Update Twenty Two

III: Religious Warfare

i: Introduction

Following the lack of compromise at Trent tensions increased. The horrors of the earlier war between Rome and Protestants had caused a lull in the fighting lasting almost fifty years. The Peace of Augsburg had stopped fighting all over the continent for a time. But still the religious differences caused issues, and in France bloody wars of religions continued to be fought shortly after the Peace . By the dawn of the seventeenth century the peace of Augsburg was unraveling amidst all this tension as neither side would comply with the Peace. Violence would finally break out in 1606 when Lutherans stopping a Catholic procession in Germany started a riot. This was but a prelude for a war lasting thirty years, encompassing all of Europe, and costing the lives of more than ten million people. The religious wars had begun.

ii: The Thirty Year War

Starting in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, the Thirty Year War was initiated by warring factions trying to reassert control in the war torn region. The touching off point after the many breakings of the Peace of Augsburg was the conversion of Cologne’s Prince-Archbishop to Calvinism, turning the tide of the electors to favor the Protestants. Spain went to war with Cologne to keep it Catholic and to keep the Hapsburgs on the throne. During this time Lutheranism was being broken up by the influx of Calvinism, an unrecognized religion in the eyes of the Peace of Augsburg and one which might give Catholics the right to invade. The final move that ignited war was the death of Emperor and King Mathias with no heir. He left all his holdings to the Hapsburg Ferdinand II, soon to be Emperor Ferdinand. Thanks to the Spanish Cologne War Ferdinand rose to the throne as Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. Educated by the Jesuits, Ferdinand was a staunch supporter of Rome and sought to reclaim its place of authority over all Christians. To solidify Bohemia and to establish Roman rule there Ferdinand sent his emissaries there to the people of Bohemia. Due to the general dislike of Ferdinand, and the people’s fear of losing their right to practice Protestantism, the people tossed his two emissaries out of a second story window into a pile of manure, starting the Thirty Year War. Due to intricate alliances, unions, and family connections, the war in Bohemia quickly spread throughout all of Germany. With the help of Spanish armies the Emperor was able to achieve victory in Bohemia by 1620, defeating Prince Fredrick and ending the two hundred year old religious freedom of the Hussites. This part of the war ended with the Emperor and the Prince of Transylvania signing a treaty in which the Prince gained some lands in the east to stop his fighting. Prince Fredrick, living in exile, attempted to come back but the Protestants were crushed utterly in 1625. The hopes of the Protestants were ended until the following year when The Danes intervened, spreading the war out of Germany and into other states. Switzerland would soon join the fray, followed by the French. At this time every nation on the continent was involved in the war. By the ending phases, many Catholics had turned on one another for political reasons and the wars degenerated as the purpose was lost. Roving armies of mercenaries were devastating the land, burning everything down, destroying thousands of cities, and massacring hundreds of thousands of peasants. Thirty years this raged on, reducing the population by some fifteen to twenty percent. In some nations the population was reduced a full third, some having loss more than half of their men. The Spanish and the Imperial Armies were allied against the Danish, the German, the French, and the Swedish Armies. Finally the Swedes were able to break the back of the imperial forces while in 1643 the French finally defeated the Spanish Armies, bringing about the Peace of Westphalia. Yet mores wars were sparked from this and peace would not be known again until the early eighteenth century, just in time for Napoleon.

iii: England’s Revolution

In England, separated from the issues of the Continent, wars still would come and go. In all more than a hundred thousand people would lose their lives, nothing compared to the Thirty Year War. Tensions began in the mid-1500s as the protestant Church was born in England only to be quickly pushed back by the Queen Mary. When Elizabeth ascended to the Throne she brought back Protestantism but left if broken in two. Within the Church of England there were two camps, the high church and the low church camps. The high church camp wanted to hold closer to Rome and Roman forms, some even seeking reunion with Rome. The low church was thoroughly protestant and Calvinist, seeking a complete break from Rome even in forms and symbols. Such separation would boil for nearly a hundred years before political causes gave it an out. This came in the form of King Charles. Supported by the high church advocates, Charles married a Catholic princess and wanted to become involved in the Thirty Years War for the side of the Catholics. His final push was when he moved for a remake of the Book of Prayer in high church fashion. In response to this, in 1637, the Scottish, strongly low church Calvinist, rebelled from Charles. Further, Charles refused to call a parliament, angering low church people who wished to limit royal rule. Civil war broke out and over the course of three wars, by 1649, Charles was executed and Oliver Cromwell came to lead the now parliamentary government. The wars, spawned by religious conflict cost nearly two hundred thousand lives, even reducing the population of Ireland by 41%. All these gains would be turned over in the Restoration ten years later. Finally, nearing the middle of the eighteenth century, religious wars among Christians had settled down. But let us not forget that the remnants of these battles exist to this day, most notable in Ireland where religious war is hardly ended.

Update Twenty One

v: The Council of Trent

Finally the Church had done enough to take what it saw as the ultimate step towards ending the protestant menace. Three years into the Inquisition the Pope was finally successful in calling for an Ecumenical Council. After a compromise between the Emperor and the Pope the Council was set in Trent, a small town in the Holy Roman Empire. Since 1520 members of the Church, first Martin Luther and then Popes and Emperors, had tried to convene an Ecumenical Council. For twenty-five years it was delayed. Locations wouldn’t work out, Protestants refused to come, wars broke out. Eventually a Council was set in place in 1545, but no longer was the Pope sympathetic to reconciliation. Rome was out for blood. This council is considered by many to be the greatest council of the Church. It created what is the modern Catholic Church. Lasting for twenty years and five Popes and two emperors, the council dealt with an enormous amount of issues. The goal of the Council was to set into inviolable practice all those things which would make Protestants t be heretical. To this end the Council set out a number of Canons to be followed:

Priesthood
CANON I.--If any one saith, that there is not in the New Testament a visible and external priesthood; or that there is not any power of consecrating and offering the true body and blood of the Lord, and of forgiving and retaining sins; but only an office and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel, or, that those who do not preach are not priests at all; let him be anathema.
CANON III.--If any one saith, that order, or sacred ordination, is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord; or, that it is a kind of human figment devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical matters; or, that it is only a kind of rite for choosing ministers of the word of God and of the sacraments; let him be anathema.
CANON IV.--If any one saith, that, by sacred ordination, the Holy Ghost is not given; and that vainly therefore do the bishops say, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; or, that a character is not imprinted by that ordination; or, that he who has once been a priest, can again become a layman; let him be anathema.
CANON VII.--If any one saith, that bishops are not superior to priests; or, that they have not the power of confirming and ordaining; or, that the power which they possess is common to them and to priests; or, that orders, conferred by them, without the consent, or vocation of the people, or of the secular power, are invalid; or, that those who have neither been rightly ordained, nor sent, by ecclesiastical and canonical power, but come from elsewhere, are lawful ministers of the word and of the sacraments; let him be anathema.
Justification
CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
CANON XXX.-If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of
CANON XXXII.-If any one saith, that the good works of one that is justified are in such manner the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified, by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,-if so be, however, that he depart in grace,-and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema
These and many, many more Canons and dogmas made the Council of Trent the deciding council of what the Roman Church was. Now the division between Protestants and Catholics was set in stone. The Church made unspoken tradition unassailable dogma, anyone speaking against or insulting it being in the danger of excommunication. Purgatory was put in the books while indulgences for money were written out. Trent made the Latin Vulgate bible the official bible, including the books we know of as the Apocrypha. By the standard of Trent, there could be no reconciliation any more. It gave the Protestants the options of submitting to Roman dogma or being exterminated in the ever increasing Inquisition. But in this the Roman Church had played its hand to far. The Protestants would not just go quietly in the night. This ultimatum solidified the Protestant positions. They would fight to the death for their beliefs, and as it turned out often to the death of Catholic forces. War was here. No longer was it veiled in political schemes. This was a religious war.

