Pre-Reformation

& General Reformation Movements in the Plural

Understanding the Reformation or Actual Christian Reformation of Europe (14th – 16th cc.)

Copyright © 2008 Michael Johnathan McDonald (bookoflife.org)

Up to date v. 1 Dec. 12 (NR 05)

Notes and reflections, historiography or pre- and reform churches of western civilization, University of California, Berkeley, undergraduate personal notes.

noteQ Instatutiones is messued on formating.

The most important difference of the two major religious movements is that Protestants had said, “You can interpret the Bible yourself, “ whereas the Catholic Church did that for you,  and that was their way of managing contending religious pluralism.

Catholics didn’t want you to make a profit. Or better yet, people controlled what the Church performed as a managing oversight of the communion of Christians.  Tithes and supporting the Catholic Church was a duty of a good Catholic. Calvin said; keep your own damn money.” So what do you think people voted on? People seen this as Catholics not free and Protestants free. However, around 1350s A.D., it was the success of the common who spearheaded the Crusades, in which the Church back in avocation. Therefore, money influenced individualism which then led to pluralism. A need for education was brought upon by the need for monetary management.

• Short Biography of John Calvin Below

• Variety of Catholic Explanations on Salvation History.

• Variety of Protestant reformers pre-1517.

• Different Reformations, including Social Gospels & Social conflicts.

• Martin Luther separated Church & State.

• Desiderius Erasmus separated Church & State.

• John Calvin combined Church & State.

• United States of America separated Church & State.

• De Regna Christi (France, Spain, England, Netherlands)

• Post-Reformers, who came after Martin, Desiderius, and John, formed their own views and did not demonstrate what these people had stated.

• The Holy Roman Empire was under a Spanish Monarch when the Reformation became embolden. The Reformation was more economical than earlier thought.

• The End of the Reformation is the Treaty of Westphalia, and is such a National Prescription of symbols that modern day national states exhibit as Patriotic.

• This View affirms my assertions that it was four centuries of Islamic aggress which lead to the Crusades, which then led to the Golden Age which then led to ethnocentricism vying for riches and wealth of land and economy.

• Religion during the Medieval Ages Helped stop Imperialism and fashioned pacifism. Both Luther and Erasmus preached pacifism and denounced militarism as secular and not of God's will.

• Social Gospel Historiography intends all western civilization wars from the medieval ages to the current are justified from attempts to spread incorrect Christianity. If Christianity intends secular non-militarism then social historiography claims remain fallacy arguments. Crusades were formed under desperate survival circumstances, the new world for desperate survival circumstances, and colonization was solely economic and not argued as religiously based.

• Jesus claims no earthly kingdom, no militancy opposition to state authority, offers hope in the afterlife, and never preached to conquer anyone’s lands or put anyone into bondage in the name of him.

• Jesus was crucified by his own people, the Jews, and not the Romans, therefore no class struggle warfare can be connected to his ministry.

• Judas Iscariot was angry that Jesus would not sell and expensive ointment bottle to feed the poor when he asked Jesus to do so. Jesus was not concerned about social politics.

• Christianity that is linked in modern day social struggles has no bearing in New Testament Scriptures.

• The Old Testament sections concerning the Israelites exemplify a military book based upon history of the Jewish social struggle. There is no evidence that the New Testament continues to adhere to any continuance of an Israeli Empire or the struggle of its people.

• In 529 A.D. Western Civilization put away paganism communicated as humanism because it was deemed dangerous (& discussed here in this website). This describes the peaceful circumstances of Christianity during the Medieval Ages. After paganism was reintroduced, it was blended into the Christian Doctrine and describes the assent of western power and domination. Christianity alone was not the fault of any war in history. The Thirty Years’ War was about trade, border control, economic advantage, and solely secular matters. Anyone who believes it was fought because of large populations were murdering each other over the concept if the holy spirit is besides the bread and the wine (consubstantiation) or imbued in the bread and wine (transubstantiation) will need to spend many years reading the prime sources and conducting scientific approaches to the history of these times.

• The Mysteries of John of Patmos, in the Book of Revelation states ‘no wise will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ The Apostles, patristic traditions and Jesus confirm this statement. People who intend they know something often seek to dominate the minds of others in secular social symbolisms. Desiderius’ work, The Praise of Folley (pub. 1511), one of the greatest books of all time, illustrates this thesis with absolute clarity. Desiderius attacked both the Religious Establishment and the Secular Establishment – both intending they were learned, attained the social symbols of authority and controlled the minds of the populous because they believed they knew something and were therefore justified as wise. Today social status symbols connected to humans run around claiming they know everything and will fight to die or dominate or kill you to prove they are correct. They are the wise in our world. And as Revelations states, it is a “wonder” to perceive. Fools make it to heaven, because they at least know, they do not know anything.  

Understanding Christianity in the Medieval Age

At the Time after the Fall of Western Roman Civilization, the western community saw paganistic education or one could say secular education had led to Rome’s downfall. Many modern Western Roman historiographers today intend that Christianity advanced or was the sole cause of Rome’s downfall. However, special interest groups in western civilization today advocate to keep Church and State in separate entities. This was not how it was communicated after the Fall of Rome. Materialism and the desire for it in all of its socio-economic and political aspects led to competition for material resources. These were power struggles and communicated as reactions to immoral imperialism of Classical Rome. The solution was to get rid of education and lead a more spiritual lifestyle which would solve the dangers of knowledge – which always, they intend, led to competition. The Catholic Church exhumed the role of dispensing the Spiritual force behind this new ideology. International aggressive war was no longer seen an option, it lead to materialism, greed, war, death, and destruction. The Catholic Church’s role was to manage the Western European people in a pursuit of a more kindler, gentler and peaceful existence based upon Jesus Christ’s’ peaceful non-combatant model. I understand that I’m in opposition with many esteemed historians, anthropologists, and investigators of these periods. However, when we look to beginnings of bring back education into western civilization in more wide-range of localities, such as beginning by the fourteenth century; we observe the proto-renaissance, and beginning of common grammar schools. As education of the renaissance progresses, we see a rise in militancy and literature arguing for a return to empire. Martin Luther had noticed this, and wrote in 1520 to the Pope and to his German princes and nobility, a return to spiritual primacy must take place to stop the expanding bloodshed and corruption of materialistic greed. Calvin’s systematic theology helped spread western civilization materialism by joining the Church and State, with practical secular principles which helped imbue a new sense of modern man. Modern man was a business man with aspirations to make heaven on earth (in contrast to Jesus’ claim of the kingdom of God is spiritual rather than material) by ideas to make money and to buy comfortable things to offset the difficult lifestyle of the peaceful and spiritual ideology of the medieval ages. The rise of western civilization can be explained in the return of paganism, of non-Christian spirituality, and of secular desire. When someone accuses  Christianity of all negative or injurious causes of western civilization and of world history, these persons usually have a materialist and a secular purpose.  Most of them could not cite Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, Thomas More, The Patristic fathers, the Bible or many medieval Church fathers. The Catholic Church was the overlord of part of the medieval age, and was the watchdog for keeping kings, princes, and people alive and passive. Wars in the medieval ages were less atrocious, minimal death (most could ask to leave a battle after a wound, and were granted), very few soldiers in comparison to pagnistic states such as Classical Rome or the paganistic twentieth century communism and U.S.A. hegemony. While European civilizations were much smaller ( c. 1850, the first billion people on earth) the modern advent of machine warfare has surpassed all killing capacity of the ancient and medieval times.  These machines were never built upon Jesus Christ’s ministry nor did these secular states make war on the world for their religions. The psychosis of blaming religion for all the wars of history pertain special social interests and have no merit or confidence in the history books.

Legacy and How to Understand Our World Today

Pluralism 

By 1600s a mixing of reformation movements begin in Scotland and England and by the mid-sixteenth century and further onward in time the religious geographical map of western civilization and including the new world had changed. This was all a process of how progressionism appears as an illusions in time which seeks to grow out of an old stagnant ideology and form into a new type of ideology that consist of a number of empirical critical criteria which can be seen not only in western civilization but the entire world’s geography if one so chooses to understand it.

The Crusades were a response of desperate measures of survival, communicated a serious of religion driven military campaign. Most modern historiography tends to pressure the point that somehow common people rose up and agreed and were influenced by a few individuals (here as Popes) to go off and die because other people of the world were not practicing baptism or the Eucharist. Yet, ergosim [grain psychedelic growth, as mold ( see Global US and 1960s pages with Middle Age explanation of natural Psychodelics)] and disease and the fall of the Frankish empire had placed people in general into dire living conditions. The Eastern Roman Church had weakened against other Middle Eastern states who also wanted to expand their economic livelihood through the capture of vital trade routs. Eastern and western trade through out history including during the Egyptian/Sumerian periods were vital interworld survival mechanisms. The Umayyad and Abbassid had risen during the seventh century and vowed a cut off of resources to Europe to pacify it for further conquest. North Africa and the access to the east of the Mediterranean had been cut-off. Even before the First Crusade had been preached at Rome in response to the people’s pleas for better living conditions than dying of all sorts of wants and disease, in Iberia the reconquista movement had been operating for over a 100 years. It was argued in economic terms also. There were no communications that the Iberians of the north wanted to expel Arabs in the south because they did not partake of the Lord’s Supper sacrament. They wanted the farming land, ship access to the oceans and rivers and material possessions of vital strategic trade-routs and indigenous working populations.  One of the first successes of the Crusades was the establishing of the Venetian shipping and Trade Empire. The Crusades did not spread spiritualism or the model of the Pacifist Christ but economic salvation. While the Crusades were fought with symbols of religion - driven iconography this helped and laid the confusion for centuries of religious polemics. As upstart indigenous groups began to fight for their economic destiny in Anatolia,  Byzantine emperor Alexios I asked the western Church’s ruler, Pope Urban II for mercenaries to defend his economic interests. Alexios did not say, please Urban, help us win because these people do not partake in the Eucharist ( not an established universal European sacrament at this time. Islands in the Mediterranean by held by people of different economic ideologies were then considered as viable areas for western ideologies to conquest to station areas for economic opportunity to the east and west. Pope Gregory VII had struggled with blood for economic liberation of traditional Roman lands. After Bayzid “ The Thunderbolt,”  Ottoman leader had captured in west Anatolia the first Ottoman shipping port, Venice and the Ottomans would go to war for centuries thereafter – however, during each war period, Venice moved their trading port ( a temporary port) to the south of Venice and continued trade –non stop. Trade was of the biggest importance for conquest and not religion. The Ottomans did not conquer the eastern part of Europe so they could spread their religion – but it was to began their economic centers as a inter connected network of economic viability. The Crusades had the desired result, and spices and new trade came into Europe and fostered a better life and better survival rates for European humans. Since many academics empirically read in the sources that these Crusades were a response to four-centuries of Muslim aggression into Europe, they believed it was over the use of the Koran against the Bible. There is absolutely no logical evidence for this, rather useful political polemic in academia today to fashion guilt of making people’s lives more fulfilling during a time of youthful death and depravity. Anyone sound scholar studying Islam, would also understand that this movement had the same economic agenda as the western Crusades. The symbols were used like the Christian symbols of the Crusades, but its underlying base motive was a better way of life and better opportunities. Somehow this could only be accomplished in bloodshed. People would die for their right of economic materialism – on all sides of the human-line. Religion just provided the symbology to rationalize the fear one gets when they are about to die in battle. The Crusades were a disaster, where European indigenous groups suffered as well. Almost everyone was uneducated that took part and leaders that had some sense of education could tell their followers anything and use their desperation as a motivating a factor.

The Crusades were a vital step for opening up trade and knowledge of the world – and people of the west increased their excitement at understanding a new world was much larger than they had known. This meant possible opportunities for social, political and economic advancement.  They did not come together as a collective whole of Europeans and say we must force the Eucharist ritual on all the people and we will send our sons and daughters to die for this reason. Yet, many modern academics say this is so. The Crusades were about spreading the sacraments of the Catholic Church (although they did not exist as they did in a wide-format as empirically understood during the 14th-15th centuries. Parts of southern Italy, islands in the Mediterranean, new trade in Anatolia ( the trade juncture of the world) helped start the Golden Age elemental beginnings in 1320s in southern eastern Europe. The reasons why we speak of the proto-renaissance in the Italian sense is this was where the southern Eastern Europe center was located. Florence, the great Renaissance history in western historiography won access to the Mediterranean during the early 14th century. When we imperially understand this, we then can understand how their vibrant wool trades (guilds) began to sell more products (mainly to the French, but other locals too) and foster a “new” wealth. Florence’s rise and the Italian Renaissance period of the Northern Italian Republican-city-states were not fostered because the Crusades forced other ideologists to submit to the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper, but because men, women, children died to open up trade routs and conquest lands for economic reasons. The reason by the beginning of the sixteenth century people were saying in Europe, “we are living in a Golden Age,” was because of “new money, a new founded wealth fostered not by religion but by economic bloodshed. I intend desperation and a new attitude of sacrifice for a happier disposition led the Crusades and the conquest wars and not because someone wanted to force others to go to a Mass. Columbus set sail not to spread penance or confirmation but to find access to Indian (India) spice routs. This was solely in the economic agenda. Columbus’ symbols of finding paradise were economically fashioned in his mind. There was a movement, and possibly still is, that intends the discovery of the New World was religiously intended so save indigenous people from damnation. After the depopulations of natives as empirical evidence and economic opportunity realized in the New World, the argument of conquest as conversion is a non-issue to serious historians. Religious symbols used but the base idea was a better life and new hope with opportunity form escaping depravity of a former world. Power struggles existed in solely secular forms and not religious.

Lets delve into Pluralism a result of economic diversity as it intends social opportunity of personal or individual economic destiny. Lets start by explaining the Renaissance conditions to the Reformation as legacy.

Main themes:  if the renaissance was successful,  it would look monotonous and seen today. Many states did not adopt the Republican-city state formula. By the 1600s it does not become apparent the Republicans wins the political-social and economic experience.

All of the aesthetics pretend to countries which have a mark of the renaissance. 

What about the legacies, why spend time studying the Reformation and Renaissance?

We cannot understand the world we are living in if we do not understand these times. Our life has been fashioned by the renaissance and reformation. And in Petrarch’s, he looks on shell of a city of Rome and writes a poem wishing he could live when it was the splendor or its time. Therefore, in two hundred years later, Petrarch could have said that Rome is here again. It had been reborn. Rome rose by Imperialism (Roman Empire period) and responses to imperialism ( Punic Wars). What was Rome, then? The world of classical literature and classical architecture, and all this was fueled by all the riches of Rome. When people read these books they fantasized about the easy and luxuries life of their leaders. No leader during the proto-renaissance could say they lived like Roman emperors of the rich persons. There were no instantiations, no large celebratory festivals, not gathering of people in celebration of life and success. There was only a drab and mortal existence – no fantasy, love as beauty, and colossalness intending the triumph of man (large building structures). The majority medieval Europeans were living in poverty or abject poverty – that is to say close to death every day. During the medieval age, people had understood Imperialism was ethically and morally not virtuous – if we intend virtue as non-combatant and pacifist. The idea was success was always a sacrifice in bloodshed or ones own people against other peoples which could not be avoided. People chose not to collaborate as a common people and go out an imperialize (until the First Crusade of the common people). Yet, when Petrarch roamed the countryside people would spread the word about this ancient civilization in so munch humanistic glory. Finally  people said it is either living in the dirt with death and depravity for eternity on earth or it is a choice to go back to sending our children to die in bloodshed hoping we can win some economic advances and bring back this idea of a great civilization.

The Ghosts of the past intend in people’s mind that we are living in the past, and the renaissance succeeded in driving away that ancient Ghost. Once the Europeans had seen how much economic success the Crusades had brought, and we must remember that pilgrimages were a way to communicate this economic success around Europe because people would pass through Florence or in northern western Spain or Venice and see economic prosperity taking place and wonder why they could not be a part of this prosperity and happiness.  It had nothing to do with religion; it was a sight sense of the grandeur of economic colossalness.

It was about creating statues and personally singing them so you could get recognized and get more money for your talented work. Burckhardt was only partially correct. Art did fashion the individual, but it was the economic emphasis -- as well as personal desire (as he stated) to get recognized – but also a  financially progressive idea. Why work so hard and not get reward by evidence of this new prosperity seen all around one?

A more important was life its self was worth beauty, and should be celebrated, the idea of life in motion, and there was truth about what Jacob Burckhardt had about the rise of the individual -- yet maybe as qualified.  The signing of art is one example, and the urban landscape had been revived, people were aware they were living in a revival of art and architecture, and the baroque successor.

Education, gave birth to a system of learning, and shared sense of what is important to individuals, and groups of people that could speak a similar language, and sharing basic ideas of common texts, and these gave them a common foundation for a broader communications ideas – which had lead the Roman empire into economic vitality of a common business language. This means, as economic problems come about as they do, it gave rise to modern diplomacy, and that is part of the political traditions still relevant in western civilization to today.  

If you study Latin in high school or college you are a part of the renaissance, so we are still in a renaissance, and the U.C. Berkeley’s architecture is modeled after a neo-platonic revival.

Renaissance rebirth of republican ideas, and ideas of shared governments, never pure democracies ( there has never been a real democracy in a large civilized group of individuals in all of history), revives the community of individualist republican ideas, in the Northern Italian republican city-states – that is the model as 500 citizens will hold offices under some type of an election system, where the ideal is that everyone takes a part in running the town or city. People are not supposed to be passive observers of government but active participants with their ideas and concerns.  Fairness and opportunity are foundational beliefs. Yet, as pluralism, this revives the idea of empire and the over all impact it would have as a response to change --  to overstate the revival the imperial revival of Imperialism – literally the entire globe, the spreading out of the Europe pluralism affected the whole world’s traditions. It was all a desire to imitate Rome’s imperial expansion of economic inclusiveness of a wide-body of people.

We are still living in many ways today under the pluralism of the Reformation and the understanding of the Renaissance. It was a revelation to pro-action to bring back what was lost – a massive civilization of individualist ideas. And we cannot forget the Capital Dome in Washington was modeled after St. Peter’s dome from Michelangelo’s adopted plans. And the US is the most recent heirs to the imperial traditions of the renaissance ( post WWII), and the Machiavelli realism – which had taken a note of the realism overtaking the idealism in the 14th century. These ideas describing politics as modeled as positive Christian princes – the books published on how a prince should ethically run their administration on Christianity (each unique in its interpretation) . A prince was going be ethical and with Machiavelli’s political realism, this changed the idea on ethics and we see fame and glory of politics to day connected to realism. Yet, that is a marker taught at Tire I instatutions and a little subjective. I intend, if Machiavelli had not been born the world would still have turned out the way that it has done. Yet, I also intend the idealism of the Church, its ideology on non-materialism and pacifism helps define the moment when the Crusades brought monetary success back into western civilization which I then intend brought realism back from the beyond.

The Realm of science and discovery of realism also shaped out modern world:  usually beginning Copernicus’ switching of the positions of the Sun and of the Moon – while not throwing out the equants – the renaissance sought exploration of solutions to living in ideologies of spiritualism, non-knowledge, and peaceful ignorance. It is only a sense of the discovery of the mind and of the world that began to shape political realism we understand so contentious with today’s powersharing arguments. Renaissance Europe actually discovered the world by discovering old maps and then wanting to upgrade them. Columbus studies maps.  Mapping of the world took place from about 1400 maps to the 1700s – this was the mapping period. It was connected loosely to fame as well as more dominantly economic fortunes. It was individual liberty that drove personal interests for glory, fame and wealth and not religious arguments. Why does the U.S.A. have over 300 modern denominations that can be tied to the Reformation period? Literature, birth of the modern novel, Cervantes, Shakespeare and the satire with Rabelais, all brought back concepts of the Roman Imperialistic conception of civilization.

