War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin [Paperback]

Carlos M. N. Eire (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521379849 | ISBN-13: 978-0521379847 | Publication Date: January 27, 1989

In the second decade of the sixteenth century medieval piety suddenly began to be attacked in some places as "idolatry," or false religion. This study calls attention to the importance of the idolatry issue during the Reformation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eire paints on a large canvas in order to tell for the first time the whole story of iconoclasm...the author has made an important contribution." The Times Literary Supplement

"...Eire's lucid synthesis cuts a broad furrow across the intellectual and political terrain of the sixteenth century...specialists and non-specialists alike can find here an interpretation of sixteenth-century history that illuminates what the Reformation meant to its creators and to posterity." Canadian Journal of History

"Excellently researched and argued, this book illustrates the clear connection between ideas and action and the significance ofverstehen." Christian Sociologist Newsletter

Book Description

Calling attention to the importance of the idolatry issue during the Reformation, this study traces the development of Protestant iconoclastic theology and practice and lays a foundation for understanding the conflicting Reformed ideology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521379849
• ISBN-13: 978-0521379847
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, but..., October 12, 2009

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J. Ungureanu "Student" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin (Paperback)

Central to Carlos Eire's "war against the idols" is a struggle between two religious ideas: a "religion of immanence" and a "religion of transcendence" (p. 2). This struggle permanently separated religious allegiances, not only among Catholic and Protestant, but also among Lutheran and Reformed. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, many cried out for reformation, but it was Calvin's theology of idolatry, Eire argues, that "provided a solid ideological foundation for much of the social and political unrest that accompanied the spread of Calvinism" (p. 3).

Eire divides the work into three parts. The first part explicates the practice of the cultus divorum, and the development of its critique from medieval theologians to Erasmus. Lay devotion in the late Middle Ages sought to "grasp the transcendent by making it immanent" (p. 11); an attempt, that is, to gain "local" control of the divine. Fragments of the transcendent--skeletal remains of apostles, Virgin Mary's milk, Christ's foreskin, hair and nail clippings, and, most importantly, fragments of the true cross--became commonplace. Lay devotion would ultimately expand into the cultus divorum, but this had a fragile edifice, which, Eire tells us, "rested on shaky ground." The cultus divorum comprised two forms: the first in art, such as images, paintings, statues; the second in the relics of saints. In short, the cultus divorum was the materialization and externalization of religious piety in the late medieval period.

Criticism of external sources of piety began as early as the eighth and ninth centuries, during the violent clashes of the Iconoclastic Controversy. It was not until the fourteenth century, however, that sustainable, critical, movements emerged. According to Eire, the early Cistercians and Franciscans, the Devotio Moderna, and the Brethren of the Common Life were some of the most important critics of the excessive "ornamentation" of the late medieval piety. Some of the more outspoken critics were the Lollards and the Hussites; but whereas the Cistercians, Francis-cans, and the Brethren of the Common Life emphasized the simpler life, the Lollards and Hus-sites contended for alternative theological frameworks, and often through violent means (p. 23).

A more explicit, and sophisticated, challenge to the cultus divorum came from the writings of Erasmus. As a critic of medieval religion, Erasmus sees the saints as successors of the pagan gods, observing that when Venus gave up protecting the sailors, the Virgin Mary replaced her (p. 38). But according to Eire, because Erasmus' critique rested on "Neoplatonic" foundations, and the fact that he did no reforming of his own, his critique was largely directed for the cultured elite, and thus held no practical value for the quotidian lives of the masses. He was, in a word, a Northern Humanist, incorporating both pagan and Christian thought into a framework that suited his own tastes.

The second part of Eire's work traces the condemnation of religious images by reformers Karlstadt, Luther, Zwingli, Bullinger, and Bucer, and the incipient practice of iconoclasm in the Swiss towns of Geneva. Karlstadt took the image prohibition in the Decalogue with utmost seriousness, yet his tactics for promoting the removal of images in churches were less than admira-ble (p. 65). Luther took a more moderate position, arguing that images are "really indifferent and can really do no harm to the faithful if they are not trusted in" (p. 68). Zwingli's rejection of icons was primarily grounded on his reading of scripture, and only secondarily on the "social and political distress of his people" (p. 85). Bullinger followed Zwingli, but corroborated scripture with a "historical perspective," constructing the development of image worship beginning with the Jews, the persecutions of Christian saints, martyrs, and finally culminating in monastic piety (p. 87). Bucer in essence argues along similar lines as Luther, that there is indeed a danger that images could lead to idolatrous worship, but that images in churches did not make this inevitable (p. 92). Bucer's most unique contribution was that he argued that the cultus divorum was essentially "unchristian," and that it was against "faith and love" (p. 91). Finally, Eire observes that although the theology of these reformers set the groundwork for the condemnation of the cultus divorum, it was the popularization of their ideas that solidified the attack on Catholic piety (p. 94). This was done in three stages: first, through the spread of pamphlets; second, through preaching by Reformed-minded preachers; and finally, through theater, in the form of drama (pp. 94-104). Eire's main point in this second part, as this brief survey indicates, is that ideas have consequences. Eire acutely demonstrates this in his discussion devoted to Swiss iconoclasm (pp. 105-65). The iconoclastic movement, Eire concludes, "is the one aspect of the Reformation in which popular participation was highest, and it is also the focus of the very process by which the religious transvaluation of the sixteenth century was effected" (p. 159).

