Download ReligiousHistoryClassNotes - Campbell Road church of Christ

Lesson 1
Overview of Class
•Objective: To gain understanding of trends in
religious history and apply biblical principles to
learn from them
•Notebooks—take notes!
•Class is not for everyone—in depth, fast-paced
•This is a Bible class. Bring your Bible.
•Goal is not “chronological snobbery”
•Humility is required in discussion (easy to point
out flaws in others)
•Effort will be made to apply (may be
uncomfortable)
•Lessons from NT Church(2-3)
•Lessons from 100-400 AD(4-6)
•Lessons from Catholicism(7-9)
•Lessons from Reformation(10-12)
•Lessons from Restoration Movements(13-15)
•Lessons from Modern American Religion(16-18)
•Key Issues (19-24)
•Themes
•Issues recur—authority, deity, free will
•People are the same
•Courage, self-examination needed
•Pursuing God is a process, not an event
•How to deal with error
Why Study History?
•See prophecies fulfilled
•Explain transition from the Bible to today
•Learn from the mistakes, successes of people
•Learn what people are like, how apostasy works
The Value of History
•Deut 1:5-3:29
•Josh 24:1-15
•Neh9:6-38
•Psalm 89
•Acts 7:2-53
•Instructive value in history
•Praise value in history
•Application value in history
NT Prophecies about Succeeding History
•Matt 7:15-20
•Matt 24:4-5, 11, 24
•Acts 20:28-31
•Gal 1:8-9
•2 Thess2:1-12
•1 Tim 4:1-5
•2 Tim 3:1-5
•2 Tim 4:3-5
•2 Pet 2:1
•2 Pet 3:2-4
•1 John 4:1-6
•Jude 17-18
Concluding Thoughts
•History helps us understand the Bible
•History cannot be trusted above the Bible
•History can be dangerous in application (see
Stephen)
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Lesson 2
Lessons from NT Church:
Judaizers
• First major doctrinal issue in NT church
• Christianity began as Jewish religion
• Assumption: Gentiles cannot be Christians
• Affected evangelistic policy (Acts 11:19)
God Brings in Gentiles
•Acts 10:9-16—Vision of common foods
•Acts 10:20, 28-29, 34-35—Peter gets it
•Acts 10:44-48—Gentiles are baptized
•Acts 11:2—Peter criticized
•Acts 11:17-18—Jews accept Gentiles
•Church est. in Antioch, first journey
•Do these Gentiles have to become Jews to become
Christians?
Settling the Circumcision Question
•Acts 15:1-2—Question raised again. Paul and
Barnabas clearly disagree. Go to Jerusalem to the
apostles (inspiration) and elders (these men were
from Jerus)
•Gal 2:1-2—Paul went up “by revelation”
•Acts 15:5—Complaint reiterated
•Acts 15:7-11—Peter: saved by grace, not law
•Acts 15:12—Paul: God worked with us!
•Acts 15:13-21—James: Prophecy agrees that
Gentiles would become God’s people, we should
not trouble
•Acts 15:22-29—Letter sent out
•End of matter? No!
The Judaizers Continue
•Despite the apostles’ decision, evidence that
Judaizers kept teaching this
•Gal 1:6-9—Preaching another gospel
•Gal 2:11-14—Even Peter swept up in it
•Gal 5:1-6—Accepting circumcision severs them
from Christ
•Gal 5:10-12—Paul is very sharp
•Almost entire Galatian letter treats this
•Other scattered references
•Phil 3:2-3
•Titus 1:10
•Rev 2:9, 3:9
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Lessons from the Judaizing Controversy
•How to deal with error
–Scripture
–Reason
–Objectivity
–Clear statement of truth
–Persistence
–“Their mouths must be stopped”(Titus 1:11)
•Tendencies:
–Apply our culture to others
–Making up rules for God
–It’s hard to change people!
•Broader Picture:
–Even the first Christians dealt with error
–Even the first Christians had trouble eradicating error
–The apostles may have warned about certain people or
teachings, but did nothing close to “excommunication”
–Reasoning from Scripture and contending for the faith are part of serving Jesus
Lesson 3
Lessons from NT Church:
Gnosticism
•Gnosticism not Christian in origin
•Blending of Greek and Oriental traditions, philosophy, and idea of redemption through Christ
•Knowledge given by revelation only to the elect, those capable of receiving it
•“Knowledge” (gnosis) is redemption
Features of Gnosticism
•Two gods—one lesser (demiurge) who created world, one greater (“unknown”)
•Matter inherently evil, including body
•“Divine spark”(soul) in man, must be reawakened
NT Treatments of Gnosticism
•1 Tim 6:20-21—Only direct statement
•1 Cor8:1-3—Knowledge puffs up
•Col 2:1-10—Paul hits on the Gnostic idea of “knowledge” and denial of Jesus in the flesh
•Col 2:18-23—Addresses ascetic side of Gnosticism
•John 17:1-3—Eternal life is to know Jesus
•John 19:34-35—John affirms that he is an eyewitness to the humanity of Jesus
•1 John written against Gnosticism
•“I know God”(1 Jn2:4), “I abide in Him”(2:6), “I am in the light”(2:9) fit within Gnosticism
•Focus of 1 John is “knowing”(2:3-5, 20; 3:16, 19, 24; 4:6, 8; 5:2, 13, 15, 18-20)
•Attacks denial of Jesus in flesh (2:22-25, 4:2-6, 2 John 7). This is the antichrist.
•Attacks uncaring nature of Gnosticism (1 Jn2:9-11, 3:10, 14-15, 4:8, 20; 5:1)
•Attacks loose living (2:15-17, 3:4-10)
•Rev 2:24—The Ophites, a Gnostic sect, used the phrase “to know the depths”
•Jesus says they have learned the deep things of Satan
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•Notice the accompanying sexual immorality in the church at Thyatira (2:20-23)
•Doctrine of evil body leads to denial of Jesus in flesh, neglect of body, and sometimes indulgence
Lessons from the Gnostic Problem
•Dealing with the problem
–Reestablish source of authority—apostles
–Attack teaching, not man
–Show consequences of teaching, inconsistency
•The tendency
–Intellectualizing the gospel
–Dissatisfaction with the simplicity of gospel
–Seeking esoteric religion
•The broader picture
–False doctrine gets worse with time (2 Tim 3:13)
–Accepting false premises has consequences—If the body is evil, then Jesus couldn’t have a body
–Doctrine has practical implications
Lesson 4
Lessons from 100-400:
Church Organization
•Most scholars agree John, the last apostle to die, died around 90-100 AD
•Death of apostles was significant
–Apostles were respected as teachers of God’s truth (Acts 2:42)
–Eyewitnesses of resurrection (Acts 1:8, 2:32)
–Endowed with special powers by Holy Spirit, including inspiration (Acts 5:12, John 14:26, John 16:13)
–Could pass on gifts of Spirit (Acts 8:14-18)
•However, many congregations had men who had been taught by the apostles, elders appointed by them
•These men were accorded special respect
•Story of 100-300 AD is gradual departure—in organization, in doctrine, in allegiance
Pressures on 2ndCentury Churches
•Intermittent persecution
–Generally looked on unfavorably (private, cannibals, incestuous)
–Pliny (Roman gov in Bithynia)—asked Emp Trajan how to deal with Christians
“They declared that the sum total of their guilt and error amounted to no more than this; they had met
regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately among themselves in honor of Christ as if to
a God, and also to bind themselves by oath, not for any criminal purpose, but to abstain from theft, robbery,
and adultery, to commit no breach of trust and not to deny a deposit when called upon to restore it. After this
ceremony it had been their custom to disperse and reassemble later to take food of an ordinary harmless
kind”
Pliny, X.96, Epistula
– “You have followed the right course of procedure, my dear Pliny, in your examination of the cases of persons
charged with being Christians, for it is impossible to lay down a general rule to a fixed formula. These people
must not be hunted out; if they are brought before you and the charge against them is proved, they must be
punished, but in the case of anyone who denies that he is a Christian, and makes it clear that he is not by
offering prayer to our gods, he is to be pardoned as a result of his repentance however suspect his past
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conduct may be. But the pamphlets circulated anonymously must play no part in any accusation. They create
the worst sort of precedent and are quite out of keeping with the spirit of our age”
Trajan, X.97, Epistulae
Pressures on 2ndCentury Churches
•Intermittent persecution
–Generally looked on unfavorably (private, cannibals, incestuous)
–Pliny (Roman gov in Bithynia)—asked Emp Trajan how to deal with Christians (110?)
