West European Studies

Since the beginning of the 16th century, it was promised to be a passage of history that was more than renaissance, flourished with change and evolution, in both religious beliefs and science. The Protestant Reformation, which started in October 1517 when Martin Luther put forward his revolutionary theses against the All Saints Church, marked the most formidable reproach from the civil society against the indulgence of power within the governance of Catholic Church and the Pope. More than as an abrupt revolution, the path towards a doctrinal reform was, to the most part, rejuvenated and rendered by the adaptation of the western civilization, which had the belief and yearning for a salvation brought up from within the society.

Although Luthers theses against the current theology of sacraments aroused a controversy later, he was fighting his own salvation and was accepting monasticism and the cult of saints in the beginning years of the 16th century. The saints were a very distinguished party in the community of Christians and the western society. The church granted and nominated a small group of saints, which was known as the cult of the saints, and became iconic in the post-medieval Christianity. Even though the civil people still sought divinity through the relics, the accord of saints earned the same degree of divinity. They were believed to be capable of performing miracles with divine powers. The people were feared of being sinful and they revered the saints, as they believed the saints had the power to drive away the demon and attain them with the sanctuary of heaven. Honoring the worshipping the saints were considered as equal to honoring the God. Even in the sacred rituals devoted for God, the saints were distinguished and honored alongside the God. However, once the reformations were brought up, the theologians opposed the intercession of saints. John Calvin composed a systematic critique of the cult of relics, where he rejected the veneration of relics. The firm base of the theology largely stripped off the medieval beliefs that elevated the saints of being possessed with divine powers. Moreover, it opposed the misogyny and the indifferences based on gender, as the church-centered western society in the 16th century had even prohibited women from accessing the relics.

Along with the strong belief on the saints, the popular piety in the 16th century revolved around a dialog and a divine communication between the God and man. It also gives greater significance to the person and the actions of Holy Spirit. The popular piety also signifies the resurrection of the Christ and the loving devotion to his sufferings for the sake of man. Yet the church retained the expressions of popular piety open and endorsed with the divine principles of the Christian worship. With popular piety, the Christians held many feasts and rituals as a profound symbolization of purity and sinless life. It was also believed, proclaimed and performed as a cultic expression for a preparation of the glorious event of God coming to the world and the power of divinity releasing from his triumph. In all facets of medieval civilized society, the touch of openness and solidarity to the church and God was retained.

As a source and constant reference, the Bible offers the inspiration towards the popular piety. For this reason, in many variations and forms of popular piety contains text from the Bible, as duly chosen. Although in certain occasions, the church tried stopping and obstructing vernacular translations and reading of the Bible citing heresy, it remained as the most monumental religious reference in the western civilization. With the Protestant Reformations, however, great changes came to the way of expressing and thinking. More than attending the rituals and sacred feasts, the freedom for understanding of what is being said and written came to light. Subsequently the Bible was translated to many languages, and the religion and culture altogether transformed with the Reformation.