Theological Reform and New Perspectives WHAP/Napp

“In 1500 the papacy, the centralgovernment of Latin Christianity,was simultaneously gainingstature and suffering fromcorruption and dissent. Larger donations and tax receiptslet popes fund ambitious construction projects inRome, their capital city. However, the church’s wealth and power alsoattracted ambitious men, some of whose personal livesbecame the source of scandal. The jewel of the building projects was the magnificentnew Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The skillful overseer of the design and financing ofthe new Saint Peter’s was Pope Leo X, amember of the wealthy Medicifamily of Florence, famousfor its patronage of the arts. Pope Leo’s artistictaste was superb and his personal life free from scandal,but he was more a man of action than a spiritual leader. One technique that he used to raise funds for the basilicawas to authorize an indulgence – a forgiveness of thepunishment due for past sins, granted by church authoritiesas a reward for a pious act such as making a pilgrimage,saying a particular prayer, or making a donation to areligious cause.

A young professor of sacred scripture, Martin Luther, objected to the way the new indulgencewas preached. As the result of a powerful religious experience,Luther had forsaken money and marriage for amonastic life of prayer, self-denial, and study. He foundpersonal consolation in his own religious quest in passagein Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans that argued that salvation came not from ‘doing certain things’ butfrom religious faith. That passage also led Luther to objectto the way the indulgence preachers appeared toemphasize giving money more than the faith behind theact. He wrote to Pope Leo, asking him to stop this abuse,and challenged the preachers to a debate on thetheologyof indulgences.

This theological dispute quickly escalated into a contestbetween two strong-minded men. Largely ignoringLuther’s theological objections, Pope Leo regarded hisletter as a challenge to papal power and moved to silencethe German monk. During a debate in 1519, a papal representativeled Luther into open disagreement with somechurch doctrines, for which the papacy condemned him. Blocked in his effort to reform the church from within,

Luther burned the papal bull (document) of condemnation,rejecting the pope’s authority and beginning themovement known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther insistedthat the only way to salvation was through faith inJesus Christ. He further declared that Christian beliefmust be based on the word of God in the Bible not on the authority of the pope, asCatholics held. Eventually his conclusions led him toabandon his monastic prayers and penances and tomarry a former nun.” ~ The Earth and Its People

1. Luther's work had support because
(A) He attacked the sale of indulgences that the poor could not afford.
(B) Many Christians shared his concern about the corruption of the Church.
(C) Many German princes saw this as a way to break away from the Church.
(D) He supported the translation of the Bible from Latin into the vernacular.
(E) All of the above. / 2. Which of the following does NOT accurately describe Martin Luther?
(A) He authored the 95 Theses which expressed concerns about indulgences.
(B) He was an English reformer whose body was exhumed and then burned for heresy.
(C) He sparked the Protestant Reformation.
(D) He experienced a spiritual crisis.
(E) He was a monk and professor of theology in Wittenberg, Germany.
Key Words/ Questions / I. The Protestant Reformation
A. Shattered the unity of Roman Catholic Christianity
B. Began in 1517 when a German priest, Martin Luther, publicly invited debate about various abuses within the Roman Catholic Church
  1. Luther posted a document, known as the Ninety-five Theses
  2. Luther opposed the sale of indulgences (said to remove penalties for sins) and held that salvation came through faith alone
1. Faith was a free gift of God, graciously granted to undeserving people
  1. According to Luther, sole source of religious authority was the Bible
  2. Contrary to original intentions; provoked a schism in Christianity
  3. In Protestant-dominated areas, the veneration of Mary and female saints ended and Protestant opposition to celibacy and monastic life closed monasteries/convents
H. Reformation spread with invention of printing press by Gutenberg
I. Luther translated Bible into German (the vernacular)
J. For more than thirty years (1562-1598), French society was torn by
violence between Catholics and Protestant minority (Huguenots)
K. Henry IV issued Edict of Nantes (1598) granting measure of toleration
to French Protestants hoping they would return to Catholic Church
L. Culmination of European religious conflict took shape in Thirty Years’
War (1618-1648), Catholic-Protestant struggle in Holy Roman Empire
  1. Peace of Westphalia brought conflict to an end with agreement that each state was sovereign and chose its own religion
II. The Catholic Counter-Reformation
A. Catholics set about correcting abuses and corruption
  1. Council of Trent (1545-1563): reaffirmed unique doctrines, such as authority of pope, priestly celibacy, veneration of saint, good works
  2. Inquisition, Catholic court: crackdown on dissidents and heretics
  3. New religious orders, such as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), established
III. Impact of Reformation
A. Catholic Spain and Portugal actively converted Amerindians
  1. New England Puritans were not interested in converting Natives
  2. Catholic missionaries actively spread Christianity
  3. Missionaries had greatest successes in Spanish America and Philippines
  4. But syncretism or blending Christian practices with indigenous ideas
IV. Encounters with Christianity
A. Miniscule number of Chinese converted to Christianity
  1. Syncretic (blended) religions such as Vodou in Haiti, Santeria in Cuba
V. Other Global Religious Challenges
A. New converts did not generally give up older practices and to more
orthodox Muslims, this religious syncretism was heretical
  1. In Arabia, Muslim theologian, Abd al- Wahhab (1703-1792) wanted a return to a doctrinaire Islam in strict accordance with sharia
  2. Kaozheng or “research based on evidence” took shape in China
  3. Flourishing of a devotional form of Hinduism known as bhakti in India