–Persecution was not official Roman policy except in brief intervals (under Decius, 250 AD and Diocletian (and
Galerius), 303 AD)
•Spread of false teaching
•Power vacuum after apostles
Local Church Organization in NT
•Phil 1:1—Overseers (bishops), deacons, saints
•Terms for elder used interchangeably (bishop/elder/overseer/pastor)—Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet 5:1-4; Titus 1:5-7
•Elders described in plural rather than singular (Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17, 1 Pet 5:1, Phil 1:1).
No church described as having a single bishop
Changes in Church Organization
•Move from bishops to bishop
•Distinguishing bishops from presbyters
•Requiring bishop for baptism, communion
•Widening influence of bishops
•Increasing influence of Rome
•Clement (bishop of Rome, 95-100 AD)
–Wrote church at Corinth because they had dismissed their bishops, encourages them to restore them
–Makes no clear distinction between bishop, elder, and deacon
–Argued that these men were appointed by the apostles and should be respected
•Ignatius (Bishop of Antioch, ca 105 AD)
–Strong endorsement of “monarchical” bishop
–Taught much-expanded power of bishop
–Used the term “catholic”(universal)
–“Let all respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as the bishop is also a type of the Father, and the presbyters
as the council of God and the college of Apostles. Without these the name of „church‟ is not given” (Ign.
Trall. 3:1)
•Ignatius (Bishop of Antioch, ca 105 AD)
–“See that you all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as if it were the
Apostles. And reverence the deacons as the command of God. Let no one do any of the things appertaining to
the church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop or
by one whom he appoints” (Ign. Smyrn. 8:1)
–“He who does anything without the knowledge of the bishop is serving the devil”(Ign. Smyrn. 9:1)
–“It is not permitted either to baptize or hold a love-feast apart from the bishop. But whatever he may approve,
that is well-pleasing to God, that everything which you do may be sound and valid”
–“Just as the Lord, then, being one with him, did nothing without the Father, either by himself or through the
apostles, so neither must you do anything without the bishop and the presbyters. And you must not attempt
to convince yourselves that anything you do on your own account is right, but there must be in common one
prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope in love, in flawless joy, that is Jesus Christ, than whom nothing
is better”
Changes in Church Organization
•Ignatius (Bishop of Antioch, ca 105 AD)
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•Not everyone thought like Ignatius—Polycarp, a contemporary, describes a collegiate grouping of presbyters in
Smyrna
•Different local churches changed in different ways at different times
•Largely quiet from 110-180 AD
•Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyon, ca 185 AD)
–Argued supremacy of church at Rome—every church must agree with Rome because founded by Peter and
Paul
–“Office of bishop” is traced from apostles through the 12thbishop
•ca 190 AD—Victor of Rome declares Eastern dating of Easter (?) heretical and attempts to excommunicate
•Ultimately unsuccessful, ignored
•ca 255 AD—Dispute between Cyprian (Carthage) and Stephen (Rome) over validity of baptism by heretics
•Cyprian questioned universal authority of Rome, general agreement in N. Africa
•Summary
–Acts 20:28-31 prophesied trouble from among elders
–In fits and starts, power began to consolidate
–External (persecution) and internal (false teaching) pressures contributed
–History is strangely silent on the topic
Lessons from Changes in Church Org
•How to deal with error
–Changes are church by church, each congregation must correct itself
–Autonomy is essential and must be maintained
–We cannot accept changes from Bible pattern
–Someone must stand up to those doing wrong—primarily elders (Acts 20:29-31)
•Tendencies
–Consolidation
–Ambition and power-grabbing
–Following charismatic personalities
•The Bigger Picture
–Very early on, following scriptural pattern made churches radically different
–Quiet, autonomous congregations don’t make the splash large, interconnected churches do
–Doctrinal issues matter because they determine what we do
Lesson 5
Lessons from 100-400:
Doctrinal Issues
• After 70 AD, gospel begins to lose Jewish focus, expand into Greek territories
• Churches look very different, and different types of teaching crop up
• The apostles had warned of such things, and they came during their lives and swiftly after their deaths
• As gospel spread to philosophical territory, interest in abstract theology deepened
• Who is Jesus?
–Was Jesus God or man? Equal to the Father or subordinate? Eternal or created?
–Gnosticism
–Matter is evil, therefore the body is evil
–Only the soul is pure, “divine spark”
–If the body is evil, Christ could not have had a real body
–Christ’s body only “seemed” real (Gk dokeo)—docetism
–A major focus of NT teaching—2 John 7, 1 John 1:1
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–Arius(250-336 AD)
–Jesus was created, subordinate to Father
–“If the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a beginning of existence: and from this it is evident, that
there was a time when the Son was not. It therefore necessarily follows that he [the Son] had his substance
from nothing”
–John 1:1—Direct refutation
–Later focus of intense debate, Nicea
–Adoptionist Monarchianism
–Stressed unity to point of losing distinction
–God adopted man “Jesus”
–Some: Holy Spirit descended on him at baptism, but he did not become God
–God was one, therefore idea of one of Godhead coming to earth, acting in a different way than others, made
no sense
–The problem with extremes
–One extreme emphasizes deity but denigrates the humanity of Christ (He is God, scarcely human, perhaps
illusion)
–One extreme emphasizes humanity and denigrates deity (Jesus was created)
–Unity or duality of Jesus’ makeup is overemphasized
•Montanism
–“New prophecy” movement
–Montanus declared he had new revelations from the Holy Spirit to add to the Christian message
–Accompanied by female prophetesses
–Spoke in ecstatic state
–Large followings, including Tertullian
–Raised urgent question: What should be accepted as true?
•Marcion (around 150 AD)
–Believed Bible described 2 gods—OT and NT
–OT to be read absolutely literally, therefore God had a physical body and walked around
–Taught docetism
–Held his own canon: Luke and 10 letters of Paul (everything doctored to remove opposition to his teaching)
–Raised urgent question: What should be accepted as true? Which books are true?
Doctrinal Issues
•Key Issues
–How to deal with false doctrine
–How to deal with false canon
–How to deal with claims of inspiration
•Solutions
–Canon
–Creeds
–Succession
–Councils (later)
–All appeals made to apostles
•The Canon
–Apostles were recognized as speaking for God (1 Thess2:13, 1 Cor14:37)
–Their writings were collected and revered as different from other writings, just as OT
–Already beginning within NT (1 Tim 5:18, 2 Pet 3:15-16)
–Not a uniform movement or acceptance, but churches began to circulate letters, especially of Paul
•The Canon
–Clement (95 AD)—alludes to 1 Cor, Eph, 1 Tim, Titus, James, John, Hebrews
–Polycarp (ca 110 AD, knew John)—refers to Matt, Acts, Rom, 1&2 Cor, Gal, Eph, 1&2 Thess, 1&2 Tim, 1&2 Pet,
1 John
–Even Gnostics (Ophites) refer to Scripture, albeit twisted
–By 130, attestation of every NT book except Mark, 2&3 John, Jude
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–People in different places determine which books were written by apostles, gradual consensus
–Pressure from deep need for a firm standard of authority
–Most groups agreed on the essentials of the canon
–Muratorian Canon (ca 170 AD)—Simple writing that lists books
–(Prob Matt, Mark), Luke, John, Acts, Rom, 1&2 Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, 1&2 Thess, 1&2 Tim, Titus, Phil, 1&2
John, Jude, Rev, Wisdom of Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter, Shepherd of Hermas
–Apocalypse of Peter “which some of our people will not have to be read in church”
–Shepherd—rejected because too late
–Muratorian Canon significant because it is essentially our NT, around 170 AD
–Admits the canon to be closed: “But Hermas wrote the Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of
Rome…And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be publicly read to the people in church either
among the Prophets, whose number is complete, or among the Apostles, for it is after [their] time”
–Books written by apostles were accepted, others (Mark, Luke, James) were accepted by proximity to apostles,
Jesus
–Consensus emerged over time
–Seems likely that God providentially guided this process—as He did the OT canon
–No church council decreed this or vote on the canon
•Creeds
–A way to simplify and codify beliefs to remove false doctrine
–Statements of belief that were tailored to eliminate false conceptions, even for the new believer
–Example creed, written by Irenaeus:
–“God the Father, uncreated, beyond grasp, invisible, one God the maker of all; this is the first and foremost
article of our faith. But the second article is the Word of God, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord…through
Him were made all things whatsoever. He also, in the end of times…became a man among men, visible and
tangible, in order to abolish death and bring to light life, and bring about the communion of God and man”
–In response to each controversy, new creeds developed, making Christians accept more and more distinct
doctrinal positions before being accepted
–Although creeds were carefully constructed, they were authored by men
–Creeds began to be viewed as reflective of the beliefs of “the church” and “its” stand on various doctrinal
issues
–Adopted as a tool after doctrinal councils
•Apostolic Succession
–Most direct way of dealing with doctrinal issues was to appeal to certain men with the answers
–Teaching originated rather innocently—that the men the apostles appointed over the church should be trusted
–Clement (96 AD)—”Through our Lord Jesus Christ, our apostles knew that there would be strife over the
office of oversight. Accordingly, since they had obtained a perfect foreknowledge of this, they appointed
those men already mentioned. And they afterwards gave instructions that when those men would fall asleep,
other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. Therefore, we are of the opinion that those
appointed by the apostles, or afterwards by other acclaimed men, with the consent of the whole church, and
who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for
a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry”
–Expanded significantly by Irenaeus(180 AD)
–“It is necessary to obey the presbyters who are in the church—those who, as I have shown, possess the
succession from the apostles. For those presbyters, together with the succession of bishops, have received the
certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But we should hold in suspicion others who
depart from the primitive succession and assemble themselves together.
