Reformed Christianity originated with the Reformation in Switzerland when Huldrych Zwingli began preaching what would become the first form of the Reformed doctrine in Zürich in 1519.Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. 2nd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 164- 66.Robert Walton, Zwingli's Theocracy (Toronto University Press. 1967).
Zwingli and John Oecolampadius became embroiled in conflict over the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist with Martin Luther, leading to a division between Lutheran and Reformed Protestants. Several theologians succeeded Zwingli, the best known of which is John Calvin in Geneva, but other reformers like John Oecolampadius, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Wolfgang Musculus were also influential in the development of Reformed theology.
As well as questioning transubstantiation, the Reformers also supported the ideas of sola fide (‘faith alone’) and sola Scriptura (‘the Bible alone’).
Reformed faith spread throughout Europe in the 16th century, with different character in different places. Calvinism was the dominant form of Protestantism in France. After a period of struggle, Calvinists were officially tolerated there. Under the leadership of John Knox, the Church of Scotland, which is Reformed, became the established church in Scotland. In the Netherlands, Calvinism also became the official established religion following a period of persecution. During the Reformation, Calvinism was the primary Protestant faith in Belgium but was eradicated in favor of the Counter-Reformation. Germany remained predominantly Lutheran during the 16th century, but Reformed worship was promoted intermittently by rulers in Electoral Palatinate, Margraviate of Brandenburg, and other German states. Reformed ideas also influenced Protestants in Eastern Europe, especially Hungary and Romania. The reform of the Church of England was also influenced by Reformed theologians, and remained so throughout the 16th century.
Origins (1519–1531)
Huldrych Zwingli, whose theology is considered the first expression of Reformed theology was appointed to ministry in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1519. He was influenced by Renaissance humanist Desiderius Erasmus, which led him to study the New Testament and the early Church Fathers as well as to preach from the Bible. Zwingli was also aware of and influenced by the Wittenberg reformer Martin Luther, but he developed his theology independently and differed with him in several ways. Zwingli opposed any religious practice for which he could find no scriptural justification, such as the use of images, organs, and singing in worship while Luther actively opposed the destruction of images in churches. Zwingli's emphasis on strict adherence to God's command as found in his word also led to greater moral activism in Zwinglian Reformation movements than in Lutheran ones.
Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, and Guillaume Farel were also influential figures in the development of Reformed theology. These reformers came from diverse academic backgrounds, but later distinctives of Reformed theology can already be detected in their thought, especially the priority of scripture as a source of authority. Scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal view of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive of these theologians was their denial of the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord's supper. They also understood salvation to be by grace alone, and affirmed a doctrine of particular election (the teaching that some people are chosen by God for salvation). Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, and to a larger extent later Reformed theologians. The doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther.
At first Zwingli regarded Luther as an ally, and union between the followers of Zwingli and Luther may have been possible but for controversies over the Eucharist beginning in 1524. Luther strongly believed it necessary to maintain that Christ is physically present in the Eucharist, while Zwingli along with his followers including John Oecolampadius in Basel favored a symbolic meaning to the rite which would be called sacramentarianism. Martin Bucer in Strasbourg took a mediating position. Luther labeled Zwingli, Oecolapadius, and others who took this view blasphemous, un-Christian, and fanatic. In 1529, German prince Philip of Hesse arranged the Marburg Colloquy as an attempt to reconcile the warring Protestant factions and forge an alliance. The two sides agreed on many points of doctrine but could find no common ground on the Eucharist, and Philip's hope for an alliance failed.
Throughout the 1520s, Zwingli's influence grew in Switzerland, though many Swiss, especially in rural and forest areas, remained loyal to the Catholic church and opposed Zwingli's reforms. Before 1530, some southern German cities supported Zwingli, and some German Lutheran theologians in other areas of Germany developed sacramentarian views independently of Zwingli, but they were quickly silenced by Lutheran theologians in Wittenberg. In early 1531, Phillip of Hesse formed the Schmalkaldic League, solidifying the Lutherans' hold on Germany to the exclusion of Zwinglianism. Meanwhile, Zwingli began to use force aggressively to solidify Protestant gains in Switzerland. Following success against Catholics in the First War of Kappel of 1529, Zurich enforced a harsh blockade on Catholic cantons, leading to the Second War of Kappel in 1531. The Zurichers were defeated, and Zwingli was killed in the battle. Catholics continued to hold power in a majority of Swiss cantons, though three-fifths of the population was Protestant.