Update Twenty

II: Rome Fights Back

i: Introduction

With a violent push, Protestantism had thrust itself upon Europe and the Roman Church. In a series of bloody battles, the Protestants had captured vast areas once under Roman rule, threatening to overrun the Church in Rome. Though outnumbered, the Protestants had fought well and secured themselves in places of power. There seemed to be no turning back from this world order, but Rome would try. Interestingly, none of the Reformers held beliefs that were explicitly against Roman doctrine. Many points of the Reformation, which included indulgences, justification, the clergy, authority, sacraments, and particularly corruption, only interfered with tradition that as of yet was not written down as a decree or a dogma by councils. Some high placed Catholics did indeed agree with much Protestant teaching. Yet the freedom the Protestants took to express this was seen as deadly to the Church. And so set in motion was a way to turn back Protestant gains and to make them heretics. The Church had the resources to fight this war. Implementation was what was needed. And this was not slow in coming.

ii: Spanish Reforms

The Church in Rome had a great object lesson for their move to eradicate the Reformers. This lesson was that of Spain. Spain had gone through the steps that the Church of Rome saw as necessary to reassert itself in Europe. Early in the seventh and eighth century Spain was overrun by the advancing Muslim Armies. If not for Charles Martel this force would have continued its march throughout all of Europe, conquering the last stronghold of Christianity left in the world. Failing in conquest to the North, the Islamic forces set up kingdoms throughout Spain. For hundreds of years they ruled over the Iberian Peninsula excepting only the small Christian kingdom of Aragon in the North. Then in the twelfth century the forces of the Christian kingdoms closest to Spain joined forces to begin the Reconquesta, the retaking of Spain. Beginning slowly, the war really began in the fifteenth century, ending when the kingdoms of Castille and Aragon joined together in the persons Isabella and Ferdinand, who would finish driving the last Muslims out of the Kingdom of Grenada in 1492, coinciding with Columbus’ famous voyage. With this alliance the new unified Spanish kingdom was born, under the banner of the Hapsburg family, which would long be the most powerful nation of Europe as well as being the strongest supporter of Rome even to this day. In the wake of the Reconquesta came one of the most brutal of inquisitions, the Spanish Inquisition. Receiving authority for an inquisition the Spanish authorities set about the killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Jews, and heretics who had not responded to the order to leave the land of Spain. This reign of terror lasted centuries and successfully pacified all of Spain, a country that had been ruled for centuries by Muslims. It became the success story of the Crusades and the Church’s felt mission at that time. Spain was the example for the Church to follow to vanquish all heretics and to spread across the world. But the power the Church wielded in Spain soon turned to corruption, as power so often does. It fell to the same depths as all its brother nations and may have suffered the reformations of the rest Europe if not for its leaders’ foresight. Isabella and Ferdinand started to enforce the morality of the Church on itself using Cardinal Ximenes as their instrument. To go along with this crushing of corruption the Spanish Inquisition destroyed any ideas not strictly orthodox as the Roman Church saw it, never letting any stray ideas the chance to live. With these precautions no reformation shook Spain and it was able to provide vast armies for the Papacy in the coming religious wars. Rome saw these attempts and in 1552 the short reigned Pope Adrian VI attempted to mimic the Spanish reforms, but he was unable to budge the many interests of the Church which lay within the secular realm. Still, Spain would last as the successful story the Church of Rome must follow to defeat the Protestants. The Spanish had done it and Rome would follow suit to regain order.

iii: The Society of Jesus

Coinciding with the increasing push for reform and the progress of the Protestants was the founding of the greatest and most powerful order within the Roman Church, the Society of Jesus known more commonly as the Jesuits. The Jesuits were a group formed by Ignatius Loyola. Loyola was born in the late fifteenth century to noble parents. His desire was always to be great. Initially this led him to the Spanish Army were he quickly became a distinguished warrior. At the height of his career he was wounded in the leg and forced to end his soldiering career. Leaving this his desire was to become a saint. To this end he began an incredibly ascetic monk lifestyle. In this desire he underwent a similar experience as Luther, eventually throwing himself wholly on the mercy of God. He followed this up by taking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On returning he set about learning theology, now being thirty years of age. In this effort he came to realize the need of the Church to have a learned, disciplined group of military-like teachers and evangelists. To this end he gathered around him some close friends and took a vow to work out their lives in Palestine, or barring that to seek the guidance of the Pope. Since wars in the East prevented them from going to Palestine. Heading to Rome, by 1540, the Society of Jesus was officially recognized by the Pope. They took upon themselves the three ordinary vows of an order, the vow of poverty, the vow of chastity, and the vow of obedience. Upon this Loyola added one more, one out of his military background. All Jesuits must take a vow of absolute and unhesitating obedience to the Pope. This blind obedience to the Pope, and for the members to those higher than themselves in the order, made the order very powerful. A network of spies made sure that the order was kept as set up, seeing as the head of the order had absolute authority over those below him. They were released from normal obligations such as special dress and routines. They quickly became the most educated order, setting up many free schools that are known to this day. Their power lay in that all members were to follow all Church tradition and doctrine as divine law. One example of Loyola is his saying (if true), ‘If the Church pronounces a thing which seems to us white to be black, we must immediately say it is black.” The absolute power in the order led quickly to corruption, but not before they showed the Roman Church a way to launch a counter-reformation and paved the way for the Council of Trent which would agree with many of their ideas.

iv: The Roman Inquisition

Following the success of the Spanish Inquisition and with the influence of the Jesuits, Rome set up the new Roman Inquisition in 1542. The Pope set out an official Papal Bull establishing the Holy Office of the Inquisition the first and only permanent Inquisition (renamed the Congregation for the Doctrines on the Faith in 1965 which was presided over by the Cardinal Josef Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI). With the new tools of the Roman Inquisition and the Society of Jesus the Roman Church went on attempt to regain its position in Protestant lands. The formation of the Inquisition marked the beginning of the Church fully taking a violent stance against the Protestants not using the veil of secular leaders. Peace had finally come to the secular nations but now the Church was beginning to turn on its own engines of war. And a war it started would not be a light thing. It would devastate Europe worse than any previous war.

Update Nineteen

One Faith Day Eight

The Counter-Reformation / The Religious Wars
16th century – 18th Century

I: Scars of the Reformation

i: Introduction

For all theological purposes, by the 1550s the reformation was over. While the Protestant churches would continue to divide over theological issues, as there was no longer a central authority for interpretation of the faith, the rift between the Roman Church and the churches of the reformation was complete. What we deal with here is the effect of that rift on European society and how the Church of Rome solidified this rift as dogma. The world now was a vastly different place than its ancient counterpoint fifteen centuries earlier. For five hundred years of Christianity the Empire of Rome had dominated the west, reaching deep into the east and south. Its power was for so long uncontestable. But time and inertia worked against it and it crumbled under its own weight, bringing western culture to the brink of oblivion as hordes of unlearned savages out of the north and the east ravaged lands ranging from the African coasts to the Bosphorus Straits, even pillaging in streets of the Eternal City itself. Following this decimation of Europe and Christendom the onslaught of the advanced Islamic armies added to the destruction. Totally consuming the heart of Christendom, taking the crucial cities of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, this attack left the Church crippled in its unity, and yet it left power in the hands of the one place that might once again change the tides and remake Europe in its image, the city of Rome. From this position of darkness, as Europe descended into the aptly named Dark Ages, the Church in Rome remade the powers of Europe into a force to be reckoned with. Christendom was reasserted after three hundred years of darkness as the Christian Franks drove the Muslims out of much of Western Europe and Charlemagne took on the long lost title of Emperor of the Romans. Unity had been restored to the states of Europe, at least in name. Unity did exist in the West, in the Roman Church and its Eastern counterpart, but the individual nation-states and city-states continued to vie for secular dominance. This strife refused to remain secular, however, as the Great Schism soon severed the two Churches, but the western Roman Church would rise to monolithic proportions over what was quickly becoming the greatest power on earth, the European nations. Starting in the thirteenth century, under the influence and patronage of the Church, as well as a newly rising noble class, the arts of the Classical age were brought back. Unfortunately for the Roman Church, this also led to a resurgence of Classical ideas, ideas that included liberty and freedom of thought. The Church continued to thrive in this rapidly changing atmosphere, yet despite its political successes the influx of power also brought an influx of corruption. Over the years this increased until the age of the reformers. While the Roman Church had withstood any number of great threats to its power it had never met a challenge that had weakened it and threatened to replace it. It finally met that challenge in a handful of men willing to risk death to stand up for their beliefs. The rift this caused in Europe, whose warfare technology had been steadily advancing beyond any other in the world, would have devastating effects on the continent, but arguably would lead to its domination of the world. For now though, as the sixteenth century continued to grind its bloody course, the seams that had held society together were splitting and all out war was coming fast.

ii: Shattered Unity

The shattered unity of contingent political entities was most apparent, and earliest to occur, in the German states. Going into the dark ages this territory had been a dark, fragmented land. Out of it had come the many people groups that would eventually become several of the European nations. Running from the hordes of Asia and seeking land for a growing population they had spread out all over the continent. But the old tribal systems still remained in Germany, and as Charlemagne and his successors carved out a new Roman Empire, these tribes would be the basis for the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. By the turn of the first millennium, Germany had become the Holy Roman Empire. But this was a unity enforced across many kingdoms. In all, twenty-six separate political entities, ranging from great kingdoms to tiny free states, as well as hundreds of smaller entities, were banded together under the imperial banner. This collection was held together by the electors and their support of particular emperors. For more than half a millennium this structure held fast despite the various wars and crusades that constantly racked the continent. Now in the sixteenth century this was about to end. The outbreak of protestant theology across fully half of the Empire caused an undeniable break in unity. Violence broke out almost immediately between different people groups. When the Lutheran princes made their position clear with the confession of Augsburg, going against the will of the Emperor to read it aloud in German, the division was made permanent. War ensued between the different regions of the empire. Protestant armies in the north fought against the rich church estates in the south. Much blood had been spilt already by the Germans in the putting down of the Great Peasant Revolt. Even more was spilt now to retain religious freedom. The Catholic regions wanted to restore church power in the north while the protestant princes were bending the theological issues to their secular ends, using it as an excuse to increase territory and power. This picture was repeated across Europe. Catholics in France fought to extinction the Huguenots, slaughtering them in the streets of Paris. Protestants ran out Catholic in England, only to be defeated by Mary with more bloodshed, leading to more war between Catholic elements in England and the Protestants in Scotland. In Switzerland a bitter struggle was fought between the city-states of different religions resulting in multiple massacres. All nation of Europe was touched by this initial uprising, save Spain and southern Italy.

