III. The Deformation.§ 145. Character of the Deformation.That in a spiritual movement so powerful as that which the Reformation called forth enthusiasts and extremists of various sorts should seek to push forward their fancies and vagaries is nothing more than might have been expected. But that such excrescences are not to be charged against the Reformation, as constituting an essential part of it, may be shown from the way in which the Reformation and the Deformation are constantly put in antagonism with one another. The starting point is clearly the same in the one case as in the other; namely, opposition to and revolt against the debased condition of the church of the age. But the Reformation distinguishes itself completely from the very first from the Deformation, often joins its forces even with those of Catholicism in order to secure the overthrow of what it regarded as a false and dangerous development; and so generally we find the champions of that movement manifesting as bitter a hatred toward the Protestant reformers as toward the Romanists. Its origin is to be explained by the tendency inherent in human nature, when once embarked on a course of opposition, to rush to the extreme of radicalism, which showed itself in this case partly in the form of rationalism, partly in the form of mysticism. The Reformation recognised the word of God in Holy Scripture as the only rule and standard in matters of religion, and as a judge and arbiter over tradition. The rationalistic spirit in the deformatory movement, on the other hand, subordinates Holy Scripture to reason, and estimates revealed truth in accordance with the supposed requirement of logical thought. The Reformation offers opposition to the Catholic deification of the church, but the Deformation goes the length of contesting the divinity of Christ (Antitrinitarians and Unitarians). On the other hand, the mystical side of the Deformation, which not infrequently amounts to a more or less clearly expressed pantheism, may be regarded as an extreme and exaggerated statement of the reformers’ demand for a more spiritual conception of the religious life in opposition to the externalism of Romanism. It places alongside of the word as expressed in Holy Scripture what it calls an inner illumination by the Holy Spirit as an equally high or even a higher kind of revelation, despises the sacraments, as well as all public or external forms of Divine worship. A third deformatory tendency, and that indeed which during the Reformation era was most powerful, is represented by Anabaptism. The ultra-reformatory endeavours of the movement aimed, not only at directing the private and ecclesiastical life of the individual Christian, but also at reconstructing, according to what it regarded as the apostolic standard, the whole fabric of the social and civil life. It derived its name from the demand for rebaptism which was made as a consequence of the denial of the usefulness and validity of infant baptism. This was, indeed, the one common term of its confession, in which its members, giving way in many directions to individualistic subjective peculiarities, were required to agree. Adult baptism was thus made the characteristic note of their community as a distinct sect.The Catholic notions prevailing during the Middle Ages as to the manner in which heretics ought to be treated were so firmly held by the Protestants, that even Calvin without hesitation, inA.D.1553, delivered over one who denied the doctrine of the Trinity (§148, 2) to be punished by the civil authorities. Their sentence of death by fire at the stake was carried out under his sanction and that of almost all the notable reformers of the day, Bullinger and Farel, Beza and Viret, Œcolampadius, Bucer, and Peter Martyr, even Melanchthon and Urbanus Rhegius. At an earlier period indeed Luther had occasionally, roused to indignation by what he beheld of the horrors of the Inquisition, opposed the idea that heretics as such should be punished with torture and death, and gradually he secured the victory in Protestant theory and practice for the view that heretics as such should neither be compelled to retract nor be put to death, but rather should be brought to a better mind and put out of the way of doing harm by imprisonment or banishment.
That in a spiritual movement so powerful as that which the Reformation called forth enthusiasts and extremists of various sorts should seek to push forward their fancies and vagaries is nothing more than might have been expected. But that such excrescences are not to be charged against the Reformation, as constituting an essential part of it, may be shown from the way in which the Reformation and the Deformation are constantly put in antagonism with one another. The starting point is clearly the same in the one case as in the other; namely, opposition to and revolt against the debased condition of the church of the age. But the Reformation distinguishes itself completely from the very first from the Deformation, often joins its forces even with those of Catholicism in order to secure the overthrow of what it regarded as a false and dangerous development; and so generally we find the champions of that movement manifesting as bitter a hatred toward the Protestant reformers as toward the Romanists. Its origin is to be explained by the tendency inherent in human nature, when once embarked on a course of opposition, to rush to the extreme of radicalism, which showed itself in this case partly in the form of rationalism, partly in the form of mysticism. The Reformation recognised the word of God in Holy Scripture as the only rule and standard in matters of religion, and as a judge and arbiter over tradition. The rationalistic spirit in the deformatory movement, on the other hand, subordinates Holy Scripture to reason, and estimates revealed truth in accordance with the supposed requirement of logical thought. The Reformation offers opposition to the Catholic deification of the church, but the Deformation goes the length of contesting the divinity of Christ (Antitrinitarians and Unitarians). On the other hand, the mystical side of the Deformation, which not infrequently amounts to a more or less clearly expressed pantheism, may be regarded as an extreme and exaggerated statement of the reformers’ demand for a more spiritual conception of the religious life in opposition to the externalism of Romanism. It places alongside of the word as expressed in Holy Scripture what it calls an inner illumination by the Holy Spirit as an equally high or even a higher kind of revelation, despises the sacraments, as well as all public or external forms of Divine worship. A third deformatory tendency, and that indeed which during the Reformation era was most powerful, is represented by Anabaptism. The ultra-reformatory endeavours of the movement aimed, not only at directing the private and ecclesiastical life of the individual Christian, but also at reconstructing, according to what it regarded as the apostolic standard, the whole fabric of the social and civil life. It derived its name from the demand for rebaptism which was made as a consequence of the denial of the usefulness and validity of infant baptism. This was, indeed, the one common term of its confession, in which its members, giving way in many directions to individualistic subjective peculiarities, were required to agree. Adult baptism was thus made the characteristic note of their community as a distinct sect.
The Catholic notions prevailing during the Middle Ages as to the manner in which heretics ought to be treated were so firmly held by the Protestants, that even Calvin without hesitation, inA.D.1553, delivered over one who denied the doctrine of the Trinity (§148, 2) to be punished by the civil authorities. Their sentence of death by fire at the stake was carried out under his sanction and that of almost all the notable reformers of the day, Bullinger and Farel, Beza and Viret, Œcolampadius, Bucer, and Peter Martyr, even Melanchthon and Urbanus Rhegius. At an earlier period indeed Luther had occasionally, roused to indignation by what he beheld of the horrors of the Inquisition, opposed the idea that heretics as such should be punished with torture and death, and gradually he secured the victory in Protestant theory and practice for the view that heretics as such should neither be compelled to retract nor be put to death, but rather should be brought to a better mind and put out of the way of doing harm by imprisonment or banishment.