Paganism is what the Renaissance and Reformation was all about. It was a plurality of contending personal views – not unlike the contending personal views of the Greek God’s in Mythology. People were allowed to chose their poison.

The realm of religion in the realm of the reformation bequeaths to us a religious speculation, a pluralism of sorts, of individual interpretation; conflict is still in the air as to the real or ideal historiography of our past. The reason for this was that paganism was draped across the spiritual aspects of Catholicism and triumphant. Calvinism intends materialism is correct and willed by God. St. Teresa of Ávila calls this nonsense. God is about spiritual brother and sisterhood and defined as non-personal materialistic pursuits for humankind. Pluralism gave us individual liberty. Martin Luther draped his titles with words and concepts of our modern day: “Liberty,” “National,” are two words that ring true today and intend that we are still living in the period of the renaissance and reformation. We still look to the past to explain the future.  The renaissance is still brought to us by the desire for the primacy of the text: The patristic understanding of Salvation History (i.e. early church fathers). As prime sources, this obviously continues on as a tradition of the reformation till the present day. The investigation to philosophy both of Rome and of Greece intend we still are in the Renaissance today.  The new discovery of Bible tests contine, as with the scrolls of Quorum, and Nag Hagamandi texts.

The reformation is a legacy of the personalized religion, a paganistic disunity – a personal reflection on life and the pursuit of happiness. When Martin Luther stands up and says everyone is a Priest, that means everyone can interpret religion for themselves. What did this say to the human being?  This is, was, and will be a sense of an empowerment for the individual. To Martin, it was the Liberty of the Christian . He was saying it was a liberation of the individual from the responsibility of past collectivism of the community.

And in Latin America we have an echo of the reformation,  Today most had been illiterate, yet with literacy rates now rising and new and personal interpretations of how the Bible says this or that – it was traditionally controlled by official priesthood of a dominant Church.

Legacy of the Protestant Work Ethic: a theory sociologist Marxism in late 19th century gave rise to yet another form of Social Gospels already being formed in the sixteenth century, and even after the period of Christ.  For the rise of a theory of capitalism is the individual interpretation of their own interests – assessed in the words and deeds of the past.

Calvin and Luther had agreed that works are not a salvation. Why do salvation if there was no monetary reward? This was the underlying principle argued as personal interpretation of the Bible. One cannot buy a house if they constantly concern themselves with charity and caring of others. To propagandize this doctrine of election, Calvin had said that God has already chosen and you will know the Chosen by their material success – not a spiritual success -- by their works in the world. And this will be empirical – you will see how successful they are in this world by their accumulation of material possessions and control of the material world. This was solely paganistic, agnostic or atheist at its base of understanding. It was about the material world.

The Catholic Church was the only loosely structured institution for much of the Medieval Age period. When John Calvin wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion, he supplanted his form as religious pluralism, as unique to his ideas for civilization protocol. Martin Bucer’s De Regna Christi did the same for pluralistic religion Monarchism. In some sense it was diversity of reform movements under an older expression of Reformation. Now it is seen as pluralism.

As a successful business person,  God had chosen according to Calvin, we see a strong echo of this today in the narrative of the United States of America ( as well as other countries) The America legacy of the reformation and somewhat obviously due to wide-expanses of open land and the Protestant migrations from Europe – America : the reformation is where it takes off and as well as later western Europe, and that is still only a few reformation movements – where else does this individualism and liberty and nationalism form in our modern world. The protestant reformer was not about allowing different interpretations just as the Catholic Church had been accused.  Everyone thought “you must be like me;” there was a demonic view on how one should view religion. This continued nationalism or patriotism or more importantly traditionalism on ethnic identification. Movements that adopted different interpretation they are persecuted, which led to some going to North America to seek peace and survival. Luther and Calvin were not tolerant -- it obviously paves a way for a détente. In 1598, in France, an edict of Protestant Catholic toleration is agreed upon. But toleration of religion is encoded, and this was the unexpected product of the legacy of the reformation. Since America had a wide-spaces open, this allowed migrations of large amounts of people to set up over 300 different denominations of religions today. The framers put in their law codes that the government could not control or adopt any religion within their realm. Religion was granted liberty, as long as it did not rise against the central authorities. Yet, the United States of America was a wide-open place and as it fills with people the same reactions and results of Europe or anywhere in the world in history will repeat itself. This is because it is not about forcing someone to confession, it is actually economic viability based upon life and death desires for personal respect. We can see results of these empirical facts by the populatin growths in the U.S.A. in the 20th century.

Legacy of the reformation: what is the outcome: Catholic and Protestant formed an ecumenical movement of the 20th century. It is about Protestants and Catholics coming together to talk about their differences.  The world is getting populated and radical groups intend they want to destroy the economic viability of the United States of America.

During WWI and WWII the ecumenical discussions were a set of high level meetings which transformed into the birth of the World Council of Churches. This came about because of the world population rise – now just over 6 billion people and rising. Space is limited and religious identification always connected to personal space is decreasing. As theme, these  meetings were informal or were formal and have been operating for the better part of fifty-years,  and has been operating from a headquarters at Geneva.

And their biggest accomplishments were to bring documents together to reconcile the BEM document, written in the 1980s, and puts together the common consensus between sacramental services, then ask each what do we agree upon – and there was no theological debate during the reformation that exists today.  What turned out to be main question remains “who gets to be in power?”  If we think of the reality of the reformation, this is the primary understanding of it. Who gets to be in power?

That is the most pertinent of questions. It is a move to bring Protestant movements in the plural sense back together ( as the Catholic Church once ruled as a monolithic religious ideology) , and it is a product of the reformation that is still a legacy today. These experiments continue and the notion of cliché that pastures are always greener on the other sides of the fence, due tells us about the truth.  

“who gets to be in power?”

I have intended this was the reason Luther acted in such a polemic way that he had – it was to him patriotism, and formation of the German identity group. By taking away collective thought represented in the Universality of the Church, Luther could fragment this universalism and allow his German interests to break financially away from the central authorities. The religious wars were not fought over competing ideas if The Lord’s Supper had it spiritual holy-Spirit vehicle. If the religious wars in Europe were about these things, then surely there is no hope for humankind. Protestantism offered a new ideology on self interests. These self interests were monetary, individually ideal, and liberationist.

Even in Berkeley, the city had physical reminders in church buildings of the reformation that started – as Bancroft Blvd is rampant with protestant denominations and there are Catholic churches in the bay area to boot. .

The reformation and Renaissance were at the best at the multifaceted marbles of society, the celebration of life and liberty and potential of the human spirit, and it is this legacy that draws up to study this period, and study how it changed people for inspiration. For progress and beauty in the world, in some sense a more comfortable life spearheaded through strife. The Medieval Age consisted of guilt, personal responsibility, a hard and sad life – it was more ethically tolerant and benevolent when it comes to imperialism – but that intended a result of austerity and poverty. Without knowledge there was no progress, no material advancement, no hatred, no rampant crime, no acts of genocide due to ethnical identifications, no reason to progress because heaven could not be attained on earth, and no reason not to love your neighbor because they were basically in the same financial predicament. Nobles and kings had little in the way of wealth to the common poor. There were no Institutioness as we knew them during the past (Rome) or now (20th century western civilization). The spirit of adventure, beauty, aspirations, joy, conflict and all the human emotions expressed as to living a “full” life exemplified a Renaissance -- a return to the ideas of Civilization. The process of the reforms ( reformations) in the plural form was the outgrowth of civilization – there cannot be civilness without independence, individuality, some sort of liberty, and personal recognition of oneself in the world. This was not the case in the medieval age where the Church’s ideology forced one to live the life of a good person under threat of death. The reaction in modern historiography to blame the church for all the negative things of our past is a campaign to keep the church and state separate so that these “full” emotions and realities can continue as in civilization. 

Pre-Reformation

& General Reformation Movements in the Plural

Understanding the Reformation or Actual Christian Reformation of Europe (14th – 16th cc.)

Devotio Moderna: Thomas a Kempis

Devotio Moderna (Latin) or Modern Devotion was a religious movement of the Late Middle Age. It came into avocation at the same time as Christian Humanism. Christian Humanism advocated studying the fundamental texts of Christianity to come to one’s own relationship with God. The fifteenth century laity were able to study the scriptures by the advent of the printing press. With the ideals of normative beliefs and of normative religion, this was in contention to Christian Humanism  especially prominent in cities in the Low Countries during the 14th and 15th centuries. It was regarded sometimes as a contributing factor for Lutheranism and Calvinism. It was also a major influence upon Erasmus, who was brought up in the city of Deventer (Netherlands). From Christian Humanism two kinds of communities formed, the Brethren of the Common Life, consisting mainly fashioned by laymen, as well as monasteries in the arena of the Windesheim near Zeolle. The book The Imitation of Christ (Latin, De imitatione Christi 1418; French 1447, sold over 2,000 editions) was written by Thomas a Kempis (c. 1380s-1471, born in lower Germany), a was adopted by Groote’s Brother of the Common Life, outlines the concepts of the Modern Devotion, based upon personal connection to God and the active showing of love toward Him (.e.g. in the blessed sacrament of the alter or during mass).  The Imitation of Christ was a manual to assist the soul in the pursuit of communion with God.

Geert Groote (The Term Protestant)

Geert Groote (October 1340 – 20 August 1384) a.k.a Gehard Groete, Latin Geradus Magmus was a Dutch preacher and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. “He was born in the hanseatic city of Deventer in the diocese of Utrecht. He studied at Aachen, and then went to the University of Paris at fifteen years-old. He studied philosophy and theology at the Sorbonne under a pupil of William of Occam’s, as well as studying Canon Law, medicine, and astronomy and magic. He studied sparingly Hebrew as well. After graduating in 1358, he pursued further studies at Cologne. In 1366 he visited the papal court at Avignon. He was then appointed canonry in Utrecht and to another in Aachen. He lived a luxurious life but then converted in 1374 due to health problems and the influence of Henry de Calcar, a learned and pious prior of the Carthusian monastery at Munnikhuizen near Arnhem, who had remonstrated with him on the vanity of his life. In 1376 Gerhard retired to monastery life and spent years in meditation. He then in 1379 received an ordination as a decon, becoming a missionary preacher throughout the diocese of Utrcht. His preaching the inner life of Christ and education of the general populace as a model for living spread in northern Europe and people flocked to hear him preach. The bishop of Utrecht supported him as he preached against concubinage in the presence of the clergy assembled synod. The impartiality of his censures, which he directed not only against the prevailing sins of the laity, but also against heresy, simony, avarice, and impurity among the secular and regular clergy provoked the hostility of the clergy, and accusations of heterodoxy were brought against him. It was in vain that Groote emitted a Public Protestatio, in which he declared that Jesus was the great subject of his discourses, that in all of them he believed himself to be in harmony with the Catholic Church doctrine, and that he willingly subjected them to the candid judgment of the Roman Church.”[1] Yet, in connotative implications, this was a protest by Groote on the clergy by the Catholic orders opposing his preaching. “The bishop was induced to issue an edict which prohibited from preaching all who were not in priest’s orders, and an appeal to Urban VI was without effect. There was a difficulty as to the date of the prohibition; either it was only a few months before Groote’s death, or else it must have been removed by the bishop, for Groote seems to have preached in public in the last year of his life.”[2] Groote represented the rise of literary rates.

Groote had asserted he was teaching to correct gospel. Protestatio, protestationis, noun, declension 3, gender female, is either a “declaration” or a “protestation.” This word is uncommon and it was not used during the classical times in Rome.[3] Protestant common intends that a declaration of a body of common like people have confirmed they know and practice the correct Christianity in comparison to previous incarnations of Christianity.

“At some period (perhaps 1381, perhaps earlier) he paid a visit to some days’ duration to the famous mystic John Ruysbroeck, prior of the Augustine cannons at Greoenendall near Brussels: at this visit was destined to bear such notable fruit. At the close of his life, he was asked by some of the clerics who attached themselves to him to form them into a religious order and Groote resolved that they should be cannons regular of [Order of] St. Augustine. No time was lost in the effort to carry out the project but Groote died before a foundation could be made. In 1387 however, a site was secured at Windesheim, some 20 miles north of Deventer, and here was established the monastery that became the cradle of Windesheim congregation of cannons regular embracing in course of time nearly one hundred houses, and leading the way in a series of reforms undertaken during the 15th century by all the religious orders in Germany. To initiation of this movement was the great achievement of Groote’s life; he lived to preside over the birth and first days of his other creation, the society of Brethren of the Common Life. He died of the plague at Deventer in 1384, at the age of 44.”[4]

Gehard Groote was preaching in the Netherlands, the low countries, and he was basically a school teacher, and he had helped to found the movement of the Breather in of the Common Life, sig: this movement is extremely important for the reformation. These are teachers out there running grammar schools for the lay and general population. It was a rise in literacy rates that was communicated as a good thing for piety. It was a better way to understand salvation. The movement of the lay devotees created a devotional life model based upon Thomas a Kempis’ book, “The Imitation of Christ” (a best seller). The model takes on the name (Modern devotion) Devotio Moderna (Latin). It was like a meditation on Christen piety. Thomas a Kempis says that these were brothers, who had focused on Christ themselves. They did not condemn others nor facilitated any condemnation on the popes. They tried to imitate Jesus’ life and to prove that one could live a life based upon Christ’s model. Significance: Erasmus and Luther both joined The Brethren of the Common Life where both of them studied the model of living like Christ. This is also the placed where they both learned Latin From this society, both Erasmus and Luther would receive an excellent education, although a harsh curriculum in Latin, often administered at the end of a rod, and other worthy academic studies,  according to both of these reformationists. From the time in the Brethren of the Common Life, one could also understand their unique positions on church reform coming from these reflections on scripture -- alone and adhering too religious texts instead dogmatically being explained Catholic Traditions,  created from dogmatic argument from the patristic founders of Christianity. The Protestant Reformation can be seen here as a pre-reformation, the currents on reform of the Church and the scrutiny of scripture were already taking place in Germany. Groete was a vital factor it the pre-reformation. After Groote, over 100 houses of the order taught schoolchildren how to read and write. This was a part of the reformation in Germany. As early as 1395 The Brethren of the Common Life developed a school at Deventer.

Martin Luther Grew up in Saxony, Germany, his father was of a new middle class, owned a little mining company, by no means a peasant – a certain kind of wealth and autonomy could be explained because of the Golden Age. The Luders had rose from poverty. Luther's father understood that he had to send his young son to the school to be successful. So he sends him to the Brethren of the Common Life, ( the imitation of Christ, the concept that Erasmus got the same idea from the Brethren of the Common life, that is to live like Jesus did and viewed as a model) A sober and interior Christianity was the style of learning that Martin and Erasmus were taught under. Martin ends up going to study with the Brethren in for four to five years and he is sent to get an education in order to study law, just like Petrarch’s father. These fathers wanted their sons to become lawyers. So Martin receives a masters at Erfurt, and he gets acquainted with the Medieval schools on theology. It was nominal, multi fields, taught Gnosticism, other medieval thoughts, and he is exposed to a “wide-range” of theological milieus. But all this had emphasized the study of scripture – and one of the things that happened during this period was that he ended up having a conversion experience, and it is rooted in medieval piety. It was not renaissance piety. Salvation History was like a ledger, where a keeping of a record of your deeds, and a type of a justice balance system. So it was about accountability, it was personal ledger society – this concept had a whole set of practices, like the culture of vows, and a culture of keeping certain promises. In pre-modern Europe, one would find parishes in villages that made collective vows.  For example, a mass said on a particular day for the praying against locus or plagues. Towns tried to get an intersession, and this was true of individuals, in their own private capacity – do some kind of act of penance. “Promises to god, please let me have this, and I will do this for you.” In contention to other biographers on Luther, Philip Melanchthon, who disposes the conversion onto many events, cites an inner transformation of Luther while at this cloister of the Lay Order of The Brethren of the Common Life.

John Wycliffe (14th Century Papal Era Dissension and Fragmentation)

Pormoted Sola Scriptura

John Wycliffe (variant spellings, b. mid 1320s- d. 31 December 1384) was an English theologian who set the foundation of Biblical scrutiny for Jan Hus in which later Martin Luther formed his foundation of criticisms of the economy of salvation and 14th century Salvation History of the Catholic Church. Wycliffe is considered the founder of the Lollard Movement a vital early dissident movement against the Catholic Church during the two-Pope period and fragmentation of the Church. Wycliffe was one of the early opponents of the pontificate and advocated secular power. Wycliffe importance as well stems from his insistence of a new Translation of the Bible. Masses were conducted in Latin, and there was no teaching of the Bible during sermons. The Church was basically a ritual orientated religious program based upon collective responsibility. It is believed that Wycliffe (now called Wycliffe Bible) and his associated translated the Old Testament, while Wycliffe translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (it is even possibly he had tried or accomplished the translation of the entire New Testament.). The Wycliffe Bible appears to have been completed in 1384, with additional updates with assistants in the years 1388 and 1395.

John Wycliffe (1328-1382), a theologian, did not see the world view of the Church as correct. Here are his five main criticisms.

(1)  Scripture should be the soul criteria for the belief and the practice of Christianity – only scripture. ( alternative view by the Church, two primary sources of revelation, scripture and tradition); what Wycliffe is criticizing is that the voice of God who was revealed through other men’s voices.

(2)  Tradition is not the criteria and should not be a practice of Christianity, only one scripture.

(3)   Replaces 5 of the 7 sacraments ( keeps baptism), he claims there is no bases for 5 sacraments in Scriptures, but the Church had the biblical foundation. Whycliffe just did not agree with the Church.

(4)  He disagreed with the economy of salvation, that is the sacrament of confession and penance, and indulgences—‘where does that practice comes from—he denounces the heart of the arguments for the economy of salvation, and also rejects Thomas Aquinas’ transubstantiation.

(5)   Who is presiding over these practices and structures, it is the Pope. So Wycliffe says if the Pope is corrupt then he is the anti-Christ. Wycliffe gives birth to the movement of Yallards [persecuted in England, and anti-clerical movement], but Wycliffe is not persecuted during his life, and his body was excavated and cremated and ex communicated after his death.

1. Significance: He sets precedence for criticism of the Church?

2. Latin, Ablative: Sola Scriptura = “by scripture alone,” is an affirmation that only the Bible is a source, and it alone with no complimentary analysis of the authoritative word of God. Later Anabaptists adopt Sola Scriptura.

Contentious Councils

These Councils call for a better political system.