In the third and final part, Eire concentrates on the Reformation outside the boundaries of Germany, particularly in France. Reform was largely fomented by the humanists Jacques Lefèvre d' Etaples, Guillaume Briçonnet, Gerard Roussel, and Guillaume Farel. However, these humanists, especially Lefèvre, were not systematic in their denunciations of Catholic piety, and, thus, were merely a tempered critique of the cultus divorum, remaining merely a"half-way station" to radical reform (p. 194).

It was Calvin, Eire argues, who provides the practical basis for reform in worship, by fashioning "a new, scripturally based, theological metaphysics, in which the boundaries between the spiritual and the material were more clearly drawn than ever; and...his reaffirmation of the centrality of `spiritual' worship...provided a solid ideological foundation for much of the social and political unrest that accompanied the spread of Calvinism" (p. 3). Eire supports this claim by providing the context of Calvin's thoughts. He argues, on the one hand, that Calvin's spiritual and intellectual development owed much to the humanist circle, especially Lefèvre and Farel. Their "metaphysical transcendence" laid the foundations of Reformed worship. On the other hand, the foundations were procured by the originality of Calvin's attack on the hermeneutic of commonplace piety (p. 168). Calvin supported his attack with a theological framework that holds: (1) that true knowledge of God and true worship of God are inseparable (p.197); (2) that because God is spiritual, he must be worshiped in spirit (p. 201); and (3) that idolatry is inescapable because of the Fall (p. 203). Unlike previous reformers, who traced a "historical perspective" of idolatry, Calvin, according to Eire, traces a "psychological perspective" of idolatry. Combined with these theological presuppositions, Calvin adds to his attack against the cultus divorum an appeal to reason: "If men cannot be convinced of the theological error involved in relic worship, then at least they might be able to see that its actual practice is insulting to human reason" (p. 228). Eire concludes by pointing out three important contributions of Calvin's reform: (1) he focuses the error of idolatry on the "human condition itself" (p. 232); (2) he sees worship as the "central concern of Christians" (ibid.); and (3) he provides a practical analysis of reverential acts (p. 233).

In the last two chapters, although Eire continues to develop the nuances of Calvin's theology of idolatry, here he also responds to possible objections to his method. First, in arguing that Calvin's attack on the Nicodemites was primarily "theologically grounded," and only secondarily motivated by political and tactical considerations, Eire refutes the arguments of revisionist scholars who maintain that Calvin was a political recalcitrant (p. 256). Second, Eire cogently refutes Carlo Ginsburg's claim that the Nicodemites were a unified, aristocratic movement (p. 253). Finally, Eire deals with Quentin Skinner's thesis, who argues that "theology has little if anything to do with the issue of resistance" during the Reformation (p. 304). In a word, he asserts that Skinner has, ostensibly, overstressed secular motives and seriously underestimated how theological ideas, especially the war against idolatry, led to the development of resistance theories (p. 308).

In this work Eire has provided a very persuasive argument for the importance, and consequence, of ideas. In this sense, Eire follows the relatively new field of the "history of ideas," a phrase first coined by Arthur Lovejoy in the early twentieth century, and a concept that continued in relevance in the works of such provocative and adroit scholars as Isaiah Berlin and Michel Foucault.

But it is also in this sense where we see the limitations of Eire's work. He admits that his work is an "intellectual history" and not an "entire history of Reformation iconoclasm" (p. 4). As a result, there is a certain level of dissatisfaction in Eire's narrative. I should have liked to see more interaction with the ideas of the Italian Humanists, especially Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola was the first to set up a "Christian and religious republic" in Florence, which reminds one of Calvin's "most Christian Geneva." Moreover, it was Savonarola and his followers who carried out the "Bonfire of Vanities," which attempted to burn all ostentatious imagery. The creator of the Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, is said to have been so moved by Savonarola's preaching, that he burned many of his paintings in the fires of the "Vanities." It was also through reading Savonarola's works that Erasmus--despite his critique of... Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history of the reformation for all Christians, November 28, 2011

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Q (Q Continuum) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin (Paperback)

This is a great book for all Christians seeking to understand their faith in historical terms, and of course for scholars of Reformation history and culture.

The first part goes into "The State of Lay Devotion in the Late Middle Ages." Eire lays out a convincing case for the excessive reverence for images and the generally superstitious character of late medieval Catholicism. The late medieval church was in serious need of reform.

Eire discusses the ideas of reformers Erasmus, Karlstadt, and others in some detail, as well as giving a more detailed history of iconoclasm in Switzerland and Geneva in terms of specific historical incidents and developments. The heart of book is perhaps his excellent discussion of Calvin's theology.

His thesis is that the reformation is best understood as a war against idolatry, and that reform was accomplished, first of all, by the physical destruction of the Catholic cultic apparatus, including images, statues, and so on. He argues against writers like Walzer and Skinner who claim that Calvinism was primarily a political movement and only "accidentally" religious in character. While he makes a good case for the centrality of theology and the "war against idolatry," he begs the question of the larger meaning of this change. Why were reformers so scandalized by so-called idolatry? Why did idolatry become the focus of reform? The larger anthropological context is missing.

The final chapter is a valuable survey of the reformers' political thought; in what circumstances was political revolt considered legitimate by Luther, Calvin, and their followers?

There's not much on the English reformation; Eire's study mainly addresses the European continental Reformation.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History most Christians have not studied., December 4, 2007

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P. C. Lindstrom (Arlington Heights, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin (Paperback)

Many Protestant Christians are familiar with the basics of Reformation history. We know at least some of the details of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox. This book gives a needed insight into how the Reformation played out in different cities and also the importance of iconoclasm. The Reformation did not advance simply through preaching and the printing press. I am not an expert on Reformation history, so I cannot vouch for all the facts or analysis, but the author has opened an important window into the past.