Philosophy of The Renaissance and Reformation

Philosophical Foundations of the Reformation Movement

The precondition for the freedom of private enterprise, which was essential for future effective economic development, was a previously unheard-of freedom of thought. This freedom was not granted but earned by individuals who felt largely liberated from the oppressive ideological nets of the time. A principal tendency that emerged in society during the Renaissance was secularization, which rejected the overarching subordination of worldly life to the authority, canons, and dogmas of the official church. This tendency found its expression in the phenomenon known as the Reformation, primarily represented by Martin Luther and John Calvin. The outcome of the Reformation was the establishment of a Protestant church independent of the Vatican.

As demonstrated by German sociologist Max Weber in his work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," the Reformation movement, which later gave rise to Protestantism, laid the ideological foundations of modern European civilization and its characteristic capitalist mode of production.

The Reformation (from Latin reformatio — transformation, correction) was a movement aimed at reforming the Catholic Church, which swept through Western Europe in the 16th century and was largely prompted by the worldview changes initiated by the philosophical teachings of the Renaissance. The emergence of reformative doctrines was facilitated by the fierce critique of the Catholic Church articulated by philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam, particularly in his classic work "In Praise of Folly," ironically dedicated to his friend and apologist for the Catholic Church, Thomas More.

The groundwork for the Reformation was laid by the English theologian and reformer John Wycliffe and his follower, Czech thinker and priest Jan Hus. The ideological framework was developed in the teachings of Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and Thomas Müntzer. Identifying the "corruption of the church" as the root cause of the Reformation, the reformers sought a return to the "true" Christianity of the apostolic age. They rejected the mediating role of the church between humanity and God, questioned ritual practices, and contested dogmatic positions, grounding their reforms in a "true reading" of the Bible, which they proclaimed as the sole source of Revelation and authority in matters of faith. They advocated for the right of every individual to read and interpret the Bible freely as the exclusive source of doctrine.

The founder of the Reformation movement was the German thinker and religious figure Martin Luther. His teachings drew on the mystical pantheism of Meister Eckhart, Augustinian-Platonic preferences, and the Renaissance critique of Erasmus. On October 31, 1517, he posted his "95 Theses" on the gates of Wittenberg Cathedral, opposing the sale of indulgences. This seemingly local event transformed the course of European history. Luther's core principle was "sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratia" — "only faith, only Scripture, only God's grace." He concluded that priests were not mediators between God and humanity; rather, they should guide their congregations and serve as examples of true Christianity. "A person saves their soul not through the Church but through faith," Luther asserted. He challenged the divine authority of the Pope by referencing the Orthodox Church, which he viewed as equally Christian yet without a Pope and his limitless powers.

Central to Luther's reformative approach was the principle of salvation through personal faith. He proposed a return to primitive Christianity and proclaimed the concept of the "priesthood of all believers," rejecting the Catholic doctrine of the church's mediating role and deeming clergy unnecessary, thus promoting a direct, individual path for each believer to God. Luther translated the Bible into German, making its content more accessible to the broader population of German believers. He advocated for the separation of spiritual and secular powers, emphasizing the irrational nature of religious knowledge and rendering any attempt at "secular" criticism fundamentally illegitimate. Luther's reform liberated the church from political dominion, subordinating it to secular authority.

Another prominent figure of the Reformation movement, French theologian John Calvin, espoused more radical views than Luther. Calvinism was distinguished from Lutheranism by a more stringent mysticism and irrationalism. Calvin formulated the doctrine of absolute predestination, asserting that only a portion of humanity is chosen by God for salvation. He taught that Christ, through his sacrifice on the cross, did not choose all humanity for salvation but rather a specific subset, predetermined by divine will. Thus, "many are called, but few are chosen," with the criteria for being "chosen" being entirely irrational. However, due to the irrational nature of divine selection, any individual may regard themselves as one of the elect.

In conclusion, the philosophical views of the figures within the Reformation movement are organically connected to the philosophical ideas of the Renaissance, seeking to reform and modernize Catholic doctrine and the institutional structure of the Catholic Church.

The Reformation, in its ideological essence, was a quintessential Renaissance phenomenon. Lutheran monism, in its denial of human autonomy and freedom, aligns with the naturalistic monism of the late Renaissance, which similarly rejects the autonomy of the human being. It is no coincidence that Lutheran monism, affirming the existence of a singular God and divine nature, found its continuation in 19th-century German idealistic monism, while naturalistic monism transitioned into the mechanistic materialism of the modern era.

As a result of a "critical examination" of the dogmas of contemporary Catholicism, Protestants recognized only two sacraments as valid out of seven (baptism and repentance), abolished fasting and most church holidays. They rejected the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints, along with the honoring of icons and other relics. They placed significant importance on individual and collective prayers.

However, the most crucial aspect was that Protestantism focused on the individual’s responsibility before God for their own salvation, independent of the church and clergy.

Thus, the main tenets of Protestantism can be summarized as follows:

• Recognition of the absolute authority of Scripture (the Bible) as the primary source for humanity's knowledge of God and the affirmation of its religious and moral principles;
• Acknowledgment of the possibility of personal communication between the believer and God;
• Faith in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ;
• Rejection of Sacred Tradition — papal bulls, decrees, and encyclicals as sources of faith;
• Denial of the church and priesthood's mediating role in the relationship between humanity and God;
• Acceptance of the predestined nature of human fate (the opportunity for salvation);
• Simplification of liturgical practices (worship consists of prayers, sermons, psalm singing, and reading of the Bible).

Despite the subsequent fragmentation of Protestantism into numerous denominations and sects, one can roughly delineate two stages in its historical development: early Protestantism of the 16th century, when its main branches—Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism—were formed, and the later, post-Reformation stage, which includes Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Adventists, Pentecostals, and others.

The Renaissance and the Reformation converge in their anti-feudal orientation, yet their means of overcoming feudal social relations differ. While the Renaissance advocated for the transformation of society through the expansion and deepening of secular education, the Reformation remained within the confines of medieval thought and, within these bounds, offered humanity a new, simplified path to God.

The Reformation later echoed the ideals of Renaissance humanism during the unfolding of bourgeois revolutions, calling for freedom, equality among all people from birth, fraternity, and the perfection of society as a condition for human realization.

Thus, the two and a half centuries of the Renaissance, from Petrarch to Galileo, signify a break with medieval tradition and a transition to the modern era. This new worldview heralded the demise of hierarchy and the desacralization of the cosmos. The eternity of divine attributes transformed into the attributes of an infinite universe. A characteristic feature of the epoch's worldview was pantheism, wherein God is equated with nature. In Renaissance philosophy, humanity is conceived outside of hierarchy, with anthropocentrism as one of the epoch's key traits. The Renaissance is the philosophy of the age of "great discoveries." Its natural philosophy was not yet the science of the 17th and 18th centuries, despite the active pursuit of knowledge that would lead to Francis Bacon's assertion that "knowledge is power." An important idea of the Reformation is the necessity of individual responsibility before God without the church's mediation: "salvation through personal faith."