–In any place whatsoever. For they are either heretics of perverse minds, or else they are schismatics who are
puffed up and self-pleasing”
–It is clear that the response to false doctrine was to accuse the heretics of having no ground in apostolic
teaching, and hence in their line
–Irenaeus traces Roman church from “the apostles”(not Peter) down to his time
–Tertullian (197) challenges heretics to produce the original records of their churches, including a roll of
bishops traced back to the apostles
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–Cyprian (ca 250): “He cannot be reckoned as a bishop who succeeds no one. For he has despised the
evangelical and apostolic tradition, springing from himself. For he who has not been ordained in the church
can neither have nor hold to the church in any way”
–They were quick to assert that no bishop could introduce false doctrine, but the foundation was laid
nonetheless
–By appealing to the apostles and a line of succession, “mainstream” Christians tried to silence the claims of
false teachers
Doctrinal Issues Summary
•False teaching created need for standard
•Early Christians responded by
–Canon
–Creed
–Apostolic Succession
Lessons from Doctrinal Issues
•How to deal with error
–Fight false teaching with truth (2 Tim 4:3-5)
–In our zeal to fight error, we can overstep our bounds (creeds, apostolic succession)
–Avoid extremes and pendulum swings
–We cannot hope to eradicate error everywhere; must be dealt with on local level (1 Pet 5:1-2)
•Tendencies
–Doing anything to win an argument
–Obsessing about others’ problems
–Deviations get worse with time
•The Bigger Picture
–We must have more at heart than winning arguments
–Radical changes happen gradually, and seem to make sense at the time
–Using external mechanisms to limit error is misguided
Lesson 6
Lessons from 100-400: Church and State
•Christianity’s early stages under Roman empire
•NT teaches submission to rulers—1 Pet 2:13-17, Rom 13:1-5, Matt 22:21
•NT teaches expectation of persecution—2 Tim 3:12, Matt 5:11-12, John 16:1-4, 1 John 3:13, 1 Pet 4:12-16
•Yet rulers must be kept in proper place: “We must obey God rather than men”(Acts 5:29)
Decius’ Persecution (250-260)
•Enforced sacrifices on every citizen, man, woman, and child (Jews exempt)
•Those who refused were imprisoned, some killed, tortured
•Valerius(256) ordered no Christian services be held, cemeteries where worship took place be seized
•257—Arrest of all church ministers ordered, Christians deprived of status and property, civil servants became
slaves
•Cyprian (Carthage) and Sixtus II (Rome) died
•In 261, Gallienus lifts the persecution, restores places of worship
Fallout from Decius’ Persecution (250-260)
•Cyprian—punishment from God
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•“Among the priests there was no devotedness of religion; among the ministers there was no sound faith: in their
works there was no mercy; in their manners there was no discipline. Not a few bishops…became agents in
secular business, forsook their throne, deserted their people…”(Cyprian)
•Cyprian had fled Carthage, but many Christians there gave in to persecution
•Later, they asked to be readmitted to church, pardoned
•Cyprian—no, Felicissimus—yes
•Broader schism—in Rome, Novatian is elected as bishop on position that defectors should not be forgiven
•Novatian gains converts, who eventually want to join church—is their baptism effective?
•Cyprian—no, Stephen (Rome)—yes
•Stephen appeals to Matt 16:18 to justify his authority, primacy of Rome
•Conclusion: Agree to disagree, Cyprian is killed in persecution in 258
Diocletian’s Persecution (303-313)
•Designed to wipe out Christianity
•Churches torn down, sacrifices ordered, sacred texts confiscated, especially in east
•Nearly half of all recorded martyrdoms in early church are from this period
Constantine
•In midst of remarkable political upheaval and power vacuum, Constantine leads army against Maxentius
•312—Milvian Bridge into Rome—Constantine claims to have seen a vision of Christ, as recorded by Eusebius:
•“he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and an inscription,
CONQUER BY THIS attached to it…Then in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the sign which he
had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens,
and use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies”
•Emerges as co-emperor, eventually sole emperor
•313—Issues “Edict of Milan”—toleration
•Not officially a Christian—would not be baptized until shortly before his death in 337
•Used Christianity to stabilize the empire, link between Christ and military success
•Imagine the view of Christians in that time—from extreme persecution to being favored by the state!
•A mixed blessing that would have been extremely hard to refuse
•Constantine built churches, exempted clergy from taxation
•The religion Constantine had hoped would unify was actually quite divided
•“I consider it absolutely contrary to the divine law that we should overlook such quarrels and
contentions…whereby the Highest Divinity may perhaps be roused not only against the human race but also
against myself”
Council of Nicea
•Arian dispute particularly vexed Const.
