The Early Reformers

1
The Early Reformers

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

2
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.)

3
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

4
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

5
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.

6
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