Finally, let it be said that the Reformation caused a counter-reformation within the Catholic Church. For many years there was an earnest reform going on within the Romanist Church. Abuses were corrected, vices eradicated, the religious tone of church administration improved, and the general character of church polity changed in very many ways. But once having reformed itself, the church became more arbitrary than before. In the Council of Trent, in clearly defining its position, it declared its infallibility and absolute authority, thus relapsing into the old imperial régime. But the Reformation, after all, was the salvation of the Roman Church, for through it that church was enabled to correct a sufficient number of abuses to regain its power and re-establish confidence in itself among the people.
The Reformation, like the Renaissance, has been going on ever since it started, and we may say to-day that, so far as most of the results are concerned, we are yet in the midst of both.
SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. Needed reforms in the church and why they failed.
2. Enumerate the causes that led to the Reformation prior to Luther.
3. Compare the main characteristics in the Reformation in the following countries: Germany, England, Switzerland, and France.
4. What were the characteristics of the Genevan system instituted by John Calvin?
5. The results of the Reformation on intellectual development, political freedom, scientific thought, and, in general, on human progress.
6. The effect of the Reformation on the character and policy of the Romanist Church (Catholic).
7. What was the nature of the quarrels of Henry IV and Gregory VII, of Innocent III and John of England, of Boniface and Philip the Fair?