Another movement to take notice of was Conciliarism. These councils refers to the movement to give a much larger role, a teaching authority, to church councils which may not be associated to the papacy. They imitated The Church prior to the 4th century A.D., as type of church government. There are 14 previous councils, and some in contention to the ones following in discussion here: The Council of Vienne (1311-1312) disbanded Knights Templar.   The  Council of Pisa 1409 attempted to solve the Great Western Schism. The council is not numbered because it was not convened by a pope and its failed solution repudiated at Constance. In 1408 (Pisa) the first council (previously in 1311), and in Constance, the Council of Constance (1414-1418) solved the Great Western Schism, condemned John Hus, beginnings of conciliarism. Council of Siena (Pisa?), 1423-1424, addressed church reform. The Council of Basel, Ferrara and Florence (1431-1445)  addressed church reform and reunion with the Eastern Churches, split into two parties: The fathers remaining at Basel became the apogee of conciliarism. The fathers at Florence achieved union with various Eastern Churches and temporarily with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Council of Basel, Ferrara and Florence (1431-1445, organized by Cosimo de’ Medici --  it was not to get rid of the papacy, but to allow differences of opinion to be guided by the councils, so the papacy does not make major decisions by themselves. So a general idea was to get councils administer for every 25 years. In contention, the pope would not like this. Peter the Apostle was the head of the rock. So as tradition, the pope claims now must I give the keys to the kingdom to the council? But who got to call the councils, it was always the Pope.  In the 1960s, John XXIII radically reformed the Church at one of these conciliarism, and it upended the Roman Catholic World. It succeeded in what people were afraid of and was previously argued against. This councils adopted women as priests. The Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512-1514) addressed church reform. Council of Trent (1545-1563, with interruptions) addressed church reform and repudiated Protestantism, defined role and canon of Scripture, the seven sacraments, strengthened clerical discipline and education. Though temporarily attended by Protestant delegates, this and the following councils are rejected by Protestants.The Council of Trent had many phases. It was phase two that the Catholic Counter reformation began to take on the characteristics of urgency.

Jan Hus

Jan Hus (alternative spellings, John Hus, Jan Huss, John Huss, b. c. 1372 Husinec, Bohemia – d.6 July 1415 Konstanz, HRE) was a Czech religious thinker, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. Hus greatly influenced by Wycliffe after King of England, Richard II traveled back to Bohemia after he had  married Anne of Bohemia, brought Wycliffe’s ideas to the general attention of others. Once Hus had adopted Wycliffe’s ideas on reforms, he advocated reforming Bohemian Churches. Two groups grew out of this movement, the Hussites, less radical and the more radical Taborites. It was the Taborites that rejected the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine of salvation, claiming all religious programs must be Biblically based. Out of this initial idea came reform with the Taborite off-shoot the Bohemian Brethren around 1450. This group furthered developed in Germany. The Moravians (So-called because they fled from Moravia in Czech lands) were on of the first Protestant charismatic communities, who sent missionaries to convert others, namely John Wesley who later became famous.

Pope Alexander V issued his papal bull of December 20, 1409, which empowered the archbishop to proceed against Wycliffism. All the books and doctrine of Wycliffe were to be give to authorities and burned. The bull was published in 1410. Hus appeared before Alexander, and all the books and manuscripts that had been gathered were burnt. Riots ensured in Bohemia.

These led to The Hussite Wars in Bohemia, and the Basel Compacts allowed the newly reformed Church a place in the kingdom of Bohemia – almost a century before Martin Luther comes on to the scene. The Hussite Wars convinced the Czech government to go along with the new reforms in exchange for social stability. The Catholic Church had split in the 14th century and had little authority to stop break away sects. Hus took up preaching at a Church building in Prague, called Bethlehem Chapel. But as Hus’ preaching became ever bolder, the Catholic Church placed an interdict banning the city and a pronouncement against Prague. Yet, the government paid no attention to the indictment. During the first half of the 1410s, The Catholic Church condemned Jan Hus’s findings and in 1411 excommunicated him, and by the Council of Constance, burned him at the stake in 1415. Hus’s persecution became European news and heavily influenced Martin Luther who saw the possibility of stardom. Hus was an extensive writer and his ideas were public knowledge.

John Hus & Four Reforms

John Hus (a.k.a. Jan Huss) initiated a reform movement based upon Wycliffe’s theology, which later formed into the Hussites movement who were followers of Hus. The Church rarely went after reform movements, but Hus was excommunicated in 1411 and burned at the stake in Constance on July 6, 1415. Hus led a movement of clergy and lay people who were able to receive communion in both kinds. Previously in Catholic Theology, lay people could only receive the bread and not the cup. This demonstrated the classes in existence in the otherwise three estate system. The cup was reserved for the religious. Yet, Hus said, ‘look to Jesus’ from an example of whom he communed with and then make an observation.’ Jesus did not see people as different, Hus intended. He is also saying we need a new tradition of free preaching to all individuals, which laced emphasis on a new tradition of priests to preach and explain scriptures to the lay people. He advocated these reformed priests to speak longer sermons, a more expansive speaking on scriptures. Hus was also against the selling of ecclesiastical offices (Simony). Selling offices meant receiving land, revenue and future property income.  The churches and monetary have become so wealthy, Hus intended, he claimed ‘we’ should go take their land from them – a secular authority should take the Church’s lands. This idea was a radical departure.  It was a redistribution of wealth belief, and John Hus, was seen here as a trouble maker by the Church. After his execution, in 1420, his movement called for Four (4) articles of a change of ecclesiastical tradition and releases them to Prague: Free preaching, lay people to get communion, no simony, and to take the Church’s land. This led to the Hussites’ Wars in Prague which lead to factionalization that lead to warfare for years. Remember that these movements get crushed by the Church, but they send out the seeds of knowledge, of which creates a real sense that the Church was in need some real reform. This is the significance, the church needed some reform. It did not always end in wars for ex communications, however, in this case it did.

Conrad Grebel ( more below)

Conrad Grebel (1489-1526) a prominent co-founder of the Swiss Brethren, Anabaptist, and John Calvin’s friend. Conrad preached protestant ideas in Strasberg. Calvin will also preach in Strasberg. Ideas such as removing the alter to the side of the Church; stripping the iconography of religious paraphernalia comes from these protestant ideas at Strasberg. Martin Bucer, who had a ministry there when Calvin fled Geneva, would be intending these ideas by the time Calvin arrives at the city. The issues of doing away with the sacraments as well and the ideas presented from the Summa Theologiæ, the Thomas Aquinas companion to the Catholic Church doctrine.

The Protestant Revolution

The Protestant Revolution was well on its way before Martin Luther came onto the scene. His ideas are not his findings, but of his predecessors, steeped in bloodshed, legend, and passion for pagan emancipation. The claims argued against the Catholic Church do not hold scholastic high-scholarship. Basically a chasm between the 13 Pauline Letters and the four major Gospels are not unified conceptual Christian understandings. If one side is adopted, then the other can be said to be not relevant, or subsidiary. The reason of the Protestant Reformation was the introduction of knowledge back into society which allowed lay individuals to read for themselves the contractions and differing opinions in the Bible. In this way, they had tools to begin a revolution: a revolution from collectivism to individualism, decentralization, fragmentation and ultimately freedom from common brotherhood and loving one’s neighbor. When Justinian I banned the higher education of learning in 529,[5] the argument surrounding his decision was that knowledge leads to dissension, social instability and ultimately death and war. This is exactly what happened by the spread of learning (1203-5), Paris College was one such reintroduction of higher learning, albeit elementally established curriculum and small student collectives, which helps identify periods when knowledge comes back onto the scene for western Civilization. For over one hundred years, education begins to spread in Europe. By the time Luther comes on to the scene, he has all the tools into which to learn to read the prime sources. The first cause or first source is what the people desire, they desires it as closer to the truth. The only problem was trying to interpret it when there are two to multi views recorded by different individuals on Christ.

Protestant Networks

Zürich, Prague, Basel, Bern, Schaffausen, Deventer, Wittenberg, Genève (to name a few major areas)

Philip Melanchthon 1497-1560:

    1530: He formed the doctrine of his friend Martin Luther (born at Eisleben, Germany). Melanchthon wrote one of the first biographies on Martin Luther. Most modern historiography on Luther comes from his views. His ministry is at Wittenberg, and he remains close to Luther and is his friend.

Augsburg Confession, 1530

The Augsburg Confession, 1530, was based upon two letters of Luther but was mainly written into a doctrine by Philip Melanchthon. Martin Luther, who was alive, was said not to be able to write a doctrine. After studying Luther conscientiously, one understands why. Luther did not like to mix the secular and the spiritual world together. On Early Authority (1523) Luther’s views on this matter are clear.  Charles V was verbally fighting with the papacy by the 1950s who left him and his troops in Germany, so Charles told the papacy that we cannot solve this solution, so lets have a doctrine where German princes ( because they mettle in politics at the religious level) be aloud to choose their own religion to solve the fighting between the contending sides. This became Charles V’s efforts a compromise treatise organized at the Diet of Augsburg called in 1555.

Augsburg Confession of 1530: Sets the foundation of Lutheranism. Luther was not competent to writing doctrines.  Luther is denied the opportunity to write a doctrine. This was because he is a preacher. So Philip Melanchthon writes the doctrine.

(a)   Principle, Primacy of faith.

(b)  Christian Bible is the authority, not the Catholic Church and traditions.

(c)  Two books of revelation, Bible and the Traditions are the revelation books of the Catholic Church.

(d)  Now, it was decided on only two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lords Supper: Luther claims only three, but these decisions are out of his hands.

(e)  Consubstantiatiion is Luther's adoption and he had refused  transubstantiation of Aquinas and Aristotle...

(f)   No more substance maximums from the ideology of the Eucharist.

(g)  Aristotle is fully condemned by Luther, and Augustinian had a lot of Aristotle in his work, and he attacks all of that. After Luther dies, Melanchthon will reintroduce Aristotelian metaphysics back into Lutheranism . 

Augsburg Confession, Some conclusions

by Philip Melanchthon and some helping theologians. ( this is not Martin Luther's works or findings)

I. Concerning God: a brief explanation of the Trinity, which was not a point of controversy. However, various opponents claimed that Luther did not accept such a doctrine, so its inclusion is understandable.

IV. Concerning Justification: the argument that justification by faith is all a person needs to get into heaven. This statement, not a doctrine but communicated as one, intended the primary difference between Lutherans and Roman Catholics.

VI. Concerning New Obedience: a statement saying that works are good, but have no merit before God, no salvation properties, no reason to do them for salvation purposes. This opposed the Roman Catholic Doctrine of justification.

IX. Concerning baptism: a statement on the belief in infant baptism and a condemnation of the Anabaptists for preaching otherwise. Not a point of controversy for the Diet.

X.  Concerning confession: a statement supporting the practice of confession, although it stated that no one was able to confess all their sins.

XII. Concerning Repentance: a statement on the belief that repentance is to feel sorrow for ones sins; it included both contrition and faith and that the Church ought to impart absolution to those thus returning to repentance. Anabaptists who teach that to be baptized is to be free of sin are condemned, as well as Novatians.

XIII. Concerning the use of Sacraments: a standard statement on the use of sacraments, which was not a point of controversy. Those who say that one is justified by use of sacraments without faith are condemned. [this is weird? must look into this from wiki unsourced editing]

XIV. Concerning Church Government: a standard statement on the belief that one must be called to be a minister. Not a point of controversy.

XVI. Concerning Public Order and Secular Government: a statement in support of secular government. Anabaptists are condemned for teaching otherwise, along with a condemnation of those who do good for fear of the government and not God. Not a point of controversy.

XVII. Concerning the Return of Christ and Judgment: a standard statement about the End Times, which states that Jesus will judge the living and the dead, the elect will go to heaven and the “ungodly” will go to Hell. Condemned are Universalism and the belief that the elect will have a secular government. Not a point of controversy.

XVIII. Concerning Free Will: a statement about the belief in man’s inclination to sin, and the need for external help from the Holy Spirit to please God. Those who teach that man can keep the commandments without the Holy Spirit are condemned [ i.e. Jews]. This is the only Controversy insofar as the scholastics who taught that man does have some say in whether or not he/she may please God.

XX. Concerning faith and Good Works: a statement about good works being good, but not assisting in salvation and standing before God. This is followed be an explanation and defense of the doctrine [Not a real doctrine until Philip Melanchthon completes the rejoining of Aristotle, after Luther’s death – the word may be used but it was not a doctrine per say. Melanchthon was exposed to these issues, understood them and this explains why he began to incorporate metaphysical aspects into Lutheranism]  of Justification by Faith.

XXI: Concerning the Cult of the Saints: a statement about the nature of saints: helpful to assisting in one’s personal faith, but of no postmortem metaphysical use.

(These above are all in dispute)

XXII. Concerning both Kinds of the [adopted] Sacraments: a statements explaining scriptural and historical grounds for distributing both elements of the Eucharist to laity, who had been permitted to receive the bread only.

XXIII. Concerning the Marriage of Priests – a lengthy argument that there is Scriptural bases for allowing priests to marry.

XXIV. Concerning the Mass: another lengthy argument, this time as to the nature of Mass, asserting that “Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence.” ( from Latin satis facere, ‘ to make complete’) of Jesus’ death. Roman Catholics hold that the death of Jesus forgives all sins, but distinguished between forgiving the guilt of sin, and the satisfaction’ (to make complete) required for the pain of sin, i.e. penance.

XXVII. Concerning Monastic vows: a statement is made that monasticism was once a desirable (i.e. voluntary) lifestyle, but had since been corrupted. The vows of monks are also rejected.

XXVIII. Concerning the Power of Bishops: a lengthy statement calling for the separation of political and theological power. ( this is actually Luther himself writing ‘On earthy Authority’ (aka. Secular Authority (1532).  This is the separation between Church and State.

As comparison, separation of spiritual order and secular order is a modern for the separation between Church (i.e. Religion) and State (i.e. Governments).

Sacrament Conclusion: Baptism and the Lords Supper, and no other sacraments.

Companion of the Catholic Church & Protestant Churches

Companion of the Catholic Church: Summa Theologiæ of Thomas Aquinas was a companion metaphysical argument by Aristotelian ideas. Luther’s ideas needed a companion too. This helps explain a theology as it pretends to a formative doctrine. The affirmation of Luther’s justification by faith, a separation between secular authority and spiritual authority, is not a theology or a doctrine.

So now we need a companion to Lutheranism

So now we need a companion to Lutheranism.

What is interesting as Lutheranism advances is the need for an organized systematic Lutheran theology. Within the Lutheran movement,  some companion teachings to his ideas of faith so everything can emerge. This man was Philip Melanchthon: He creates the more systematic theology for Luther.

Loci Communes

Loci Communes: This is Melanchthon's  foundation of the theology of Lutherans.

Melanchthon will go back after the first attempts at Lutheranism systematic theology, and argue for an inclusion of Aristotle realism. The revival of Aristotle was a part of Renaissance thinking. Luther seems to be an anti-renaissance writer by attacking Aristotle. But once the Church of Lutheranism matures, Melanchthon argues a need for philosophy to get at theological principles.

o       Political level: Luther is important.

o       Theological level: Melanchthon is important.

The Printing Press & Renaissance caused the Reformation

(1) A theological cause for the success of Lutheran teachings describes a competition in argument of Aquinas’s. And (2) The Printing Press, this became of the most important reason Protestantism took off as it did.  As noted, the advent of the printing press, the concepts of looking back to the past to understand the future, offered the proliferation of new knowledge, that was actually old, but to new crowd in modernity.

Wycliffe was writing when information was suppressed and was not known, and Luther is the doll of University classes, beginning to be recognized around the universities of Europe. This can only be explained by the advent of the printing presses. There are over 60 presses in Germany by the year of 1525, and they are churning out 1,000s and 1,000s of copies of the Lutheran argument and the Bible.

Another major tool was a Lutheran University. And the estimate when Luther went to Wittenberg was about 16,000 students, at the height. They came to hear Luther speak on the Scriptures. So he is turning out an army of Church reformists.

The Diet of Worms

Strasburg was under the authority of Charles V who was busy managing and warring for his Empire.  Strasburg had the radical social Bible reformer named Thomas Müntzer (Black Frost Peasants). He leaves the university to travel and preach the word. He writes to Luther and asks him to join him.  But Luther writes back and says, you want me to go out into the world and spread the word, but I do that already with my writings. So it is hard to understand this process of propaganda. So it will take time before the courts could ban these books because at the onset of the printing press, the courts had no idea how the people would take to information of these radical reformist ideas. The first attempt by Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire who is trying to win favor of the Catholic Italian states, says, let’s try to reconcile our ideas: This was The Diet of Worms.

Schmelkaldic League (1531)

The German Break Away Will be the Model For King Henry VIII  

The Lutheran princes did not think that it would happen -- Martin Luther would be excommunicated. By January 1521 all had understood that and the Pope had excommunicated any prince that supported the Lutherans. And increasingly the papacy, Paul III, ends up encouraging Catholic to go after the Lutherans. And at the same time, Charles V was progressive, and a well educated prince, and Charles personally was tutor by a correspondent with Erasmus. Charles was well educated and could understand both sides. Yet, Charles V did not understand the gravity of the situation and he was addressing revolts of the 1520s in Spain and the (Spanish Hadrian II pope, might be an Erasmian revolution, but died in a couple of years) and the Germany peasant revolts at the same time. Charles V eventually would like some sort of appeasing solution.  But the Lutheran princes banned together and formed a league against Charles and other Catholics, and formed the Schmelkaldic (1531) League. This league was made to bring these Lutherans together. It was not acceptable to Charles V, and yet they are forming this league against his interests. And first war of Protestants and Catholics breaks out in the year of 1546.  And the battle of Mulburg is Charles V’s victory over the Protestants. But as a victory, it was short lived. And battles and skirmishes go on over the next couple of years.

Diet of Augsburg called in 1555

1546-1555 (German on-and-off Catholic and Protestant wars) and no one gives in, Germans have the church lands and drains Charles V’s coffers, and the king is getting older and sicker. Charles V had Gout (at this time). Gout is from eating too much meat, and not enough vitamins and fruits. It cripples the joints. And in the year of 1555, Charles wanted to come to a compromise between Catholics and Protestant movements. He forms the Diet of Augsburg called in 1555, to come up to some solution to stop the warfare between Protestant and Catholics. So they decide the issue in the German lands. The German princes agree upon that princes will have their choice to become Protestant or Catholic. So whoever rules gets to decide what religion will reside in a prince's  regions. Whoever reigns, it will be the religion of the realm. All have to accept it. It was an enormous change in a religious public life and the religious landscape of the German principalities.  No more Catholic dominance until the end of the seventeenth century. “A new set of possibilities on the scene” now takes place.

Next major figure: John Calvin (see below)

Henry VIII

Henry VIII (1491-1547) adopted the German prince’s model to break away from the Catholic Church. He also did not end the sacraments, and kept most of the Catholic Theology. Elizabeth’s long reign (41 years) would crystallize the Anglican Church. (See below, English Reformation). England adopts De Regna Christi.

François I

François I (English, Francis I (1494-1547); Frances first Renaissance Monarch. France stays Catholic, but southeastern France, it was hard to regulate the spread of reformationists. Léon (or Lyon) becomes the first major Protestant town of France by the late 1550s. France adopts De Regna Christi.

Carlos I of Spain

Carlos (English, Charles I (V)) I of Spain (1500-1558, abdicated 1556) ruled as House of Hapsburg, House of Valois, Trastamera House of Castile, and House of Aragon. Spain adopts De Regna Christi. Carlos is a renaissance monarch, who knew many languages, brought up and schooled in the Netherlands by humanists. He is the grandson of the Catholic Monarchs who couldn’t field a competent male successor.  Besides the new world projects, his objective was to align with Italy, adopt its renaissance modernity, including the more important aspects of letters and art. Yet, as the Holy Roman Emperor and the Italian wars, he warred or was on the battlefield as overseer for much of his life. His son, Philip is married into English royalty thereby having claims to the throne after Henry VIII dies.

Charles I of Spain: r. 23 January 1516 – abd. 16 January 1556.

1. lands: was ruler of the Burgundian territories (1506-1555), King of Castile (1516-1556), King of Aragon (1516-1556), King of Naples and Sicily (1516-1554), Archduke of Austria (1519-1521), King of the Romans (or German King), (1519-1531) and Holy Roman Emperor (1530-1556).