•“The cause of your difference has not been any of the leadership doctrines or precepts of the Divine Law, nor has
any new heresy respecting the worship of God arisen among you. You are in truth of one and the same
judgment: you may therefore well join in communion and fellowship”
•Arius—Jesus created, subordinate
•Alexander (bishop of Alexandria) excommunicated Arius
•Bishops were siding with one or the other
•Constantine calls a council of bishops to decide the issue and make a clear definition of Christian doctrine to be
backed by the state
•325—Council of Nicea, Constantine presiding “like some heavenly angel of God”(Eusebius)
•Almost all were eastern bishops, bishop of Rome was not in attendance
•Eusebius produced a preliminary creed, conciliatory and cleverly avoiding Arian issues—no mention of
relationship of Father and Son, time when Son was not
•Yet final product vastly different, strongly anti-Arian
•“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being
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of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came
down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into
heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost”
•Creed ended with a number of anathemas of Arian assertions
•Why the strong shift? Some suggest Constantine’s involvement
•He was “urging all towards agreement, until he had brought them to be of one mind and one belief on all the
matters of dispute”(Eusebius)
•Lasting effect—very little
•Constantine accepted Arius, ordered him to be reinstated by Alexander, refused
•Issues revived in 350s by Athanasius, Nicene Creed confirmed and strengthened by Theodosius I at Council of
Constantinople (381)
•Important precedent set
•Summary
–Cataclysmic shift in Christian living—from persecuted to empowered
–Cataclysmic shift in organization—from church rule to imperial rule
–Cataclysmic shift in dealing with error—from discussion to enforcement of orthodoxy
Lessons from Church/State Issue
•How to deal with error
–“Brotherhood” disputes need “brotherhood” solutions
–Temptation to use other means to convince
–Error cannot be totally eradicated, even by worldly means
–Attempting to use nonbiblical authority undermines authority
•Tendencies
–To accept “mixed blessings” without considering their dangers
–To view all changes for the positive as God-approved
–To assume good intentions justify leaving Scripture
–To fail to acknowledge the consequences of our decisions and actions
•The Bigger Picture
–The state has no authority in religious matters (“We ought to obey God rather than men”)
–Councils of bishops have no authority in religious matters (“We ought to obey God rather than men”)
–The departure from local church autonomy has no natural stopping point
–300 years after apostles, church is unrecognizable
Lesson 7
Lessons from Catholic Church
Doctrinal Developments
•Emergence of “Western” and “Eastern” Christianity, with unique emphases
•Difference in fundamental approach—west legal, east mystical and philosophical
•Key issues—nature of Godhead, icons
•Around 400—emergence of uniquely western theologians—Jerome, Augustine
Augustine(354-430)
•Mother was Christian, he rejected, had child with mistress
•Tried Manicheism (Gnosticism with emphasis on evil), Neoplatonism
•Converted in Milan under influence of Ambrose
•Became bishop of Hippo, in North Africa
•Wrote prodigiously
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•Donatist controversy—Donatists had separated due to belief that those who had denied Christ in persecution
could not be clergy, demanded purity
•Growing in influence in N. Africa
•Aug: The office of priest, not personal character, that gives power to sacrament
•This added to growing thought that power of salvation rested in the church
•Supported forcing Donatists to join church
•God could punish, church could too
•Jesus’ parable: “Compel them to come in”
•Implication: Christian government had duty to support church by punishing heresy and schism
•Strongly affirmed authority of the church
•“I would not have believed the Gospels, except on the authority of the Catholic Church”
•Note shift between authority in Scripture and authority in church
•Exegesis done to fit orthodoxy: “Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn”(Song 4:2)
•“The teeth of the church, tearing men away from their errors and bringing them into the church’s body, with all
their hardness softened down, just as if they had been torn down and masticated by the teeth”
•Most significant debate—free will
•Taught men are not free in their will, but born in state of condemnation with a tendency to commit sin
•Only Adam has ever had free will
•Since Adam sinned, we are all guilty, and sin is passed down at birth (“original sin”)
•This would make infant baptism essential
•Since we are sinners, we cannot even respond to God—even faith is an act of God
•Some do not receive grace, therefore God must choose to whom He gives grace—arbitrary predestination
•Pelagius—British monk disgusted by corruption of Roman clergy
•Disagreed with Aug’s theology as an excuse for immorality
•Human beings are responsible for their own actions, have free will, just like Adam
•Evil is choosing what God forbids and cannot be inherited
•Pelagius—we are born without vice or virtue and are capable of either
•Analogy—Seeking God like man who tries to row across a lake, helped by a following wind (symbolizing God)
•Pelagius’ view was typical of the mainstream and Augustine was the innovator
•One bishop’s letter to Augustine: “Babies, you say, carry the burden of another’s sin, not any of their
own…Explain to me, then, who this person is who sends the innocent to punishment. You answer, God…God,
you say, the very one who commends his love to us, who has loved us and not spared his son but handed him
over to us, he judges us in this way; he persecutes new born children; he hands over babies to eternal flames
because of their bad wills, when he knows that they have not so much formed a will, good or bad…It would
show a just and reasonable sense of propriety to treat you as beneath argument: you have come so far from
religious feeling, from civilized standards, so far indeed from common sense, that you think your Lord capable
of committing kinds of crime which are hardly found among barbarian tribes”
•For reasons essentially political (and possibly due to Pelagius’ condemnation of corruption), Augustine won the
day
•His teachings—authority of church, forcing heretics to rejoin, and especially original sin—formed the character
of “Catholic Christianity”
•His thoughts echo through time:
•16thcentury saint John Eudes:
•“It is a subject of humiliation of all the mothers of the children of Adam to know that while they are with child
they carry within them an infant…who is the enemy of God, the object of his hatred and malediction and the
shrine of the demon”
•Uniquely Catholic doctrines develop due to a peculiar set of factors:
–Shifting standard of authority (people)
–Loose connection to Scripture or early church
–Influential people
–Political pressures
–Sense of precedent in previous decisions
–Scripture, church history reinterpreted to fit the new doctrine
•Example doctrine: Mary
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Mary
•Idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity first mentioned in Protevangelium of James (apocryphal infancy gospel)
•Scriptures clearly teach virgin birth (Luke 1:27, 34-35), yet some may have misapplied this to her being a virgin
after Jesus’ birth
•Devotion to Mary grows in 3rdand 4thcentury to the point that her title is the source of Nestorian controversy
•Jerome and Augustine (ca 400) both attack the propriety of sexuality in any context
•Mary needs to become perpetually virgin to remove this taint from her
•Jesus’ brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3) become cousins, or perhaps Joseph is an old widower and these are his
children
•Because Jesus was born without a sexual act, Aug argues he is free from original sin
•In 11thcentury, perpetually virgin Mary would be a great example of chastity church reformers (Gregorian) had
forced on clergy
•1120s—Benedictine monks begin promoting idea that Mary had been conceived without sexual act, so her
conception was also untainted by sin
•“Immaculate Conception” meant Mary was sinless as well
•This was controversial, and did not gain approval for many years
•1150s—German nun sees vision of Mary taken up into heaven, brother writes book
•This becomes the Assumption of Mary
•1854 AD—Pope Pius promulgates doctrine of Immaculate Conception
•1950 AD—Pope Pius approves assumption
•Uniquely Catholic doctrine of Mary
–Shifting standard of authority (people)
–Loose connection to Scripture or early church
–Influential people
–Political pressures
–Sense of precedent in previous decisions
–Scripture, church history reinterpreted to fit the new doctrine
•In turn, the doctrine of Mary combined with desire to keep hold on land that led to the doctrine of clerical
celibacy
•1139—Council declared all clerical marriages not only lawful but invalid
•Thousands of wives turned out on street
•Today, celibacy is enforced, Mary perpetual virgin, no brothers for Jesus, original sin, immaculate conception,
assumption
Catholic Church Doctrinal Developments…..Continued
•Same is true for any number of uniquely Catholic doctrines--Purgatory, Lent, last rites, confession and penance,
etc.
•Leads to baffling shifts in theology
–In 2007, Pope Benedict declared that unbaptized infants who die can go to heaven, instead of limbo, as the
church had taught for thousands of years
–In 1311, council of Ravenna changed baptism from immersion to pouring
•Summary
–As Catholic Church gained power, unique brand of Christianity evolved
–Augustine—original sin, no free will, authority of the church, church can compel heretics
–Mary as example—Catholic doctrine involved to be widely different from Scripture, mainly because of
acknowledgment of other authority
Lessons from Catholic Doctrine
•How to deal with error
–Personalities and intelligence no substitute for truth
–Politics corrupt the truth-seeking process
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–Scripture must determine practice, not practice used to determine the meaning of Scripture
–Truth does not change (Heb 13:8, Gal 1:6-9)!
•Tendencies
–Go with the flow
–Allow personal experiences to influence our reading of the Bible
–Make excuses for ourselves
–Grasp for reasons to justify our thoughts, rather than allow Scripture to dictate them
•The Bigger Picture
–We have responsibility for our actions (Rom 3:23)
–We must choose a source of authority—God’s infallible word or the shifting words of uninspired men
Lesson 8
Lessons from the Catholic Church
The Expansion of the Papacy and the Great Schism
•400-1500—dramatic expansion of papal authority and influence
•Initially, Roman bishops were nothing like pope
•Clement(96 AD)—Bishop of Rome who gave authoritative counsel to Corinthian church
•Victor(189-198 AD)—Tried to settle Quartodeciman controversy by excommunicating eastern bishops, yet was
ignored and opposed
•Stephen(254-257)—Argued heretic baptism was valid, used Matt 16:18 to assert his superiority
•Notably, Cyprian strongly opposed assertion that Stephen was right because he was Roman bishop:
•”Peter—whom the Lord chose first and upon whom He built His church—did not insolently claim anything to
himself. Nor did he arrogantly assume anything when Paul later disputed with him about circumcision. He did
not say that he held the primacy and the he needed to be obeyed by novices and those lately come!”
