Reformation 1490 - 1700

A book I have come to the end of reading this weekend was "Reformation", which I think I started in September. It looks - from a historical and non-partisan manner - at the history of the Reformation in Europe and how the events of these years have affected us down to the present.

Reading this lengthy tome was inspired by watching The Tudors, and being fascinated by the whole backdrop to that series, and it's been a book I have found fascinating. It covers a vast time period and geography in quick detail, with an occasional tongue in cheek sense of humour. Despite his attempt at neutrality - and I think he does fairly well - I think the issues of the Reformation still divide us today. In Glasgow especially, your identity is deicded for you by which school you go to and the colours of your football team.

My previous knowledge of the reformation had been a series of rather hagiographical illustrations from childrens books and sermons, where the Protestants were always the goodies and the Catholics the baddies. And if occasionally the Protestants were the baddies too, that was only because they weren't real Protestants but were just pretending. And its amazing how such simplistic ideas stay with us, even in our subconscious. Dark hints from childhood as to the wicked doings of the Jesuits ("Give me a child till he's 8, and he's mine for life!") made me wonder how it was possible that any sane parent would send their child to a Jesuit school. Yet reading into this book, I begin to understand something of what the Society of Jesus (as the Jesuits were otherwise known) were all about. Although I disagree with some of their methods and theology, I no longer think of them as Machiavellian demons, looking to brainwash the world one child at a time!

The huge flaws of some of these Reformation heroes like Luther and Calvin were highlighted, along, of course, with their huge bravery and insight. They began to feel more like fallible humans than as Magi whose words must be valued as being just below the apostles.

As the author said, the Reformation now may seem like two bald men fighting over a comb: a futile struggle over an irrelevant issue. But quite apart from the fact that it has been one of the chief shapers of our modern Europe (as that differs from country to country) I feel that the Reformation was a continent-wide re-examination of a fundamental question equally relvant today. How can we know who God is, who we are and how we can be reconciled? The Catholic church said then - as they still say today - that we learn about God through the teaching of the church. Whatever the church teaches on the subject of God is true. The Reformers said - as Protestants of all flavours still say today - that we learn about God through reading his word: The Bible.

One thing that stands out so clearly from this book is the danger of fanaticism - of all sorts. Toleration is a wonderful thing. I do not mean toleration in its modern sense of saying "You are as equally right as I am" to an individual whose beliefs clearly contradict your own. But toleration in the original sense. "I think you are wrong. This is why I think so... Nevertheless, let's still get along as human beings without reaching for that nuclear missile!"