How did the Reformation effect us now?

Answer 1

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Catholic AnswerThe Reformation is commonly called the protestant revolt by Catholic scholars. Actually, at that time, there was already a reform going on, although the particular part that was in response to the protestant revolt by the Pope and the Bishops, and many great saints of that time, was the Catholic Reform, sometimes referred to as the Counter-reformation. Because of the disaster of the protestant revolt, in many ways the Church actually became much holier, instituting much better education for the clergy (Martin Luther was a sad example of how exactly uneducated some of the priests of that time were), and enforcing stricter regulations on many things from Bishops to how the Mass was said. Also, between the printing press, and the need for education of the laity and those being dragged out of the Church by the princes at that time who were looking to free themselves from Rome, there was much excellent writing and books that are still in print to this day.

from The Catholic Encyclopedia

The term Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648. The name, though long in use among Protestant historians, has only recently been introduced into Catholic handbooks. The consequence is that it already has a meaning and an application, for which a word with a different nuance should perhaps have been chosen. For in the first place the name suggests that the Catholic movement came after the Protestant; whereas in truth the reform originally began in the Catholic Church, and Luther was a Catholic Reformer before he became a Protestant. By becoming a Protestant Reformer, he did indeed hinder the progress of the Catholic reformation, but he did not stop it.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

A period of Catholic revival from 1522 to about 1648, better know as the Catholic Reform. It was an effort to stem the tide of Protestantism by genuine reform within the Catholic Church. There were political movements pressured by civil rules, and ecclesiastical movements carried out by churchmen in an attempt to restore genuine Catholic life by establishing new religious orders such as the Society of Jesus and restoring old orders to their original observances, such as the Carmelites under St. Teresa of Avila (1515-98). The main factors responsible for the Counter Reformation, however, were the papacy and the council of Trent (1545-63). Among church leaders St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84), Archbishop of Milan, enforced the reforms decreed by the council, and St. Francis de Sales of Geneva (1567-1622) spent his best energies in restoring genuine Catholic doctrine and piety. Among civil rulers sponsoring the needed reform were Philip II of Spain (1527-98) and Mary Tudor (1516-58), his wife, in England. Unfortunately this aspect of the reformation led to embitterment between England and Scotland, England and Spain, Poland and Sweden, and to almost two centuries of religious wars. As a result of the Counter Reformation, the Catholic Church became stronger in her institutional structure, more dedicated to the work of evangelization, and more influential in world affairs.

Answer 2

The Christian reformation brought us back to what the Apostles taught and removed a lot of traditional thinking and practices.

Basically, we are saved by Grace not by works or anything else we ourselves can do. Salvation is a gift from God, Jesus dieing on the Cross so that our sins may be forgiven.

Somehow, things have been added to the original message and reformation brought us back, as I see it.