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Did the Reformation change Christendom? Surprisingly not is Stuart Murray’s answer in chapter 5 of Post-Christendom. Though the Protestant Reformation brought about much needed change to doctrine and many church practices, very little was done as far as the church’s connection to the state is concerned. ‘They refined it, fractured it and shifted the balance of power within it towards the secular authorities. But they were not prepared to dismantle it’ (page 160). Indeed it can correctly argued that all that happened was that mini-Christendoms were set up as some nation states turned their backs on Catholicism and became reformed – Germany becoming Lutheran; England becoming Anglican; and some Swiss cantons becoming Calvinist.

The Reformation did, of course, change a great deal – and much of it necessary. But where were the failures in pushing through to a whole different landscape? Murray argues that the reformers went through three general stages in their journey: first, they criticised some of the abuses of the Church, its doctrinal errors, and immorality but urging that reform should happen within not without; second, they accepted the inevitability of schism and considered some truly radical ideas on the relationship between church and state; but thirdly, having secured political backing to their church reforms, they stepped away from the more radical of changes.

In three areas we can see how the reformers stopped short of following what others in the period were calling for: biblical interpretation, the church, and mission. The greatest gift the reformers gave the church was in restoring the Bible to the centre of church life and teaching. By so doing they emphasised the role of grace in salvation; the importance of Jesus as saviour; and that discipleship was for all believers not just those in monastic orders. Their initial views on who should interpret the Bible were again radical, believing that all Christians could read and understand the Scriptures for themselves. But as some advocated even more radical ideas the reformers soon withdrew to the previous Catholic view that interpretation should be in the hands of the trained clergy only. They also depended on many Old Testament passages to continue advocating ideas such as ‘just war’.

The major change in ecclesiology was their emphasis on the ‘priesthood of all believers’, but even though this resulted in removing the pope as the head of the church, the old hierarchical structure was still intact and the divide between clergy and laity also remained. Church discipline that used persecution was also still in evidence.

Mission was almost avoided altogether since the greater emphasis was on reforming existing churches rather than on planting new ones. They also accepted almost uncritically the Christendom ‘fact’ that Europe was Christian and therefore did not need to be evangelised. Mission was also squeezed out of the definition of what a church was – which was based on preaching truth and administering the sacraments.

So while much changed in terms of doctrine very little changed in terms of Christendom through the Reformation with the new churches relying heavily on the state to promote and defend the new order. ‘The Christendom mindset was dominant’ (152) and could easily be shifted.

Others in the period, like the Anabaptists, did manage to push through and it is to these groups that I will turn next week.