House of Habsburg / House of Austria

The House of Habsburg (or "of Austria", as it was known to contemporaries) descended from Charles I (V) of Spain (who was also the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V). He left behind a Spanish monarchy that also, for some time, retained control of the Netherlands; however, the title of Holy Roman Emperor did not pass to these Spanish monarchs.

Philip II: 16 January 1556 – 13 September 1598 (  builds the The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial)

He was the first official King of Spain from 1556 until 1598, King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1598, King of England (co-regent with Mary I) from 1554 to 1558, King of Portugal and the Algarves (as Philip I) from 1580 until 1598 and King of Chile from 1554 until 1556. He was born at Valladolid and was the only legitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  Education at the Universities turned out theologians and lawyers, and at a point the Spanish Empire was overrun with these two Ph. D degreed populations. Arbitristas, wrote all things merited and criticisms.

Monastic Life

Monastic: Put your life in the hands of your Abbot, and the abbot appraises one’s skills, and so the abbot of the monastery sent Luther to the school, seeing his talents. St. Augustine’s argument: the place you get the closest to the kingdom of God is in the Monastery. And Luther contends this belief. Unlike we understand today, Monasteries and there were many types, were also places one could join to ward-off hunger, get shelter, and live a better life than if you have no other options. Having talent for scholastics, as the abbot noticed for Martin, was not a requirement to enter a monastery. Monasteries also were class based. Nobles had their own monasteries, which included a wider-wealth distribution and privileged life styles, according to their donors.

Artistic Renaissance in Spain: Literary and art.

Biblical Humanism: Cardinal Cisneros founded Alcalà University, and spearheads the Polyglot bible project (Polyglot Bible: Syriac, Hebrew, Greek and Latin text). 25 professors and 7,000 students in the 1480s, at Salamanca University. Teresa of Ávila (d. 1565) will criticize university career oriented individuals  with her “bees’ argument’ that describes Desengaño. There was an over proliferation of university degrees and the absent of communities who will sacrifice wealth for building infrastructure of Spain at low costs, and less luxurious lifestyles – from her Autobiography- The Lives of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself ( c. 1550s). This established a reputation she was blessed, it marked a living saint. After she published the book she became a spiritual superstar. She built reformed (Discalced) Carmelite convents (seventeen such houses, and two that were for males) and helped reestablish Catholic mystical spirituality. Then she attacks the foci of convents. ‘Some say convents should be breeding grounds for schools and courts’, she says, and she doesn’t want that. This is part of the anti-intellectual argument of hers. She wants people to be ignorant, or a certain level of knowledge.(Cohen, 275). Her life demonstrated the opposite of pagan materialism and the greed and striving for it. She represented a pro-active part of the Catholic Counter Reformation. see, The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, trans. J.M. Cohen ( London: Penguin Books, 1957).

The University of Alcalá

The University of Alcalá (Spanish: Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in the city of Alcalá de Henares, to the east of Madrid in Spain. Founded in 1499 by Catholic Cardinal Cisneros, it was moved in 1836 to Madrid. It was founded to bring the Spanish population up to educational par along with Italy who had experienced the realism of the renaissance through literature and described their emerging modernity. However, Spain never adopted the Republican city state formula that renaissance Italians had participated. Under Cisneros who had sought professors from all over Europe, witnessed the blending of traditional Paris and Salamanca models in education. Paris, as well as England, still considered Aristotle the voice of reason, and had not adopted Platonism, as Florence had done demonstrating idealism based upon the model of Platonic love and perfect forms. Cardinal Cisneros was wealthy and he represents a self-fashioning of his own will to help his country come into being with modernity.

Pedro Berruguete

Pedro Berageti : (c. 1450 – 1504) was a Spanish painter ( a painter, revolutionary style realistic depiction of human beings, drama, emotional expression, and colored by authoritarian power, and a church discipline of Auto De fà, the term given to burring of heretics of the Inquisition. Pedro Berruguete.  Born in Paredes de Nava, Spain, he went to Italy in 1480 and worked in Federigo da Montefeltro's court in Urbino. He came back Spain 1482 and painted in several cities as Sevilla, Toledo and Ávila. He was father of an important sculptor, Alonso Berruguete, considered the most important sculptor in Renaissance Spain. He represented the continuance of the renaissance in Spain.

El Grecco

El Greco (1541, born in Crete – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" (The Greek) was a nickname,[a][b] a reference to his Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (Doménikos Theotokópoulos). Crete was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the centre of Post-Byzantine art.

El Grecco ( born of Crete, was a Greek), established the Christian Platonian style, most notably in his master piece The Burial of Orgaz, based upon a famous 12th- 13th cc, Spanish military hero, where he represents heaven in a stylized, elongation, to represent a unique form of appetence of heaven, in contrast to the lower section of the picture where realism and renaissance perspective demonstrated the renaissance reality humanist style – using contemporary Spanish figures and a portraiture of himself. He also represents a  self fashioned person, going first to Rome to look for work, where heavily completion forced him to visit Toledo, where Philip reacted to his work, thus his migration to Toledo. Philip II was still looking for individual artists to decorate El Escorial. He did not find Grecco’s style appealing. As self-fashioned, he became wealthy in Toledo, accepting commissions while continuing his trade as an artist. He was so wealthy he could pay a full time a band to play music for him while he painted. His significance was that he had incorporated Orthodox Iconic style with Neo-Platonist symbolism into his artwork, and further infused it with renaissance realism and perspective. He, like Giotto ( St. Francis of Assisi), perfected the modeling of the human hand, argued as the most difficult of the human body to depict in art.

El Grecco master piece, The Burial of Orgaz, resides in St Tomas of Toledo, a parish church. As small, it probably seats about 100 persons. To view the The Burial of Orgaz, it is an intimate space. So what is Greco is during here, the count or Ogaze, in a battle against Islam, and allowing Toledo ( 12-13 th cc. story) to be conquered by the Christians from the Islamites is El Grecco recaptures his memories to Rome in which he had studied icons. He was called by Philip, but ends up going to to Toledo; he lives a long life, and is very productive and becomes wealthy. He had a good life for himself, and he managed to merge the aesthetic Greek style with the skills of the renaissance of realism.

Alfonza de Pelencia

Alfonza de Pelencia ( he knew Bruni,  he is The Bishop of Seville, and interlocked with the king. Born in 1429 (d.-1494), he is also an author who writes about Spain, and modeled himself after Livy ( who wrote about he Punic wars). He translates Josephus and Plutarch, and brings great Roman classics to his generation. Isabella hired two humanist, to teach Latin for her son, the Geraldine (Italian brothers) studia humanitatis is the program at Isabella’s court for her son. These principles of Spain, performed major move and it was to align with the  Italians in modernity – because Spanish were more swordsmen in the medieval age as opposed to French and English who were men of letters and learning. This move was to get the Spanish to start incorporating education into their ethnic groups. (Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Lèon.)

Alfonza de Pelencia Translated Josephus's works (AD 37 – c. 100).

·        Josephus's two most important works are The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c.94).[3] The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective.

Fernando de Rojas

Fernando de Rojas (c. 1465, La Puebla de Montalbán, New Castile (now Toledo) – April 1541, Talavera de la Reina, Spain) was a Castilian author of Celestina, the foundation for the picaresque novels.

Celestina ( foundation for the picaresque novels, 1499?)

Celestina: precedes François Rabelais’s critics on nobles and the extravagance of the Renaissance Golden Age. This work is published around1499? We do not know about author, possibly by Alexander Rojas – Celestina is a former prostitute, a witch, makes up brews and colorful character, and the language is like Boccaccio, it is hilarious and tragic, and intrigue she sells this guy for goods. It is not a flattering picture of the Spanish nobility or the Spanish people 0--- it is someone using literary skills to get a good laugh. It establishes a literary foundation for the picaresque novels – it was an intellectual foundation. Under Philip II, a Roman Classic style to Spain with his multi-functioning palace El Escorial. It was the new center of Spanish monarchy. Royal family burial site; A monastery built for monks to pray non-stop for his and the royal families survival. Philip spent much of his at life El Escorial micromanaging the kingdom by writing letters and keeping accounts of all his enterprises of the Empire. Philip II’s life represented the Zenith of the Spanish Empire. by the time of Philip III, Europe as a whole, and including the Ottoman states fell into a bout of economic recession. Miguel Cervantes (Miguel Saavedera de Cervantes) first book on Don Quixote of La Mancha (1605) was a critical examination of how the Spanish Empires can affect the psychosis of individuals who had not benefited from the wealth seen around them. Cervantes book, including the vastly different (almost capitalist theme) of Book two, Don Quixote of La Mancha (1611) represented the height of the Spanish Renaissance. This book is not as well liked because of its deeper and more complex themes.  These book’s characters do change sides from part I to part II – as well as concepts of exterior subjects such as North Africa and its affects on people psychosis and themes of outside estates, and noble social movements. Don Quixote  was published as a serial. First sales of these chapters take-off in his Madrid, and accounts for the first time in his life he began to make a little money, in was possibly finally appreciative.

The 14th century and the Seven Sacraments

1-4 sacraments are part of Pentecost – early foundations of the church

(1) Baptism.

(2) Sacrament for reconciliation. (Penance)

(3) The Eucharist.

(4) Sacrament of Confirmation. (Initiation into Christian Community)

(5-7)

(5) The Sacrament of Marriage.

(6) The last rites.

(7) The Holy Orders. (see Hierarchy of Catholic Church)  

 

Salvation history by the 14th century intended that one could enter heaven by fulfilling seven sacraments authorized by the Roman Catholic Church. Pentecost is the story of the birth of the Church. The first sacrament is usually fulfilled by one’s parents for you within the first week of your life. Baptism (1) rooted in the New Testament story explains the importance by Jesus’ cousin John, who baptizes him in the Jordan River. (2) The Sacrament for reconciliation portend that participants begin this sacrament around the ages of 12 or 13 years-old. The age of Knowledge (age 12 -13) was believed to be attained by a human at the age of twelve to thirteen years old, in the medieval ages. Jesus told his apostles to go out and forgive people of their sins. These priest acts as a modem day apostle and these practitioners go to the priest to confess their sins, and this allows them to become repentant. It is an act of attrition, and maybe the priest will give you a penance – like go to mass everyday for a week or two. (3) The Eucharist, or the Holy Communion, is a sacrament connected to the Lord’s Supper.  The example comes from Jesus and the apostle’s last supper, which had fallen on the day of the Passover.  The references to the body and blood of Christ are metaphorically represented as a vehicle of the holy sprite, administered by the Priest serving wine and bread to the congregation. During the 14th century, the Eucharist was observed daily, and even often offered multiple times per day to allow practitioners to fit this ritual into their schedules.  The Eucharist was a way of God staying with us in a physical form. Usually practitioners start this regimen from 7 to 8 years old. (4) Sacrament of Confirmation. This sacrament happens only once in a lifetime, and usually takes place at the age of consent. A clergy member lays on their hands and imbues the individual with the Holy Spirit. During the 13th-15th centuries, when children possessed a faculty to make adult decisions, this ritual took place. Its main ritual was confirmation:  a Confirmation of belonging to the community of Christians, and was the most important Vehicle of the Holy Spirit. It is similar to other denominations in the practice of ‘accepting Jesus Christ as ones personal savior,” thereby becoming a part of a community of believers and practitioners.

(1-4 sacraments are part of Pentecost – early foundations of the church.)

(5) The Sacrament of Marriage: Jesus goes to a marriage at Canaan, so we know that Jesus is connected to Marriages. Jesus performed a miracle at this Canaan wedding, so according to the Church, Jesus was approving of marriage – so this was a sacrament. (6) The last rites, the unction or in modern parlance, the blessing of the sick. This sacrament is administered usually by local priest when one is close to death.  (7) The holy orders, this sacrament is for the appointment of the Clergy—based upon Jesus’ own commanding of this disciples or particular duties, and gives these disciples the power to remove sin of the people.

Division and comparison of Sacraments

“(a) All sacraments were instituted for the spiritual good of the recipients; but five, viz, Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, the Eucharist, and Extreme Unction, primarily benefit the individual in his private character, whilst the other two, Orders and Matrimony, primarily affect man as a social being, and sanctify him in the fulfillment of his duties toward the Church and society.”[6] “Gladly would have swept them all away, but the words of Scripture were too convincing and the Augsburg Confession [1530] retained these three as “having the command of God and the promise of the grace of the New Testament.” John Calvin intends only two sacraments, first as baptism of infants and the Lord's Supper -- but not a vehicle of the Holy Spirit -- only as a ritual.

These three, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Penance were admitted by Luther and also by Cranmer in his “Catechism (See Dix, “op. cit.”. p. 79).” [7]

“By Baptism we are born again, Confirmation makes us strong, perfect Christians and soldiers. The Eucharist furnishes our daily spiritual food. Penance heals the soul wounded by sin. Extreme Unction removes the last remnant of human frailty, and prepares the soul for eternal life. Orders supplies ministers to the Church of God. Matrimony gives the graces necessary for those who are to rear children in the love and fear of God, members of the Church militant, future citizens of heaven. This is St. Thomas’s explanation of the fitness of the number seven (III:55:1) He gives other  explanations offered by the Schoolmen, but does not bind himself to any of them.  In fact the only sufficient reason for the existence of seven sacraments, and no more, is the will of Christ: there are seven because He [Christ] instituted them.  The explanation and adaptions of theologians serve only to excite our admiration and gratitude, by showing how wisely and beneficently God has provided for our spiritual needs in these seven efficacious signs of grace.” [8]

“(b) Baptism and Penance are called “sacraments of the dead”, because they give life, through sanctifying grace then called “first grace”, to those who are spiritually dead by reason of original or actual sin. The other five are “sacraments of the living”, because their reception presupposes, at least ordinarily, that the recipient is the state of grace and they give “second grace”, i.e. increase of sanctifying grace. Nevertheless, since the sacraments always give some grace when there is no obstacle in the recipient, it may happen in cases explained by theologians that “second grace “is conferred by a sacrament of the dead, e.g. when one has only venial sins to confess receives absolution and that “first grace” is conferred by a sacrament of the living ( See Summa Theologiæ III:72:7 ad 2; III:79:3). Concerning Extreme Unction St. James explicitly states that through it the recipient may be freed from his sins: If he be in sins, they shall be forgivien him” (James 5:15).” [9]

Refusing Infant Baptism: Thomas Müntser, Conrad Grebel.

o       Huldrych, Grabel force baptism on adults.

Promoting Infant Baptism: Martin Luther.

William of Occam: Professor at Sarbonne

Scotus: At University of Paris

Salvation History New Testament

Catholic Rule #1: Humans have the potential to commune and get back to God.

Lutheran Rule #1: We have the right to get back with God by our justification on faith alone.

Explanation: Salvation History

The term is about 5000 years old.

Monotheism: Explanation of the Rise of the Jewish peoples and state under on monolithic spiritual entity, communicated as the creator and Lord of the Jews and is explained in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Old Testiment: Salvation History

Paradise (Genesis:): God communed with Adam and Eve, and they kick out God (by disobeying him); God punished them by creating death, disease, hardship and pain. There is no hell in the Old Testament,  but life on earth itself (is probably Hell).

First Covenant ( Old Testament:): God will commune with humans but they have no salvation or a promise to return to paradise, because they are sinners – however God promises to send intercessors on his behalf to observe humans and decide to send a person to forgive humans their sins.  Covenant (1) So it is all about God’s attempt to lead them back to God’s communion.

New Testament: Salvation History

Covenant (2): God sends himself in the flesh to suffer his creations’ death (human’s), in the form of a son named Jesus (who will become Christ), generally adopted as the savior promised in the Bible by the first Covenant. Now humans have a chance to go back to paradise. Luther claims that because God sent himself, man can do anything they want and get back into heaven by adopting the concept of God’s eternal grace. Note: Martin Luther believes there was no new covenant, and Scotus was incorrect, Luther claims.

New Testament: Sacraments

Baptism
Eucharist
Reconciliation
Confirmation
Marriage
Holy Orders
Anointing of the Sick

The Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred." Sacred is a word used to mean important from a Christian standpoint. Performing these sacraments become signs and symbols to God that one is participating properly as a Christian. They are also special in that they pertain to God dispensing his grace to humans.

"Apostolic Succession" structures the whole liturgical life of the Church and is itself sacramental, handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders. This idea was argued in 1088. God is present in the sacraments, and good works are seen as manifestations of God coming down through the Holy Spirit imbuing the community of humans who engage in Christianity. Martin Luther had an extreme difficult time with this basic fact. This is why Paul, not a direct Apostle to Jesus, has preeminence in Lutheranism and not Peter the Apostle, Luke, Mark, John or Matthew. Paul wrote many letters, in which thirteen of them survive in the New Testament. These letters to Churches and people were incorporated into the New Testament C. 325. The Pauline letters as they are commonly known as dominate the New Testament in breath. "Apostolic Succession" comes from Peter a direct disciple of Jesus and not Paul. Jesus gave power to his chosen twelve Apostles to forgive sin, administer grace and communicate the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul did not have this dispensation. This is also one reason Martin Luther does not intend there is a break of covenants between the New and Old Testaments. If there were, there would be new literary and religious programs which would negate the old.

"Apostolic Succession" comes from Peter a direct disciple of Jesus and not Paul.

Catholic Convent

Convenant ( a promise):  God promises to send a messenger, but one must obey his chosen

The Messenger was Jesus Christ  (d. 33 A.D.) and he taught his disciples to communicate his Salvation History. These are listed here in accordance to Scriptures interpreted by numerous Catholic theologians for many centuries.

1.      Baptism

2.      Eucharist

3.      Reconciliation

4.      Confirmation

5.      Marriage

6.      Holy Orders

7.      Anointing of the Sick

Broad stage: Most everyone had a similar understanding about Salvation History:

What would you believe: The world was about 5000 years old (begins with the Adam and Eve story), and one took the chronology from the scriptures? The salvation story, it was unifying. It gave rise to the Universal Church.  In general most people did believe that God had created the world in seven (7) days. However, there were no schools in the medieval ages and controls to stop its resurgence. Education was thought to lead to empires which subjugated foreigners. A nicer and gentler people were people who did not know how to make weapons, ideologies, and arguments of imperialism. Most people understood imperialism and vowed to be against this program. Therefore, Christianity acted as the ideology of peace, benevolence, non-Empire and non-foreign aggression.  At the same time Islam made incursions into Europe proper for four centuries and after a while individuals rose up to find out how to end it. They started to look to the past and fostered reading for their people so they could become smart and build contraptions to defend and make war against the aggressors. They ended up using it on themselves.  

As Christian Ideology: People had put this together by putting the elaborate genealogies from the Bible. Michelangelo’s ceiling represented the theme of God who had made human beings in his image. God put these humans in paradise, everyone was provided for and no-one had any wants or desires other than communion with God. As Paradise, another good thing was a communion with God, he walks in the garden. Yet, the Serpent, who represents Satan, the fallen angle, was also made prior to the creation of the earth. A fruit, the Bible, the images, we think we know what was in the Garden of Eden, but we do not know what is there. So read things carefully when there are disputes. Adam and Eve eat from the center tree of knowledge, and God exiled them from the garden of Paradise. They know what God knows. Like Desiderius Erasmus who said that only God knows, and humans cannot know – or they become negative influences on the wider community – everyone running around selling people their truth in which they say to one that they know everything while you know nothing. Only God has wisdom, is Erasmus’ conclusion from Patristic revelations and conscientious reading of the Scriptures. Socrates has the same view, but in a pagan perspective from a Christian standpoint.   The original intent was that humans would be with God eternally – but Humans turned their backs on that plan and claimed they knew more or equal to what God knows. In fact, if one looks at the Garden of Eden carefully, one master has his subjects, and gives them everything. Then the subjects turn on the master and claim they are masters too. So the master kicks out the masters from his or her domain.  It represented competition, or pride, ignorance, or wrongful reasoning. Yet the master had the controls of happiness, bliss, love, grace, gratitude, and all the desires and wants fulfilled and replaced the new masters’ life with death, disease, plague, want, stress, hardship, strife, war and all things that makes one down and tired. The lesson is that Eve who tricked and Adam as complicit became knowledgeable about the central idea that they knew everything, even to the point of being “wise.” Once someone says I know it all, another person comes and puts them into their place.

