What were the changes made to the Bible by the reformation? It was my understanding that at the time, in 16th century Europe, Catholics were placing church teaching and tradition on a level equal to Scripture and this was one of the 'triggers' leading to the reformation.
Not quite.
The "spark" of the Reformation, fundamentally, was the abuses concerning indulgences. Some of the German princes were tasked with finding ways to help fund the buidling of St. Peter's in Rome. This led to the selling of indulgences and notorious abuses, among the very and absolute worst of these indulgence sellers was Johan Tetzel who went around, under the authority of Albert, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg. Tetzel made a name for himself by being quite the salesman, coining phrases and making long fire and brimstone sermons to get the people to cough up their coin; one such jingle went, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs", and most infamously Tetzel claimed that with an indulgence he could promise forgiveness to the man who "violated the mother of God herself".
Luther began preaching against the selling of indulgences while serving in Wittenburg. Ultimately these abuses reached a point in which Luther did two things:
Firstly he wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz, Albert (not knowing that Tetzel was acting by Albert's own authority) imploring the Archbishop to act swiftly because men like Tetzel were ultimately bringing shame to both Albert himself as well as to the Pope in Rome. This letter was tactful, reverential, and respectful.
Secondly he nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses on the church door in Wittenburg. This wasn't quite the bombastic moment many think it was: for one the theses were written in Latin, second the nailing of a document on the church door was akin to pinning something to a university bulletin board--it was an open invitation for academic debate. Only fellow accademics would have understood Latin and been able to engage in the debate. However without Luther's knowledge or permission some of his students (Luther was a priest as well as a teacher at the University of Wittenburg) took the Theses, translated them into German, and took advantage of a fairly new piece of technology: the printing press. As such Luther's Ninety-Five Theses began to be circulated around parts of Germany--and some people, notably Albert of Mainz, didn't take too kindly to an uppity Augustinian monk challenging his authority.
Yes, Luther did take issue with certain traditions (not all tradition); and Luther did take issue with abuses, but Luther had hoped, and pressed for, a debate and a meeting of the Church to address these issues and, in particular, to correct these abuses (Luther was hardly alone, there were many in the Church who were saying many of the same very things Luther was saying).
But the Reformation didn't begin because of Church Tradition (Luther had no problem with Tradition); and neither was the Reformation an attack on the Church, or about leaving Rome. The Reformation was about, from the perspective of the Evangelical Reformers, correcting abuses--notably theological abuses--which were seen as recent innovations which had crept into the Church and which needed to be resolved immediately because of the threat they posed to the Faith and the Faithful.
The Reformation is very frequently misunderstood, both by Protestants and Catholics. By Protestants who think the Reformation represents a heroic break with "the big bad Catholic Church" (which isn't true, the Reformers understood themselves as faithful Catholic Christians); and by Catholics who have been taught to demonize the Reformation as a rebellion against the Church.
-CryptoLutheran