iii: Devastated Europe

Following these intense battles Europe was exhausted. For decades war had raged between the different religions of Christianity. Finally, as the land was being destroyed, war slowed and eventually stopped. In France the Catholics had been successful, exterminating all of the Protestants, but in Switzerland and Germany Protestants had held their own. In 1552 the Protestants in Germany won a decisive battle, leading to the Peace of Passau and religious freedom for Lutherans. The fighting did not stop yet despite this peace. In 1555 the Peace of Augsburg put an end to the fighting, even as fighting was dying out throughout Europe. The Peace of Augsburg followed the principle that the ruler chooses the religion. Peasants and others were given the right to move to a region which corresponded to their religion during a grace-period. Lutherans could keep captured lands but former bishops had to give up their rights and estates. This peace would settle across all of Europe, leaving a devastated land, one tired of war, but one still steeping, as greater horrors were shortly to come. As the seventeenth century neared, the bounds of peace which wrapped up the continent were beginning to break.

Update Eighteen

II: The European Reformation

i: Introduction

As conditions worsened throughout Europe due to every present plagues and an increasing food shortage, the Church swept the early reformers under the rug and continued its descent into the depths of depravity and corruption. The clergy continued to grow in power and money along with the powerful Lords while the peasants were being pressed ever more, treated as slaves and starved to death. On the backs of this dying and despairing lot the Church and the State continued to grow fat. But this course could not continue forever. Too many men were beginning to stand up to reform the world. The nations of Europe were ripe for change. Deep within the powder keg of the German empire a spark was about to let fly, while in the city-states of eastern France and Switzerland intellectual forces were gathering with enough force to change the world.

ii: The German Reformation

After centuries of preparation, the Church had finally reached the critical point where change was inevitable. Too long had the many abuses of power went on in the name of Jesus Christ. No where was this more evident than in the Holy Roman Empire, modern day Germany and the surrounding countries. Ruled in a semi-democracy, the Emperor was voted on by the Electors, the princes of Germany. This princes ruled vast tracts of Germany and the surrounding areas and reaped great benefits the Church. This benefit was threefold. First, the Emperor claimed a crown which was bestowed by the Rome Pope. His authority was rooted in the Church. Along with this was the second benefit, as the State ruled with the blessing of the Church. To secure salvation one must follow the Church and the State, allowing the Emperor to keep his subjects in their oppression under threat of eternal damnation. The final benefit was purely monetary. The German princes and the emperor reaped great rewards from the Church for the placement of Bishops and the increased trade from pilgrims and the like. The system worked well fro the noble class, but pressed the peasantry to the point of near open revolt against all of the established order. The rally cry for peasant revolts would come soon in the person of Martin Luther. First, as a disclaimer, Luther was not a very organized theologian. He did not think systematically as later theologians did and therefore it is difficult sometimes to pinpoint what his theology was. We do know his stance on the critical points of Reformation theology such as the three central tenants Sola Gratia et Fides, Sola Scriptura, and the priesthood of believers. Outside of these areas Luther was often paradoxical and tended towards emotional writings and moving statements rather than solid theological foundations. The theology that actually comprises Lutheranism was actually hammered out by his followers, particularly Philipp Melanchthon. It was, however, those emotional and moving theological statements that were needed to light the flames of reformation and get the Reformation to start. Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben, Germany, to an upper middle class mine owner. At a young age Luther was sent away for his education, eventually studying to become a lawyer. Studying in Erfurt a few miles away from home, Luther would walk home on weekends. One weekend Luther encountered his fateful lightning storm. Nearly being killed by a bolt of lightning, Luther swore his life to God as a monk if only he would let him live. From here, despite his father’s disapproval, Luther went on to become an Augustinian monk. Racked by feelings of guilt and shame Luther, under the guidance of his confessor, Johannes Staupitz the vicar-general of the German Augustinians, broke through Roman theology to the core of the Gospel, salvation by faith alone. With this revelation Luther began to challenge the establishment. Beginning to teach at Wittenberg’s new University, Luther was able to spread his ideas. This may have been as far as he would have gone if not for the fateful visit of John Tetzel to Wittenberg. Incensed by this gross perversion of the Gospel, Luther immediately posted his 95 thesis on October 31st 1517. With the help of the printing press this document circulated throughout all of Europe, catching the eye of even the pope who claimed Luther to be a ‘drunken monk’ and a ‘boar’ in need of killing. Unfortunately for the Romans they did not take the matter seriously enough and soon all of Germany was in flames as peasants reinterpreted Luther’s teachings. After this peasants revolt was put down, with the help of Luther, the princes of Germany began to side with Luther. He now had the protection of half the German empire. Through many trials Luther made it out alive, his allies keeping the memory of John Hus close at hand while planning. Excommunicated and hunted, Luther lived in relative security with the princes of Germany. The greatest nation in Europe, heir to the Carolingian dynasty, was now torn in two; half the princes remaining Roman while the other half turned Lutheran. Using the Augsburg Confession, the princes stood up for the Reformation and set in stone was the division between the two German camps. T hose for Rome would remain Roman; those for Luther would remain Lutheran. This was the best deal the Roman Church could work out, and yet it wouldn’t be enough as decades of religious wars were coming soon. Luther ended up dying a peaceful death in his home town of Eisleben in 1546. He left behind a shattered world, but at least it was a world with hope. His theology of Justification would develop into modern Sotierology (theology of salvation), and his views on the Christian’s union with Christ, recently rediscovered and worked on in the New Finnish interpretation, would lead to new viewpoints on salvation. Luther also became the focal point for a unified German language thanks to his prolific writing and his German Bible. Sadly, Luther would also leave a troubling legacy. He supported the idea that a ruler of a particular area should determine the religion of its people, a concession for peace in Germany. Luther directed the princes to wage brutal war against poor peasants. Luther also left a legacy of anti-Semitism after being rejected by the Jews, a typical recourse Luther had for those who did not accept him yet made more terrible in his later years by his publication of anti-Semitic books, publications that would one day be used by Nazis to support the Holocaust. Luther’s influence was vast, for good or ill, and it would be this influence which would effect more than just Germany, but all of Europe.

iii: The Swiss Reformation

Following after the works of Luther, claiming to be a separate movement, came the work of Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli was born in Glarus Switzerland in 1484. Having a similar upbringing as Luther, Zwingli was transformed by a meeting he had with the humanist Erasmus. Following these humanistic teaching, thinking highly of man, Zwingli went on to become a famous preacher. He was invited into Zurich, the main city of the Swiss Confederacy, and quickly became the ‘people’s preacher’ at its cathedral by his 35th birthday. Going beyond Luther, Zwingli purged the Swiss churches of Roman influence, changing the entire look of the Church in Switzerland. Quickly Zwingli Protestantism took over the Swiss Confederacy, merging the Church with the State in a way Rome could only dream of. He also took his theology further away form Roman than Luther, seen especially in the divisive issue of the Lord’s Supper, which Zwingli taught as purely ceremonial. Eventually some Swiss reformers would rise up to try and take the Reformation further. These were the Anabaptists, and they wanted to do away with infant baptism in exchange for believer baptism (Anabaptist stands for re-baptizers, modern day Mennonites). This group was heavily persecuted by Zwingli, many were arrested and some drowned in the Swiss rivers. In 1531 tensions in Switzerland between Catholics and Protestants became too great. The Forest Cantons, those counties still holding to Rome, launched an attack against the Protestants. Zwingli would die a violent death at the hands of these Forest Cantons, taking an axe blow to the head in his suicide mission to defend the protestant city-states. The defense worked, however, and the main protestant army arrived to defend the cities. While Zwingli died before all his work was complete, one John Calvin would pick up his work and Luther’s, founding the Reform church and spreading the reformation ideas throughout France, England, Holland, Scotland, and eventually the American colonies. Calvin was born in France in 1509. Calvin is best known for systematizing Protestant theology in his Institutes, and for the famous TULIP model, though he did not actually devise TULIP ( Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the Saints). Growing up in an intellectual climate, Calvin converted to Protestantism in 1530. He fled from France to Switzerland when persecution broke out against Protestants in Paris. At the age of twenty-five he wrote the Institutes of Christian Religion, in which he laid out all of Protestant theology. It was an immediate success and catapulted him to a place of fame. In 1537 Calvin was travelling to Strasburg when he was detoured to the newly converted city of Geneva. Once there the city begged him to stay, which he did. Quickly he became the ruler of the city, leading to Calvin’s Geneva. He turned the city into his perfect model of Protestantism. Sometimes ruthless, Calvin once had a travelling atheist burned at the stake. Discipline was strict, but with the emphasis on the middle class merchants Calvinism prospered. The mercantile bent and prosperity of Calvinists caused it to expand as merchants travelled, taking their religion with them. Wealthy and powerful, Calvinism would be rooted permanently in Northern Switzerland as well as throughout Scotland. It was this Scottish influence which would leak into the Anglican Church and form Anglican theology. Calvin would lead his part of the Reformation from his city of Geneva, dying there in 1564. On the field of theology, Calvin took a mediating position between Luther and Zwingli in regards to the Lord’s Supper. Calvin advanced Luther’s idea of double predestination, the idea that God predestines both those who go to Heaven and those who go to Hell. Despite differences, Calvin very much built off Zwingli who had built off of Luther. While the vehemence with which they disagreed can be understood in light of their theological bent (Luther was strong on Communion because of his strong views of the Union with Christ) it was truly minor issues which separated them in these early days. Still, being separate they did successfully fend off the most powerful organization the Earth has yet to see, the Roman Church. And in doing so they brought back the light of the apostolic faith, lost beneath the corruption and vestments of Rome.

