2-UNIT STUDIES OF RELIGION
STUDIES OF RELIGION PRELIMINARY COURSE
DEPTH STUDY 2: CHRISTIANITY
THE REFORMATION
|IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS |
|Bishop |A Church official maintaining supervision of a Christian geographical region. The head bishop of a large diocese is called|
| |an Archbishop. |
|Denomination |A general church grouping sharing the same principles and organisation within a particular variant of Christianity. |
|Ecumenical council |A world wide, official assembly of Catholic bishops under the direction of the Pope. |
|Patriarch |A head bishop in the Orthodox Church. |
|Pope |The elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church. |
|Variant |A major branch of a religious tradition. |
The Cultural Context of the Reformation
The Renaissance covers the period of great change from the end of the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. The Renaissance prepared the way for the Reformation to occur.
The Renaissance fostered the idea of individualism and nationalism, and people wanted their own national church, not the one western church ruled from Rome by the Pope. The Renaissance resulted in a renewed interest in education and learning. This meant that more people who were not priests could read the Bible for themselves in their own language. Some felt that there was a stark contrast between the sharing community of the New Testament and the controlling church of the Middle Ages. The emergence of universities and monasteries led to great intellectual activity over issues such as the nature of God, the place of faith and good works for salvation and the role of Christ and priesthood, to mention a few.
The printing press, refined by Gutenburg in about 1450, meant that articles could be reproduced quickly, without having to be rewritten by hand. New and rebellious ideas were thus able to be spread more quickly. The printing press also allowed translation of the Bible into the language of the people and thus to be more accessible to people.
Indulgences were being sold to people so that they could buy from the church forgiveness for the penalties of their sins. Indulgences could also be bought to reduce the time that family members who had died had to spend in purgatory (the temporary state or place where it is believed that souls, after death, are purified from sin and suffer punishment for all the sins for which a person has not made amends when they were alive). This sale of indulgences gave the church an immense income.
Many believed that the presence of stained glass windows, statues, idols and paintings meant that the simple character of the early Church had been lost in a maze of wealth, power and oppression.
The authority of the Church had also been eroded over a period of about two hundred years prior to the Reformation. Between 1305 and 1378 the Popes were forced to move their headquarters from Rome to Avignon. During this time, certain kings claimed that the popes tended to favour French interests. It was claimed many Church leaders tended to follow the wishes of powerful secular persons instead of having the courage to follow spiritual interests. Between 1378 and 1410 the confusion in the Church became great as different rulers accepted different popes. At one time, three people claimed to be the true pope and they all had some support. Papal authority was being questioned.
The popes and the higher Church authorities seemed more concerned about maintaining their power and wealth than caring about the spiritual welfare of their people. Many priests who had entered the Church could scarcely offer guidance as they too were ignorant, poorly trained and many had entered the priesthood for the wrong reasons and lived in a way that shocked their parishioners. Many priests had concubines. The Church had lost credibility.
Reformation Celebrities
• You will be working in pairs.
• Each team will be given an envelope with a set of statements.
• Match each statement with the correct person. Use the information provided about each person.
• Prizes will be given to the first team to finish the competition with no errors and to any team who finished within 12 minutes with no errors.
Note: Some card may have the same number; this means that it belongs to more than one person.
Martin Luther
In 1517, a German monk called Martin Luther nailed to the castle door in Wittenberg his views on the Church. These views are called the 95 Theses. They were 95 points for discussion about attitudes and practices that were then present in the Church.
Luther was convinced that salvation came through faith in Jesus and not the sacraments of the Church, nor through good works. Luther believed that the Bible, not the Pope, was the ultimate authority. He challenged the Church’s authority to be the exclusive authoritative interpreter of the Scripture and he stressed the importance of the individual’s own personal interpretation.
Luther believed that the Church is a priesthood of all believers – not a small group of ordained men at the top of a vast pyramid. He rejected papal authority.
Luther was convinced that people relied too heavily on all kinds of external practices to guarantee salvation. Long prayers in Church were common, accompanied by hymns and processions for which indulgences were granted. People visited shrines that had relics of the saints. Luther rejected Holy days, fast days, honouring saints, indulgences, the rosary and monasticism.
Luther recognised only two sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist. He rejected the belief in transubstantiation – the idea that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ at the moment of consecration and therefore only appear to be bread and wine. Instead he taught the doctrine of consubstantiation – the idea that the bread and wine remain bread and wine when they become the Body and Blood of Christ.
In 1529, Martin Luther led a party against a decree which came from a meeting designed to stop the Reformation from proceeding any further. Because Luther and his party protested against this decree, and behind it the rule and power of the Vatican, he and his followers were called Protestants. The Lutheran Church of Germany was the first Protestant denomination. It was established in the early 1520s. Lutheranism soon spread to Denmark, Sweden and Holland.