Result of Pride and Disobedience of Eden

So death comes into the world, the harshest consequence of violating man. God according to scriptures is love and forgiveness. So God decides to start sending people to lead them back to him, his chosen people.

First book written was Exodus (Moses, General scholarship) the liberation of Israel from captivity, and the story of God releasing his people from captivity and the Jewish bad life as subjects and slaves. So it is all about God’s attempt to lead them back to God’s communion. Then after Kings, and prophets, the fruition was sending the Messiah.

Jews under the Romans said ‘we want to become free, we need a messiah,’ and so many messiah’s came. Yet, Jesus won the crown and for salvation purpose’s Jesus—he represents God’s final intervention. God again was with us; and he is considered to be a part of the God-head. So God walks again with man such as was such the case in the Garden of Eden. Jews try Jesus as a trouble maker and ask Rome who told the Jews do what you want, and the Jews kill their own person. Therefore, the Social Gospel of one ethnicity rising up against another is not part of the New Testament Bible. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this earth, which is usually ignored by Social Gospel adherents.

Significance: Human’s have the potential to commune and get back to God and the paradise. Between (Shale, intermediately place) Adam to Jesus, no souls went to heaven. Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo: “An early Greek Icon, shows the Christian religous iconic persons descending into Shale, and taking by the hand Old Testiment figures out of shale and back into Heaven after the last Judgment. (taking a prophet, and behind Moses are all the figures of the old Bible) So Jesus is taking out all of the souls from Shale. Think Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco depictions, Old Testament souls are being brought about to heaven.  So Jesus was executed at the age of 33 years old, the Bible intends. Jesus’ main point was I’m bringing the Kingdom of God and you can enjoy it now and in the afterlife (some claim, yet Jesus says it is not time and also said it is not of earthly domain). So from this theological conclusion, Jesus is the savior who saves Christians from living the life of pain and suffering.

Jesus ends up erasing the consequence of Original Sin

Jesus ends up erasing the consequence of Original Sin. Adam and Even had marked everyone after them – everyone automatically was born in sin. Jesus gave a full measure of redemption. He redeemed the human race ( an economic sense here, as first principle). Theological principle: Jesus’ could atone for all of our sins prior and after of the human race. It is a murky predestination argument.

Fundamental gifts of Jesus: the atonement, a full payment for our sins. Wiping away of original sin was a part of the program of the Catholic Latin masses, and there were things that you had to do to buy your way into Heaven. You must make the Church central to ‘your’ salvation history. And the Church was going to expense these graces of Jesus to the people. How did the Church formulate their rituals? The Church looked back to see how Jesus had acted with his 12 apostles. This is where the rituals and a set of practices, grace, ‘vehicles of the holy spirit,’ that sanctified, developed, had developed, evolved. Luther and generally the reformations’ countered this claim. No longer were people communally altered to the Roman Catholic Church, or a single body of churches, but decentralization – a point of liberalization became preferred. If Erasmus argued decentralization brought dangers of unity to the Christian people, the religious wars began a set of wars that would eventually become known as the longue durée, in the secular sense. The best way to conquer others was to divide them, Erasmus claimed as well as others before him. In a natural occurrence, nationalism was preempted by religious reunification. We now speak of Reformations in the plural form. For example, when Huldrych Zwingli (b. 1484) was born a Swiss Patriotism had begun to exist: a group identifying themselves away from the body of Unity, the Universal Church. Jan Hus (1369-1415), a preacher in Prague, who explained that four necessary reforms of the Catholic Church must take place: Free preaching by lay, preaching to the lay to explain the Gospels, Communion to the lay people and not only to the religious orders, and to end Simony. In Bohemia, a Czech movement described a separate group ending Universalism and fostering patriotism founded upon the vast Protestant movements at Prague that illustrated one of the first movements of protestant expansion. In England, with the Lollard movement, founded upon John Wycliffe’s critiques of the Catholic Church which he intended to replace five of the seven sacraments based upon critical readings of the Bible he has spearheaded to have translated. Since religious tied Church and state to its ideology, the Roman Renaissance popes had moved away from pacifism, to protectionism, and by Julius II had envisioned a New Catholic Church based someone on Constantine, but in Julius’ case, upon Julius Caesar – as a lone emperor of a new Rome. Various affiliations with the concept of De Regna Christi formed along the French, English and Spanish Christian monarchies. Neither of these states adopted the republican-city-state method of the Italian Renaissance. By the beginning of the 1500s, there was talk that Europe had overtaken Rome in art, architecture and ideas. This view did not solidify until the end of the sixteenth century, however communications of a knowledge that Europeans lived in a Golden Age was acknowledged from England, Spain, North Europe and to the south with Italy. The Golden Age represented wealth, self determination, hope for a better life, and a change in ideology. The idea that Imperial states were forbidden now took on a different mindset. Most of the populous, as is such the case today, did not like the ideas of Imperialism, yet had little to do to prevent it. The more people looked to the past in writings, the more knowledge was revealed that Empires brought prosperity, golden ages, and better living situations. Now a fight for wealth took on personal individualist mannerism, and tells why the Church fragmented, and collapsed.

Personal material salvation

Indulgences were for a binding of the community and not the greed and separation that Protestant Reformations sought in elaborate arguments of justification by no works, only personal belief. Indulgences were argued by the Catholic Church that humans were going to sin, so why not pay for it, and these monies can be used for good causes. Protestant historiography paints pictures that Indulgences were monetary hegemonic devices to keep the people subjected to the Catholic Church. The Indulgences were about the “economy of salvation,” and not proposed or acted in greed distribution. In fact, Indulgences were non-forced socialistic programs to distribute wealth upon ideologies that fashioned guilt. One could get into heaven solely by having a clean slate and not an ledger full of sin. The ending of Indulgences were these ideas of lets keep our money and use it for our purposes and forget about distribution of wealth. At other levels, it kept the people honest. By the protestant idea, only personal faith will lead you to heaven, there was no community accountability. Secular laws would need to be expanded and created. The criticism of the church did carry weight, by certain officials abusing power, but that is expected in any secular state as well. It was communicated by Protestants that all Catholic officials were out to dominate and subjugate others in corruption. The doing away with economy of salvation helped to begin the elements of “me first” personal identities then which were fashioned into groups that would eventually as the centuries go forth; determine nationalism, and ethnic identity – and social power struggles for ethnic representation. Catholicism in the medieval ages was about solely spiritualism and to live a path and life to get back and to commune with God: paganism, an outpouring of Protestant framing of the Scriptures, allowed justification of identity to fashion a hedonist, me first and you second or last, ideology of personal material salvation.

Salvation History ( recap)

Salvation History was like a ledger, where a keeping of a record of your deeds, and a type of a justice balance system. So it was about accountability, it was personal ledger society – this concept had a whole set of practices, like the culture of vows, and a culture of keeping certain promises. In pre-modern Europe, one would find parishes in villages that made collective vows.  For example, a mass said on a particular day for the praying against locus or plagues. Towns tried to get an intersession, and this was true of individuals, in their own private capacity – do some kind of act of penance. “Promises to god, please let me have this, and I will do this for you.

transubstantiation

Cottage industry to theologians: but the dominate theme and elaborated on by Thomas Aquinas, a theologian – he was benefiting from Aristotle physics that was introduced from Toledo. So he was rethinking theology from Aristotle physics. This came from Aristotelian Thinking. So he determined what happened at the Eucharist ritual which was based upon a pagan philosopher of antiquity ( Classical Greece). So the metaphor of the body and blood, and the metaphysical: Are we cannibals here? But there were misunderstandings along the way. But Aquinas was trying to avoid grotesque and misinterpretations. He wanted to move away from the outrageous (cannibal) interpretation. So he makes up a word. It was important to Lutherans and Calvinists. It is transubstantiation.

• Aquinas:  Aristotle categories of substance and accidental nature. The analysis the nature of things ( the rational and the irrational)

• What is a chair? Accidental nature is a tree, but a carpenter transformed the tree into a chair, so its transubstantiation nature it is a chair.

Eucharist: Priest blesses and the wine and bread turn into another substance ( A pre Darwinian doctrine of the evolution). It was the ability to call down God into the bread and wine, apparently from heaven. This was seriously attacked by the reformation group: Luther intended Scotus’ argument for consubstantiation --- the holy spirit did exist but alongside the bread and wine, and did not transform into the bread and wine as transubstantiation was argued by an Aristotle metaphysical argument by Aquinas.

Salvation history: What is the final part of Salvation history: The treasury of Merit. 

General idea behind much of this is when God offers himself as the final payment for the debt payment of human sins.  He stores a large ‘treasury of merit’ and it is like a heavenly bank, and it stores grace(s) to all who were and will be born --- it is a resource for human beings. But there are conditions in the Catholic Church and other denominations. One must go through the sacraments, it is like gang rituals. One must tap into the ritual.

Ritual is community, without ritual there is no community

There is a problem of debt, and human accruing debt through sin. But an indulgence would tap into the treasury of merit and get that extra grace to get into the other side.

The vast majority of Christians believe in a triune God consisting of three unified and distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. There have been significant theological differences among Christians regarding the divine and human natures of Jesus and the triune nature of God. These differences continue today. In Dialogorumde trinitate libri duo, Michel Servetus argues against a triune God. John Calvin will have him arrested, put on trial and executed for heresy.

Other holy spirit-vehicles

1087, The Church adopted the argument that  'Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying.'

By 15th century, these sacraments are not the only way to experience grace or know God in the world. There are other holy spirit-vehicles that grace can be transmitigated to humans. 

The Broad Social kinship: A theology of intercession of saints typified the 14th century. One would ask these saints for various intercessions for sacraments transmission of the Holy Spirit. St. Thomas was the patron saint of scholars. Saints were like a spiritual support network.

Almost everyone had a personal patron saint, and most received their names from Saints. In Roman Catholic society, in hope for these people saints would intercede for their children, an interlocking with the divine. Parent’s name their child after saints in the bible or life, such as Martin Luther’s case. Among the most favorite is Mary.

Sanctity, for a person could do this themselves, it was argued. So they do not need to be connected to a Church.

Relics and Saints

Saints bones remained charged with Holy Spirit juice, even after they die it was believed. So power could be in objects. So a cross or a spear, a clock, a crown of thorns, a cup, all were thought to have spirit charges – a theology image of the God to be a part of the spiritual life of the medieval ages. This leads to a general veneration and pilgrimage to relics. The Church of Assisi, the body  of St. Francis of Assisi is there in the chapels that Giotto painted. So his tomb of St. Francis, one can get a direct line of communication. So the relics leads to a wide spread pilgrimages and sense of community, people moving around, all over Europe. So in Cologne ( Germany, headquarters of the dissemination of Christian Relics to churches all over the Europe – all churches must have a relic by the late 15th cc)  In Germany there were about 8,000 bones. So these bones are found all over the lands and the Germans make a cottage industry out of selling relics. So sending out relics, sometimes as a gift. If could be a bone, a finger, and or even separate parts of relics to make more of them. So by the 14th 15th  cc., every church was supposed to have a relic in their alter – part of sacredization of the religious  the cities, these countryside churches, and it is a way of claiming saints for Christianity --  the idea of Eminence.

Religious Art

These relics were a pervasive practice, according to the Reformationists. They had rebuked the symbols, the relics and the images. These were not good (like Islam, no worship of Images) or necessary.  But for The Church, these were seen as pedagogical devices, as if not to control but as to disseminate Christianity. During the Counter Reformation proper c. 1545, the idea of art, architecture and symbols of religious qualifications were deemed necessary and proper. The Reformists took out their symbols in the church, but championed pagan artists and other secular works of art into the community.

The Economy of Salvation

Penance, confession and Indulgences are the sole criteria of the definition of economy of Salvation. It is not Salvation History, but only a part of it.

How to understand the word 'economy': from the Greek oikonomia (economy), literally, “management of a household” or “stewardship.” Also called the divine economy.

History: Salvation Economy was not a religious program throughout the Medieval Ages. From the 450 AD to the late 11th century there were no programs of sacraments, in how we understand them today as the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.  These argument, patristic codification, interpretation and justifications began around 1070s, and continued to be refined, religitized, restructures and publically fruited. It is only by the 14th century that the “seven sacraments” are codified, operational, and doctrinally justified. Those who intend that the Church controlled the medieval ages know little to none of our history. They rather use it for political expediency, as a commutative prelocutionary utterances to retain a wide separation between spiritualism and materialism – they preferring the later.

1076: The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, an argument to allow the Holy Spirit of God to hold human accountable for their actions and dispense forgiveness of sins by offering humans a way to pay off their sins on earth in the form of physical effort. At this time, there is little doctrinal understanding in a wide-sense for beginning of sacraments.

The Argument is that Peter the Apostle, guided by God after the resurrection, found his home in Rome. He preached there and died there, taking with him the keys to heaven that Jesus had given him in understanding. The physical spot of Rome became the foundation of the Catholic Church under Constantine’s efforts to have the religious build a memorial basilica to St. Peter near Capitaline Hill, near the mountains called Vatinicus. [sp?]. The main government chapel was the Lateran Church prior to Julius II moving locations of the Church to the Vatican area of Rome during the beginning of the Roman Renaissance. Since Peter said to have preached to others to take his role after he had died, the keys to the kingdom of heaven were passed down to others, and thusly the Catholic Church became the inheritors of this tradition. The key to understanding this was that no one else had claimed Peter’s continuance – so it fell onto the most apt and group of people heeding what Jesus had said. “Keep watch...” The Roman Catholic Church seized on the proclamation of Peter and became the inheritors of dispensing grace, for giving sins, and continuing Christianity.

The reason why the Catholic Church controlled part of the middle ages without a military pertained to keeping western civilization books in monasteries, and other archival locations. They could produce land deeds, agreements and documents that could sway other parties not literate. This explains when the renaissance comes into historical play, literacy rates rise, the printing press disseminates books, and common people – as well as nobles and princes – become literate and start to take control of their own wants and desires in regards to personal and group power. Group power becomes community based knowledges communicated through literacy rates that rise during the renaissance – this leads to fragmentation and nationalism as mass education becomes more and more the norm by the nineteenth century. The Romans had figured out that power of the “Word” was more mightier than the sword in many cases, but not all.

By 15th century, these sacraments are not the only way to experience grace or know God in the world. There are other holy spirit-vehicles that grace can be transmitigated to humans.

Economy of Salvation: Jesus had a big treasury of merit, it is filled with grace, and it takes on the form of the Holy Spirit – and it is expensed down to humans on earth in the form of the Holy Spirit. Ask your patron saint to intercede for you – everyone had a patron saint [ Nostradamus , Patron Saint, Archangel Michael, source personal letter] it was the social ties to heaven. The treasury of merit: You could do acts of charity, or pious acts to receive access to this treasure. A confraternity, was a lay association, open to women, children and men, and this confraternity was associated to a particular charity, like an orphanage, or pilgrimage. It was like a club. And these clubs had grants of indulgences because of their good works. The papacy granted an indulgence to the confraternity. What this means is that the papacy was using its power to dispense grace to the masses. Confraternities, could get indulgences, just for saying short prayers.

Purgatory

Dante, Inferno, Purgatorium, heaven: this was the world view.

Purgatorio, Dante

Purgatorium: A grey area and melancholy place, and as if one is wandering around the neither world. It was not fun, but not torture. It was like being in school. You have to work your way out of it. Purgatory was a place you had to pay to get out of and the only way you were getting out was someone else was paying your debt? This means if a list says you have 500 years, so you can die with a big sentence of purgatory. One way was give money to charity so a parish priest could say a prayer for you on your anniversary for ever and ever. But you need to be rich. In the medieval age, even the side chapels were filled day and night, or priests saying masses, some of these side chapels would tenured clergy saying prayers to you to forgive your sins and get you out of purgatory. The Blessing of the Sick  and the last unction were important because it  helps one not to go to hell. So this was important. This is a belief system that still has modern echoes.

(2) purgatorio was communicated as a grey area of a melancholy place, and a wandering around in the neither world. It was not fun, but was not torture. It was like being in school. You have to work your way out of it. Purgatory was a place you had to pay to get out of and the only way you were going to get out was if someone else was paying your debt or you worked them off in community service? If someone was praying for you, this means if a list of sins says you have 500 years of pertinence to solve, this meant you can die with a big sentence of purgatory. One way was to give money to charity or to a parish priest who could say a prayer for you on your anniversary for ever and ever.  But you needed to be rich. In the medieval age, even the side chapels were filled day and night with purgatory prayerships, or priests saying masses on someone’s sentence.  Some of these side chapels would contain tenured clergy saying prayers to you to forgive your sins and get you out of purgatory. Yet, it acted as job security, and employment. It had an economic communal benefit. The Church by forming this complex ideology had the community of Europe in their best interests. Blessing of the sick, the last unction, was important, that help one not to go to hell. So this was important. This is a belief system that still has modern echoes. Modern Manuals of indulgences are still sold at the Vatican Book Store. In most cases these manuals are bought by priests, but they give you a guide-book, and this is an informative to tell one how the structures of indulgences work. But this is about understanding your general state of life -- asking for God’s partial intercession. It is about spiritual dispositions, for modern times. This is also part of salvation history.

