New Testament.
1523 Zurich officially supports Zwingli’s theology.
1526 William Tyndale’s English New Testament completed.
1529 Luther and Zwingli fail to agree on the Lord’s Supper at the Marburg Colloquy.
1531 Zwingli killed at the battle of Kappel.
1534 Henry VIII declared Supreme Head of the Church of England.
1536 Calvin arrives in Geneva. First edition of his Institutes published. Erasmus dies.
1536 William Tyndale executed in Belgium.
1538 Calvin, expelled from Geneva, settles in Strasbourg with Martin Bucer.
1538 The reading of the Bible in English legalized in England.
1541 Calvin returns to Geneva for good.
1545–63 Council of Trent.
1546 Luther dies.
1547 Henry VIII dies. Succeeded by his evangelical son, Edward VI.
1553–58 ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary restores Roman Catholicism to England.
1558 Elizabeth I succeeds Mary, establishing a moderate Protestantism in England
1559 Calvin produces his final, definitive edition of the Institutes.
1560 Scottish ‘Reformation’ Parliament makes Scotland officially Calvinist.
1564 Calvin dies.