iv: The English Reformation

Starting from far less noble reasons then the other reformations, the English reformation was initiated by King Henry VIII’s desire to dissolve his marriage. At this time, when the marriage and birth in a royal family meant so much, kings could generally be granted annulments to their marriage in the protection of their marriage, but these annulments had to come from Rome to be effective. Since so much power and wealth were wrapped up in these unions, political considerations usually trumped spiritual ones. The king of England, married to a Spanish princess, wished to find a new wife since he had yet to produce an heir with her. The Papacy, however, refused to grant the annulment as this would be detrimental to the Spanish monarchy, one of the strongest and firmest supporters of the Papacy. Enraged, the king went around the pope and claimed himself as the head of the English church, not the Pope, and appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury as the highest clergy. With this set up the king got his annulment from Canterbury and gave birth to the Anglican, or English, Church. This archbishop, appointed as the newly created head of the Anglican Church in 1534, was Thomas Cranmer. While granting the divorce, Cranmer went on to immerse himself in protestant theology and brought these ideas to England, truly reforming the Church there despite its secular beginnings. He produced the Book of Common Prayer, the standard worship tool for the Anglican Church, and opened the door for Continental Protestants to escape from the pressures of the Roman Church. Unfortunately in the year 1553 ‘Bloody Mary” gained the throne and converted the island back to Rome. In doing this she beheaded or burned three hundred Protestants, along with Cranmer. Protestants running from her ended up in Geneva and would bring back a more Reformed theology to England. When Mary died in1558 Elizabeth I took over and restored the Church of England. By now two groups in English Protestantism had grown up, the High Church advocates of Anglicanism led by Richard Hooker and the Low Church advocates of Puritanism led by Walter Travers. These two groups were forced together by Elizabeth but their differences would facilitate the English civil war a century later. These difficulties foreshadowed the coming terror to the Continent. As religious differences increased, war began brewing. Counter-reformation was on the way and the legions of Rome were about to be unleashed across the continent against the multiplying heretics called the Reformers. The fires of the early years of Reformation would pale in comparison to the coming Religious Wars.


VI: Further Reference

Owen Chadwick’s A History of Christianity

Everett Ferguson’s Church History v.1 & v.2

Francis Gregor’s The Story of Bohemia

Alister McGrath’s Christian Theology

Mark Noll’s Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

Roger Olson’s The Story of Christian Theology

William C. Placher’s A History of Christian Theology

William C. Placher’s Readings in the History of Christian Theology v.1

Paul Spickard and Kevin Cragg’s A Global History of Christians
M.E. Thalheimer’s Medieval And Modern History (Out of print in 1874)

Update Seventeen

One Faith Day Six

The Reformation
16th century

I: Precursors to the Reformation

i: Introduction

We enter the sixteenth century as a tumultuous time. Battling its way through the Dark Ages the Church of Rome had established a status quo throughout all of Europe. With its separation from the East in the eleventh century Rome had come to once again dominate the entire west. Under the banner of a Holy Roman Empire the Church was able to unify the warring feudal lords into a powerful mixture of nations with which to exercise its rule. Utilizing barbarian ferocity, Latin teaching, and the focal point of the Christian religion this land, once considered a dark and desolate land, beat back all external threats. With that lack of an external outlet for aggression and wanderlust and with the propagation of ever stronger royal families, Europe was beginning to tear itself apart in numerous wars among those who were supposed to be united under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire and the Church of Rome. Throughout its guiding of these European powers the Church had taken on some very pagan aspects, particularly the corruption which ran rampant throughout the Church. Bishoprics were sold back and forth, given to whoever could pay Rome the most not who could serve best. Even children were placed in these powerful positions for the prestige this brought to powerful families. The politics of the states and the politics of the Church were hopelessly intermingled. At one time it was so bad that the French actually took over the Papacy, relocating the Papacy to Avignon from 1309-1377, leading to a situation in which at one time there were three elected popes. In the midst of all this confusion, turmoil, and corruption several members of the Roman Church began to look for ways to stem the tide of corruption, both theologically and corporally. While the Church was making some attempt at reformation for itself, setting forth several decrees of reformation in the handful of so called ecumenical councils of this period, these attempts were too little too late. More drastic measures were required to fix the Church, and a more drastic price was going to have to be paid then anyone in the Church hierarchy was willing to pay. The men willing to step up to make these changes and pay these prices were the precursors to the coming Reformation.

ii: John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe was born in Lutterworth, Yorkshire England in the year 1330. A Roman Catholic throughout his life, Wycliffe died as a parish minister in 1784. In his ministry Wycliffe took a strong stance against the corruption rampant in the Church. With a fiery tongue, lending itself to reprisals, Wycliffe verbally lashed out at the establishment saying things such as, “So the wicked pope is anti-Christian and a devil, for he is both falsehood itself and the father of lies,” and calling friars “ adulterers of the Word of God in prostitute’s robes and colored veils.” Becoming a master at Balliol College of Oxford University at an early age, Wycliffe rose quickly to prominence as a skilled scholar and teacher. Winning the favor of the royal family, Wycliffe was appointed a mediator between the royal family and the Church of Rome. From this lofty position Wycliffe was protected from the wrath of Rome and the Papacy. While still being involved with combating the trends of the times, particularly with the Western Schism, when there were several popes at once, Wycliffe focused on five major issues crucial for the coming Reformation. The first was his attacks against the practice of indulgences. These, having grown out of the age of crusades, were now being peddled to fatten the pockets of the clergy and the lords at the same time. Seeing the corruption in this, Wycliffe condemned this practice, setting the stage for later reformers. The second critical issue was that of transubstantiation. This is the belief that through the holy power of the priest the bread and wine of the Eucharist were turned wholly into the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ. Wycliffe rejected this idea, holding to a Platonic view of substances which rejected the idea that substances can be utterly destroyed while ‘accidents’ (the property of substances) can exist without attachment to substance. Wycliffe also held that celebration of a transubstantiation Mass is akin to idol worship. The third major issue Wycliffe took up was the absolute forgiveness in Christ by faith and grace. The Church of the time taught that while the mercy of Jesus gave you a clean slate you were still required to make penance and do good works in order to achieve salvation. This semi-Pelagianism was wholly rejected by Wycliffe, who saw salvation like Augustine, being solely from God and not by works. This does not negate good works as a sign but shows that it is not by us but by Christ that we are saved. The fourth issue was that of the authority of scripture. The Church taught that authority rested in the councils and the Papacy which interpreted the scriptures for men. Wycliffe strongly believed that it is the Word of God that held the authority, against the councils and the pope. The final issue Wycliffe held to, the one which he is best known for to this day is his belief that all people should have the scriptures in their own language. As the Roman Church held only councils and popes could interpret, it was seen as dangerous to the souls of men to give them the scriptures in their language. Keeping the scriptures in the dead languages of ancient Greek and Latin, the lay people were forced to rely on the priest, who themselves relied on their bishops, for their interpretation of the scriptures. To the end of stopping this intellectual tyranny Wycliffe set out to translate the first English Bible. Created among his followers, called the Lollards, this bible was christened the Oxford Bible. Eventually Wycliffe would fall out of favor of the royal family when he began to support the peasants of England in their revolt. Without the royal family’s support Wycliffe was forced out of Oxford in 1381. He died of a stroke while leading worship in 1384. In 1415 Wycliffe was posthumously condemned and excommunicated at the Council of Constance. His remains were exhumed and burned, his ashes being scattered over the River Swift in 1428. Today Wycliffe is honored for his work by having the largest bible translation organization named after him, the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Wycliffe set the stage for all later reformers, particularly in influencing the Bohemian reformer John Hus.