  1. Which of the following does NOT belong in a list of Catholic doctrines rejected by Martin Luther?
(A)Papal authority
(B)Granting of indulgences
(C)Monasticism
(D)Priestly celibacy
(E)Acceptance of the Holy Trinity
  1. Where did Luther’s movement first take root?
(A)France
(B)England
(C)Spain
(D)Italy
(E)Germany
  1. Which group traces its roots to the Catholic Reformation, sometimes referred to as the Counter-Reformation?
(A)Benedictine monks
(B)Coptic Christians
(C)Jesuits
(D)Liberation theologians
(E)Calvinists /
  1. France’s role in the Thirty Years’ War illustrates which of the following?
(A)An emphasis on one’s own geopolitical interests, rather than religious belief
(B)A sincere commitment to pacifistic principles
(C)The influence of religious faith on military decision making
(D)A relentless pursuit of harsh military treatment of civilians
(E)Strict neutrality
  1. Which of the following belief systems had little to no following in India by 1750?
(A)Hinduism
(B)Islam
(C)Jainism
(D)Christianity
(E)Confucianism
  1. What did Johannes Gutenberg invent that transformed Europe?
(A) the steam engine
(B) the movable-type printing press
(C) the flying buttress
(D) the spinning jenny
(E) the steel plow

Thesis Practice: Change over Time

Analyze continuities and changes in Christian theology from the post-classical era to the early modern era.

______

______

______

______

An Examination of Change:

“The core areas of Western civilization changed dramatically between 1450and 1750. While remaining an agricultural society, the West became unusually commercially active and developed a strong manufacturing sector. Governments increased their powers. Inintellectual life, science became the centerpiece for the first time in the history of any society. Ideas of the family and personality also altered. The changes were stimulated by overseasexpansion and growing international commercial dominance. The internal changeswere marked by considerable conflict, with focal pointscentered on the state, culture, and commerce, with support from technology.” ~ Stearns

  • The Renaissance

-Began in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries as individuals challenged medieval intellectual values and styles

-Italy’s urban, commercial economy and competitive state politics stimulated the new movement

-Petrarch and Boccaccio challenged established literary canons, writing in Italian instead of Latin

-They emphasized secular topics such as love and pride

-New realism appeared in painting, and religion declined as a central focus

  • The Northern Renaissance

-By the 16th century, Italy declined as the center of the Renaissance

-The northern Renaissance emerged in France, the LowCountries, Germany, and England, and spread to eastern Europe

-Northern Humanists tended tobe more concerned with religious matters

-Writers such as Shakespeare, Rabelais, and Cervantesmixed classical themes with elements of medieval popular culture and established a new set ofclassic works

-Northern rulers became patrons of the arts, tried to control the church, andsponsored trading companies and colonial ventures

  • Changes in Family and Technology

-In 1500, fundamental changes were underway in Western society

-Contacts with Asia led to improvements in technology

- Printing helped to expand religious and technological thinking

- A European-style family emerged

- Ordinary people married at a later age, and a primary emphasis on the

nuclear family developed

  • The Catholic Church Faced Serious Challenges

-In 1517, Luther stressed that only faith could win salvation and challenged many Catholicbeliefs, including papal authority, monasticism, the roles of priests, and priestly celibacy

-Hesaid that the Bible should be translated into vernacular languages, and read by individuals.

-Luther resisted papal pressure and gained support in Germany where papal authority and taxeswere resented