lesson 7

Church Reformation

Quiz1. Which division of philosophy believes that living in moderation

leads to a happy life?

a. skeptics b. stoics c. Aristotelian d. Epicureans

2. What Philosopher is responsible for writing down Socrates’ ideas?

Quiz3. True or False: Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates were all from Athens.

4. Feudalism was economically dependent on _______.

a. agriculture b. the king c. peasants d. art

5. Write one fact, or bit of information that you read in the reformation section I assigned.

The Renaissance

Means “Rebirth”

Rebirth of what?CultureArtScienceIdeas & Learning

Renaissance begins in the 1300s.

humanism

• The study of humans and humanity

• Celebrated the individual

• Stimulated the study of Greek and Roman literature and culture

• Was supported by wealthy patrons (people who supported artists and writers)

Humanism

During Renaissance, people turn away from religion.

Celebrates the here and now, don’t wait for the afterlife.

People still believe in God.Religion just isn’t everything.

The Reformation was both spiritually and politically motivated

It was spiritual for most common folks and political for many rulers and nobles (who, naturally, were more concerned about political affairs), though many rulers had some spiritual concerns.

Causes

Weakened Church authority

Between the Church’s inability to stop the plague, the luster of the Church had dulled somewhat in many people’s eyes.

Proto-Reformers

Early guys like John Wycliffe, Jan Hus(144), Erasmus, and paved the way for thinking how things could be done differently in the Church or at least of Christianity being different than how the Church taught (heretical views according to the Church).

Heretic: a dissenter from established religious dogma; especially : a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth

Renaissance

The new wave of learning and thinking, which had a decidedly secular bent, challenged the traditional view in which science, philosophy, and Church-based theology were all the same thing

The humanism aspect focused more on the individuals and humans than on the spiritual realm.

The renewed interest in Latin and Greek also enabled people to look at the Bible itself.

Printing press

The invention of the printing press around 1450 allowed new and radical ideas to be mass produced and quickly widely distributed.

Politics

The northern Italian city-states didn’t much like papal (Catholic) interference.

The burgeoning kingdoms in France and England, and the various German princes liked the interference even less.

The strong centralized governments didn’t want other entities that could lessen that centralization. Also, men with power don’t like sharing it much.

Church decadence

In any places, the upper clergy had become more like secular rulers instead of religious authorities.

The Church owned massive amounts of land and was part of the feudal system.

The popes themselves had become rather decadent and worldly with luxury, non-celibacy, and exercising secular power.

The papacy (catholic) was also increasingly political

Pope Leo X (pope from 1513-1521) He continued the Medici ways of luxury and patronage, but with Church money.

Upon being elected, he said, “Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it.” And he did…he nearly bankrupted the Church which was no small feat.

Luther was an Augustinian monk and a pretty devout one at that.

He was on his way to becoming a prominent lawyer (pleased his miner father) until he got caught in a violent thunderstorm and swore he would enter the monastery if he survived.

He lived and followed through on his oath (which displeased his father).

As a monk, he gave his life over to severe dedication and privation, hoping his devotion would reconcile him to God. It only served to emphasize his sinfulness and separation from God, however, and starting around 1510, he came to the theology that salvation is a gift of God that comes through faith alone.

Luther was especially put out by the sale of indulgences.

According to Catholic theology at the time, if one sinned, you could repent and be given the sacrament of penance. While the blame for the sin is gone, the sin is not erased and you must still be punished for it through temporal punishment on earth or in purgatory. God’s justice demands it.

You can, however, lessen the amount of punishment by performing acts of merits (you gain heaven through Jesus, not the act--you merely lessen the punishment through the act).

You can also be spiritually assigned merit by the Church via its treasury of merit. This is typically done through prayers and such. This transfer of merits is an indulgence.

In Luther’s time, indulgences were being abused.

Johann Tetzel, A Dominican friar, was given authority by Pope Leo X to sell indulgences in order to build St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

This spurns Luther to post his famous 95 theses on the door to the Wittenberg chapel on October 31, 1517.

The 95 theses argued against the way indulgences were being used for profit and how they were being presented as a way of being able to buy your way into heaven.

The theses were copied and sent off to a printer who promptly made copies and then the theses were getting distributed all over the place

Luther had a three tiered platform:

1. Salvation comes through faith alone and not through good works.

2.The Bible is the sole authority and not Church dogma or the pope.

3.People of faith were equal and didn’t need others to interpret the Bible for them.

Luther’s actions didn’t go over well with the Church, but it was relatively slow to act since it didn’t take him all that seriously. As far as they were concerned, he was just a rebellious monk who needed to be whipped back into lin.

Pope Leo X referred to Luther as a drunken German who will change his mind when sober.

Once word gets out, though, it’s too late to top it, Luther only becomes more radical, rebellious, and insistent.

He translates the Bible into German so that common people can understand it (they didn’t know Latin so well) and eventually becomes the leader of the full-fledged movement of Lutheranism.

On the downside…

Luther was a big time anti-Semite who thought synagogues should be burned, Jews’ property and money seized, and the people forced into labor or expelled.

He actually did succeed in getting some Jews expelled and the pamphlet in which he made the claims is sometimes called the blueprint for the Nazi program of ideals.

He also came out against the Peasant Revolt

The peasants were trying to apply Luther’s ideas of egalitarianism to the social sphere. Luther came out against them and the German princes crushed the revolt, killing around 100,000 peasants in the process.

The peasants didn’t much trust Luther after that.

John Calvin

Jean Cauvin (John Calvin) born in 1509 in Northern France

the son of an attorney. Calvin studied the law, learned Greek and Hebrew, was never ordained a priest. Calvin felt his conversion to religious life in 1529, at age 22. In 1532 he published provocative theses and instantly had to flee Paris; the flight mark his breech with the Catholic Church.

Fled to Geneva

Calvin's teaching can be summed up in 5 points :

(1) life follows God's plan. Man can not achieve salvation by merit; his fate (salvation or damnation) is predestined.

(2) Faith in God is the sole factor justifying man's actions. Man must perform good deeds to show that he already is saved.

(3) Man can not answer for his sins. His salvation is a unilateral act by God, by the grace of God; man cannot resist it.

(4) It is man himself who interprets the word of God, man enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The exclusive source of God's word is the bible.

(5) The Sacraments do not influence future salvation, but document that the person has been saved already. There are only two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper.

(6) The church consists of those who profess their belief in Christ by words and actions.

(7) Men shall live a moderate life, but do not have to give up worldly goods (i.e. the oath of poverty sworn by priests and monks is unnecessary),

(8) church and state shall cooperate, the church having to dominate.

Protestant:

1.Justified by faith

2.Priesthood of all believers

3.Scriptures (Bible) source of true doctrine

4.Bible only documents two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Catholic (Council of Trent)

1. Faith and good works= salvation

2. Priesthood is necessary

3. Tradition and Bible

4. The Eucharist (supper) is transformed

5. Saints should not be worshiped, but important