•”However, those who are at Rome do not always observe those things that were handed down from the
beginning. Yet, they vainly pretend the authority of the apostles. Anyone may know also from the fact that,
concerning the celebration of Easter…he may see there are some diversities…Nevertheless there is no departure
at all from the peace and unity of the catholic church on this account ”such as Stephen has dared to
make”(Firmilian)
•Cyprian’s and Firmilian’s words show the Roman push to expand power and the resistance it met in some
quarters
•Leo (“the Great”) (440-461)
–Drew on growing respect for Roman authority
–Part of delegation that convinced Attila the Hun not to attack Rome, successfully took credit
–Wrote his Tome on the person of Christ that greatly influenced the decision of the Council of Chalcedon (451)
–Chalcedon included statement (Canon 28) that Constantinople and Rome were equal in importance, which
dismayed Leo
–Argued Matt 16:18 as foundation for authority of Roman bishops
–Obtained a decree from Emperor Valentinian: primacy of Rome based on merits of Peter, dignity of the city,
Nicene Creed; any opposition to this is treason
•Gregory (”the Great”) (590-604)
–First pope who is a former monk
–Promoted Benedictine monasticism and liturgical reform (“Gregorian chant”)
–Sent missionaries to England to convert Angles and Saxons—successful in conversion as well as expansion of
peculiarly Roman influence
•Expansion of papal authority goes hand in hand with decline of Roman power
•324—Constantine transfers capital from Rome to Constantinople
•476—Rome conquered by “barbarians”
•632-750—Islam spreads across North Africa, into Spain and modern France
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•With these areas no longer “Christian,” focus of Roman church turns north—to England and Frankish empires
•800—Alliance with Frankish kings, Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne “Holy Roman Emperor”
•We are now in “Medieval Europe” where land is the main currency
•Church begins to accumulate lands, emperors want to exercise control over them
•Both church and emperor are weak, and want to use the other to expand power
•Simony (buying of church office) and lay investiture (laymen appointing priests) common
•Leo IX (1049-1054)—Elected by college of cardinals, bans clerical marriage, concubinage, simony, actually
enforces
•Unprecedented—pope has right to judge other bishops and clergy
•Gregory VII (1073-1085)
–Playing politics with various kings, forces Henry (king of Germany) to come to him as penitent sinner asking
forgiveness for defying church
–Henry, after a military victory, runs Gregory out of Rome
–Both invoke precedent for supremacy over the other
–Gregory—the pope can name the emperor!
–Claims priestly authority because soul is better than body, and priests can do more than emperors (like make
the body and blood appear)
–Ultimately unsuccessful in his quest, but advanced papal claims nonetheless
–“Dictatus Papae” particularly aggressive
•Innocent III (1198-1216)
–Deposed emperor in 1212
–Ordered King Philip II of France to take back his divorced wife
–Commanded King Alfonso of Leon to give up his marriage to a relative
–Forced King John of England to submit through excommunication
•Boniface VII (1294-1303)
–It is necessary for salvation for every human being to be subject to the pope
•Accumulation of land and relation to governments make the Catholic Church a pseudo-state with a religious
angle
•Great Schism(1054)
–Differences in East and West had persisted from the beginning—philosophical vs. legal disposition
–Many eastern disputes (Arianism, monophysitism) meant little to the west
–Language also began to separate the two as Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine began writing important works
in Latin
–Moving of the capital to Constantinople increased the influence of the eastern churches
–“Iconoclast” controversy—probably precipitated by spread of Islam with its strong stance against icons
–Though both east and west churches used icons, the east began to repudiate them as Islam spread
–“Iconoclasts”(icon destroyers)—believed icons were wrong because could not display both human and divine
natures of Christ
–725—Emperor Leo III forbids use of icons in worship
–731—Roman synod excommunicates iconoclasts
–Doctrinal disputes--extra wording to the Nicene Creed in West: “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father
and the Son” (aka “filioque” phrase)
–The Holy Spirit proceeding from the Son was never accepted in East
–Eastern church condemned fasting on Saturdays, using dairy products during Lent, priestly celibacy,
confirmation being restricted to bishops, use of unleavened bread in Eucharist
–Unique doctrinal traditions were developing in both East and West, seemed destined for a break
–Growing power of Rome resisted by Constantinople
–1050s—Emperors and pope agree to give pope control over the few Greek churches in Italy
–Michael Cerularius (patriarch of Constantinople) writes Pope Leo IX, addresses him as brother (rather than
father), demands that Latin churches in Constantinople fall under his control
–Cerularius shuts down uncooperative Roman churches
–Leo sends letter to Cerularius:
–“as a hinge, remaining unmoved opens and shuts a door, so Peter and his successors [at Rome] have an
unfettered jurisdiction over the whole Church, since no one ought to interfere with their position, because the
highest See is judged by none”
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–Cardinal enters church of Hagia Sophia and lays papal bull on altar, excommunicating Cerulariu and his
followers: “Let them be anathema with all heretics…yes, with devils”
–Cerularius excommunicates pope and his followers
–This division still exists today, fundamental breaking point between Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches
•Summary
•The Roman church grew from a separate, independent entity into one that taught it had the right to dictate
belief rulers for all Christians everywhere and depose
•The East-West split occurred as a result of long-dormant differences that came to a head as a result of the
expansion of the papacy
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Lessons from Papacy and Great Schism
•How to deal with error
–We must acknowledge our ability to be wrong
–If tradition is the standard, we will be unable to be unified with Christians from different cultures
–There will always be those who long to enforce opinions as if they are God (2 Thess2:3-4); we must not be like
them!
•Tendencies
–Pride
–Unwillingness to make peace
–Desire to accumulate power and prestige
–Submitting to leadership, even when it’s wrong
•The Bigger Picture
–The combination of religious and governmental authority is potent and dangerous
–The more worldly the church becomes, the more it strays from Christ
–Focus on culture and tradition leads to breaks with other cultures and traditions rather than unity
Lesson 9
Lessons from the Catholic Church
The Crusades and the Inquisition
•632-750—Islam spreads across North Africa, into Spain and modern France
Expansion under the Prophet Mohammad, 622-632
Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661
Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750
•632-750—Islam spreads across North Africa, into Spain and modern France
•Significantly undercuts power, influence of Roman church, pressures Eastern church
•Also religious threat—because Islam taught faith in Jesus as the Christ (though not God’s Son), often viewed as
Christian heresy
•Islam used force to spread—often demanding conversion or taxes for protection
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•Idea of spreading faith by force and enforcing orthodoxy had far-reaching consequences when adopted by
Christians
•Muslim control of the “Holy Land”
•1009—Insane Caliph al-Hakim destroys Church of Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, indignation grew
•Many Christians took pilgrimages to Jerusalem
•Reports came back of Christian pilgrims being brutalized on pilgrimages, caused outrage
•Famines in Europe, especially 1085-1095
•European kings had trouble controlling unruly nobles, happy to be rid of them
•Pope Urban II preached at the Council of Clermont (1095):
–”O race of Franks…you are obligated to succor your brethren in the East, menaced by an accursed race, utterly
alienated from God. The Holy Sepulchre of our Lord is polluted by the filthiness of an unclean nation. Recall
the greatness of Charlemagne. O most valiant soldiers, descendants of invincible ancestors, be not degenerate.
Let all hatred depart from among you, all quarrels stop, all wars cease. Start upon the road to the Holy
Sepulchre to wrest that land from the wicked race and subject it to yourselves.”
•Pope Urban listed a number of Muslim atrocities of dubious origin
–“I, not I, but God exhorts you!”
–The crowd cried “God wills it!”, which became the cry of the Crusades
–Those who fought the pagans (especially those who died in the battle) would be granted forgiveness of sins:
–This I grant to all who go through the power vested in me by God‖ (origin of doctrine of indulgences)
–Urban urged thieves and mercenaries in particular to stop causing trouble and go fight for God
Theological justification for Crusades?
•”The Lord is a man of war” (Ex 15:3) was used
•Minority: this is wrong!