John Calvin
The Calvinist tradition was pioneered by John Calvin, a Frenchman living in Switzerland. He published Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536. The governing members of his church were called presbyters, so the church of Calvin became known as the Presbyterian Church.
Calvin taught that human nature since the fall of Adam is utterly depraved. He also taught that God has decided what is going to happen to each person and nothing can change this. This doctrine is known as Predestination. Some a predestined for salvation. Christ died for the elect. People should therefore judge no one but do their best to serve and obey God whilst on earth. Calvin felt that the church should be governed by its own members and not by bishops appointed by the Vatican.
Calvin rejected papal authority, instead believing in the absolute authority of Scripture. Calvin accepted Baptism and Eucharist as the only sacraments. He taught that Christ is only spiritually present in the Eucharist.
Calvin rejected vestments, altars, images, organs and hymns.
John Knox was a Scotsman, an ordained Catholic priest who later became a Presbyterian. He was the man responsible for persuading Scotland to become a Presbyterian country.
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII, King of England, was a loyal supported of the pope to begin with. In 1512 he joined Pope Julius II in forming the Holy League against the King of France, and he helped the pope fight against the Barbarians. He also wrote a book against Martin Luther, supporting the Church’s teachings about the sacraments, the sacrifice of the mass and the authority of the pope. Pope Leo X conferred the title of Defender of the Faith upon Henry VIII.
Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church when the Vatican would not grant him a divorce from his Catholic wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine had given birth to a daughter, Mary. The last time there had been a female heir to the English throne, however, there had been civil wars. The solution seemed to be to produce a male heir. In 1534, by the Act of Supremacy, Henry made himself Head of the Church of England, or the Anglican Church, as it is called today.
Henry VIII appointed Cranmer as Archbishop, and Cranmer eventually announced his approval of the King’s divorce. Cranmer is famous for formulating the 39 articles, a new Protestant creed adopted for the Church of England. The 39 Articles is still the official creed of the Church of England today.
Henry VIII then dissolved all the monasteries and convents. He seized the wealth for himself. The lands were taken over by the king and sold. Both male and female Catholics were persecuted and many were killed.
Henry VIII formed the Church of England for political reasons. He wanted a divorce and he wanted the land that became his when he dissolved the monasteries. As a result the Church of England accepts most Catholic beliefs and practices. The Church of England accepted the seven sacraments, including priesthood. The liturgical form of worship was retained and the church organised around parishes. It has a system of government that is episcopal which means it has bishops, and infant baptism is practised. The Anglican reformation saw the necessity of referring to Scripture, tradition and reason, with Scripture being supreme.
Henry’s successor was his son, Edward VI, who came to the throne in 1547. Edward VI was a genuine Protestant reformer.
Consequences of the Reformation
The initial consequence of the Reformation was the appearance of variants within Christianity. A variant is a major branch of a religious tradition. Within each of these variants, however, conflicts arose as a consequence of the diverse views of individual representatives. Thus a secondary consequence of the Reformation was the appearance of different denominations within the variants. A denomination is a general church grouping sharing the same principles and organisation within a particular variant of Christianity.
There had been a complete failure during the sixteenth century on the part of the Roman Catholics and the reformers to achieve any lasting reconciliation. As a consequence, throughout Europe there was sporadic fighting between rival variants. The last of these great battles over the issue of religious reform was the Thirty Years War. It resulted from the build up of tension between Catholics and Calvinists and was fought between 1618 and 1648.
The Counter Reformation
Whilst some reform had already taken place within the Catholic Church before the time of Luther, the rise of Protestantism caused major reforms within the Church. This is known as the Counter-Reformation.
Pope Paul III called the Council of Trent. It met for three sessions (1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63) and considered many of the matters advanced by the reformers. The sale of indulgences was outlawed (although the practice of granting them continued), and there were drastic measures to improve the education of the clergy and to ensure that bishops cared for their dioceses.
However, on the broader issues of church teaching, Trent remained adamant: God had made his will known not only in Scripture but also through church tradition; justification was by both faith and good works; there was a separate ordained clergy as well as the priesthood of all believers. The pope was the absolute authority in the Church.
The council therefore provided the basis for the rejuvenation of the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Many, not all, of the demands of the reformers were met. However, it was not possible to reconcile the Roman Church with the reformed churches.
Christian Denominations Today
Christianity is the world’s largest and most geographically widespread religious tradition. There are over 1.7 billion Christians in 270 countries.
From the moment Christianity moved away from being an exclusively Jewish sect, it has undergone change and diversity, and this is reflected in its denominational variety today. Diversity can be categorised into three broad forms or variants: Roman Catholic, Orthodox Catholic and Protestant.