iii: John Hus

Born a Czech in Bohemia, John Hus is one of the most well known Bohemians in history. Born into a world being torn apart by the ethnic pride of the Czech people and the military power of the German empire, Hus would grow to take center stage politically and theologically. Hus was born in 1372, roughly fourteen years befor the death of Wycliffe. The union of an English princess and a Bohemian prince led Hus to learn of the English ideas of John Wycliffe. Taking these ideas as his own, excepting Wycliffe’s views of the Eucharist, Hus rose to prominence in Prague. As the dean of Faculty of Philosophy in Prague Hus early became a famous man throughout Bohemia. Becoming a rallying point for his Czech people, Hus would merge the ideas of Czech nationalism with those of Hus’s church reform movement. Becoming the leader for these people, Hus put together a list of demands for the Church. These included allowing lay people to partake in the wine of communion, forcing the clergy to give up their ill gotten wealth, and allowances to be made for popular preaching. These demands were rejected by the Church and led to Hus being summoned to appear before the council of Constance. Hus was guaranteed safety by the Emperor himself and so he went to stand before the council and argue his case. Sadly, this was all trickery and council had Hus arrested. Upon condemning the work of Wycliffe the council had Hus brought out and he was burned at the stake for his position on Wycliffe. Upon being tied up to the stake Hus made a proclamation which would come back to haunt the Roman Church. Before the fire started Hus declared, “They will roast a goose now (Hus means goose in Czech) but after a hundred years they will hear a swan sing.” Almost one hundred years later to the date Martin Luther would nail his 95 thesis into the door of Wittenberg Castle Church, igniting the third great schism of the Church, the Reformation. Upon his death, the followers of Hus left peaceful means and began what is known to this day as the Hussite Wars. Using guerilla tactics, the Hussites would eventually get many of their demands answered. The influence of Hus would spread beyond his homeland of Bohemia, as Martin Luther would take up the baton from him, taking on much of Hus’s theology. In fact, Luther would for a time be called the “Saxon Hus.”

Update Sixteen

III: The Middle Ages

i: Introduction

Through the work of the Church and the Franks, Europe was slowly pulled out of the Dark ages. The attack of Islam proved the impetus to turn the continent around. Under enormous pressure Europe solidified as it had not done since the days of the Roman Empire’s height. Now, as the ninth century was about to began, a new force was on the rise that would once again redirect the course of the Church and set it down a new path.

ii: The New Empire

Islam had taken all of ancient Christendom. The heartland of Christianity was gone. Now Europe, the last stronghold of Christian belief, was under siege. In the East the Islamic Turks and Seljuks kept the Byzantine Empire on its toes as it took one city after another. In the West Islam forces quickly took all of the Iberian Peninsula and was about to enter the lands of Gaul. Superior in number and technology, the Muslims nearly had the victory. It was up to the Franks to save Europe. The Frankish kings had long been weak men occupying an empty throne. The real power rested in the hands of the House Mayor of the Merovingian kings. Charles Martel (the hammer) was the last of these. It was Charles who led a Frankish force against the Muslims and finally stopped them in their tracks. Charles, the last defender of Europe, was able to take and hold Southern Gaul and Northern Iberia from the Islamic hordes. The threat of Islam was stopped for several centuries. Following Martel, his son Pippin rose to take on the throne as the king of the Franks. Pippin would lead attacks against the remaining Arians and set up the beginnings of the future dynasties. His son, Charles, would grow to a greater stature yet. This Charles, called Charles the Great or Charlemagne, would lead to a revival in European culture. He reinstituted centers of education, poured money into arts, encouraged a new empire being built up in the image of Augustine’s City of God. Near to the opening of the 9th century, Christmas morning in the year eight hundred, the tide of barbarians had turned their allegiance and finally saw themselves the heirs of the Roman as Charlemagne came stepped into Rome and took on the crown of the Empire. Declared Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne saw himself as the new Constantine. As Byzantium had no emperor at the time, for a short time Charlemagne was the sole Emperor of all of the former Roman Emperor. This was just one more reason for what was a growing split between the East and the West, a split that would divide the world of the Church.

iii: The Great Schism

The western empire once again rose in power, as its major threat, the barbarians, were now its strongest citizens, and the work of Charlemagne restored the power of the cities and gave a new birth to civilization. Due to this the Roman church began to put more weight into its claim for ultimate supremacy over all of the Great Church. Entering into the 11th century, the Eastern Church was being rocked by numerous Islamic assaults. All land east of the Bosporus was under Islamic control by this time. Geographically the East was disconnected from the West by hundreds of miles infested by pagan barbarians from the far steppes. Philosophically they could be no further apart then they were. The East still held onto a highly Alexandrian teaching focused on allegory and deification. The west took on a much more literal, legal approach with German influence. Dissension in the councils grew greater and greater. Effectively they were two different Churches. Officially this distinction was coming soon. Despite the centuries of strife and disagreement the Church had stayed unified. Heresies arose and were cast out. Some groups grew powerful enough to challenge the Church but the unity still remained. Philosophical differences were bridged and theological differences were fixed. No more. In the year 1054 the pope Leo IX sent a delegation to Constantinople. Coming into the great Hagia Sophia, the delegation stepped up to the high offer and placed on it an official bull of excommunication for the Metropolitan Michael. In response, Michael sent a bull of excommunication to the Pope. The East and the West were irrevocably divided. The unity of the Church was gone. No longer was there a Great Church. There was the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

iv: The Scholastics

As the medieval age began to blossom in the west the growth of the Roman Catholic Church brought on a new form of theologian, the scholastic. This movement evolved out the push of the new universities and Church schools. Scholasticism broke away from the ancient ideas of mysticism and focused on human reason and its ability to find and understand the ways of God. This movement would give rise to a great many others things. The focus on reason helped develop the unique western philosophy we live in to this day. Out the scholastics rose humanism, which would lead to the enlightenment and its push for rational deism. Out of the scholastics would come the natural philosophers, an oxymoron to any Greek thinker. These would latter develop into the scientist of our day. Indeed, in the age of the scholastics theology was considered the queen of the sciences. While few new theological constructions would arise to improve the church through scholasticism, its method of viewing and studying God would have an influence on all western culture.




v: Thomas Aquinas

The most well known scholastic in Church history, Aquinas was so important to the foundation of Roman Catholic theology that he was declared the angelic doctor of the Church and his theology was made the official religion of the Roman Church (even though he was against some of the theology held by the Roman church to this day[semi-Pelagianism]). Born in the year 1225, Aquinas quickly grew in intellectual prominence and would become an intellectual celebrity. His genius in theology moved him to write his Summa Theologica, his systematic theology. Like Augustine he wrote a vast amount of work, to much to deal with extensively. There are some areas, though, that are of particular interest to Protestants. In regards to salvation, on the surface, his theology seems to lead to a works based salvation. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church took it as such. But portions of his work seem to point in another direction. Some other important developments he made for theology was his development of natural theology and how God shows Himself to us, as well as his idea of the beatific vision. Overall, one of his greatest legacies was the framework of viewing theology he created.

vi: Crusades, Inquisitions, and Indulgences

Following these expansions of religious thought came an expansion of military power. As Europe rebuilt itself from the fall of Rome and defended itself from the threat of Islam, the Europeans increased greatly in technology and power. With this rise of military power came an increase of pressure in the continent. Utilizing the violent force of the feudal kingdoms of Europe, violent preachers and power hungry popes called for a Christian war against that enemy in the East, the religion of Islam. A great army of peasants gathered in 1068 and set out for Jerusalem to retake the holy land. As this ragtag army was decimated on its travels, a religious fervor kept them going. Eventually, when they didn’t receive the provisions from heaven they had counted on, they started to strip the surrounding countryside for supplies. In response, the peoples of these countries hunted them down and executed them. By the time the first official crusade got under way in 1069, 200000 crusaders had been killed. Through numerous attempts over 200 years, eight official crusades were sent out. Jerusalem would be taken, along with much of the holy land. Several European kingdoms were set up. Constantinople itself was sacked by the western crusaders, helping along its decline. By the year 1271, the last crusade was sent out and defeated. All the Europeans kingdoms were overthrown. But this mattered little. The Crusades had made Europe rich beyond belief and opened up brand new trade routes. During the time of the Crusades, in order to strengthen the faith in Europe, the Holy Office of Inquisition was created. These inquisitors would terrorize Europe for years. Any hint of heresy could mean a painful death by fire. The Popes of this time allowed the use of the rack to get confessions. If you could hold onto your innocence to the death, you probably were innocent. If not, you were executed. Not many good options. The inquisition was used as the Papacy’s excuse for its many attempts for more power. Following the crusades, in which people could support the war effort to help their souls, the Church instituted a new type of penance, the indulgence. With one of these you could write off some sin in your life for a fee. This went to increase the power of the papacy even further and built many of the great structures of the Roman Catholic Church. All of these inconsistencies and errors in the Church were adding up quickly. The theology of the Church was corrupt, its leadership even more so. A change was needed. In just a few short years a change would happen. The world would be reformed.

