The Causation of Protestant Reformation: Lessons of History

Abstract

To whom do we attribute the negative consequences of the Reformation to? Was the Reformation the outcome of Luther's rebellious spirit, or a culmination of multiplicity of factors? Who was Luther in the medieval church? These are some of the puzzling questions this paper has attempted to answer with historical insight. The study shows that the medieval church was ripe for reforms and that calls for reforms antedates the protest of Luther and other reformers in the sixteenth century. The research leads contemporary ecclesiastical historians into a multifaceted historical analysis on the causation and political forces that made the Reformation inevitable.