16th
Century Reformation: Basic Concepts &
Overview HSTEU 402 HO #1
Dating
abbreviations: AD = Anno Domini or Year of the Lord; now CE =
Common Era
Christendom: religious definition of medieval collective identity versus
Europe: political definition of western European identity emerges
as result of Reformation
Reformatio = Latin: to
reform, restore; goal is restoration of early Christian church on model of
Scripture
no intention to split the church, but that was the result
Scripture: Old Testament = Hebrew
Bible (eg Book of Genesis: story of Adam and Eve)
New Testament = written in Greek 1-2 centuries AD
Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
Epistles (letters) to Christian congregations (eg St.
Paul to Corinthians, Romans)
Medieval
Bible: Latin Vulgate translated by
St. Jerome 4th C AD from Greek &
Hebrew into Latin
Renaissance: recovery of classical languages
14th C.
Latin: Petrarch as central figure in Italy
15th C. Greek
begins to be taught, first in Italy
1453 fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks
1460 translation of Plato’s Dialogues into Latin; commissioned by Medici
family in Florence
16th C.
Erasmus’ Greek New Testament published 1516
“Luther hatched the egg Erasmus laid .”
Luther’s 95 Theses Against
Indulgences 1517
Unity
of truth: central concept of middle ages,
after Reformation enforceable only by the State
Magisterium: teaching authority
of Catholic Church;
Pope,
Church Councils define religious truth based on Scripture and tradition
Inquisition: judicial office
created in 13th C. to enforce religious orthodoxy and suppress heresy
Orthodoxy: correct doctrine – things
everyone must believe, or they are heretics
Heterodoxy: different doctrine,
therefore incorrect; has to be suppressed to protect souls.
Characteristics of Medieval Religion (Catholicism):
1) hierarchical: Church
as papal monarchy (elective); Cardinals as princes of Church (elect the Pope)
Bishops and
Archbishops aristocracy of the Church: clergy as superior to laity
2) sacerdotal:
= priestly (Latin: sacer = holy, sacerdotus = priest)
access to grace is through priests
who perform religious services, Mass,
sacraments, blessings etc.
3) sacramental: seven
sacraments as basic channels of grace:Baptism,
Penance, Communion (Eucharist)
Confirmation,
Matrimony, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction (or Last Rites)
Christian
receives grace from sacraments, must cooperate with that grace through good
works.
4) mediated: access
to supernatural is through church, clergy, saints, Virgin Mary, not direct
access to God
Christianity: Jewish in origin, spreads under Roman Empire 1-2cd C
Creation account in Genesis introduces the Fall: Holbein,
Durer paintings, woodcuts
Central
doctrines of Christianity (the mysteries of faith):
1) Original Sin as basic anthropological assumption,
theory of human nature
Fall of man (Adam and Eve) creates the need for a Redeemer, Messiah
St Augustine as key theologian emphasizing original sin
2) Trinity: 3 persons in one
God Massacio painting
Early Christian Trinitarian controversies: Arianism and Council of Nicea 325 (Nicene Creed)
Medieval theological accounts Anselm (1033-1109), Cur Deus Homo? [Why
did God become Man?]
3) Incarnation: role of Mary, St. Anne Immaculate
Conception (Giottto: mtg
at Golden Gate)
Birth
of the Virgin (Ghirlandaio); Annunciation (Virgin Birth)
Nativity & Dormition of Joseph
(Giotto); Madonna
Dolorosa, Madonna Lactans
4) Crucifixion as making possible the
redemption of human race
Harrowing of Hell: no one had entered Heaven before, now OT prophets are
redeemed
Resurrection: as triumph over death, makes possible eternal life (Piero della Francesca painting)
5) Treasury of Merits earned by Christ (& the
saints) make possible salvation for mankind
Who controls merits? God? Pope? Individual
Christians? Mary & saints as
intercessor?