Roman Catholics are Christians in communion with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). They are generally just called Catholics. They are the largest single Christian group and number about one billion today. There are over 400 million Roman Catholics in Latin America. Almost 99% of Catholics worship according to the Roman rite. Just over 1% are members of Eastern Catholic Churches whose rites resemble Orthodox liturgy. In comparison to Protestant denominations, Catholic worship is markedly sacramental; its teaching is drawn from Scripture and Tradition; and its organisation and authority are hierarchical under the Pope and bishops. The contemporary Catholic Church is characterised by a strong emphasis on community, increased lay ministry, strong social teaching and continued revival in the light of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
The Eastern Orthodox Church (commonly known as the Orthodox Church) is a federation of many self-governing Churches united in common traditions and beliefs, especially the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils. Some of these are the Russian, Greek and Serbian Orthodox Churches. Their traditions date back to the great centuries of ancient eastern Christianity. Local bishops and patriarchs exercise Church authority, with primacy of honour given to the Patriarch of Constantinople. Orthodox theology places high value on tradition and liturgy. With increased practise in Russia since the fall of communism, there are up to 150 million Orthodox in the world.
Protestant Churches have over 450 million believers in many denominations spread throughout the world but mainly Europe and North America. These denominations differ from Catholic and Orthodox in their understanding of the authority of the Bible, the degree of ceremonial worship and the extent of lay ministry, and from each other in generally less significant ways –
• Lutherans, the largest group, are widespread in countries of German heritage and in Scandinavia and North America.
• Calvinists, such as the Dutch Reformed Church and Presbyterians in Scotland have more simplified worship. Baptists constitute groups that baptise only mature believers by full immersion and generally follow Calvinist understandings.
• Methodist Churches originated within the Church of England, through the revivalist efforts of John Wesley and Charles Wesley in the eighteenth century. Their efforts to restore fervour of belief and widespread preaching were part of the Evangelical Awakening, a period of mass religious excitement in England and America.
Anglicans tend to be classified as Protestants. The worldwide Anglican Communion consists of religious groups associated with the Church of England. They base their faith, practice and worship on the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty Nine Articles. The Archbishop of Canterbury (in England) has an honoured place. There are about 75 million Anglicans worldwide. Some Anglicans have affinity with the Catholic tradition and others with Protestantism. In this sense the Church is a bridge Church between the two.
Due to missionary activities in recent years there are many indigenous Christians who have developed an expression of Christianity that reflects their traditional culture with the faith of particular denominations.
Pentecostal activity is an increasing phenomenon in Christianity across the world. It is based on the experience of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostal worship is excitable and spontaneous and has a focus on healing and speaking in tongues. There are both separate Pentecostal Churches and expressions of Pentecostal activity within various denominations.
Construct a diagram showing the historical development and connections between the variants and denominations of Christianity.
Summary of the Reformation and Counter Reformation
| |Luther |Calvin |Anglicanism |Catholicism |
|Key event |95 theses posted in 1517. |Institutes of the Christian Religion |Henry VIII established the Church of |The Council of Trent in 1545 – 1563. |
| | |published in 1536. |England. | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|Salvation |Humans are depraved. Salvation is from God|Humans are depraved. Some are destined for| |Salvation requires faith and good works. |
| |through faith alone. |salvation. Christ died for the elect. | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|Authority |The Bible, not the Pope, is the centre of |Rejects whatever cannot be found in the |The King (or Queen) is the head of the |The supremacy of the Pope is reaffirmed. |
| |authority. Individual interpretation of |Bible. |Church. | |
| |the Bible. | | | |
| | | | | |
References
Bartlett, T. (2000). New studies of religion: preliminary course depth study 2: Christianity.
Board of Studies. (1999). Stage 6 syllabus: studies of religion. Sydney: Board of Studies New South Wales.
Courtie, B., & Johnson, M. (1990). Christianity explored. Oxford: Lion Publishing plc.
Crotty, R. (2000). Christianity. In D. Parnham (Ed.), Exploring religion (2nd ed., pp. 53-94). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Lovat, T., & McGrath, J. (Eds.). (1999). New studies in religion. Katoomba: Social Science Press.
Morrissey, J., Mudge, P., Taylor, A., Bailey, G., Gregor, H., McGillion, C., O'Reilly, P., Magee, P., & Mills, L. (2001). Living religion (2nd ed.). Sydney: Longman.
© Emmaus Publications (2003). Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge all materials used. This material may be photocopied for educational use only.
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Students learn about the origins and history of Christianity –
• The diversity and change in the historical development of Christianity and the development of various sub-groups until the present:
– the Reformation and Counter/Catholic Reformation: causes (key theological emphases) and consequences.
Students learn to account for both diversity and homogeneity in Christianity in Australia today.
King Henry VII
Martin Luther
John Calvin
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