•”Christ did not shed his blood for the acquisition of Jerusalem, but rather to win and save souls”(Abbot Adam
of Perseigne)
•Previous generations had questioned rightness of Christians in army—dramatic shift to fighting for Christ
•Appeal made to Augustine, who argued that soldiering is not necessarily wrong (Luke 3:14)
•Augustine: Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek ―does not refer to a disposition of the body but of the heart‖
•Argued that “holy war” wrong because no one has monopoly on divine truth
•Yet “unwilling souls” bring coercion on themselves: ”We often have to act with a sort of kindly harshness, when
we are trying to make unwilling souls yield, because we have to consider their welfare rather than their
inclination”
•This became pretext for Crusades
•Peter the Hermit—left prematurely (1096), went across Europe massacring Jews, wiped out by Hungarians
•1095-1099—First Crusade—Perhaps 300,000 soldiers set out
•Conquered Nicea, Antioch, and Jerusalem
•Battles were particularly bloody: “men rode in blood up to their knees and the bridle reins”
•After conquering the city, they massacred the remaining civilians and claimed Muslim holy sites
•No crusade was ever as successful as first
•1147-1149—Second Crusade—attempted to retake Edessa (southeast Turkey)
•70,000 knights left, only 7,000 reached Damascus, where they were killed
•1187—Jerusalem fell, prompted
•1189-1192—Third Crusade—Holy Roman Emperor, English king, French king—recaptured Acre, little long-term
effect
•1202-1204—Fourth Crusade—Planning to attack Holy Land from Egypt, crusaders changed plan, decided to
attack Constantinople instead
•1204—Sacked Constantinople, pillaged churches, and tried to establish “Roman emperor”
•1212—“Children’s Crusade” —Spontaneous youth movement in France and Germany
•Believed their faith would triumph where weapons had not
•Reached Marseilles, where they expected the sea to part
•Instead, they were captured by two slave dealers and sold as lifetime slaves
•A few other minor movements, but Crusades essentially ended by 1300
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•Effects of Crusades
–Forever changed perception of Christ (now could be warrior on horseback)
–Forever affected Muslim-Christian relations
–Cemented break between East and West
–Applied full force of arms against opponents of the pope
–Tainted religious fervor by making it military
•Church began to use similar methods not just against unbelievers, but heretics in their midst
•1163—Pope Alexander III outlines “professional inquisitor” to seek out heretics, investigate
•Bishops’ inquisition—each local bishop has right to investigate own flock
•Being burned alive was punishment for criminals in many nations, especially for crime of treason
•1184—Heretics should be handed over to civil secular authorities for punishment (”the Church does not shed
blood”)
•1199—Pope: Heresy is “treason against God”
•Cathars (“Albigensians”)—Dualist, gnostic, considered a major threat by church
•Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229)—applied crusade terminology against heretical Christians
•Promised remission of sins and heavenly rewards to those fighting against Cathars
•Offered land of heretics to any who would fight
•Complicated by fact that Catholic clergy was famously dissolute while Cathars were morally superior
•Catholic army rushes through France, attacking Catharcities and killing their civilians
•”Today, Your Holiness, twenty thousand citizens were put to the sword, regardless of age or sex”
•When Catharism was squashed, inquisitors began to search for surviving traces of heresy
•Inquisitors were Dominicans, well-renowned for their Bible expertise
•Horror stories are common
•1239—Investigating charge that bishop of Champagne harbored heretics, inquisitor sent 180 people to the stake,
including the bishop, on a single day
•The Knights Templars were accused of sodomy, heresy, and witchcraft—likely because of their wealth
•They confessed under torture: “I would gladly admit that I killed God”
•59 were burned in one session
•General inquisition—inquisitor charged all people in a town to accuse all they suspected of heresy, spies were
hired, and voluntary surrender brought penance
•Special inquisition—accused questioned, asked to name friends, essentially impossible to prove innocence
•Later became method of ensuring orthodoxy during Counter-Reformation
•Pope Paul IV (1550s)—“Even if my own father were a heretic, I would gather the wood to burn him”
•Spanish Inquisition—attempt to ensure orthodoxy of Jewish and Muslim converts in Spain
•1502—Isabella forces all citizens of Castile to convert
•Accusations made, possessions immediately seized
•Tips were given on how to recognize unconverted Jews—clean sheets on Friday nights, bleeding meat in water,
turning to the wall to die
•Torture was permitted—pulleys, slow drowning, rack
•Spanish Inquisition
•Victims could only be tortured once, but the end of session was classified as a “suspension”, and could be
“continued”
•A person could be tortured to confess the heresy of others
•Burnings became popular as social events
•Those who “repented” were not spared, but were strangled when the flames were lit as a sign of mercy
•Inquisition was a dramatic turn for Catholics
•384—Synod in Rome had denounced torture
•John Chrysostom (ca 400): “to put a heretic to death would be a crime that cannot be expiated”
•Pope Gregory (ca 600)—testimony given under duress should be ignored
•Pope Nicholas I (ca 850)—condemned torture as violation of divine law
•Even during this time, not everyone agreed, including German parish priest Balthasar Hubmaier:
•”The inquisitors are the greatest heretics of all, since, against the doctrine and example of Christ, they condemn
heretics to the fire. For Christ did not come to butcher, destroy and burn but that those who live might live
more abundantly”
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•Hubmaier was later burned as a heretic
•As a justification, Church claims heresy to be worst of all crimes—“Its vileness renders pure even Sodom and
Gomorrah” — and heretics actual physical emissaries of Satan
•Claim was of divine sanction of the death penalty based on Deut 7:2, Jer23:5
•Summary
•The Catholic Church moved from questioning the right of Christians to serve as soldiers to sending armies to
kill unbelievers
•The Catholic Church moved from reason and respect for authority of the pope to forcing obedience by torture
and death
Lessons from Crusades and Inquisition
•How to deal with error
–Persuasion and reasoning are used to convince, not force (Acts 17:2-4)
–God wants voluntary obedience (Matt 11:28-30)
–Being overly harsh in addressing error is not only counterproductive—it means we’re wrong! (2 Tim 2:24-26)
•Tendencies
–Emotionalism and frenzy
–Putting Christ’s name on what we want to do
–“The wish is father of the thought”
–Trusting in transparent justifications (the state is the one doing the killing)
•The Bigger Picture
–Claiming to be a part of the true apostolic church gives us fellowship with all the sins of its past
–Power corrupts—even in religion
–Being sincere about religion does not mean we are right
–Salvation cannot be offered by anyone but Jesus
–Salvation cannot be earned
Lessons from Protestant Reformation
Lesson 10
Back to the Bible
•Reformation was a perfect storm of political, social, religious factors
•Catholic corruption was particularly bad, visible
•1305-1378—Papacy moved to Avignon, France
•Urban VI—pope in 1378 became violent, drank heavily, declared ”I can do anything, absolutely anything I like”
•Another pope elected, 2 popes reign at same time
•1414—Council of Constance (condemned Huss)—convened with 3 popes at the same time
•John XXIII—had been pirate before becoming pope, not ordained before his papal coronation, never confessed
or took sacraments
•Gregory XII—almost 90, pawned his papal tiara to pay off gambling debts
•Benedict XIII—imprisoned in Avignon
•All this served to undermine the authority of the papacy, assertion that pope was Christ’s vicar
•Other factors conspired to create reformation:
•Political destabilization—move from Holy Roman Empire toward nationalism (gave reformers political strength
to withstand Catholic pressure)
•Printing press—Invented by Gutenberg around 1440, printed Bibles
•Humanism—emphasized education and ability to speak and write well, slogan “ad fonts” (“to the sources”)
•Europeans began to want to see the Bible, compare it to the papacy, and stand up for its teachings
•Happened in several independent movements
•John Wycliffe(1328-1384)
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–The Bible is “the highest authority for every Christian, and the standard of faith and all human perfection”
–All that is in it must be obeyed, all that was not was mere human invention, not to be trusted or obeyed
–Privileges of Rome “not worthe a fly’s foote”
–Men should “shake awey al ye lawe that ye pope hath maad” and return to the laws of God
–Stressed importance of personal faith in Christ, not obedience to Church
–Sharply criticized wealth of the clergy
–Concluded that Catholic practices were unscriptural
–Wycliffe and followers (called Lollards) ate meat on fast days, did not keep Sunday as a special day, did not
confess, criticized celibacy, purgatory
–“Exorcisms and hallowings, made in the Church, of wine, bread and wax, water, salt and oil and incense, the
stone of the altar, upon vestments, mitre, cross and pilgrims’ staves, be the very practice of necromancy, not
of holy theology”
–Because of his belief in the Bible’s importance, Wycliffe attempted to translate it into English
–Only Vulgate Bible (in Latin) was accepted, and the Church opposed translation into any native tongue
–Worship was also done in Latin, a language view common people understood
–Wycliffe’s translation frightened and angered the Church
–”The gospel pearl is thrown before swine and trodden underfoot…and became a joke, and this precious gem
of the clergy has been turned into the sport of the laity”
–1401 (After Wycliffe’s death)—Parliament passes act called “On the Burning of Heretics”
–Lollards could now be prosecuted and killed
–”It is a dangerous thing, as witnesseth blessed St Jerome, to translate the text of the holy Scripture out of one
tongue into another, for in the translation the same sense is not always easily kept…We therefore decree and
ordain, that no man, hereafter, by his own authority translate any text of the Scripture into English or any
other tongue…upon pain of greater excommunication” (Constitutions of Oxford)
•Jan Hus(1369-1415)—Czech professor and preacher influenced by Wycliffe
–Took aim at Catholic practices, especially indulgences