What
is necessary to be saved? Grace, but no one merits grace due to sin,
according to early 5th C theologian
St. Augustine
stress on fallen nature of man, inherently flawed, unable not to sin: against
Pelagius (heretic)
How does one get grace? Gift of God offered through 1) Incarnation &
Crucifixion
and 2) sacraments of the church
Sacrament defined as: outward sign of inward grace, instituted by
Christ
Images
as "Bible of the illiterate":
Christian Doctrine in Art (Powerpoint Slides will be posted on webpage)
6th C. Pope Gregory
I (d. 604): defense of images as libri pauperum: books of the poor
church frescoes depict stories from Old and New Testament,
saints’ lives
Liturgical
or Ritual calendar
Annunciation March 25; Advent =
weeks in December preceding Christmas
(Nativity), December 25
Mardi
Gras, or Fat Tuesday: last day of Carnival season preceding Ash
Wednesday = first day of Lent
Lent = 40 days of fasting, atonement for
sins, leading up to Palm Sunday, Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem
Holy Week, includes Holy
Thursday (Last Supper), Good Friday (Crucifixion), Easter Sunday
(Resurrection),
Pentecost - Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles after Christ returns to
Heaven
Saints’
Days Michaelmas,
feast of St. Michael the Archangel (September 29)
John the Baptist (June
24)’ All Saints’ Day (Nov 1), All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2)
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MEDIEVAL
THEORIES OF SALVATION (Steven Ozment,
Age of Reform:1250-1550 Chap 2
Note: this is not an easy read,
but here is an outline of what you need to get from this Chapter
AUGUSTINE (354-430) "inability not to sin" due to corruption
of will and intellect
What are the means of achieving salvation after the
fall?
a) sacraments as
automatic channels of grace, dispensed by church:
seven sacraments in Catholic
theology: Baptism, Penance,
Eucharist, Confirmation,
Matrimony, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction
sacraments work automatically, do
not depend on sanctity of clergy --
(ex opere operato
/worked by the work, by the sacrament itself)
against 4th century Donatist heresy: Donatus said validity of sacrament depended on
priest being in state of
grace, or sacrament would not have any effect
b) predestination theories:
supra-lapsarian (before the fall) versus infra-lapsarian (after fall)
late
medieval Catholic view: predestination based on God’s foreknowledge of merits
Augustine
versus PELAGIUS (d.418)
Pelagianism:- ethical or moral
view of salvation - good works, without grace, are acceptable to God
- theme of effort, of
"running a race"
MEDIEVAL
DEVELOPMENTS:
l. RECOVERY OF ARISTOTLE, 12-13th C. (1260 Latin translation of his treatise on Politics)
called "the
Philosopher" by medieval scholastic theologians;
problem of reconciling
faith& reason, Christianity & classical culture
2. SCHOLASTICISM -- term used to describe the "rational
study of religion” in medieval universities
Peter Abelard, Sic et
Non (d. 1142) 12th
C. Paris
Thomas Aquinas (1224-1270) Summa Theologica = Summary of Theology
Part I On God Part II On the Creation, including man Part III on Christ & Redemption
Principles of scholastic argument:
1) Syllogistic reasoning: major & minor premises lead to logical conclusion
2) Dialectics: the science of arguments, how
to prove a statement through reasoning
3) Question (quaestio) or thesis for debate (e.g. Luther's 95
Theses of 1517)
3.
LATE MEDIEVAL DEBATE OVER ROLE OF GRACE VERSUS EFFORT IN SALVATION:
1. Peter Lombard, Sentences (12th C Paris): grace as divine, not human
2. Thomas Aquinas (13th C Paris: a) grace as "created habit'' &
therefore human, not divine
b) foreknowledge as basis for
predestination
3. Duns Scotus (13th C England): God's will is only necessary cause of
salvation
God not bound by sacraments or human
effort
4. William of Ockham: (13th C England): potentia absoluta (absolute power of God) = predestination
versus potentia ordinata (ordained power of God) = free will
"facientibus
quod in se est, Deus non denegat
gratiam":
(to
the doing of what is in you, God will not deny grace)
5. Reformation: rejects this emphasis
on effort rejected as "semi-Pelagian" (Luther,
Calvin)