Second generation (1531–1555)
John Calvin is the most well-known Reformed theologian of the generation following Zwingli's death, but recent scholarship has argued that several previously overlooked individuals had at least as much influence on the development of Reformed Christianity and represented diverse theological viewpoints. Heinrich Bullinger, Zwingli's successor in Zurich, wrote more accessibly than his predecessor and his writings were distributed long after his death. Following Zwingli he argued for a figurative significance of the Eucharist. Peter Martyr Vermigli, a highly trained Reformed theologian of this era, taught a strong doctrine of double predestination, which teaches that God has chosen to save people for salvation and others for damnation, and held that Christ was really, though spiritually, present in the Eucharist, a position that Calvin would also take. Wolfgang Musculus's Common Places of the Christian Religion was the first Reformed systematic work of theology. Musculus taught a spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist and a cautious form of double predestination.
While Reformed ideas and churches found ever-widening distribution during this period, reaching as far as England and Poland, Lutheranism also increased its dominance in the Holy Roman Empire. The Augsburg Interim of 1548, a settlement between Holy Roman emperor Charles V and Protestants resulting from the Schmalkaldic War, made some concessions to Protestants but forced those who wished to practice their religion legally to adopt practices which the Reformed found repugnant. Some isolated Reformed churches were able to hold on in Germany including a church in Emden led by Polish reformer Jan Łaski which became an important center for Protestant refugees from the Low Countries. London and a few other cities in England; Wesel, Aachen, and Frankfurt, Germany; and Geneva, Switzerland were also important cities for Reformed refugees from the Low Countries, northern France, and other areas of the Holy Roman Empire where they were not tolerated. "Stranger churches" were established in these cities for refugee Protestants.
The Reformed movement was complex and variegated during this period, but the French reformer of Geneva John Calvin was arguably the most influential Reformed theologian of his time and his impact was long-lasting. His Institutes of the Christian Religion was published in 1536. It was widely distributed and considered by some to be the most important work of theology of the era. The Genevan Consistory, a church council made up of lay and clergy members who was given power to enforce morals legislation and excommunicate citizens, became a dominant force in everyday life. This relative ecclesiastical independence from civil authority was a rare achievement and considered by many to be the Reformed ideal.
Spread (1555–1600)
The Reformed faith took different shapes in different parts of Europe. In France, groups of Christians influenced by Protestant writers (who became known as Huguenots) formed secretly and started underground churches and informal Bible reading groups. Ministers were dispatched from Geneva and other Swiss cities along with a massive outpouring of propaganda which assured the Reformed nature of the French Reformation. Calvin also aided in the creation of the French Confession of Faith in 1559. The French Protestants did gain some notable allies, including Renée of France, daughter of King Louis XII, as well as Queen Jeanne III of Navarre and her son, Henry (who later converted to Roman Catholicism upon ascending the throne of France). The newly formed churches developed a presbyterial system of church government with national and regional synods. The network of synods proved helpful in mobilizing Reformed Christians to military resistance during the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics from 1562 to 1598. Calvin's successor in Geneva Theodore Beza also argued in his Right of Magistrates that armed resistance against tyrannical rulers was justified, which contradicted Calvin's earlier insistence on civil obedience and emboldened Huguenots to fight. The wars of religion left the French Reformed church between one-third and one-half the size of that at which it began with limited freedom to practice their religion, though intermittent conflicts continued. Unlike in the Genevan model and many other early Reformed churches, the Reformed Church in France remained relatively independent of the state.
John Willock, who had been exiled to Emden, and John Knox, who had spent five years exiled in Geneva, were the most influential figures of the Scottish Reformation. Knox preached to Scottish noblemen from 1555 to 1556, though he did not encourage the establishment of independent churches as was done in France. In 1557 a group of noblemen known as the Lords of the Congregation swore an oath, following a Scottish custom, to promote Protestant reforms in churches. Knox and Willock encouraged radical militant action even on the part of independent laypeople in areas where Catholic practices were re-instituted. In 1560 the Scottish Parliament adopted the broadly Reformed Scots Confession and instituted the Church of Scotland along Reformed lines, though bishops were retained within a presbyterial system. Despite the success of the Reformed in Scotland many people retained Catholic practices such as holy days and pilgrimages and the majority of parishes did not have qualified Reformed ministers by the end of the century.