Indulgences (Jesus’ Plan for an ordered communal society)

The Origins of the Indulgences find their solace in the Foundations of Roman Catholic Church by the rite to forgive and the rite to grant various forms of spiritual privileges.  Some modern Indulgences first saw its forms in the early eleventh century, yet still local. In a wider context, The Crusades granted indulgences for military commitment and emotional support. This knowledge spanned the continent of Europe.  Indulgences acted as a unifying agent in a decentralized medieval age. It help unify a mass of people into a single conscript of communality.  Its purpose manifold, one such purpose was to bind a wide decentralized European populace together to work for common causes of western civilization. The constant threat of foreign invasion, and trade survival granted the authority of the Catholic Church to spear head European modernization by the twelfth century. The modern issue of indulgences’ practices did not take place until well into the Golden Age of the Renaissance. This explains people were basically satisfied with this ideology. Economic prosperity and a new militaristic ideology played a vital factor in its demise as a unifying code of conduct for all Europeans. With the advent of the renaissance, and its constellation of empirical evidences, a wider populous began to dream of individualistic destinies. Economic prosperity and linked to new foundations of higher education, brought on selfishness and greed as a factor in which this revelation explains why a need for decentralization spurred individualist and separatist group agency. Wile still being argued as heartfelt and searching for some type of truth of our religious past, a curious scrutiny by linguist and scholastics espoused a different history than what was perceived as the norm. While Wycliffe and others spearheaded the first arguments against Catholic Church doctrine, it was not until  Martin Luther’s 95 theses in some sentences claimed that the Catholic Church had made up the history of western civilization, and a need for reinterpreting its history was paramount to any issue at this time. Some can argue, and rightly so, the printing press allowed dissention to manifest at quicker pace, disseminating polemic religious arguments which had economic and political ramifications. As proof of the benevolence of indulgences, these ideas did not become a hot topic until Europe was engaged in a pan-European war, already underway when Luther was said to have nailed these theses to the Wittenburg Church door. The Italian Wars engulfed the entire European states into continuous battle, which inflamed passion on all sides. Luther’s reaction came from these outside passionate forces. Luther’s motives were psychotically real, yet many German princes latched on to his ideas, for themselves as a vehicle for emancipation from the Holy Roman Empire, controlled recently by Spanish Popes and a Spanish Emperor. We often as historical commentators give Luther a significant place in the historical context of western civilization. Yet, a closer look reveals that his part would probably not have mattered much. The Italian Wars were not religious, they were economic and of conquest – the same that can be understood in carving up a new geo-political landscape based upon power and prestige. While Luther did not create western civilization with his reinterpretation of salvation history, he did however drive a wedge needed for the fragmenting of unity of a common group seeking a common goal of unity. Luther’s claim that indulgences were not biblically based is due to what style of interpretation and methodology one uses when interpreting the text. Luther did not solve how to interpret the Bible. Luther accepted infant baptism, yet Jesus was not baptized until his adult age – supplying enough evidence that Luther’s acceptance of tradition was not Biblically based. Luther also did not form a theology, because he was confined by concessions to his thoughts. Luther was not the peasant as Calvin was, or the persecuted and despised as Erasmus was, Luther grew obese under the protection of military power obsessed by keeping their charge in the limelight of Europe. For these instances of character, Luther’s ideas as intentions’ of good for all were not solely adopted by the masses. I intend what the reformationists did do was to identify through religious projects an emerging nationalism, based upon patriotism of identifiable groups. By the end of the Thirty Years’ War ( called the Religious War), the Treaty of Westphalia treated each patriotic group with nationalistic symbols that helped define boarders and laws, often associated to growing Institutioness – Institutioness that would crystallize by Napoleon’s period and define the events of the Longue Durée. It was the realization of the Italian Wars that inflamed passion that Luther saw in Whycliffian perspectives, the claim that Pope Leo X had given Cardinal Albrecht of Hohenzollern, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg permission to abuse Church funds, and aggressive soliciting of St. Peter’s indulgences by Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, in Luther’s immediate local which rose his passion to revolt against his inner consciousness and attack the Church on financial grounds. As empirical, Luther attacked the sacraments which had been a part of financial or community responsibility. He argues that out of the seven sacraments only three are legitimate (or valid): The Eucharist, confirmation, and baptism. These three sacraments did not assume financial responsibility or personal responsibility to the community. These sacraments are solely individualistic.  Therefore, in treating his work, we must keep care to understand the motive of operation. Philip Melancthon tells us that initially Frederic has asked Luther to restrain his tongue but after the events of Decet Romanum Pontificem and Reichstag zu Worms, in January of 1521 Frederick saw a use in protecting and facilitating Luther’s ideas, irrespective of Luther’s loose tongue. The German Princes, as well as later King Henry VIII, who would use German princes’ model, saw a secular opportunity in siding with the motive of Martin Luther. Erasmus’ initial compliance in Luther’s work can attest an association with Erasmus’ non-combatant character. This initially allowed Charles to stall, as well as not understanding the power of the new printing presses. By 1519, Luther’s writings had circulated in England, France, Italy and Spain. The idea that the Catholic Church’s history was not biblically based caught like wildfire and coupled with the Italian Wars, passion and emotion drove humans to risk it all for their own identities. Yet, when it was all said and done, Luther nor any of the Protestant reformationist could end the Catholic Church. They had failed to convince the entire public that the Catholic Church did not understand salvation history. This helps to explain why the Catholic Church is still here today.

These special privileges are biblically textual based, the Catholic Church intends. They come from Peter’s Keys to the Kingdom (Heaven, Matthew 16:19), the rite to bind and the rite to loose, which described the privilege of the treasury of merit granted to Jesus’ successors; first the apostles and then argued as the Vicar of Christ and to the lesser extent these various Holy Orders. Indulgences were a religious system that also has a detailed socio-political stratosphere connected to its conceptual practice. Its concept was “what you owe if you transgress the law?” And these debts were tied to a family. So if one kills someone, then one’s family may have to pay for another’s family claim against the perpetrator. Often this law was called customary laws in east.  This assured a collective sense of responsibility and debt was carried over to other generations. As the fluidity of debt, this transferred to the religious views of perceptions of the informal religious factions of which Protestantism formed an opposition to collective responsibility by the early fifteen century. Previously, Indulgences were granted to Crusaders (a plenary indulgence), confraternities (worked for some type of common good, i.e. charity, the papacy was using its power to dispense grace to the masses, because confraternities were made up of lay persons, women, children, etc…). The system of levels contained hell, purgatory and heaven contained the increments from the graces of the limitless treasury of Heaven. 

Prior to the 14th century, indulgences were local matters adjusted to local jurisdictions by bishops. A Bishop generally only had a guide-line and did not seek Roman authority for penalty and grace privileges. In part, this was due to factionalism in the Church itself. However, beginning in the 14th century, the Bishop of Rome claimed superiority over all other ecclesiastical jurisdictions, leading to a centralizing or consolidation of dispensing spiritual privileges. Between the 14th – 16th centuries contentions of Biblical translations of Matthew 16 erupted, notably as the protestant revolution. Who ultimately was allowed to dispensation of these graces drew strong reactions in Greek text originals. On the surface, informal Christian movements saw the practices of the salvation of history controlled by an Institutiones, the Catholic Church. Human destiny was argued to be strongly personal and non binding to a state or an Institutiones’s oversight. It was the elements of liberalism, the emancipation of the individual from community responsibility. These concepts were further expounded and expanded by Kant, Marx, Hegel, and many other intellectuals in various renormalizations on the argument of the individual’s role in the world to either, a community, a state, a society, an instatutions or themselves. Protestants won a divisive victory from  the Roman Catholic Church formulating the foundations of the later semi-secular Liberal revolutions of the individual’s role in society, economy and state (political), and later ultimately complete secular ideologies of the individual’s role to the state. Ultimately, indulgences were the justification for the Economy of Salvation. And as part of Salvation History, Europeans according to the Church’s plan would see themselves as a large unified Christian society.

Hierarchy of the Church

Catholic Church hierarchy

    * 1 Episcopate

          o 1.1 Pope

          o 1.2 Patriarchs

          o 1.3 Major Archbishops

          o 1.4 Cardinals

          o 1.5 Primates

          o 1.6 Metropolitans

          o 1.7 Archbishops

          o 1.8 Diocesan Bishops

          o 1.9 Other Bishops

          o 1.10 Positions analogous to that of bishop

                + 1.10.1 Equivalents of Diocesan Bishops in law

    * 2 Presbyterate

          o 2.1 Priests in service outside their diocese

          o 2.2 Positions within a diocese at diocesan level

          o 2.3 Vicars Forane or Deans

          o 2.4 Pastors

          o 2.5 Parochial Vicars

          o 2.6 Honorary titles

    * 3 Diaconate

          o 3.1 Archdeacons

          o 3.2 Subdeacons

    * 4 The Laity

          o 4.1 Lay Ecclesial Ministers

          o 4.2 Lay Ministry/Lay Apostolate

          o 4.3 Religious

Papacy and ecclesiastical offices called The Orders runs the world wide of the Church. Yet it is exerting its primacy in the 15th 16th cc. and it is becoming more visible and contentious during these periods. It was not a monolithic control entity of the entire medieval ages.

College of Cardinals: (15th-16th cc ) there are about 55-65 cardinal offices, all from western Europe. These are high ranking ecclesiastics; they get to vote for the next pope. Not all are cardinals; there are only a few cardinals.

• Ranking nation Bishops: Biggest congregations, in cities
• Regular bishops: heading the local diocese.
• Parishes: Administrated units divided up and presided over by priests.
• They oversee local convents and monasteries – this was a real option for the age 16-18.

(2) The Religious system was a part of the informal Institutiones of the Church.

(a) One such informal order were military orders that sprang up during the crusades (including the Iberian reconquista period).

Universities:

Orphanages

Hospitals:

Elderly women homes, endowed by churches.

All of these confraternities. This is the base of the Church, and these are lay instatutions and a way to participate in the economy of indulgences and rewards.

Order of Society 14th- 16th cc.

Estates:

Church (Nobles)

Nobles (Church)

Peasants

14th-16th cc. Ranking of order of society: Ranking order of society is Religious, then mobility and then the third estate is everyone under the nobles. [10]

This was the Instatution of the state. What to know. Social mobility: is up the three estates.

In papacy life, if ordained, you were not tried by lay courts, and so there was a separate society, a separate order, and order that guided the religious state. So an attractive thing was entering this club, called the Church, secure financial and a high theological reason to enter the reason, to joining a convent or monastery – it was the surest way of achieving heaven on earth as well as getting to heaven, and purifying your soul, and your spirit become unified with god in a very spiritual way. St. Teresa of Avilà’s life represented one such manifestation during the counterreformation, inclusion of a return to mysticism.

Thomas Müntzer (1488-1525) & Social Gospels

Thomas Müntzer: A former Priest who becomes a pastor was radical, and believed Luther was not radical enough. Luther had believed the Church needed reform, whereas Müntzer took it a step further to include social society. He spearheaded 12 articles, many which sought to abolish privileges of the nobility. He was therefore seen by Frederick Engels as the archetype proletariat reformer in his work “The Peasant War in Germany.” Martin Luther had reacted to his preaching which was seen as old now in Germany, and the new radical reformationisys had more influence. Luther condemned Müntzer and the Social Gospels and the peasant adherents as too radical. Luther then wrote Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, (c. May? 1525) the exact date not known. Luther claimed the peasants had to be destroyed. Over 100,000 peasants were eventually murdered by the German Princes by their militaries in the peasants’ wars. Luther gave the princes religious authority for mass murder – which disqualified in argument Luther would have ever been a Christian. In Secular Authority, (1523), and one advocating murder in secular circumstances could have never had the change to be a Christian. Luther ignored his own writings and argued in “Against Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants,” that anyone who lost their life in suppressing the peasants who wanted basic civil rights and to be treated like human beings becomes championed in God. Luther argues, “In the second place, they are starting a rebellion, and are violently robbing and plundering monasteries and castles which are not theirs; by this they have doubly deserved death in body and a soul as highwaymen and murderers.”[11]

Thomas Müntzer: This is a critical beginning of a more radical kind of movements  ( 1488-1525, and priests were familiar with Luther’s writings and early on had embraced his liberty arguments as a social tool to escape feudalism. They actually believed Luther would lead the peasants out of their dire striates. And Müntzer, he as a preacher had inspired the peasants in black forest of Germany by preaching a radical social gospel. Yet, they had misinterpreted Luther’s arguments on sustaining the status quo of social classism. Müntzer became important for the peasants through his preachers and he led informally “ The brotherhood of discontent,” a part of the radical reformation in the 1520s.  And the manifesto of the peasants and Müntzer were called the 12 articles, which are really teaching a radical social gospel. Some of these ideas were to invests the peasants with reading their own bible and picking their own pastor – they wanted basic rights from a contemporary perspective. But from the perspective of the German princes this was not good.(repeated below). 

Luther says from a Christian standpoint only God can judge other person (see his various faith by justifications arguments and various publicans – this was a constant theme.) . Here Luther steps in the role as God, and in the authority position Luther pronounces these permissible unctions for mass murder which had placed him in the role of secular princes and/or the Pope. The nest year, Luther become extremely depressed for a short period, in which this revelation on inward reflection could be deemed significant. This particular writing also gave the Catholic Church ample evidence that Luther was not what he pretended to be, but was a political-socio-economic reformer himself who advocated his German nationalist sentiments. The traditional hierarchy was Roman Catholic Church dominance in which St. Peters and the new government buildings in Rome represented the continuance of hierarchical unifying Christian authority of Europe that had loosely existed in concept at least for the last 1,000 years. In 1524, Luther’s letter to the Princes was an attack upon Müntzer and Adreas Karlstadt, who were then called before a hearing at Weimar with Duke John of Saxony on 31 July or 1st of August. Duke John decided the printing press at Allstedt should be shut down, and  Müntzer fled Allstedt soon afterwards. Federick III, the elector of Saxony, was ill and Luther and Melanchton went to organize a school in Eisleben. On their journey en route through Thuringia, both saw the countryside in revolt against hierarchical authority. Luther and Melanchton became scared because they were elite noble-like and their protector Frederick was dying. So this emphasis gave Luther the idea to write to the princes to save his position and life. Luther believed if he could kill the commoners, and make them fear the hierarchy, he could keep on being a superstar party-animal. The peasants mocked Luther as obese and of easy living. This revelation that Luther was now an elite scared him to react and rebel against human rights. Luther who was noted as a polemic continues to state that underprivileged, the peasants, served the devil ( i.e. their ideas of human rights)  associated to the Christian scriptures where Jesus associated himself with commoners and they deserved “death in body and soul ten times over.”[12] When Luther says, “See what a mighty prince the devil is, how he has the world in his hands and can throw everything into confusion [...],”[13] The Catholic Church had agreed, but placed Luther in the role as the confusion mongeror. Luther by stating that the Pope was the Antichrist, and five of the seven sacraments were made up to control people linked to traditional hierarchy, Luther contradicts his own argument with peasant rights and peasant agency. The peasants wanted to emancipate from the control of the German nobility the same as Luther and the German princes wanted to break away from the traditional control of the Roman Catholic Church.

Müntzer led a group of about 8,000 peasants at the battle of Frankenhausen on the 15th of  May 1525. Müntzer was captured, imprisoned, tortured and decapitated. Although, Müntzer’s reconversion to Catholicism on 27 May 1525 is suspect due to the circumstances, his head would be publically displayed shoring up the traditional German class hierarchy.

This is a critical beginning of a more radical kind of movements  ( 1488-1525, and priest and was familiar with Luther’s writings and early on embraced, and believed Luther would lead the peasants out of their dire striates. And Müntzer inspired the peasants in the Black Forest by preaching the social gospel.  He led informally “ The brotherhood of discontent,” a part of the radical reformation in the 1520s.   The manifesto of the peasants and Müntzer were the 12 articles, which are really teaching a radical social gospel, to invests the peasants with reading of their own bible and picking their own pastor and a few other basic human rights from today’s perspective .The peasants wanted basic rights from a contemporary perspective. But from the perspective of the German princes this was not good and was a sign of breaking of tradition of the Serf class. These revolts were actually desperate attempts at social mobility. The peasants carried farm tools against firearms.  These were types of liberation theology, where repressed minorities gathered together a divertive folklore and legends and create their own histories in order to unify a common group or class to then rise up against a superior social class – even in the face of certain death.  The Black Forest peasants (Serfs) gathered together the teaching of Müntzer who advocated the Bible as radical social gospel. Müntzer used a rainbow flag as a symbol in Stolberg. Martin Luther who was supported and protected by the German nobility had understood which side his offered him more security. This helps to explain his views, as contradictions to his own actions and words. Therefore, Luther never became a constant thematic ideologist, and the Catholic Church used this inconsistency to frame Luther as a polemic, opportunist, someone that erred, and just a partisan nationalist. Yet, much of Luther’ ideas which initially had come from others before him had already caused doubt in the claim of Christian Catholic traditions.

o       Müntzer advocated Armed Revolt, Luther advocated hierarchy militancy ( except the Church could not hold this position because they offered competition to the German nationalist positions.).

o       Müntzer and Grebel refused infant baptism as well as advocated its abolishment, and intended adult baptism. Luther did not abolish infant baptism even though it is not outlined in the Bible that babies must sanctified with God’s grace in response to possible infantile death. 

Social Gospel 

Social Gospel” called Anabaptists: Who are the ancestors of modern day Baptists, but different in modern day characteristics. The had emerged out of the Context of Swiss city of Zürich, there is an early movement to reform the church. A man named A Zwingli ((or Huldrych) Ulrich Zwingli), knew Luther and embraced Lutherans, and like Calvin in Geneva, he was welcomed by the Merchant class, to gain power over the bishop, to lead to support of Zwingli: In contest there are people in his own movement that have divergent views in his own crowd. So they are allowing certain forms of debate, not like Luther but more like Calvin. By the end of the sixteenth century Zürich and Geneva churches seen themselves as brethren churches; but not at the beginning of the 16th century. The baptism being taught by Zwingli was taught in error. The burning problem had to do with infant baptized, there was no justification because children cannot chose – so it was superstition of the Roman Past. One needs a full adult conscience, and they convinced Zwingli that they needed to baptize the whole town again?

o       (Belief system) Latin, Ablative: Sola Scriptura = “by scripture alone,” is a affirmation that only the Bible is a source, and it alone with no complimentary analysis of the authoritative word of God.

Liberation Theology (South America Mid 20th Century)

“Liberation theology is an attempt to interpret scriptures through the plight of the poor.”[14] It utilizes humanistic framing.  By the 1950s in South America, it offered a religious-political and economic understanding for a course of action during a social turbulent time. Marxism was making gains as a social mobility doctrine, and the Catholic Church had a history of leftist leaning politics. This understand intended the peasants would be able to share wealth with colonists and “upgrade their economic status in life.”[15] “Liberation Theology was bolstered in 1968 at the Second Latin America Bishops Conference which met in Medellin, Columbia. The idea was to study the Bible and to fight for social justice in Christian (Catholic) communities. Since the only government model for the redistribution of the wealth in a South American country was a Marxist model, the redistribution of wealth to raise the economic standards of the poor in South America took on a definite Marxist flavor. Since those who had money were very reluctant to part with it in any wealth redistribution model, the use of populist (read [as the] poor) revolt was encouraged by those who worked most closely with the poor. As a result, the Liberation Theology model was mired in Marxist dogma and revolutionary causes. As a result of its Marxist leanings, Liberation Theology as practiced by the bishops and priests of South America was criticized in the 1980s by the Catholic hierarchy, from [ the] Pope John Paul on down. The top hierarchy of the Catholic Church accused liberation theologians of supporting violent revolutions and outright Marxist class struggle. This perversion is usually the result of a humanistic view of man being codified into Church Doctrine by zealous priests and bishops and explains why the Catholic top hierarchy now wants to separate itself form the Marxist doctrine and revolution. However, Liberation Theology has moved from the poor peasants in South America to the poor blacks in North America. We now have Black Liberation Theology being preached in the black community. It is the same Marxist, revolutionary, humanistic philosophy found in South America Liberation Theology and has no more claim for a scriptural basis than the South American model has. False doctrine is still False, no matter how it is dressed up or what fancy name is attached to it. In the same way that revolutionary fervor was stirred up among blacks in America. If the church in America recognizes falseness of black liberation Theology as the Catholic Church did in the South America model, Black Liberation will suffer the same fate that the South American Liberation Theology did; namely, it will be seen as a false, humanist doctrine dressed up in theological terms. ”[16]

Black Liberation Theology

James Hal Cone, in his first work, “A Black Theology of Liberation” (1970) claimed the Christian God must side with Blacks against Whites or he must be destroyed. “Black Theology refuses to accept God who is identified totally with the goals of the Black community. If God is not for us and against White people, then he is a murderer, and he had better kill him.”[17] His work has spread across America and changed many Christian churches into Black Liberation churches. Cone’s Thesis is that “All White men are responsible for white oppression.”[18] This stereotype is confirmed when Cone claims that “In face, God is love because it’s that power in your life that lets you know you can resist the definitions that other people are being – placed on you.”[19] Cone’s affirmation that Whites cannot dialogue with Blacks is the very foundation of “resist the definitions” claim which is a broad concept that can be used to frame a wide variety of virtuous terms, while at the same time refute commonalities between interlocutors. The very core of the Black Liberation Theology argument Cone explained in 2007 to Bill Moyer. “The core of it is, is helping America get over its innocence. Helping America to see itself through the eyes of people from the bottom. [ ...] No human being is innocent.” [20] These are vague terms because Cone assumes people of the bottom are only Blacks, and that no blacks have become middle class, moderately poor, or rich in America – they all are very poor as living in desolate compared to “all” others in the world. Jeremiah Wright, Jr, II, Barak Hussein Obama’s former reverend, now lives in a mansion, replete with Corinthian Columns, a golf course, and would be valued into the tens of millions of dollars if its land was situated in Beverley Hills California. Wright is wealthier than a large percentage of White Americans, therefore he must be considered a white devil, and is going to hell, if Black Theology intends a common transparent discourse of the soul and not the color of the skin. However, it does not. Wright is the success of the Black Liberation Theology. The criteria of Christianity under Cone’s construction of Black Liberation Theology intend the first definition for a qualification on Christianity is the color of one’s skin. Critics state that this is as racists as systematic white supremacy. Cone, however, disagrees. Cone has authored many books on this subject, has won awards, and teaches systematic theology in relation to the black struggle. Cone’s most startling affirmation when speaking on symbols, again, is that “you don’t have to know history, It’s [White racism] in American culture. As you say, it’s in the DNA. It’s our—it’s white America’s original sin and it’s deep.” [21] Apparently, Cone is either a Doctor of Biology, has worked further than anyone in history to decode the DNA strand in humans, has analysis it and is keeping his findings secret from us all or it is Bill Moyer he is speaking of in regards to saying “it’s in the DNA.” It is hard to understand what language we are dealing with here – it is a prelocutionary utterance – the topic is serious and if we take Cone’s utterance as cuteness (or lightheartedness) in speech, then what does that say about the message’s authenticity?  Is Cone certain of what he found and is communicating?