Update Fifteen

II: The Dark Ages

i: Introduction

As a prelude to the medieval ages, the dark ages stands as the worst period in European history. Precipitated by the decline of the Roman Empire, the dark ages is usually considered to have begun in 476 when the Germanic general Odoacer deposed the young Romulus Augustulus and sent the Imperial vestments back to Constantinople. The culture of the west was gone. The learning of the great men in the classical period was lost. Plague after plague ravaged a land already ravaged by war. This was indeed a dark age.

ii: Fall of the west

While the empire of the west was in decline since Constantine realized his future lay in the east and built Constantinople, with fall of the last western emperor the empire was officially gone. No more was a civil structure at all in place to support the country. This was a period of barbarity and strife for all of Europe. The Germanic tribes of the North had taken over all of the Western empire and yet lacked the structure to run the continent. These Germanic tribes existed everywhere. Saxons ruled the northern isles, the Goths, Visigoths, and Ostrogoths ruled all of the Iberian Peninsula and Germania as well as all the traditional lands of Rome in Italy and the surrounding lands. The Franks ruled all of Gaul while the Vandals held in their possession all of Northern Africa, the breadbasket of the Empire. Barbarians lived at the very door of the eastern empire. The west was in a turmoil and confusion with only one light in its midst, the Church. Far to the north Irish monks did the work of preserving the ancients in their monasteries and library. On the continent, however, education was lost for two centuries. The Church was able to hold some structure together but a specter from the past would come back to haunt and hinder them. The bishop of Nicomedia, Eusebius, before the defeat of Arianism had spent considerable resources in missions to the Goths. Now that the Empire was laid low, these Arian Goths came out of the north to attack the Church and its allies. Taught a variety of Arian Christianity emphasizing the Kingship of the Father and the Son as His mighty warrior, the Arians would lead attacks with ferocity not realizing that their religion had been branded a heresy. Eventually, in 553, the Eastern Emperor Justinian would launch an attack to retake the west. Initially successful, the lands would again be taken by Arians, the Lombards, in 568. Due to the wars and the Germanic way of life, the cities of Europe were quickly depopulated. Civilization was being crushed.

iii: A German Church

The Church’s salvation came in the form of the Franks, the people of Gaul. These barbarians had been successfully proselytized by the Church over the centuries. True to their religion, the Franks, led by their kings, stood up to defend the Church. Within a few short years the whole of Europe would be forced together. Slowly the Arian tribes were reached and brought into the Great Church, just in time for the rise of a new religion in the East was threatening the world. Far away in the lands of the Middle East, the followers of a former caravan trader, Muhammad, had engulfed all of the Middle East and were advancing on all fronts. Beginning in the year 633, the expansion of Islam had taken the three historic cities of Christendom, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria, by the year 700. The Vandal states of North Africa were defeated and Islam took control of all the German holdings of Africa. Soon Islam would be on the shores of Italy and would drive the Goths from Iberia. With such enormous pressure the Germanic tribes had a desperate need to band together. Finding a focal point in the Church, the Germanic tribes were able to organize under its banner. The Church was a German Church. No pure Latin, Greeks, or Jews remained. The northern tribes had taken over. And they had been converted.

Update Fourteen

One Faith Day Four

The Medieval Church
9th century-15th century

I: The Roman Catholic Church

i: Introduction

Over the course of the centuries since the death of the Apostles, the churches that made up the Great Church waged political and theological wars to determine the supremacy in the Church. With the standardization of the bishop’s succession as the mode of authority in the Church, individual cities began to vie for power. In the beginning there were three sources of power. Jerusalem, being the home of the apostles and the site of the crucifixion, was the first important and influential church of the Great Church. This was made evident in the scriptures with the council of Jerusalem. Antioch, the focal point and home base for Paul’s missionary trips, grew to be a rival for supremacy in the Church. Alexandria, the world capital for religion and philosophy, quickly came to rival the two early churches of Jerusalem and Antioch due to its world influence and world class facilities and learning. Soon the church in Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans but a fourth church was on the rise to replace it. This church had no historic grounding from the scriptures for precedence. It contained no great philosopher and rarely produced any theologians of note. But it was the center of the world. With supreme administration and an unparalleled sense for the complexities of politics, the Roman church soon grew to overshadow the other churches. As the other main churches all existed in the east, the Roman church was able to grow to absolute precedence in the west. With this influence, and its claim to fame for the martyrdom of Peter and Paul (and the historically unverified papacy of Peter there ), the church of Rome rose in prominence until the showdown with its only real rival, the new imperial city of Constantinople and its Metropolitan.

ii: Pope Leo the Great

With the gradual decline of the empire in the west, accelerated by the removal of the imperial throne from Rome, other sources of authority were sought after by the people. As the court no longer had a major presence in the west the running of governmental structure and civil works had to come from another source. That source was the Church. For centuries the church in Rome developed its hierarchical and administrative structures far more advanced than any other church in the world. With the influence of the imperial court and it’s incredibly efficient structure, which had existed when the empire was at its height, this Roman church grew in political power and intrigue like no other. Due to this advantage and its bishop’s claim to be the successor of Peter, Rome had held a commanding presence among the Church for years. By the time of the ecumenical councils the bishops of Rome had taken on the title of pope (Latin for father) and had assumed a place of “first among equals.” As one of the Patriarchs (bishop of Alexandria, Antioch, Rome, or Constantinople) the Pope did have real authority over other churches and as the only Patriarch of the west the Pope had virtual domination over all the western European churches. By the time of council known now as the Robber Synod was called all the powers of Roman authority in the west had converged on one man, Pope Leo the Great, the first Pope as we know it today. This man was not only the absolute ruler of the western churches but also a temporal ruler as well, holding a strong kingdom in Italy and Sicily called the Vatican States. This man ruled the west as an emperor, despite there being a western emperor since its appointment by Theodosius, as the real emperors of the west were weak ineffectual men of no import. Leo was the most powerful man in Christendom and sought to prove it. The councils always had been presided over by the Roman bishop and Leo sought to make this permanent. He and his successors were able to get the councils to raise them up to that place of “first among equals” and solidify it until the Great Schism of the 11th century took out all their rivals, making the bishop of Rome “first, period.”

iii: Augustine

Theologically before his time, Augustine stood on the border between the ancient church and the medieval church. Augustine was born in 354 in a small city just outside of Carthage. Despite this early date, Augustine’s theology would be crucial not only for the medieval church, but would also make up the foundation of protestant theology. As a young man Augustine grew up under the Christian tutelage of his mother. Between the influence of his pagan father and his own rebellion he would turn away from the faith, eventually falling in with a Gnostic-like sect of the name Manichaeism. Attracted by its apparent intellectualism, Augustine eventually became disillusioned with this young religion. Moving to Milan, Augustine took up teaching Rhetoric. While teaching, two events would turn him back towards Christianity. First, in studying at Milan, Augustine began to read neo-platonic philosophy, opening his mind to an almighty God that he had previously thought impossible. Second, in trying to better his rhetoric skill Augustine began to follow one of the best orators of his time, the great preacher and bishop of Milan, Ambrose. Sneaking into the back of Ambrose’s cathedral to hear his preaching, Augustine began to realize that one could be a true orator and intellectual yet also be a Christian. This broke through his last walls between him and the faith of his youth. Still, he was not prepared to give up his life he was living, as was evidenced by a prayer of his from this time “Oh God, give me the gift of Chastity…just not yet.” This would change in the year 386 when he and his friends were out sitting in their villa and one was reading and discussing the book of Romans. Augustine’s heart was broken and he ran away, crying out to God when the time would come for him to give up his sinful life. As he wept he heard the voice of a child saying, “Take up and read, take up and read.” Hearing this he ran back to his friends, picked up the scroll of Romans which was on the ground now, and read from it Roman’s 13: 13-14:

Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.

