Church History 1500 - 2000

1
Church History1500 - 2000

• Ann T. Orlando
• 27 January 2005

2
Overview

• Summary from last week
• Beginnings of Reformation
• Spread of Reformation
• Council of Trent
• European voyages of discovery and colonization
• Enlightenment
• Revolutions
• Vatican I
• Vatican II

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Review from Last Week

• Very weakened papacy
• Avignon papacy
• Counciliar movement multiple claimants to papacy
• Papacy captured by wealthy Roman and Florentine
  families
• Increasingly independent kings
• 100 years war between France and England
• Social disruption plague, fall of Constantinople
• Universities places of increasingly obscure
  scholastic disputations

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Beginnings of Reformation

• The straw that broke the camels back 1517,
  Albrecht of Mainz wants to be Archbishop
• Albrecht buys his archbishopric from Rome (sin of
  simony) Rome needs the money in part to help pay
  for rebuilding of St. Peters
• Rome authorizes the preaching of a special
  indulgence in Germany, with the money to go to
  Albrecht to repay him
• Martin Luther (1483-1546)
• Responds to this situation with 95 Thesis
• Go far beyond denouncing sin of simony and
  corruption fundamentally calls into question
  Romes primary and theology of indulgences
  denounces scholasticism
• German princes support Luther against Rome
• Note 16th C reform movements attacked doctrine,
  not just practice as Medieval reform movements
  had done

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Lutheran Theology

• Sola Scriptura
• Rejection of philosophical developments
  Scripture is all that one needs
• Scripture should be available to everyone,
  unmediated Luther translates Bible into German
• Return to original Biblical languages for
  Biblical study reject any OT books not written
  in Hebrew (deutrocanonical books)
• Sola Fides
• Faith in Jesus Christ is necessary and sufficient
  for salvation
• Universal priesthood of all believers
• Sola gratia
• Only Gods grace can save you
• Only two sacraments Baptism and Eucharist

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John Calvin

• Calvin (1509 - 1564) born in France, studied law
• Accepted Luthers maxim Sola Scriptura, Sola
  Fides, Sola Gratia) and extended it
• Accepted double predestination
• Rejected real presence in Eucharist
• Established a holy city in Geneva
• Calvinism, had an extensive influence on
  Protestant movement, especially in Scotland
  (Presbyterians), France (Huguenots) and England
  (Puritans)
• Note that all reformers looked to Augustine as
  their patron saint

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Catholic Response Jesuits

• Jesuits (Society of Jesus) founded by Ignatius
  Loyola (1491-1556)
• NOT founded to counter Reformation but charter
  put Jesuits on front lines against Reformers
• Key points in early Jesuit charter (1541)
• the vow not to accept ecclesiastical dignities
• special relationship to Pope
• increased probations. The novitiate is prolonged
  from one year to two, with a third year, which
  usually falls after the priesthood. Candidates
  are moreover at first admitted to simple vows
  only, solemn vows coming much later on
• the Society does not keep choir
• it does not have a distinctive religious habit
• it is also said to have been the first order to
  undertake officially and by virtue of its
  constitutions active works such as the following
  
• foreign missions, at the pope's bidding
• the education of youth of all classes
• the instruction of the ignorant and the poor
• ministering to the sick, to prisoners, etc.

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Catholic Response Council of Trent

• Lengthy, intermittent (1545-1563)
• Purpose was both to address reform of practice
  and to uphold Catholic doctrine
• Jesuits play a major theological role at Trent
  encouraged explicit statement of Catholic
  doctrine in opposition to Protestant views
• Scripture and tradition
• Sacraments are effect through performance of
  sacramental action affirmed 7 sacraments
• Good works together with faith brings about
  salvation

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Shift in European Culture16th-17th C

• Rise of nations and a sense of national culture
• Vernacular over Latin as official language
• Official religion of a country is defined by the
  religion of the prince (Peace of Augsburg, 1555)
• Definitively settled in West the question of who
  is in charge the king
• Development of the theory of divine right of
  kings

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Expansion of European Culture16th 17th C

• Voyages of discovery
• Driven by economics
• Religion followed economics
• Jesuits and Franciscans were primary Catholic
  missionary orders
• Many saw colonization of new world (Western
  Hemisphere) as a way to escape turmoil of old
  world

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Development of a new secular philosophy
Enlightenment

• Science (as we now define it) as the basis for
  knowledge
• Toleration (as we now believe in it) as the basis
  for religious action in world
• Individual rights (as we now accept it), not
  individual duty, as basis for political systems
  and law
• Human reason can figure it (anything, everything)
  out is always making progress
• Devalue history, tradition

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Catholicism and Science

• Galileo (1564-1642) controversy
• Church silences Galileo because of his theory
  that earth revolved around sun
• But the Jesuits also supported Keppler against
  Protestant attackers
• Note part of Robert Bellarmines argument against
  Galileo was that his circular orbits were not
  consistent with observations that epicycles
  explained astronomical observations better
• Real question Where is knowledge to be found?
• Church rejects the argument that only science has
  access to truth rejects attempts to relativize
  (trivialize) revelation
• In 17th C Church is in good company Newton,
  Boyle

13
American RevolutionNew Political Structures

• American Revolution (1776-1781), based on
  philosophy of John Locke (1632-1704)
• Champion of individual rights
• Religious toleration
• Not clear (still isnt) what is relation between
  religion and politics in America
• Most States have official religion (First
  Amendment to Constitution only Congress will not
  establish a religion) see for instance John
  Adams Constitution of Massachusetts
• Thomas Jefferson extends this to separation of
  Church and State (1802)
• John Locke, while a champion of individual
  rights, also a believer in natural law as a
  subset of eternal law as basis for justice
• Thomas Jefferson champions only individual
  rights contractual view of justice
• T. Jefferson also believed that a new
  Constitution should be written every 19 years
  (each generation) no permanence to law

14
French RevolutionExtreme Enlightenment

• Impetus comes from group of 18 th C French
  philosophers philosophes
• Philosophes embraced John Locke and science
  encouraged by American Revolution
• Use it as a weapon against throne and altar
• Smile of Reason turns into glare of tyranny
• Individual rights and toleration get replaced by
  suspicion of enemy of people and a new
  religion active persecution of Church
• Just before the Terror an important defector from
  Enlightenment Voltaire but a defection to
  skepticism (we really cant know anything) and
  disengagement from society

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19th and 20th C New Nationalisms

• 19th and early 20th C period of violent
  revolutions in Europe (France, Italy, Germany,
  Russia)
• Also a period of violent revolutions and wars of
  independence throughout Western Hemisphere, Asia
  and Africa
• Growth of labor movements opposed to oppression
  of laissez faire capitalism
• Under the pretense of will of the people new
  totalitarian regimes form in many countries
• Marxism develops a theory of history and society
  that portrays religion as a phase that
  enlightened peoples will out grow
• No child of 20th C can think that Enlightenment
  has led to a golden age Shoah, gulags, Rwanda,
  World Wars, etc., etc., etc.

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Catholicisms Response

• Vatican I (1866-1870)
• Reaffirmed that we can have sure knowledge in
  faith and morals (infallibility of Pope, Thomism
  as official theology)
• Reaffirmed that religion is important to
  societys well being
• Reaffirm the importance of natural law
• Vatican II (1962-1965)
• Toleration defined as toleration of religion
  against secular societies trying to prevent
  religious practice
• Concern about new economic systems and
  materialism, whether Marxist or capitalist, that
  in fact undermine dignity of individual and
  families
• Renewal of liturgical practices often based upon
  early Christian practice