Is the Reformation Necessary?

Protestants claim that justification is by faith only and Christians are certain of their eternal destiny by their faith in the works of Jesus Christ on the cross, and His resurrection. But what kind of certainty is this? Do Protestants really have that certainty and simple trust that are founded purely upon Bible passages such as Romans 10:9 or Titus 3:5-7, or does it take a significant amount of will power to have that certainty that they blindly assume to have? The Catholic view, on the other hand, is that one needs to tremble before God, that the life of a Christian is nurtured by fear and eventual judgement. Through regular confessions, careful observations of the Eucharist, and following a strict order, the Roman Catholics seem to be have a narrower but clearer sense on how to live a devout life than the Protestants.  At least they don't seem to have a problem with the interpretation of the Bible.

The reformation has also been viewed as a tragedy because of the fragmentation of the Church.  Surely there have been gains in both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.  The former can point to the catechetical teaching, the strong expositional preaching, the long tradition and richness of hymnody in the worship service, and liturgical imagination.  The latter can point to the personal devotion (which can lead to individualism), the centrality of the Word, the cessation of corruption in the Roman Catholic church, and the explosive growth through mass evangelism.

"Catholic theologians and artists tend to emphasize the presence of God in the world, while the classic works of Protestant theologians tend to emphasize the absence of God from the world. The Catholic writers stress the nearness of God to His creation, the Protestant writers the distance between God and His creation; the Protestants emphasize the risk of superstition and idolatry, the Catholics the dangers of a creation in which God is only marginally present. Or, to put the matter in different terms, Catholics tend to accentuate the immanence of God, Protestants the transcendence of God."

But according to Hans Boersma, the greatest loss of the reformation is the sense of sacramental ontology, not just the sacraments, .. that the former integration of the world is now divided into natural and the supernatural.  That is, whereas all things, whether natural or artificial, were supposed to draw us to God as means of God's grace, after the reformation, we compartmentalize what is of God and what is not.  That's also why we also compartmentalize our faith ... Sunday is for God, the rest of the week is for the world.  

What has caused this de-emphasis on sacramental ontology?  Promotion of human power (especially of the pope and the Church) under Pope Gregory, the separation of Eucharist and the Church, discovery of nature through human reason as opposed to observance of the natural law, emphasis of Scripture over tradition or Church authority, rejection of the human nature and that supernatural grace is needed for salvation.