WH Chapter 3

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belief that God has determined in advance who will go to heaven

void

an area in a city in which Jews were required to livs

Predestination-

Annul-

Ghetto-

Publish-

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print for public reading

a group of people with common interests and characteristics living together within a society

I.

Prelude to Reformation

A German priest and professor named Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s.

A. Christian Humanism

The main goal of Christian Humanism was to reform (make changes to) the Catholic Church.

Desiderius Erasmus- Best known Christian Humanist

Christianity should show people how to live good lives

Wanted to educated people about Christianity

Critisized the abuses of the Catholic Church

B. The Need for Reform

- Church officials (preist etc...) were viewed as using their church offices to advance their careers and their wealth.

- Many citizens felt like parish preist had no idea how to do their jobs

- People wanted to know how to save their souls, but many priests seemed unwilling or unable to offer them advice.

- People wanted PROOF that their souls would be saved= indulgences: A document, sold by the church and signed by a

church official that voided sin and guaranteed that a person would make it to heaven

- How to get an indulgence: Pay the church, or buy a relic (artifact like saints clothing)

II.

Martin Luther

- Martin Luther was a monk in the Catholic Church and a professor at the University of Wittenberg, in Germany, where he spoke and taught about the Bible.

- Luther arrived at an answer to a problem that had bothered him since he had become a monk. He wanted to know about the certainty of salvation. How were souls saved? How could someone really get to heaven?

- Through his study of the Bible, Luther started to believe that humans are not saved through their good works but through their faith in God.

His idea, called justification by faith alone, became the chief teaching of the Protestant Reformation

- The only way people could find truth, is to study the Bible

A. The Ninety-Five Thesis

- Luther did not see himself as a rebel, but he was greatly upset by the widespread selling of indulgences.

- On October 31, 1517, Luther, angered by the Church's practices, made his Ninety-five Theses public, perhaps by posting them on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

- His theses were a stunning attack on abuses in the sale of indulgences.

B. A Break with the Church

Martin Luther called for changes within the Catholic Church:

- Destroyed the system of sacrements, except for 2: Baptism and the Eucarist

- Clergy could marry

- Faith alone = Justification

Consiquences for Martin Luther:

- Unable to accept Luther's ideas, the pope excommunicated him in January 1521, excluding him from Church membership.

- summoned to appear before the imperial diet—or legislative assembly—of the Holy Roman Empire

The emperor believed he could convince Luther to change his ideas. However, Luther refused.

Edict of Worms- Martin Luther was made an outlaw within the empire.

Frederick III, the elector (or prince) of Saxony, helped Luther by sending him into hiding and then protected him when Luther returned to Wittenberg.

C. The Rise of Lutheranism

Luther set up new religious services to replace the Catholic mass. These services consisted of Christian Bible readings, preaching the word of God, and song.

Lutheranism was the first Protestant faith.

III.

Politics in the German Reformation

Religious Athority

Political views in the German reformation:

Political Rulers

- saw the Reformation as a force that disrupted the political and social order

- saw the Reformation as a challenge to Church power

Peace of Augsburg (1555)- ended religious warfare in Germany

- Accepted the division of Christianity in Germany

- German states were able to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism

- Lutheran states would have the same legal rights as Catholic states

- Citizens could not choose their religion. German rulers determined that for them

I. Protestantism in Switzerland

By allowing German states to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism, the Peace of Augsburg ended Christian unity in Europe. Soon, there were also divisions in Protestantism as well.

Ulrich Zwingli was a priest in the Swiss city of Zürich. The city council of Zürich began to introduce religious reforms:

- All paintings and decorations were removed from the churches and replaced by whitewashed walls.

- A new church service consisting of Scripture reading, prayer, and sermons replaced the Catholic mass.

As Zwingli’s movement began to spread to other cities in Switzerland, he wanted an alliance with Luther and the other German reformers. The German and Swiss reformers thought unity was important to defend themselves against Catholic authorities,

In October 1531, war broke out between the Protestant and Catholic states in Switzerland. Zürich’s army was defeated, and Zwingli was found wounded on the battlefield. His enemies killed him, cut up his body, burned the pieces, and scattered the ashes. The leadership of Protestantism in Switzerland passed to John Calvin.

Printing Press- Calvin's work and the writings of other Protestant leaders could be distributed widely and it also helped spread the ideas of the Protestant Reformation

Like Luther, Calvin believed that faith alone was sufficient for justification, the process of being deemed worthy of salvation

by God.

However, Calvin's belief in the all-powerful nature of God led him to other ideas, such as predestination.

God had selected some people to be saved and others to be damned

II. Reformation in England

The English Reformation was rooted in politics.

King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, with whom he had a daughter, Mary. He wanted to have a male heir and to marry a new wife, Anne Boleyn. The pope was unwilling to annul the king’s marriage, so Henry turned to England’s highest church courts.

Act of Supremacy- declared that the king was "the only supreme head on earth of the [new] Church of England."

When the king died in 1547, his nine-year-old son Edward VI came to power. During the brief reign of King Edward VI, church officials who favored Protestant doctrines moved the Church of England, or the Anglican Church, in a Protestant direction. Before he turned 16, Edward died of tuberculosis.

Henry VIII's daughter Mary I came to the throne in 1553. Mary was a Catholic who wanted to restore England to Roman Catholicism. She ordered the burning of almost 300 Protestants as heretics, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

III. Anabaptist

Some people strongly disliked giving such power to the state. These were radicals known as Anabaptists.

To Anabaptists, the true Christian church was a voluntary community of adult believers who had undergone spiritual rebirth and then had been baptized. This belief in adult baptism separated the Anabaptists from Catholics and other Protestants, who baptized infants.

The chief thing other Protestants and Catholics could agree on was the need to persecute Anabaptists.

In 1534 an army of Catholics and other Protestants surrounded the city.

Then in 1535, they captured it, torturing and killing the Anabaptist leaders.

IV. Reformation and Society

Protestant schools were aimed at a much wider audience than the humanist schools, which were mostly for the elite (wealthy people).

Convinced of the need to provide the church with good Christans, Martin Luther believed that all children should have an education provided by the state.

To that end, he urged the cities and villages of German states to provide schools paid for by the public.

Traditional roles in Marriage- husband as the ruler and wife as the obedient servant and bearer of children.

Antisemitism

Martin Luther expected Jews to convert to Lutheranism. When they resisted, Luther wrote that Jewish houses of worship and homes should be destroyed.

The Catholic Church was no more tolerant. In Italy's Papal States, which were controlled by the popes, Jews who would not convert were forced to live in segregated areas called ghettos.

V. Catholic Reformation

Supported by 3 elements:

1. Creation of a new religious order, called the Jesuits

2. Reform (changing) the Papacy

3. The Counsil of Trent

Jesuits

- Founded by Ignatius of Loyola

- used education to spread their message and established schools

- very successful in restoring Catholicism to parts of Germany and eastern Europe and in spreading it to other parts of the world

The Counsil of Trent

- called by Pope Paul III

- Restablished Catholism as main religion in Europe

- Both faith and good works were declared necessary for salvation

- All 7 sacriments were made important again