In Mid-1990s, Black Liberation Theology explained the Bible as misinterpreted by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants, and more specifically Whites and intended a social gospel, predicated upon a Black Marxist Jesus (like) doctrine of class warfare. Like Luther, Cone utilizes a parsing of the Bible for its arguments, and leaves other valuable quotes by Jesus out of its construction. It intends that “all” blacks were good in history and “all” White’s by the misinterpretation of the Scriptures were bad. They argue it provides a solution to free Blacks from continuing white bondage, as social repression – still manifest in the USA at this time. They argue that Jesus was a black-Marxist(like) figure and intend there is confusion over the color of Jewish skin at various times in Jewish history; the Bible is a social gospel and not a spiritual gospel of inner salvation. They view modern US blacks as the Jews in bondage in Egypt and the USA as the new Egypt and await their liberator to bring them to the promise land. Cone’s “Crucifixion and lynching” symbolism argument intend that both are “symbols of the power of domination,” and both “are symbols of the destruction of people’s humanity.” [22] Therefore, under this construction, Jesus was a poor revolutionary who had tried to overthrow the Roman authority who had seen him as a threat posing as a king to lead Israelites out of Romanian suppression. When Cone intends that all things spoken by whites are suspect and intended for continue black suppression, his humanity remains a non-humanity – based upon monologues and suspicion that a large part of the human population are bad people. Critics intend this is a divisive and non-humanistic stance, poorly argued and academically illiterate.

Jesus never claimed Romans were suppressing the Jews. He also denied he was an earthy king. He stated that to Pontus Pilot. According to Martin Luther (1523, Secular Authority) no secular figure or power can be termed as a Christian. Luther as with Erasmus intended salvation was an inner spiritual condition and Luther had confirmed this view by denouncing Thomas Müntzer, the peasant revolts, and their social gospel in 1525. Luther intends there was no scriptural basis for their claims. Karl Marx in his revision of Engel’s Communist Manifesto (1848) intends that homeless and poor are worthless human beings. Yet, Marx had stated that there was a small chance they could attain the upward mobility to the position of the proletariat. Marx’s excuse does not forgive his initial claim of framing poor people as worthless human beings. The Communist Manifesto is steeped in medieval language, which helps to explain why modern scholars or investigators cannot understand its nuances, its rhetory, or its difficult definitions. Both Marx and Luther had written and believed that a large group of humans were also worthless and needed to die as a result of their worthlessness – the Jews.

Although, all the conquests made by Europeans under the auspices of Christianity could not have taken place as Christians, but a form of faux Christianity or empty words themselves -- which can explain normative imperialism –imperialism was economically argued even prior to the Pope supporting the first Crusade.   Jesus did not form an army or a military or desired too. He did not form a liberation military or a social liberation theology. Jesus showed no desire to economically dominate another group.  He had no Marxist concepts of distribution of wealth (read Vile of ointment/perfume/ Mary and Jesus/Judas and the poor). Yet, Jesus did not advocate for the poor during his ministry. Jesus said we will always have the poor. The poor are always suppressed, in such cases as today as being denied education, Institutionesal agency, health services, etc...The Bible is not a social gospel as some scholars criticize the Black Liberation Theologians. It is book to give oneself inner hope of a better life in the afterlife, and that life here and now on earth is not nor never will be fair or just for “all” individuals. Jesus’ mission was to inspire hope and that everyone’s grueling life, there is a better place to go, and could be desired while living on earth.  Critics intend that black liberation theology is just of Marxist vision for social equality, and nothing more. They view Capitalism as a Christian construct; intend Marx’s criticism of it is correct.  They assume Marx’s teleological model of state progression of history will result in the end of Capitalism permanently and socialism will replace it as the world’s final view on how to distribute equally all goods and materialism. In this view Blacks become equal among whites in materialistic possessions.

During the 1870s and onward when religious denominations took hold of an American demography, Baptists were the inheritors of the European Anabaptists; yet with varying and different characteristics predicated upon individual denominations. Jesus’ teaching that it is harder to go into heaven than a rich man to go through an eye of a needle is a foundational belief that poverty trumps commercialism. It is also a way to understand that materialism is not Christianity, and that White man had constructed Christianity out of false understandings of scriptures in order to dominate materialism across the globe—which is a belief – rather than empirical historicism. However, Baptists believe in common brotherhood, community recognition and inclusion of social issues, and the positive Good Samaritan understanding in the Bible as a way of life. As with other Protestant movements, education and teaching of scripture to the lay persons function as a vital social tool and develops community cohesiveness.

Conrad Grebel 

Conrad Grebel  (c. 1498-1526) son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren ( radical evangelicals reformers (Anabaptists) who initially followed Ulrich Zwingli of Zürich) movement and is often referred to as the “Father of the Anabaptists.” Educated  at the Latin School of the Grossmünster church in Zürich, he later enrolled at the University of Basel in October of 1514. His father acquired a stipend from Emperor Maximilian for Conrad to study at the University of Vienna, and began attending in 1515 and remained there until 1518. His father acquired a scholarship for Conrad from the King of France to attend the University of Paris. He spent two years there, and joined a boarding academy of his former teacher at Basel, Heinrich Loriti.

Hutterites (1525 and Onward, 1580 = ‘86’ Hutterite communes)

Jacob Hutter joined the Moravian group who became known as the Hutterites.

A certain group of Anabaptists refused to pay taxes for war related function to the Holy Roman Empire in the early sixteenth century. For this act of defiance, they were persecuted and fled their homes. Initially 200 people followed a man named Jacob Wiedemann, after setting up camp outside Nicholsburg the people put their belongings into common use (1528) which Hutterites intend was the first instance of the later foundational doctrine of “community of goods,”  although at the time they had not called themselves the Hutterites. Wiedermann led his group to Austerlitz where the Moravian Anabaptist accepted them. These Anabaptists refused conscription. Both groups had pacifist leanings and common interests. Jacob Hutter was first seen in Austerlitz in 1529. Already an Anabaptist he rose to a leadership role of this group. Wiedermann liked Hutter and both decided to unite the Moravian Anabaptist and the Tirolian group. Soon the combined group became large and others joined in with their ideas. Soon disagreements between people allowed Hutter to take the position of arbiter of contending ideas which went against Wiedermann’s ideas on leadership and later it was found out some jostling of control led to reveal desertion.  New leaders were appointed and two other groups eventually joined the Moravian combined group. Simon Schützinger, an appointed leader, was said to have embellished some the collective monies which left open Jacob Hutter to assume power of the group. Hutter was the chief leader until King Ferdinand in 1535 commanded the nobles to force the Anabaptist form their squatting land. The Moravian group then wandered to find reclusive land in which to practice their form of Anabaptism. Authorities, increasing passed jurisdiction laws forcing this group to keep moving. Soon Hutter and other leaders were sought by authorities. Finally Hutter was caught -- in Tirol and his wife Katrina  on a missionary tripe back to the community region -- and burnt at the stake on 25 January 1536 in Innsbruck, Austria ( a bronze plate adorns the Neuhof building (Goldene Dach, golden roof – the place where it is said the burning stake was placed). Before Hutter was executed by fire, he was tortured, severliy whipped and placed on a stretching-rack. It was King Ferdinand who had ordered the burring at the stake of Jacob Hutter on the day the execution took place. As part of his torture before being doused with Brady and burned alive, he was placed in freezing water and then in a hot room. This led to his martyr status, as a symbol against secular military temporal power.

What did Jacob Hutter preach?

He argued that the community of people must share all their belongings in common, live as a communal group; create practical regulations and organizational structures for making communal life work. As a result, the life of living as the Apostles, according to their interpretation of Scriptures formed a Christian Community that would later adopt four basic principles and call themselves the Hutterites.

Hutterite Four Scriptural Arguments:

(1) Baptizing babies is not biblical ( he argued with Zwingli who did not agree with rebaptism).

(2) The Bible requires the separation of Church and State. The Hutterites in passive-aggressive responses refused conscription. As a result of their Upper Plains USA communities during World War II, these groups were persecuted by the Federal Government of the United States of America for refusing the World War II draft.

(3) Christians should not wield the Sword (This is direct principle of Martin Luther’s, but taken out of context. This also pertains to their pacifist attitudes and/or principles.).

(4) The Lord’s Supper is symbolic of the suffering of Jesus, and should be done in remembrance of him. ( This is an adopted position of John Calvin’s).

These four religious arguments became the centerpiece of the Hutterite movement. They came from Bible students who were interested in what Luther had to say about ignoring Catholic and Patristic traditions and only looking to the scriptures for what was Christianity. Both the Hutterites and the Mennonites (as the Amish) trace their origins back to Switzerland during this reformation time and as with the Hutterites, they went in the eighteenth century to Transylvania, then into Rus’ and other eastern or middle eastern lands,  around 1870s, around 1,000 Anabaptists took a voyage to seek out new homes, eventually settling in the Northern Plains of the North America, where they settle today with their foundational beliefs in the community of goods or as cooperation communities.

Yet, as in North American Hutterite colonies, separate groups intend variations in argument. The Hutterites are known as the Hutterites or the rebaptizers. They use these scriptures biblical references such as (Matthew 19); John 12; Acts 2:44-47, and their unique interpretation on these verses. As the idea, all members of the colony are provided for equally and nothing is kept for personal gain. In most Hutterite communities of North America today, variations on these founding principles intend some economic or business competition and personal property.

There are Two Main Anabaptist Movements at the early part of the Sixteenth Century

• Moravian/ later Hutterites—who intend rebaptism.

• Zürich ( Swiss Brethren, movement previous of patriotism) Hussites and Taborites, evangelical movements, the Taborites the more radical, and the detached leader , the  Protestant Academic Huldrych Zwingli, who contended rebaptism, and communicates with other major Prostestant leaders, such as Marin Luther and Martin Bucer.

Zwingli says we need to continue with the babies, they could be in damnation if they accidently die, and they need to go to heaven – so no waiting. The collective was still in favor of Catholic pure-religious-beliefs, so you did not decide upon yourself of god’s wrath. So they ordered by law, them who had not been baptized, should be forcibly be baptized. So Conrad and his followers proclaim the true church and resist the order of the council and continue to 1525 and administer adult baptism in opposition to the Zürich government, who had said they should be punished. They were first jailed and then exiled; and so they go underground. In 1529 a broader German Protestant Diet began to take up the Anabaptize cause, and it is a hot topic in southern Germany population, and the Swiss movement. It is radical and underground because it is prosecuted. The punishment of rebaptism was a fundamental heresy, so they literately said we can execute these Anabaptists. So without harassment, the Anabaptist looked for other areas of lands to settle. They looked to the southern parts of Austria (today’s Arabia) and started to commune in a new kind of community. And they are led by Jacob Hutter, and he ends up leading the Austrian Anabaptists and it was Hutter that gives them a type of order. They live in isolated and rural life and they live a distinct form of religious life, and they call their lifestyle called Hutter (ites) and they say after Pentecost we live like the apostles in the ( Book of Acts); that is to day  after the holy sprit descended on the people, they distributed a communalism lifestyle. The practice of “community of Goods” represented the smallness of the communes. It was a way of living apart from normal society. They began to build communal schools, farms, existing of fields in common, and blacksmith shops in common. They started to practice a radical return of the early ideal from their perspective of anabolic communalism. In 1580 there were as many as 86 Hutterite  communities established, and then they were seen as a threat because of their numbers and anti-civilization attitudes. Often today, we associate this as cults from a state perspective that seeks to direct people to work and pay taxes.  And they went to arrest Hutter and brought him back to burn him. Hutterites did not have princes or a government supporting them, so where they survive was only in isolated communities where it was out of the way of constant regional provincial authority.

Anabaptist Persecuted: So they developed passive resistance, when it came to things like military conscription, and their own world view of against military service.

• In 1541 Peter Reideman writes the Hutterite Confession of Faith.

• J. Hutter joined the Moravian group who became known as the Hutterites.

Ulrich Zwingli 

Ulrich Zwingli  (or Huldrych) (1 January 1484 in Wildhaus, Switzerland in the Toggenburg valley to a family of farmers –11 October 1531) leader of the Swiss Reformation, the Swiss Brethren, and radical reformation. Born during the time of the emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the Unvisited of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of humanism. In 1519, Zwingli became a pastor of the Grossmünster in Zürich where he began to preach his ideas on reforming the Church. His first public controversy was attacking the custom of fasting during Lent. Erasmus would criticize the fasting during Lent in his work “The Eating of Fish” (1526), although this work is also an extension of divine and ecclesiastical laws. It was probably due to poor health that Erasmus took up this subject and Zwingli’s concern in his communities as well. Erasmus received a “dispensation from the fast from Cardinal Compedio in 1525.”[23] Zwingli also clashed with the radical wing of the Anabaptists,, which resulted in his persecution.

The Swiss Confederation in Huldrych Zwingli’s time consisted of thirteen states (cantons) as well as affiliated states and common lordships. Unlike the current modern state of Switzerland, which operates under a common federal government, the thirteen states were nearly independent, conducting their own domestic and foreign affairs. A year after Luther published his 95 thesis, the Council of Zürich refused Sansun entry into the city. Bernhardin Sanson was offering a special indulgence for contributing to the construction of St. Peters (which was basically the norm for Rome at this time).  Zwingli’s bias came from Luther’s 95 thesis and he swayed the Zurich council to deny further entry of Sanson in January of 1519.

Zwingli says we need to continue baptism with the babies, they could be in damnation if they accidently die they need to go to heaven – so no waiting. The collected Zwingli programs were still mainly Roman Catholic --a pure religious belief so you did not decide upon yourself  about god’s wrath. So they ordered by law, who had not been baptized, should be forcibly be baptized. So Conrad and his followers proclaim the true church and resist the order of the council and continue to 1525 administer adult baptism in opposition to the Zurich government, who sais they should be punished, first jailed then exiled, and so they go underground. In 1529 a broader German Protestant Diet began to take up the Anabaptize issue.  Hot topics form a southern German population and a Swiss movement formed a legal refutation. It is radical and is underground because it was prosecuted. The punishment of rebaptism was a fundamental heresy, so they literately said we can execute these Anabaptist. So without harassment, the Anabaptist looked for other parts of lands to settle. They looked to southern parts of Austria (today Arabia?) and started to commune in a new kind of community. And they are led by Hutter, and he ends up leading the Austrian Anabaptist and it was Hutter that gives them a type of order. They live in isolated and rural life and they live a distinct form of religious life, and they call their lifestyle called Hutter (ites) and they say after Pentecost we live like ( Book of Acts) after the holy spirit descended on the people, they distributed a communalism lifestyle. The proactive of “ community of Goods,” Began to build communal schools, forms, fields in common, blacksmith shops in common, and start of practicing a radical return of the early ideal from their perspective of anabolic communalism . In 1580 there were many ( ’86 Hutterite ) communities established, and then they were seen as a threat. And they went to arrest Hutter and brought him back to burn him. Hutter did not have prince or a government supporting them, so where they survive was only in isolated communities.

Social Gospel” called  Anabaptists & as Spreading To Other parts of the world

The practice of “Community of Goods"

In 1580 there were many ( ’86 Hutterite ) communities established.

Bernard Rothermann

Zwingli says we need to continue with the babies, they could be damnation if they accidently die they need to go to heaven – so no waiting. So they ordered by law, who had not been baptized, should be forcibly be baptized. So Conrad and his followers proclaim the true church and resist the order of the council and continue to 1525 to administer adult baptism in opposition to the Zürich government, who sais they should be punished. So the Zürich government first jailed the Anabaptist, then exiled them. So they go underground. In 1529 a broader German Protestant Diet began to take up the Anabaptist issue, and it is a hot topic.  These movements are of a southern German population consisting mainly of a Swiss movement. It is radical and underground, and it is because they are prosecuted. The punishment for rebaptism was a fundamental heresy, so they literately said we can execute these Anabaptist. So without harassment, the Anabaptist looked for other parts of lands to settle. They looked to southern parts of Austria and started to commune in a new kind of community. And they are led by Hutter, and he ends up leading the Austrian Anabaptist and it was Hutter that gives them a type of order.  They live in isolated and rural life and they live a distinct form of religious life, and they call their lifestyle called Hutter (ites) and they say after Pentecost,  we live like ( Book of Acts) after the period when the holy sprit descended on the people,  They distributed a communalism lifestyle. The practice of “ community of goods.” They began to build communal schools, forms, fields in common, blacksmith shops in common, and start of practicing  a radical return of the early ideals, from their perspective, of anabolic communalism. In 1580 there were as many as  86 Hutterite  communities established; and then they were seen as a threat. And they went to arrest Hutter and brought him back to burn him alive. They did not have prince or a government supporting them, so where they survive was only in isolated communities.

Münster The New Jerusalem 1535

Another name for an Anabaptist group was the Bruderhofs.  They will eventually make it over to America. The problems for the Anabaptists movements were protectorates. They were without Luther, the Geneva council, and or other councils or things to promoted them and protected them -- such as the case of merchants for Calvin and German princes for Luther, they had little control over their social existence. So they searched for towns to adopt them.  We have a town called Münster, and this is where an Anabaptist movement took over the town by a coup.  Bernard Rothermann:  what happens in Münster leads of the expulsion by those who would ( like Iconoclast revolts in France,) pressure others to get rebaptized. Other Anabaptist heard about Münster, and started to call it the New Jerusalem. Because of its attractiveness, Holland, and Jan Van Leyden (1534) [ a Dutch tailored king] , he accepts himself as the King of the New Jerusalem. He goes wild on censorship and burns on all books ( it is a one book town, only the bible) and a common people live in a narrow frame of existence. To the joy of his father, polygamy was going to be good for the community. And it’s a cult at Münster and the Anabaptist throw-out the religious and leaders and lock the walls. So Münster has a king, becomes a quasi-fantasy biblical city, and people live in common. in 1529 there is a reaction at a German Diet to suppress the Anabaptist ( 1535) leaders and some are crushed. Anabaptist Move to other cities, such as Amsterdam. The prophets of Doom advocate for the communing apocalypse.

