Ecclesia semper renovanda? Zum Verständnis von Kirchenreform und Reformation

To what extent are modern reform processes in the Protestant church able to base themselves on the Reformation and how do »Reformation« and »reform« relate to one another? The modern, forward-looking reform concept proves itself incompatible with the concept of the Reformation. Luther's criticism of indulgences and the movement emerging from it was a backward-looking attempt to re-establish the old state of affairs. Not until the movement threatened to collapse did organisational measures, such as the introduction of church ordinances, have to be enforced. The Reformation as era therefore has an exemplary, but not a normative character, for reforms. The Reformation – when understood as impetus – delivers starting points for the rightfully claimed ecclesiological discussion of the reform process.