Definitions and IDs:
• John Wyclif / Jan Hus
• “You are burning a goose, but a swan will follow that
you can not burn.”
• schism
• posthumously
• Peace of Augsburg: “cuius regio, eius religio”
• Sola Fidei / Sola Scriptura
• Diet of Worms
• Council of Trent / Catholic Counter-Reformation
• Act of Supremacy (England)
Questions / Imperatives
• The Reformation (schism of the Christian Church)
caused religious and political turmoil in the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Discuss the effects of the Reformation in Europe.
• How did the Church of Rome react to Martin
Luther and the ensuing “Reformation?”
• Discuss Henry VIII and his children with regard to
the leadership and religion of England.
• Discuss the “what, when, where, how” and
“significance” of the other Reformers - Zwingli,
Calvin, and Knox.
Christianity and Rome
Pre-Reformation, 15th century
For the sake of religion
John Wyclif (1330-1384)
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An Englishman, who railed against the wealth of the Church
Condemned the claims of the church to secular possessions
Rejected papal supremacy
Denounced the annual tax (Peter’s pence) paid by the
English people to the papacy
Emphasized the bible rather than tradition…scriptures alone
declared the will of God
Began to translate parts of the bible into English in 1382 and
died 2 years later
Burned as a heretic posthumously
Most of Wyclif’s followers, called Lollards (deriving from the
word lollar…”mumblers of prayers and psalms” was that
which they criticized) were from the lower classes
Pre-Reformation, 15th century
For the sake of religion
• Jan Hus (1372-1415)
– A Czech professor at Prague
– Influenced (to some extent) by Wyclif
– condemned the claims of the church to secular
possessions
– condemned the existing system of indulgences
– stressed the concept of predestination
– believed in the Church of the elect
– believed in receiving Eucharist under both species, bread
and wine
– attended the Council of Constance to help end the schism
in the church…here he was arrested for his ideas
– burned at the stake
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
– Luther born in Eisleben, an important mining center in Germany
– Luther attended school at the Brethren of the Common Life for one
year at age 14...faculty made up of both religious and lay people who
lived a monastic way of life without taking vows
– “My beloved city” - Eisenach - Luther there from age 15-18 as a
student...it was close to his relatives...in Latin school...lived with a
family and tutored their children
– Luther entered university in Erfurt: Two prerequisites for study at
medieval universities? a solid foundation in Latin and proof of
legitimate birth…
– July 2, 1505: Saint Anna, help me, I will become a Monk”
– But on July 17, 1505, enters Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt
– a day in the life of a Monk...first office in the morning (2AM), followed
by praise, 6AM office- first hour of the day, 9AM office - third hour of
the day followed by mass, 12 noon office - the sixth hour, 3PM office the ninth hour, 7PM final prayer...monks retired at 8PM
– ordained a priest and had first Mass on May 2, 1507
Luther and “Sola Scriptura”
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begins teaching in Wittenberg
Luther had traveled to Rome (1510)...Raphael was painting the Vatican and
Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel
Luther received his doctorate in 1512
Luther never felt worthy despite constant praying, fasting etc.
Continued education resulted in a Martin Luther who was confident in his
interpretation of the Holy Scriptures
what had haunted him most was the concept of the righteousness of God -- if
God was righteous then he would punish -- this frightened Luther until his
“Tower experience”
The Holy Scriptures became the center of his theology...everything could be
answered in the scriptures.
the theme of Luther’s life - God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible
Sola Scriptura (only Scripture)...Luther took the New Testament (since early
church to the present) and applied it to everything...it was a maturing process
(wheat and weeds)
Luther’s problems with the Church
• celibacy is not biblical...this was a weed
• According Luther, monastic vows conflict with faith
because they embrace works rather than God’s
promise of mercy….vows are not commanded by
God, they are counter to God’s word.
• indulgences (the cancellation of temporal
penalty of sin)...this was a weed
• samples of indulgences...going on crusades,
prayers, good works, going to shrines, meditation, charity,...could
purchase an indulgence for a price...
• a Dominican named Tetzel was selling indulgences
– the sales jingle was “As soon as the coin into the coffer rings, a soul
from purgatory to heaven springs”
THE 95 THESES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Luther posted his 95 theses in October, 1517 on the castle
church door
• Luther had hoped to convert the church from within
• the Catholic church was based on sacraments and good works
getting one into heaven
• Luther believed that one was justified by faith alone – Sola Fidei
• Luther saw the people as being blocked from heaven by the
Catholic church
• Luther’s theses had spread like wildfire, having been copied and
circulated (Luther had sent copy only to Erfurt friend Johann
Lang, but...)
• Luther sent an explanation of his 95 theses, in both Latin and
German to the Bishop of Brandenburg stating that he would like
to debate these issues
• the church did not want to admit guilt...would rather have a
cover-up...charged Luther with heresy and excommunicated him
Luther refuses to retract his writings
On the way to Worms
• First, the Leipzig debate, 1519
• Diet of Worms, 1521
– Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the
Scriptures or by clear reason...I am bound by the
scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is
captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not
retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right
to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise,
here I stand, may God help me.