Reading this, Augustine was changed. From that day he devoted his great intellect to the work of God. After his baptism by Ambrose, Augustine sought to live the life of monk. Moving back to North Africa he settled in Hippo, where he became famous for his rhetorical and intellectual skills. While desiring a reclusive life, he was forced out of it due to the numerous issues surrounding the Church there. Manichaeism was growing, the Donatist schism was growing larger, and paganism was still a strong force. Being so well known and loved, Augustine was literally forced into ministry. While worshipping one Sunday, the people of the church grabbed him and dragged him to the front of the church where he was ordained by the bishop despite his weeping and protests. After this he again was forced into ministry when he was made co-bishop against his will, succeeding as bishop of Hippo in 395 when the elderly bishop died. Augustine was only 42 when he came into this office. In this office Augustine would battle many enemies of the Church, defeating the Donatists and the Manicheans while writing a library of works which was surpassed only by Origen. His most significant work would be his defense against the heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagianism, a creative name for the heresy derived after its founder Pelagius, was the belief that salvation is a work done by humans. The crucifixion was an example given to us to follow, the example of Jesus being the way we should live our lives. In doing so, living in perfection, we achieve salvation for ourselves. Despite its terrible approach so much against the scriptures, this belief caught on fast. While it was difficult to follow such a belief, it instilled a sense of elitism and particularity that was enticing to the ascetic times. While defending the Church from this heresy, Augustine developed the theological ideas of the all-sufficiency of God and the total depravity of man. Augustine developed the idea that man was unable to turn to God alone and that faith was indeed a gift given from God to man. Pelagius attacked this, saying that Augustine’s faith was just veiled Gnosticism. His claim came form the Gnostic belief that all matter was evil, something akin to Augustine’s idea that human were totally depraved. Using his superior skills, Augustine was able to defeat this heresy in a way the church accepted. While Pelagius was acquitted of heresy in some local synods, the Council of Ephesus finally called him out as a heretic, even though this was somewhat of a side note to the council. While defeated and anathematized, this heresy would raise up again in the form of semi-Pelagianism in the Roman Catholic Church. In defeating Pelagianism, Augustine developed a unique view of free will for that time. Since God was absolutely necessary for man to turn toward God, was there any free will? According to Augustine, man does have free will. The effect of the sin nature, however, causes that free will to ever be turned towards disobedience to God. We always do what we want, and in our sinful nature we always want to do those things contrary to God. It is God’s work in us that enables us to use our free will to turn towards Him and into obedience. These and many other great ideas of Augustine would be put onto the back burner for more than a thousand years, until a young monk in Augustine’s Augustinian order, by the name of Martin, would realize its implications and set about reforming the Church.

Update Thirteen

II: The Councils

 

            i: Introduction

 

For the first time a secular ruler was dictating the course of the Church.  Nicaea would no be the last, as many more councils would be convened to settle the doctrine of the Church and to establish what is orthodoxy.

 

            ii: Nicaea I (325)

 

In the year 311 a lowly presbyter stepped out into the light.  This man, a leader in the Alexandrian church, stood up to what he saw as the near heretical teaching of the Bishop Alexander.  In Alexander’s teaching this presbyter, Arius, saw a hint of Sabellism, a heresy much like Modalism.  Trying to defend the Church from a false teaching that Jesus is the Father, Arius constructs a doctrine teaching that Jesus was a great divine being created before all time that created all things.  Due to the heavy Greek influence on him, Arius just couldn’t reconcile God becoming man.  No, Arius would say, Jesus is not God.  He is merely very special and very powerful.  Not being God it would be far easier to see Him becoming man.  Arius took this teaching, with his charismatic style and songs, to the people and grew in popularity.  Eventually he would hold debates with Alexander to try and push his ideas but Alexander would not give in, knowing deep within him that this teaching was damnable.  Thank God that during this time from the shadows watched Alexander’s assistant and pupil, Athanasius.  Arius would organize his people and hold protest against Alexander, parading by his church and home with signs bearing the slogans of Arius, such as ‘there was when Christ was not.’ In the year 318, as demonstrators from both sides of the conflict met on the streets of Alexandria, a riot broke out.  Alexander finally had had enough of this upstart presbyter.  The kind and gentle bishop was given no other recourse in the defense of his flock than to call a synod of nearby bishops to condemn Arius as a heretic and exile him from Alexandria.  Forced to run, Arius went to an old schoolmate of his, one of his oldest friends, the powerful bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia.  With the support of Eusebius, who held similar views to Arius, Arius began a letter writing campaign putting down the bishop Alexander and promoting his form of theology.  Unfortunately, in the Greek world, which saw God as unable to change, Arius views caught on quickly.  Even though called a heretic the synod of Alexandria, this synod was not well known and many did not agree with its scope of findings.  Alexander was forced to write responses to defend himself and Apostolic Christianity.  Finally his efforts hit the wall.  Alexander simply did not have the influence to effect the change necessary.  But the Church was no longer without an outside powerful advocate.  There was still one person orthodox Christianity could turn to.  That one person was Constantine.  Constantine did not like the effect that this dispute was having on what he had hoped would be the glue of the Empire.  To combat it the Emperor called all bishops together, paid for by the Empire, to assemble in the small town of Nicaea and once and for all settle this issue.  The first ecumenical (Church wide/ Universal) council was called to order.  The battle for the soul of the Church began in 325.  318 bishops gathered from all across the Roman world at Constantine’s command.  For two months the debates raged on, all the while Constantine sat on his throne and pondered what was being said.  Despite its size, Arianism was only held by 28 of the attending bishops.  Arius himself was not allowed to attend so Eusebius of Nicomedia represented him in the debating.  Alexander led the debate against Arianism, assisted by the young Athanasius.  Despite this set up of events the bishops were still slow to condemn Arius as a heretic as his monarchism was a useful tool against the more pervasive Modalism.  According to Eusebius the historian, the council opened with some one asking what in the world they were debating about.  To the benefit of Alexander Eusebius of Nicomedia got up and read a position paper of Arius that blatantly denied the deity of Christ, leading some members to cover their ears and shout for the blasphemy to be silenced.  After a small riot broke out the emperor stepped in to quiet things down.  When expressed so blatantly the ideas of Arius were enough to galvanize the many dispersed camps of the issue into working towards a condemnation of Arius.  As the issued was being worked on the idea of a unifying creed grew in importance and eventually the emperor had them work on one.  It was Constantine himself who insisted they use the word homoousios, one substance, to explain the connection between Father and Son. Using this word the orthodox crowd was able to disallow Arianism.  Still, some bishops who feared Modalism did not want to make Arius out to be a heretic.  At the end, though, the council anathematizes (declares heretical) Arius and his followers.  The emperor orders all the Arian bishops and Arius himself exiled.  The creed was finished and all but two bishops signed it, Eusebius of Nicomedia and his supported Theognis of Nicaea.  That creed we know today as the Nicene Creed:

 

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

 

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

 

And I believe in the Holy Ghost

 

[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' — they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

 

The first council was over.  By all appearances Arianism was defeated.  But appearances can be deceiving.  Arianism was not defeated.  It had barely begun the fight, a fight which would push the church to the brink of destruction. 

 

            iii: Constantinople I (381)

 

The fight leading to the Council of Constantinople was dominated by the new bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius.  After Nicaea the coalition of Christological ideas that had come together to condemn Arius fell apart.  Many bishops holding onto diverse ideas ranging from Modalism (one prominent bishop and supporter of Alexander, Marcellus of Ancyra, ended up coming out as a modalistic heretic) to orthodoxy had banded together in light of the threat of Arianism.  With that threat thought to be gone, bickering and divisions sprang up.  Unfortunately, fear of Modalism caused many bishops to turn to some of the Arian ideas to combat it.  The Arian bishops who signed the creed so as to not get exiled slowly gained the confidence of the other bishops.   The tide was turning against orthodox Christianity as one bishop after another began to take on beliefs called semi-Arian.  Even the emperor was slowly convinced, coming more and more towards the side of the Arians.  By 332 Constantine ordered the two exiled bishops and Arius to return, passing orders on to Athanasius, newly appointed bishop of Alexandria, to reinstate him as presbyter.  Eusebius would return as Constantine’s personal chaplain but Athanasius refused to reinstate Arius unless he would agree to the use of homoousios.  After repeated threats by the emperor Athanasius continued to refuse so the emperor exiled him in 335 to the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire.  Enduring this exile, Athanasius remained bishop of Alexandria as the people would not choose a new one.  His exile proved fruitful as it enabled him to come into contact with many western bishops not involved with the controversy and gain their support.  Athanasius also was able to spread the ideas of monastic life to the west, and event to have considerable influence on the world in years to come.  As it was, Arius never did return as presbyter as he would die just one day before the planned ceremony to reinstate him.  Constantine would follow Arius in death a few months later, leaving the empire in the hands of his son Constantius, a devoted semi-Arian.  Athanasius was returned to Alexandria by the emperor but the two did not get along.  Constantius, siding with the semi-Arians, sought to replace homoousios with homoiousius (of like substance) and affirm that Jesus was not God in the sense of the Father being God.  He resented Athanasius, seeing in him a stubborn man and the last major bishop to refuse the change.  With the Empire and the Church against him, Athanasius still stood by his beliefs, refusing despite any number of threats.  If not for Athanasius at this point in time the theology of the whole Church would be that of the Jehovah Witnesses (indeed, the layout of Arianism reads just like the doctrines of the Jehovah Witnesses).  In 339 Athanasius was run out of Alexandria on trumped up charges and went to Rome.  Shortly after this he returned only to be harassed by the emperor further.  He brought it upon himself though, as it is said that when the emperor came to visit he ran out to the parade and grabbed the reigns of Constantius’ horse in order to try and educate the emperor in proper education.  Roman soldiers would break into Athanasius’ church in an attempt to kill him but made a quick escape when his congregation got up and defended him against the soldiers.  This was the beginning of his third exile, which he spent for six years in the desert with the desert monks.  During this time period Athanasius was successful in gathering a synod in Alexandria to affirm the anti-Arian thrust of Nicaea.  While not well attended this synod would lead to Athanasius’ final victory.  Enduring two more exiles under two more emperors, one a pagan and the other a strong Arian, Athanasius continued the fight for the apostolic faith.  In 360 he wrote his Against the Arians in which he attempted to bring down what was at the time about to become the orthodoxy of the Church.  A dangerous work in such a time, the book did its work as it strengthened the minority of bishops holding to apostolic faith.  Athanasius, with the help of the trio of great church fathers known as the Cappadocian Fathers, was able to hold out against the entire world and yet still upheld right doctrine.  Under the Arian Emperor Valens, Athansius would endure his last exile, totaling seventeen years of his forty-three year ministry in Alexandria as bishop.  Valens eventually allowed Athanasius to return.  Athanasius would die in the year 373, his work not yet completed as Arianism was still vying for control.  Victory would come, though.  Valens would die shortly after Athanasius, leaving the Empire to Theodosius.  This man was a strong Christian who opposed Arianism in the path of Athanasius.  He would declare the faith of Athanasius to be the official legal religion of the Empire and would call the second council, the council of Constantinople, to set down this doctrine in a universal creed modeled after Nicaea which would be officially binding to all.  Athanasius had won.  The council of Constantinople was called to order and set down the creed which is binding to Christians to this very day, the Constantinopolitan Creed, and to confirm the deity of the Holy Spirit.  Commonly referred to as the Nicene Creed, this is the Constantinopolitan Creed:

 

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; by whom all things were made;

 

who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

 

he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;

 

from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;

 whose kingdom shall have no end.

 

. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

With the signing of this creed orthodoxy was set.  Still, however, Arianism was not dead.  During the turmoil of this time the Arians had sent several missionaries into the yet unreached forests of the north.  These missionaries would do their work well, appealing to the warrior nature of the Germanic people, and would win an army to their side.  For years to come Arian Germans would fight fierce battles with the orthodox Church, and the soon to come Christian kingdoms, as it spread northward and westward.

 

            iv: Ephesus (431)

 

The council of Ephesus was called in response to the heresy of Nestorius, who claimed that Jesus was not the Son in His early life but was merely a man whom the Christ would come on in power in the baptism.  According to Nestorius Jesus was truly intertwined with the Logos since birth but not in that the man Jesus was God at birth.  Primarily, Nestorius rejected the idea of the Theotokos (God-bearer) for Mary.  The council condemn this as heresy as well as condemning Pelagianism, a heresy which claims that the life and death of Christ brings salvation only in that it shows us how to live a life worthy of salvation (works based salvation; this theology would eventually be somewhat adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in the form of semi-pelagianism).

 

 

 

 

v: Chalcedon (451)

 

Convened under Pope Leo the Great, the council of Chalcedon set down the critical doctrines of the person of Christ.  It was here that the doctrines were set down that defined Christ as having two natures rather then the proto-mixture nature of Eutychus.

 

            vi: Constantinople II (553)

 

The second council of Constantinople finished the work of Chalcedon by reinforcing the idea that while Christ may be though of as having two natures, in the end Christ is one God-man, indivisible.  This culminated in the idea known as the hypostactic union (the union of the two states) which is the central tenant of Christology to this day.  Further, this council went on to condemn Origen’s work and to name him a heretic, three centuries after his death.

 

            vii: Constantinople III (680-681)

 

The third council of Constantinople, while not seen as critical as the others by Protestants, had great influence on the Eastern Orthodox Church.  It settled the issue over the two will of Christ, finally making clear that though Christ is one he did have two wills, one divine and one human.  The council further confirmed the earlier councils of the Church.

 

            viii: Nicaea II (787)

 

The final council universally considered ecumenical (the Great Schism would soon break the Eastern Church from the Western Church and Protestants typically deny the validity of all councils after this one).  This council settled the Iconoclasm controversy, declaring the use of icons to be against the ideas of the Church.  This would have great effect on later reformers of the Roman Church as some reformers would take the ideas expressed here to give allowance to throw out all Church art, creativity, and complex music.  The second council of Nicaea marked the end of unity in the Church as a door to the past eight centuries was closed and a new world was about to be formed.

 

           

 

VI: Further Reference

 

Everett Ferguson’s Church History v.1

 

Roger Olson’s The Story of Christian Theology

 

William C. Placher’s Readings in the History of Christian Theology v.1

 

Paul Spickard and Kevin Cragg’s A Global History of Christians

Update Twelve

One Faith Day Three

 

The Ecumenical Council

4th century-8th century

 

I: Of Heresies and EmperorsHere

 

            i: Introduction

 

We take a step back now on our journey through history.  Last time we made it as far as the emperor Theodosius in the year 380.  The Church at that time was finally being set up as the orthodoxy (the right thinking) that we know of today.  But where we start today the Church was anything but set.  Turmoil boiling over from the controversies left by the last three great teachers of the Church (Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian of Carthage, and the infamous Origen) mixed with the tumultuous times to explode in a conflict which origins were rooted in the very beginning of the Church and whose effects would time and again divide the Church and let loose a string of consequences and sects that we still experience to this day.   Our journey takes us back to the beginning of the fourth century as one of the most renowned men of all time stepped onto the scene, the Roman Emperor Constantine.

 

            ii: Roman Influence

 

At this time as the Church entered the fourth century, Roman persecution cut off abruptly.  For the past half century the Church had endured the fiercest and most systematic persecution yet at the hands of the Roman emperors.  Diocletian, emperor at the start of the fourth century, was no exception to this rule and instituted what was known as the Great Persecution, a persecution so great that for centuries after theologians would deal with its implications on the church.   Yet within in just a few short years his ambitious political schemes lay in ruins and his successors were either dead or sworn to serve the conqueror, the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine.  Having defeated the complex political structure his father had followed Constantine had risen to power on the shoulders of his father’s troops led by a vision from God.  With the Christian Chi Rho emblazoned over the shields of his legions he had rode out with inferior forces to crush the last vestiges of pagan Rome.  Upon the defeat of his adversaries at the battle of Milvan Bridge Constantine forced his eastern ally to sign the famous Edict of Milan, for the first time guaranteeing for all Christians the legal liberty and freedom they had never known.  Christians went from being a persecuted classless group of people to being the premier citizens of the Empire in just a few short years.  Now the Church was second in power throughout the empire only to the imperial throne.  Legal power was given to officials of the church to settle legal disputes.  Money form the imperial treasury started to pay the salaries of officials in the Church.  Great buildings were designed and built by order of Constantine for the Church’s use.  The tables were suddenly and irrevocably reversed.  But with this change of fortunes came an awful price.  As the Church received legal liberties and support from the state, the state stepped in to claim its due.  The state was now an authority in the Church.  No more would this be evident then in 325 when, as a great heresy was on the verge of destroying the Church, the emperor Constantine invoked his authority and called the bishops together.  Sitting in a throne high above the bishops Constantine, acting in his role as the vicar of Christ, took upon himself the title of Bishop of Bishops and told the Church what it was going to believe.

 

            iii: Growing Heresies

 

Since the Church was organized and structured beliefs not taught by Jesus or the apostles had continually infiltrated the beliefs of Christians in the Church.  Some were passing fancies that haven’t survived in any writings or correspondence.  Others grew to be great heresies, some as large as or larger than the Church itself.  In this time period numerous false teachings came about, particularly in theology regarding the Trinity and the personhood of Jesus Christ.  The common erroneous teachings regarding the Trinity were Modalism, teaching that there was only one person in the Trinity who shows himself in three ways, Monarchism, teaching that there is one God who created the Son and the Spirit, and Tri-theism, teaching that there are three separate gods.  The common erroneous teaching regarding Christ were Adoptionism, teaching that Christ was just a man adopted by God, and Creationism, teaching that Jesus is a divine being created before the world was created.  Some heresies were more then just teachings, but were structured churches in themselves.  One of these, Gnosticism, had been extant in some forms since the very beginning of the Church and was long its chief adversary.  Luring in people with complex tales aimed to show just how elite they were this teaching had created a completely separate church and led many astray.  Montanism, teaching people that the revelations of the past were faulty and leading people to follow the ever changing New Revelation, created a charismatic movement that nearly tore the Church apart.  Marcion, whose anti-Hebrew theology denied the God of the Old Testament, created such a church that it rivaled the Apostolic Church itself.  These heretics, from Montanus to Marcion, led many astray over the centuries.  Some heretics were even long accepted by the Church, like the great teacher Origen or the conservative Tertullian.  For the past three centuries the bishops would call together synods, or groups of local bishops, to settle these disputes in theology.  Due to the persecutions and the great dangers involved with travelling in this time period, the synods were never well attended and news of their decisions were long in getting out to the other churches throughout the empire.  Now that the Church was supported by the State, greater meetings could be devised.  This would soon be needed as the greatest theological danger the Church would ever see was about to rear its head in the volatile yet fertile thinking grounds of Alexandria.