–1414—Began offering wine as well as bread to the laity (something the Catholic Church forbade)
–1415—3 popes summon Hus under imperial safe conduct to Council of Constance
–He is condemned, betrayed, burned at the stake
–Wycliffe and Hus were reformers 200 years too early, emphasized the “back to the Bible” mentality
•Erasmus—not a reformer, a popular philosopher
–Part of humanist movement, “ad fonts”(back to the sources)
–First studied great Greek and Roman classics, then turned his attention to the Bible
–1516—Erasmus publishes Greek NT, along with Latin translation
–Exposed errors in Jerome’s Vulgate translation:
–Ex 34:29—Jerome mistranslated Moses as having horns instead of a shining face
–Matt 3:2—“Do penance” instead of “repent”
Back to the Bible…..continued
•In this time, a spirit of new discovery of biblical texts reigned, strengthened by printing press and wider literacy
•Several men independently began to see through the Catholic Church on the basis of biblical focus
•Martin Luther (1483-1546)
–Augustinian monk who taught theology at University of Wittenberg, Germany
–Lectured on Psalms, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews
–Luther spoke of intense “temptations”, and a sense of inadequacy to live righteously
–1517—To raise money for building of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, indulgences were sold guaranteeing
forgiveness without penance, even eternal life
–One salesman: “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs”
–1517—Luther posts 95 Theses, propositions for debate about the sale of indulgences
–In the debate, Luther stressed grace while the Catholics stressed obedience to the pope
–The rift widened, and Luther went further in the direction of believing that faith alone—not obedience—
brought salvation
–Began to openly question the authority of the pope
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–1519—Argued Matt 16:18 does not confer on popes the sole right to interpret Scripture, neither pope nor
church councils were infallible
–1520—Excommunicated by Catholic Church
–“Farewell, unhappy, hopeless, blasphemous Rome!”
–1521—Summoned to Diet of Worms, ordered to recant
–His response:
–“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the
pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am
bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not
recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen”
–Continued to live in semi-exile, translated Bible into German
–“Sola scriptura”—Scripture alone sufficient
•Uldrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
–Independent of Luther, Swiss priest who taught himself Greek and Hebrew
–Broke tradition, preached the NT end to end, then the OT
–Began with deliberate eating of sausage on Lent
–Christians were free to follow Scripture alone
–Zwingli married and proudly displayed the fact (rather than the “housekeeper” most Swiss clergy had)
–Everything Roman called into question—indulgences, penitential works, pilgrimage, worship of saints,
monastic life
–Reduced sacraments to two—baptism and Lord’s Supper
–Marriage became civil ceremony
–Zwinglian churches—whitewashed walls, clear windows, plainest furnishings, no organs
–Zwingli also challenged the transubstantiation doctrine of Catholicism—that the bread physically became
Christ’s body in Communion
Back to the Bible …….continued
•These groups were not all unified—Luther broke with Zwingli over transubstantiation, and Calvin later added
an entire system
•Some were more radical in their changes
•On the whole, this period saw an intense desire to return to the Bible, along with courageous attempts to
challenge the Catholic Church’s claims to authority
•Summary
–Political, technological, and religious conditions were all favorable for reform
–Ordinary people had the courage and ability to just follow Scripture
Lessons from “Back to the Bible”
•How to deal with error
–Error must be confronted (Titus 1:9-11)
–If others will not change from what is wrong, we must break with them (1 Tim 1:19-20)
–We must debate honestly, not with agendas, seeking truth, not victory
•Tendencies
–Defending ourselves rather than honestly evaluating whether we’re right
–Extremes (faith vs. obedience)
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Lessons from Protestant Reformation
Lesson 11
The Salvation Question
•Central question of Protestant Reformation was how people are saved
•For centuries Roman Catholicism had held that salvation rested in obedience to the church
•Augustine (ca 400) had taught that all men are corrupt and need God’s salvation through faith, while at other
times defending the Catholic Church and its sacraments as agents of salvation
•As opposition to Catholicism grew, the debate about what brings salvation was vitally important, and echoes
today
•Luther
–Claimed he had a ―tower experience‖ where he had a breakthrough in his understanding of Rom 1:17
–Believed that faith was what declared someone righteous—this soon became faith alone
–Felt guilty, even after confession and penance
–Instead of a wrathful God, Luther found in Romans a God willing to forgive His elect through ―a gift of faith‖
–God imputed Christ’s righteousness to man, so that the sinner is seen as righteous instead of sinful;
simultaneously sinner and justified
–Natural logic—if faith alone saves (and this is a gift), then man can do nothing to affect salvation
–Luther began to deny free will of man
–Debate with Erasmus on free will, wrote the book “On the Bondage of the Will”
–Sin incapacitates man from working out his own salvation
–This led Luther to conclude that God’s predestination of the elect was entirely His choice—although Luther
did not dwell on this as Calvin did
–His view on salvation by faith led to break with disagreeing scriptural principles
–Rom 3:28 (in Luther’s translation): “We hold that man is justified without works of the law, by faith only”
–Ranked books that supported his view as more important (John, Rom, Gal, Eph, 1 Pet, Psalms) while attacking
those that disagreed (James, Heb, Esther)
–James ”a very strawy epistle” because stressed the relationship between works and salvation
–In short, Luther’s reaction to Catholic false teaching and shunning led him to an extreme stress on faith alone
for salvation
•Calvin
–Reformer in Geneva, Switzerland
–Church structure and local government indistinguishably linked in Geneva under Calvin
–Calvin extremely serious, studious, focused on church government and strongly against icons
–Calvin took Luther’s “faith only” position to its logical extreme, systematized it
–There is a savage logic to Calvin’s view of salvation
–Calvin’s thought focused on God’s sovereignty—He knows all, directs all, is completely dominant
–He has chosen to save, but this is His will, not ours
–Salvation is by faith, but only to the “elect” whom God chooses to have faith
–God has predestined who will be elect and who will be condemned, independent of what we do
–The elect will do good works, but not to be saved
–Once God saves them, they can never be lost, or else God is not sovereign
–Admitted that such predestination was “dreadful indeed” to humanity
–Critics: Calvin’s teaching makes God the author of evil
–Whenever something unpleasant happened, God was the author of it as well
–Calvin expressed his own confusion: “In actual fact, the covenant of life is not preached equally among all
men, and among those to whom it is preached, it does not gain the same acceptance either constantly or in
equal degree”
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•While the work of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli was widely praised, many felt they had not gone far enough
•Luther kept many non-scriptural customs under the logic that anything “not forbidden by scripture” should be
permitted
•Infant baptism was maintained by all three, despite lack of scriptural support or theological necessity
•Zwingli’s followers in Zurich criticized him, wanting him to support pacifism, oppose oaths and infant baptism
•Jan 1525—Baptized each other, broke bread
•Anabaptists
–Rejected state as having any place in true Christianity
–Renounced their infant baptism in order to repeat it, symbolized break with Catholicism, Christendom
–“Radical Restoration”—wanted to do more than simply reform Catholic Church—wanted to restore the
church to its state before Constantine
–Some were charismatic, some violent
–Four were drowned in Zurich in River Limmat
–Many different groups spring from them—Baptists, Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish
•Not all agreed with Luther and Calvin
•Arminius(1560-1609)
•Raised Dutch Calvinist, preacher in Amsterdam
•Troubled by Calvin’s (and Augustine’s) view of Romans, began voicing his doubts publicly
•Alarmed by despair of pious couple facing death who could not feel proper Calvinist certainty of divine
remission of their sins
•Became convinced of necessity of speaking very carefully and with fine distinctions on a matter like salvation
•Arminius(1560-1609)
–Strongly opposed by Dutch Calvinist leaders
–Followers draft Remonstrance:
–Depravity is total
–Atonement is unlimited (anyone can be saved)
–Grace is resistible
–Man has free will
–Election is conditional
–Eternal security is conditional
–Salvation by faith alone
–John Wesley (Methodist) was Arminian
–In response to the Remonstrance, Calvinism as we know it is defined as TULIP (Synod of Dort, 1619)
–Total hereditary depravity
–Unconditional election
–Limited atonement
–Irresistible grace
–Perseverance of the saints
•This may all seem like abstract theology, but some important considerations follow:
•After centuries of salvation being a corporate issue (solely by being a part of Catholic Church), the Reformation
made salvation a personal issue
•The discussions of this era account for the origins of most major denominations today
•What we believe about God and man’s ability to serve Him directly impacts how we live
•For better or worse, certain historical figures and their thoughts have an impact on the way we think about
salvation
•Summary
–Luther and Calvin taught salvation by faith alone, often extending the teaching to eliminate the free will of
man
–Anabaptists and Arminiansoffered distinct counterpoints to these views
Lessons from The Salvation Question
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•How to deal with error
–Being right in one debate doesn’t make us right in others (Gal 2:11-14)
–Removing all traces of error is an ongoing process, and we must have the humility to keep doing the work
•Tendencies
–Pendulum swings
–Unwillingness to admit we’re wrong
–Rewriting the Bible to support our decisions
•The Bigger Picture
–Just because we’re consistent with our arguments doesn’t mean we’re right!
