Unintended Consequences

                                                     by Brother Dominicus




Brad Gregory is the Dorothy G. Griffin Collegiate Chair in European
History at the University of Notre Dame. He is an "old-fashioned" historian
who combines narrative and analysis in clear and engaging prose. His
books focus on the reformation era. He paints a lively picture of important
Reformation figures, the historical context, and the development of the
early movement to reform Catholicism to the panoply of protestant sects
that developed later.

His book The Unintended Consequences of the Reformation: How a
Religious Revolution Secularized Society illustrates that good intentions
might just pave the road to hell. The Church has always had its issues. Sin,
being part of human nature, is inescapably part of the Church, and because
of that, there are almost always movements to reform it—to make it more
holy.

The Church and culture in which Martin Luther was born was in
transition. It was still generally culturally accepted that man was sinful but
that God saved the world. He sent his son Jesus to the world to redeem it.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. He opens the door to the Father and
eternal life for us. It was, therefore, very important to believe the right things
about God. Life on earth is very short, life after death is eternal. If you
believe and do the wrong things for 40, 50, 60, or 70 years on earth, you
might suffer forever in the hereafter.

The "founding fathers" of the Reformation were driven by a deep
desire for the truth and a deep fear of the consequences of getting it wrong.
However, because of their effort to loosen the "truth" from the community
and history of the Church, they subjectivized truth. They personally knew
better than that sinful institution. 

It quickly became clear that reading merely the Bible (Sola Scriptura)
does not lead to consensus. It leads to competing truth claims. It leads to
Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, Puritans, Quakers, etc. In history, it
contributed to actual wars of religion. Wars that were fought because, in the
eyes of the participants, their salvation was at stake. As a solution to stop
the bloodshed of the horrific wars of religion, the idea grew that different
religious truths needed to be accepted. If there is no way to decide which
religion is true, then we need to find ways for religions to live next to each
other. First, that was done by creating states where a particular religion
ruled. This toleration became interpreted in subjective terms (we now would
say as religious indifference). It ultimately led to our modern secular states
where no religious truth or any "truth" is generally accepted.

So the irony is that Luther, Calvin, etc., who despised the failings of
the Catholic Church and desperately wanted to understand the truth about
God and create a more Godly Christian society, achieved the opposite
result. 

Gregory's work is worth engaging with. It provided me personally
some cautionary notes to think about in trying to evaluate the ever-present
movements in the Church that seek to purify it.



Literature list:

Brad Gregory, The Unintended Consequences of the Reformation: How a
Religious Revolution Secularized Society, Belknap Press, 2015

Brad Gregory, Rebel in the Ranks, Martin Luther, the Reformation and the
Conflicts that Continue to Shape our World, HarperOne, 2017

Brad Gregory, Salvation at Stake, Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern
Europe, Harvard University Press, 2001

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