‘Media revolution facilitated Reformation in Europe’

The Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) on Wednesday hosted a highly informative and analytical lecture, titled ‘The Reformation and its effects on culture and politics in Europe’, by renowned German scholar Professor Dr Gury Schneider-Ludorff.

Dr Schneider-Ludorff currently holds the chair of Church History at the Augustana University in Neuendettelsau, Germany. The lecture was meant to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Europe (1517-2017).

She deliberated on the reform programme of the German monk, Martin Luther, founder of the Protestant sect of Christianity. She also shed light on the effects of the Reformation on the music, art, literature, and architecture of Europe, and countries other than Germany, such as Switzerland and England.

She said it was the media revolution that was responsible for the rapid dissemination of Luther’s reform programme, given that the printing press had just been invented by Guttenberg. This enabled the exchange of ideas and information because of the rapid transmission of knowledge that came about on the basis of the printing press technology. This enabled mass printing of books which in turn facilitated the dissemination of ideas far more quickly, she added.

“Without the media revolution, the Reformation may just have tapered off,” said Dr Schneider-Ludorrf. Luther’s Nobility Tract, a document addressed to the emperor, probed the social and political landscape, she said.

Luther, she added, abolished the distinction between the laity and the clergy. Instead of leaving it up to the priesthood to read the Bible and interpret it to the masses, she said, by having it translated, he enabled the common folk to read the scriptures and interpret it for themselves.

Besides, she said, Luther’s Reformation launched a rapid educational impetus. Lots of schools for boys and girls were set up in the rural areas, apart from the many universities and institutes of higher learning. Secular authorities, she said, were to manage these centres of education. 

Luther’s Reformation, she said, brought about a harmonious society where people of all religious persuasions lived together in harmony and there was tolerance all over. The Reformation, she said, sparked off a rapid advancement in the arts, literature, and music.

Referring to the ‘cultural skills of Europe’, Dr Schneider-Ludorrf said people learnt to live in harmony even in the face of religious differences; they had to get to know one another better to comprehend each others’ viewpoint and be tolerant; the Reformation formed the basis of education today; caused the unification of the German language; and cultivated a conception of tolerance which was incorporated into the law.

The interaction between the Church and the state was highly beneficial to the nurturing of a harmonious society, she said. The historical lecture was followed by an animated question-answer session.

A questioner asked as to how it could be said that the Reformation cultivated harmony and unity when today we see Europe coming apart, an allusion to Brexit. She said this was just a cycle of history, whereby, trends change after every few decades and then recur. The tenor of her talk was the way secularism contributes to a harmonious and tolerant society.

Earlier, the German Consul-General in town, Rainer Schmiedchen, thanked Dr Masuma Hassan, chairperson of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, for hosting the event. The lecture was part of the series of the German Weeks being marked jointly by the German Consulate-General and the Goethe-Institut which extend all the way to the end of December.