–Starting with wrong premises will lead us to wrong conclusions
–Salvation is the most important matter, and we must be free to pursue it according to Scripture
Lesson 12
Why Did the Reformation Fail?
•Question implies what modern Protestants deny—that the Reformation did not accomplish its goals
•Rather than a unified church, the Reformation left a legacy of bitterly divided sects and denominations, usually
based on obscure doctrines or national allegiances
•Rather than a NT local church structure, the Reformation created a modified Catholicism (only not based in
Rome) complete with state interference
•Why did it fail?
•Incomplete return to the Bible
•Refusal to unite
•Bond between church and government
Incomplete Return to the Bible
•The goal of Reformers was to reformthe Catholic Church, remove abuses and restore proper teaching
•Historian Mark Noll: “The earliest Protestant leaders [Luther, Zwingli, Cranmer, Bucer, Melanchthon, Knox]
expected, or at least hoped, that their diligent attention to the great spiritual questions would lead to a general
reformation of the one Western church”
•This had happened before, and reform movements had often been absorbed within Catholicism as monastic
orders
•1530—Augsburg—Attempts at unification rebuffed by Emperor Charles V
•1541—Regensburg—Meeting of Reformation and Catholic leaders to reach peace
•Agreement reached on justification, but none on transubstantiation or confession
•Even up to this point, the hope was that the split could be healed and the Catholic Church “reformed”
•Yet most significant incomplete return was in the realm of salvation
•Protestant Reformers were united under teaching of salvation by “faith alone,” which was opposed to Catholic
teaching of salvation by works and sacraments
•This was not a restoration to the Bible’s teaching on salvation, but a reaction to Catholic teaching
•Luther, Zwingli, Calvin clung to infant baptism, which had no basis in Scripture
•Lutheran churches were essentially Catholic in liturgy, catechism, transubstantiation
•Ironically, in attempting to return to Scripture to reform the Catholic Church, reformers did neither
•Intent is not to be critical, but to point out that a partial return is insufficient
Refusal to Unite
•While it is clear that reformers could not unite with Catholics because of their insistence on papal authority, why
could they not be united with each other, on the basis of Scripture?
•Protestants were almost immediately divided in a number of ways
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•Very strong personalities were involved—Luther in particular—who refused to submit or compromise, even
when his position was not scriptural
•1529—Zwingli and Luther meet at Marburg
•Strong disagreement on transubstantiation—Zwingli believed Lord’s Supper was a symbolic memorial, Luther
that Christ was present “with” the bread
•Luther chalked the words “This is my body” on the table, told Zwingli “Pray that God will open your eyes!”and
labeled Zwingli a fanatic
•Luther’s repudiation of Catholicism meant flat refusal to agree with anyone, led to formation of uniquely
Lutheran church (distinct from “Reformed” churches of Zwingli and Calvin)
•A number of differences between Protestants:
•Scripture is final authority, but is it only authority? (Luther, Anglicans held that if traditions do not violate
central teachings of Scripture, they’re OK)
•Zwingli removed organ from his church because there was no Scripture, Luther promoted musical instruments
because he saw no scriptural rule against them
•A number of differences between Protestants:
•Meaning of Lord’s Supper and baptism
•Who received Lord’s Supper and baptism
•How sins were forgiven after baptism
•Music in the church
•Christians in the military?
•Organization of local and regional churches
•Should Mass be modified (Luther) or scrapped entirely (Anabaptists, Reformed)
•Even disagreements on what the church is
•As a result, unique types of Protestant Christianity developed in different locations under guidance of different
leaders
•Germany (Luther); Switzerland, Netherlands, Scotland, France (Calvin); England (Anglican)
•Almost all groups persecuted the Anabaptists as radicals
•Thus instead of unity, these leaders created the abundance of Protestant denominations we see today
Bond Between Church and Government
•Reformation was given legs by governments longing to break ties with Roman empire, allegiance
•Luther was protected after his excommunication by his prince, Frederick the Wise of Saxony
•Calvin was given authority by the city leaders of Geneva to institute his reforms, created a forced Protestant city
•Often the same abuses of Catholics in government were repeated by Protestants—only the names had changed
•Calvin burned Michael Servetus, a heretic who opposed his teaching
•58 people were executed while Calvin was in charge of Geneva
•Munster, Germany taken over by Anabaptists in 1534, all who refused adult baptism were banished, proclaimed
the heavenly Jerusalem
•Instead of a return to scriptural church government, Protestants became intoxicated with the same blending of
church and state power that Catholics had for centuries
•Perhaps best example of this is in England
•Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, who had been married to his brother
•Henry, angry that Catherine produced no male heir, appealed to the pope for an annulment on the basis of
Catholic prohibition of marrying brother’s wife
•Pope refused (Catherine’s nephew was Holy Roman Emperor, pope was scared of him)
•Henry broke ties with Rome, asked archbishop of Canterbury (Cranmer) to annul his marriage
•1534—English Act of Supremacy—Church taxes formerly paid to Rome should go to the king, who is now the
only supreme head on earth of the Church of England (Anglican)
•England’s religious fate in the hands of its king
•Anglicanism is the “middle way” (via media) of not wholly Catholic and not wholly Protestant
•Mary (1553-1558)—switches nation back to Catholicism, executes many Protestant leaders (“Bloody Mary”)
•Elizabeth (1558-1603)—Restores Protestantism
•England is an excellent example of the convergence of government authority in religion, growing sense of
nationalism, rebellion against Rome, and practical considerations in Reformation
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•In short, the marriage of church and government still prevented people from freely pursuing Christ and made
religion a political issue
Why did the Reformation fail?
•Incomplete return to the Bible
•Refusal to unite
•Bond between church and government
Lessons from The Reformation
•How to deal with error
–There are only two sources of authority (Matt 21:25)
–We have a twofold challenge: to maintain a spirit of unity while confronting error (Eph 4:1-6)
–We cannot deal with error without fully returning to Scripture (Acts 17:11-12)
–Every issue demands scriptural examination
•Tendencies
–Growing comfortable with our beliefs instead of continually examining
–Pride and condescension
–Bitter, divisive spirit
•The Bigger Picture
–Unity is only possible on the basis of Scripture
–NT Christians would be considered fanatics in anyera
–Religious toleration is a blessing
–Returning to Scripture is a process, not an event
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