Taken by Frederick the Wise
• Protected by Frederick at the
Wartburg Castle in Eisenach
• Translated the New Testament
into German
• Luther returned to Wittenberg and began to
make changes
1525-1560s
• 1525 - German Peasants’ revolt
• 1525 - Clergy and nuns begin to leave the
Roman Church
• 1530 – Augsburg Confession
• 1545 – Beginning of Council of Trent
• 1546 – Death of Luther
• 1555 – Peace of Augsburg
– cuius regio, eius religio - “his reign, his religion”...
Other Reformers:
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Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
First generation reformer, along with Luther
introduced the Reformation in Switzerland
After Luther’s debate in Leipzig in 1519, Zwingli hailed
Luther as a new Elijah
• The affair of the sausages
• a rare gift from God that we do not have
• 1523 - Zwingli prepared his sixty-seven articles, the
charter of the Zurich Reformation
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affirmed salvation by grace alone
insisted upon the full and final authority of Scripture
rejected the pope, the mass, good works for salvation
Rejected intercession of the saints, monastic orders
rejected celibate clergy, penance, and purgatory
Other Reformers:
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JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564) a second-generation Reformer
Influenced by Luther and Zwingli
bible is ultimate authority (not canon law or the papacy)
believed there was corruption in the papacy
established the Calvinist church in Geneva
One of history’s most remarkable detours / A curse or a threat
Calvinist church had elders (seen as predestined)…checked on
the members of the community by asking them questions,
concerning their sins
• later the Calvinists became pilgrims and puritans
• The most significant single statement of Protestantism - Calvin’s
“Institutes of the Christian Religion”
Other Reformers:
• John Knox (2nd generation Reformer) (1513-72)
• influenced by John Calvin
• Believed that the Genevan (Swiss) Reformation
was “the most perfect school of Christ”
• Was forced to Geneva as a refugee due to Mary Tudor’s
campaign against Protestants in Scotland
• He was a radical Protestant, spending 19 months as a French
galley slave after a Scottish uprising
• Founder of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterianism)
• Lutheranism had spread in Northern Germany and into the
Scandinavian countries
• the printing press helped to spread the Lutheran ideas...Bible,
writings,...
Henry VIII and English Reformation
• Henry VII of England victoriously concluded the civil wars in England
and began his Tudor dynasty
• his first son Arthur married Catherine of Aragon (Spain was and
remained a Catholic country)
• After five months, Arthur died
• What to do, what to do???
• papal dispensation (Leviticus 18:6-18 prohibited
marriages between close relatives)
• Henry VIII, King of England in 1509
• He and Catherine (#1) had a daughter – Mary Tudor in 1516
• By 1525, Catherine was 40 years old and there appeared no hope for
more children
• Anne Boleyn, a lady of the court (and a Protestant)
• Henry appealed to Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to
Catherine based on Leviticus
• NO!
More…
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So, who else could give him a divorce
Henry had earned the title of “Fidei Defensor” for denouncing Martin Luther
Henry also gained support in Parliament for attacking the Church’s
privileges and property
Thomas Cromwell suggested that the Crown displace the Pope
as head of the Church of England (1529)
Anne Boleyn (#2) already pregnant with their daughter Elizabeth
The Pope annulled the annulment and excommunicated Henry
“Act of Supremacy” – not an introduction to Protestantism, but a break from the
Papacy
Anne was crowned Queen in June 1533 and it angered many Englishwomen
Henry’s passions for Anne waned and her future pregnancies ended in miscarriage
Henry is in a pickle
Catherine died in 1536 and Henry’s marriage to Anne was declared void and she was
beheaded on charges of adultery
Almost immediately, Henry married Jane Seymour (#3), another lady of the court
She bore Henry a son, Edward in 1537 and died in childbirth
More…
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Henry next married Anne of Cleves (#4) in 1540
Henry married Catherine Howard (#5), but she lacked discretion
around the court and was beheaded for adultery in 1542
Henry married one last time in 1543 – Catherine Parr (#6)
She remained in both his political and marital beds and outlived him
Henry VIII died in 1547 and the Tudor succession passed to his children
Edward came to the throne at age 9
Mary Tudor followed Edward (recall – Act of Supremacy)
– She removed Protestant clergy on the grounds that they had broken their vow of
celibacy
– She restored the mass
Mary married Philip of Spain, also a Catholic
Some had conspired to exclude Mary as an illegitimate daughter, opting for a
Protestant grandniece
She and Philip had no children and he returned to Spain
More…
• Mary died in 1558 and was succeeded by
her half-sister Elizabeth
• Elizabeth I (last of Tudor dynasty) reigned
from 1558-1603
• It was a 45 year love affair between the English people
and the Queen
• Under Elizabeth, as a daughter of Anne Boleyn, England
went back to Protestantism
• Elizabeth came to the throne at age 25
• Had many suitors, but only one love, Earl Robert Dudley
• Elizabeth was diplomatic and spoke several languages
• she did not let her heart rule her head
• she sought a middle ground between religious extremes
The Stuarts
• Henry VII’s sister Margaret
• Margaret had a son James V who had a
daughter Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
• Mary Stuart, part of a conspiracy to murder her
own husband
• She abdicated in favor of her son James VI and fled
to England to seek help from Elizabeth
• Queen Elizabeth put Mary under house arrest
• Mary was later beheaded (1587) when implicated
in a plot against the Queen
• When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, King James VI
of Scotland became King James I of England
What is going on in America at
this time?
DISCUSSION QUESTION: What
long-running threads can we see in
the last 500 years beginning with
the Reformation?