The Protestant Reformation

1
The Protestant Reformation

• Early Calls for Reform
• 16th Century Crisis in Theology
• A New Version of Church and State

2
The Early Reformers

• John Wycliffe, John Huss, Girolamo
  Savonarola,Thomas à Kempis, Desiderius Erasmus

3
Thomas à Kempis

• Thomas Hammerken (or Hammerlein -- both mean
  "little hammer") was born at Kempen in Germany
  c.1380
• Educated by and later joined Brethren of the
  Common Life
• Wrote a manual of spiritual advice known as The
  Imitation of Christ
• True enlightenment comes from self-knowledge and
  knowledge of and trust in God
• After plague ravaged Cologne, He and the Brothers
  left their seclusion and moved into the city to
  give what comfort they could- by then Thomas was
  now known as a saintly man
• He hated this reputation because he did not want
  to be considered particularly holy
• Wished to return to the basics in Christianity-
  "Disdain that which is superficial, dedicate
  yourself to your inner being and you shall see
  that the Kingdom of God grows inside you."
  (II,1,1f.)

4
John Wycliffe

• During the calamitous 14th century Wycliffe
  criticized abuses and false teachings in the
  Church
• 1382 he translated the Bible into English it was
  the first European translation in over 1,000
  years
• Formed the Lollards who were itinerant preachers
  that traveled throughout England in order to
  start a spiritual revolution
• Lollardy didnt last long He was expelled
  Wycliffe from his teaching position at Oxford
• After he died, the Pope had his bones exhumed and
  burned while intense persecution stamped out his
  followers and teachings

5
John Huss

• Peasant origin- born in Husinec, Bohemia
• Studied theology at Univ. of Prague, was ordained
  a priest c.1400
• Influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe
• Attacked the abuses of the clergy,
• Angry priests turned the archbishop of Prague
  against him
• He had the support of Wenceslaus IV (HRE) who
  made him rector of the university
• Bishops banned his books and ordered them to be
  burned
• He spoke out against antipope John XXIII and
  denounced indulgences
• Was excommunicated, found guilty of heresy and
  burned in 1414

6
Girolamo Savonarola

• Nobleman from Ferrara- b.1452
• Became a Dominican Friar in 1474
• Preached at San Marco, Florence on the
  sinfulness, materialism and apostasy of the city
• A great popular triumph, and by some he was
  hailed as an inspired prophet
• Under Lorenzo the Magnificent art and literature
  had felt the humanist revival of the 15th
  century, whose spirit was utterly at variance
  with Savonarola's conception of spirituality and
  Christian morality bonfires of the vanities
• His preaching began to point plainly to a
  political revolution as the divinely-ordained
  means for the regeneration of religion and
  morality
• The republic of Florence was to be a Christian
  commonwealth, of which God was the sole sovereign
  
• 1497- excommunication from Rome
• Brought to trial for falsely claiming to have
  seen visions, false prophecies, religious error,
  and sedition
• May 23, 1498- he and two Dominican disciples were
  hanged and burned, still professing their
  adherence to the Church.

7
Desiderius Erasmus

• leader of German humanism- born in
  Holland-c.1466 died in Switzerland 1536
• Ordained priest in 1492 Became Doctor of
  Divinity in Turin 1506
• In Italy he was honored by the most distinguished
  humanists
• His literary works made him the intellectual
  father of the Reformation
• Saw Scholasticism as the greatest perversion of
  the religious spirit
• Stemming from primitive Christological
  controversies, which caused the Church to forget
  its simplicity and become the victim of endless
  philosophizing, which culminated in Scholasticism
  
• Thought the church had moved from salvation of
  souls
• Wanted to replace complex tradition with the
  simplicity of scripture, the interpretation of
  which should be left to the individual
• Ordinances of the Church, fasts, pilgrimages,
  veneration of saints, the prayers of the
  Breviary, celibacy, and religious orders were
  considered the perversities of a formalistic
  Scholastic Tradition
• Epitome of the Renaissance spirit

8
From Renaissance to Reform
9
Causes

• Rooted in the 14th century
• Church in decline
• Abuses by the clergy
• Early reformers
• Development of a National Consciousness
• Popes in the 15th made concessions to the civil
  authorities.
• Later ecclesiastical affairs were thought to be
  within their domain
• Church was seen as subordinate
• Humanism clashed with scholasticism
• Returned to the Bible and the early church
  fathers

10
Leo X and Indulgences

• Promoted literature, science, and art extensively
• Rome became more than ever the centre of the
  literary world.
• "From all parts", wrote Cardinal Riario in 1515
  to Erasmus at Rotterdam, "men of letters are
  hurrying to the Eternal City, their common
  country, their support, and their patroness."
  (http//www.newadvent.org/cathen/09162a.htm)
• Got involved with wars and drained the treasury.
• He began preaching a crusade against the Turks
• England and Germany turned their backs
• Wolsey in England began to defame the pope
• Most importantly- He was selling indulgences at
  an increased pace in order to build St. Peters
  in Rome

11
St Peters
12
Martin Luther

• Unhappy with abuses by the clergy
• Upset about the sale of indulgences
• Led by his own views regarding the salvation of
  the soul
• Nails the 95 Theses- Wittenberg 1517
• Spearheads a movement
• Justification by faith alone
• Merit of good works
• Hierarchical priesthood
• Bible as the sole source of faith

13
Luthers Break

• Terrified at the possibility of his damnation
• Understood that salvation depended on faith,
  works, and grace (received through the
  sacraments)
• Yet he still felt damned and read the bible for
  solace
• He who is righteous through faith shall live
  Romans 117
• They are justified by his grace as a gift
  through the redemption which is Christ Jesus
  Romans 324
• Concluded that no amount of works can save faith
  alone
• In 1521 this put him at odds with Charles V, Holy
  Roman Emperor
• This also served as ammo for those princes that
  were trying to break from Charles and from
  Italian domination
• Charles was involved with a war with France and
  the Ottoman Turks so he could not subdue the
  princes
• Peace of Augsburg (1555)
• Cuius Regio, Eius Religio

14
Switzerland

• Zwingli- more radical than Luther but maintained
  same basic beliefs
• Focused heavily on the restructuring of the mass.
• Catholics were expelled from Zurichs public
  affairs and Catholic masses were outlawed
• John Calvin promotes his own Protestantism in
  Geneva
• Met French Lutherans and became converted, then
  fled France to Switzerland
• he began writing commentaries on the Bible and
  finished his massive account of Protestant
  doctrine, The Institutes of the Christian Church
• insistence on the literal reading of Christian
  scriptures
• Pastors, Teachers, Elders, Deacons
• Predestination Since God knew the future, did
  that mean that salvation was predestined?
• Dedication to God was a sign of salvation

15
France

• Protestantism was illegal in France
• The protestant minority (Huguenots) formed an
  organized underground movement
• Some were under the protection of powerful nobles
• They began to challenge King Henry II and the
  Guise
• 1562 civil war erupted (one of the most brutal
  religious wars)
• 1572 St Barts day massacre
• When Henry Navarre became Henry IV he had to
  convert to Catholicism
• 1598 Edict of Nantes
• 1685 Edict Revoked

16
England

• Henry VIII- from defender of the faith to the
  head of the church in England
• Wolsey, Cranmer, Cromwell- all sympathetic to the
  Lutheran Movement
• Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth I
• Puritanism- Militant, bible-based Calvinism
• Purification of the church from all of its
  Romanism
• Felt that Elizabeth hadnt gone far enough.