Another branch, Menno Sinas ( an educated man, some the (1496-1561), and makes pacifism the hallmark of the anabaptist (Amish). Do not carry the sword, and Menno ends up being a clandestine leader who ended up leading the underground Anabaptist, who had survived in secret, and not publically owned. Where possible, they like to imitate the Hutterites, and do the community and peaceful lives, apart from the dominate side of there were. This movement still services today, in the US rural Midwest. One in Minnesota, where they farmed rich farmland, and lived paid taxes, and kind of separate.

By 1520-30s some of the Anabaptists realize they need a charter and some sort of “Confessions.” ( which can be a charter). In the later 1530s but articulated earlier, and first written down in 1527 at Schleitheim. The Confession puts their beliefs in a concise way that articulates the foundational beliefs of the Anabaptist: It is seven articles, The first is against Infant baptism, the other part which was unusual was that people could be excommunicated and get thrown out of the church if they are not rebaptized. And They instituted the three-strike rule, which was the grounds of expulsion. It was an indicator of the social problems that were going on, so they try to put on a  confessional stopgap.  The Lord ’s Supper takes on a secular Calvinist position. It was only a ritual. There is no theology of transubstantiation or consubstantiation. the alter does not exist ( such as the case in pre-Geneva at Strasburg, 1538),  and they intend just to place a table to the side of the chapel and bring it out once a month, it was not the centeral part of the religious life ( as it was in Catholicism).

What made them as a group receives distain from the world?  Well, it is that they declare they are not part of the world.  And another article of the confession intends no taking of oaths to civic governments or any other civic Institutiones. Another article was to pastors, and their mission was to explain the world.  They do not where doctor robes, no bells and no smells (incense) and no elaborate rituals, they are simple practicing in rustic plain churches. A characteristic of Rural America in the 18-19th centuries explains the Anabaptist tradition.

Amsterdam Toleration Not Accepted

The Anabaptist spread. So what happens in Holland? We will go to the Dutch toleration city, they intend. But they dream of it as their own city like Munster was supposed to be and they live in a dream world where they think they can take over cities. Amsterdam where people go to get social toleration, they think, they start to get aggressive and call for the end of the world. These prophets of doom intend that calling for the end of the world, some non-Anabaptist believes will run away. Therefore, they can take over the city. Yet, they will get harassed by the authorities. So they find an early toleration and gather together the people who had escaped from Münster; and in 1535 they get out of hand, and start running down the street naked shouting “wo,’wo’ wo --  and the civic authorities did not tolerate this anymore.   So the civic authorities crushed them.  So some escaped to England, and they were not welcome there either.

Calvin partially condemned them, and they are persecuted wherever they are in Europe. The legacy is of where they have the most success.  the largest Protestant division is the Baptist, of the likes of 30-40 million people now in the United States of America – a sign of religious toleration, and it thrives in the United States of America. ( this is only a part of the story, see other pages).

1: Sola scriptura: “ by scripture alone”

2: Sola fide ( “By faith alone”)

3: Sola gratia ( By grace alone)

4: Solus Chirstus (“Christ alone”)

5: Soli Deo gloria (“Glory to God alone”)

English Reformation (Catholic Nationalism)

A distinct set of characteristics: Unlike other places! English Reformation had an extraordinary impact on the church in the early reformation, and a contradictory approach that characterized England for over a center. And Henry VIII (writes at the age of 21 year-old.) a formal humanist condemnation of Luther. He argues, by the help of Thomas More the good of these Catholic seven sacraments, and champions’ The Papacy. In return for this confirmation, the papacy gives Henry VIII an unofficial title of “Defender of the Faith.” Yet, secular male succession that plagues many Christian kingdoms in social unrest, including the Rus’ Riurikovichi, came to issue in England under Henry VIII.  This helps explain the distinct set of characteristics of the English Reformation and the rise of the England’s Anglican Church.

The problem came with the challenging intuition of marriage. At the age of nine years old, Henry was betrothed to Catherin of Aragon, and this was the aunt of Charles V, a Spaniard; and it was meant for a dynastic move. And they married and had six children but only one survives, and it was a girl -- only Mary survives. The problem with that was women were not allowed to succeed to the thrown. Henry falls in lust with Ann Bolen, one of the maids of Queen Mary, and at this time (1525-33) to seek an annulment. In the Roman Catholic Church, one must not violate the sacrament of marriage and not divorce. It is a violation and not an option, and not for the defender of the faith. So the only thing was an annulment. It can be enacted by only the pope could do (today a bishop can do it) and the Pope was in a hard spot. What is the best? If one does not consummate your marriage, you could file for an annulment. If a king caught his king in adultery, he could cut off the head and that was useful for Henry. To the Pope it was not a theological issue, because of male succession; this was common for the popes. But these popes from Medici, Spanish Pope, Farnese, the queen are Charles V aunt. Charles doesn’t want this because it defeated Charles’s plan. Henry sends lawyers and consultants, but the Pope said no. So, in 1533, a secret marriage takes place and a daughter is born to Ann Bolan and Henry named Elizabeth (future 41 year reign of the Queen of England).

So by this time, politics is stiff, and Charles V is running into troubles with Henry VIII. And for the grounds of excommunication by this secret marriage, the Pope was not about to back down and excommunicate Henry. So this created a problem. The king proclaims that he is a defender of the faith. So Henry joins the German prince’s early ideas. So a tradition of German princes ending their relationship gave Henry an idea.  He realized now that they are heads of their local churches. So Henry does this for his kingdom, and is concerned in the “Act of Supremacy.” This act was modeled on his German friends, these princes. Yet, Henry supports the 7 sacraments, unlike the Princes, so it was different. Henry said I am not getting rid of the structures of the Catholic Church,  but the fact that the Pope abused his authority by not granting me immunity based on legitimate concerns, I will break with the Roman Catholic Church. This created serious problems in England, and Thomas More had to side with the Roman Catholic Church. Since More was in such a high position, Henry had to get rid of him. It was not easy issue for all involved.

Henry VIII began to attack the political theology of the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope. They go after these Luther ideas and embrace them and try to look toward some historical claims as Luther does. But Henry goes further as he dissolves the monasteries, and allows the Churches to keep their wealth and clergy, but he goes strictly Machiavellian and takes the monastery and placed them under royal jurisdiction. So we need no separate ecclesiastical class and taking it for his own royal coffers, it is what Henry argued and did.

Thomas Cranmer (Angelica Church & Articles of Faith) ( England’s Reformation Church)

He was for more reform than less, and most important was his work in 1549 on the  Book of Common Prayer – a book that will guide the liturgy, on how to guide of the day-to-day services. It was described as poetic and in English, so the entire congregation could read it. It was a liturgical reform, and had a musical dimension involved, set to music the prayers and this becomes a way to the present, the great Jewels of the Anglican traditions. The Book of Common Prayer was so foundational to the English identity; by late 20th century it would be given to a linguistic to modernize its language. Some opposition arose, and claimed, ‘Do not be messing with the King’s English.’ But they did reintroduce The Book of Common Prayer with modernized English.

In the direction of and continental reform of 1549, the clergy were aloud to be married. And a year before Henry VIII dies, English reformationsits managed to pull together and formalize a theology based upon 42 Articles of Faith. It basically summarizes the Anglican Church’s position: Anglican priests could marry, and it reestablished the 7 sacraments. It contained programs of and faith or works, yet a bit toward the catholic side of the economy of salvation. So Elizabeth reduced the 42 articles of Faith to 39 articles, but the Articles of Faith remained the Anglican foundation.

Edward VI does not live long. and Mary ends up ruling until 1558, and Marries the Son of Charles V, and for a moment the reforms were going the way of the Catholic position, but Mary ends up dying childless, in 1558 and Philip goes home to take care of his empire and Elizabeth take over to rule England to rule for 42 years, and it her reign that consolidates the Anglican Church. Mary had reconciled a little with Rome, but she had died too soon. So Elizabeth takes the king’s position of the Monarchial English government and takes the Anglican Church as the sole religious role for English persons.

England, Henry VIII, Not Religious but Political,  Upholds Traditionalism, Church.

After Henry VIII dies, reformations on the continent invade England and start rabble rousing to change it – religious ideas explode.

Thomas More,  Henry VIII’s prime minister, initially helped Henry VIII to understand Catholicism, and More taught Henry to defend the 7 sacraments, in which Henry actually wrote upon as a defense prior to his marriage problems.

So when Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church and sided with the German princes model of emancipation, Thomas More suffered, who was a Erasmusian ( Erasmus intended above all doctrine each faction should work toward a unity with the Christian Church) did not follow Henry’s lead in breaking from the Catholic Church’s position on marriage. Although, there is no idea if More had understood that Charles manipulated the People not to grant Henry a pardon from his first marriage ( an annulment), for personal interests in geopolitics. People certainly had done so against Catholic Doctrine many time prior. So the issue was more political than doctrinal.  So Henry VIII’s reformation brings bloodshed because many people had no idea what the truth was about Charles V and Rome’s opposition economically and politically to England. In 1539 England gets a more theological stance and issues the Statues of the 6 Articles. What this did was defend Henry’s traditionalism, and after killing so many of the Catholic opposite who had no idea of what was going on,  he said, “I want to hold on to tradition.” The issue was never about the Catholic Church’s doctrines for King Henry VIII. He believed and promoted the Transubstantiation of Eucharist, upholding private masses for the dead and clerical celibacy – to look at this in a historical context, he holds up a lot of the sacramental economy of salvation.

1524, William Tyndale, translated (executed 1536) the bible had to flee England. So this was Machiavelli. So reformers on the continent are chaffing to get to England to start a reformation there. And there are traditionalists and other in battle of Luther or Calvinist tendencies. After Henry VIII dies things explode. So it was factions in Engalnd.

De Regna Christi (Monarchial Christianity) (England (Spain, France)

The big men, Steven Gardener, Thomas Chromwell, and Thomas Cranmer  are all going back and forth on what type of reformation to include for England. Chromewell takes over government. Ann Bolen is executed in 1536, and Henry marries numerous wives (6 wives in general).  And Charles Dickens, called him a “most intolerable ruffian,”  and much blood creates passion as well as the Italian Wars. And so when Henry died, and because of all these things and also observing the competing factions, it was a mess in England. And Henry in 1547 gives birth to the son ruler, and when Henry dies he only reached the age of 9 years-old. and in this moment there was this big group of reformers from the continent who tried to convince Edward, the boy, in an effort to try to guide his decisions, to break toward their religious slant. Factions arise all over the place. Yet, as most difficulties in many ethnicities of Monarchies, the same results happen. Youth create power struggles because of their age and regents or parliaments cannot keep stable peace. And one of the people who there is Calvinist-like Martin Bucer, and gets kicked out of Strasburg, by refusing to abide by an a edict of Charles V, who had said that  the reform faction can be there and exist in peace but it must tolerate the Catholic Mass.

And Bucer gets excommunicated and goes to England. And Bucer  ( given a chair at Cambridge, humanist, well established intellectual among the reform factions) ends up writing De Regna Christi; he ends up creating  theology for Monarchial Christianity. He argues the best time for the church was under Constantine who took over land, built churches, and we the model of the best ruler. Constantine was a monarchy and Christianity: A merging of Caesar and Christianity. This was like Julius II of Rome. It was the foundation of the church and state and how it was tolerated in England, and Edward soon died and it would be queen Elizabethan who would accept an Anglican Church when she got to power. Under her the state religion becomes crystallized. England, Spain  and France are three major states that adopt De Regna Christi.

Strasburg , Wittenberg,  Zürich  Protestant strengthening, protection and solidarity 

Martin Bucer (11 November 1491, Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, a free imperial city in the Holy Roman Empire -28 February – 28 February 1551, England) was a Protestant reformer who conceptualized Christian Monarchism, and usually referred to his ministries in Strasburg before being invite to England after his excommunication by the pope. He grew up in a family of coopers (barrelmakers) and attended a guild Latin school at Sélestat. By 1507 he had been subjected to Aristotlian logic and was considered fluent in Latin. in 1515 he studied theology in the Dominican monastery in Heidelberg and the following year he took courses in dogmatics in Mainz were he received his ordinals for priesthood.

He owned important medieval scholastic books including works by Thomas Aquinas. He is story also is that of a modern person at this time influenced by humanism. He purchased Erasmus and Johannes Froben. In 1518, Johannes von Staupitz, the vicar-general of the Augustinians, invited the Wittenberg reformer Martin Luther to preach at Hiedelberg –where Bucer met Luther and publically agreed to not upset the verbal-militant Luther. At this time, power of the German princes could scare-off a young reformer who had not reached a wide-audience of supporters. Yet, Bucer had Franz von Sickingen as protector and defender. This allowed Bucer to continue asking pertinent questions on both sides of the Protestant and Catholic lines. Bucer established other contacts with humanists in 1519 and his association with Sickingen allowed him to see power in the court as religious advisor to Frederick II, Count Palatine on the Rhine. Sickingen looked for positions for his protectee, because this gave nobles a certain power of public expression. He found for Bucer a position of pastor of the town of Landstuhl, where Bucer moved during May of 1522. Bucer married a former nun, Elizabeth Silbereisen, and Sickingen had offered to pay for further studies for Bucer at Wittenberg.

But Bucer eventually wanted to leave his wife and leave his family and study at Wittenberg.  He began his sojourn to Strasburg and make a stop at Wissembourg , where both Franciscans and Dominicans were active.  He  was asked by Hienrich Motherere to become a chaplain where Bucer accepted and began his preaching services attacking Catholic traditions. Wissembourg , where both Franciscans and Dominicans were active believed he was threatening the continuation of the towns monasteries and complained to Bishop of Speyer who had Bucer excommunicated.  The town was split, the council somewhat supported Bucer and he would have sought protection by Sickingen, but his forces were defeated at Trier during the Knight’s Revolt giving way to his opponents in the council to force him and Motherere to leave on 13 May 1523 – where he fled to Strasburg with no money, excommunicated and looking for work. This town, like Geneva, was controlled by merchant upstarts who wanted the Catholic bishop out of control for modern city deigns.

At Strasburg he met Matthew Zell the first reformer of Strasburg there and wrote a desperate letter to Zürich reformer Huldrych Zwingli for a post in Switzerland, a safe place away from the Catholic authorities. Yet, it was the poorest guild the Gärtner or Gardeners that would assist Bucer into the integration of the community. On February 20  of 1524 the Gardeners asked Bucer to come preach to them. After a short contention of the city council if they would find recourse by a Catholic supported army finally accepted Bucer as a citizen. He joined many other reformers. Augustinians at Strasburg soon became outnumbered in supporters and asked the city council for a decision. This led Bucer to an opportunity to show his scholastic merit and he drew up four articles in support of Protestant principles. At this time, Bucer went with the intending Protestant reforms citing the rejection of mass, justification by faith alone, reforms on monastic vows, saint veneration, purgatory, and the traditional Catholic liturgy. Bucer also rejected the authority of the popes. This meant that a full rejection of Catholic Catechism were the intending religious programs at Strasburg at this time.

After the victory against the Augustinians who supported Catholicism, reforms commenced with Protestant arguments to start a new tradition (that is to say, reform the orders upon new ideas of the academic Protestants of from Wittenberg and Zürich). In December 1524, Bucer attacked the use of the alter, the sacrifice idea of the mass, and rejected liturgical garments. One will notice that when Calvin comes to Strasburg after his expulsion by the Genève council for his first religious proposals for the city in 1538 he will witness many of the ideas he will advocate in his Calvinist reforms.

(1524-1534) Common orders were thus presented and edited with Wittenberg, Zürich and Strasburg taking collective part to form a wider body of town and city support against Catholicism. This put all the Protestant reformers together in communication,  but more importantly Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Luther and now Martin Bucer. Huldrych Zwingli and Martin Luther many debated and confirmed reforms between themselves. Zwingli would never adopt rebaptism (Jacob Hutter’s ideas), but the major contention with Luther was the issue of the Eucharist. Yet, Bucer played a main arbitration role between Luther and Zwingli. This led to his prominence among the upper elite of Protestant reformer movements.

Eucharist issue stopped Southern German and Swiss Unity

And Founding of Government Systems

In 1548, Bucer was asked to sing the Augsburg Interim between the Catholic and Protestants. While the Catholic Counterreformation was not in full swing, it had already started to strategize at Trent beginning in 1545, concluding its first sessions by 1548. Charles V was getting tiered of religious debates and was advocating compromise between the two sides, as well as commanding the modern military of its time. Thomas Cranmer, therefore, invited Martin Bucer to England to help the Protestants reform the new English  Church. When Bucer arrived he was appointed Regnis Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. Edward VI and the protector Somerset consulted Bucer on revisions of Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. King Edward VI commissioned Bucer for a theological work, which Bucer concluded in two large volumes which scripted a doctrine of Christian Monarchism. This work was called De Regna Christi (1550, dedicated to Edward VI, Bucer’s last major publication). This work also contained his views of the virgin birth of baby Jesus issue of Mother Mary, not found in the Bible. Bucer believed it was better proposed to promote Mary giving birth to Jesus from the Holy Spirit, rather than tradition that Mother Mary was born of the Holy Spirit and not Jesus. Bucer to create this myth, intended, “Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.” This led the myth today observed in many Christmas plays and theatrical Christian nativity stories. Bucer created this scenario to represent that Jesus must have come from the pureness of heaven and not from baseful defilement of human interaction. He painted Mother Mary as innocent, pure, and sinless – herself becoming a venerated religious personal next to Jesus Christ ( God) himself. He asked Protestants to pray saying Hail Mary, and not just to Mary in order to honor her. Like Luther he supported three Marian holidays. Bucer is considered a major academic Protestant who authored around ninety-six treaties, including an editing in Hebrew of the Psalms published in 1529. Christian Monarchism became the model for England, France and Spain’s government systems who forewent the Republican city-state models of public inclusion to government. It will not be until the French Revolution and The American Emancipation from England that republican ideas come into play for western European government themes. In this regards, De Regna Christi is an important work, and probably the most important work Martin Bucer ever produced.

Reintroduction of the Christmas Tree into Western Civilization

Strasburg (1538) Church the first Christmas tree since antiquity appears and is adorned. It was not advocated by the Protestant reformers, having no place in the Bible; yet as a replacement symbol for the reality that reforms at Strasburg ( many adopted by Calvin) will strip the Churches of all Catholic artistic iconography. This led a vacuum in which an opportunist replaced a simple tree and decorated it with nuts for the Christmas season. Adorning trees had since antiquity been a ritual for the winter solstice, yet had fallen out of remembrance during the medieval and religious ages of western civilization. A few decades later the Iconoclasts will descend upon Lyon (1550s, the first major French proper-town to see the rise of the Iconoclasts), as the first major church-stripping riot-rituals take place. Once the church is stripped, including the alter, a need for some neutral symbol to signify Christ was addressed as a simple tree -- something that would not upset people as referring to some type of icon-idol worship.

Martin Luther, Spanish Reformation are on other pages.

Second Major Protestant Movement

Calvinism John Calvin

Approved Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist.

Calvin’s systematic programme: doctrine and polity.

o       Early Years (1509-1535)

o       Reform Work commences (1536-1538)

o       Minister in Strasbourg (1538-1541)

o       Reform in Geneva ( 1541-1549)

o       Discipline and Opposition (1546-1553)

o       Michael Servetus (1533)

o       Securing the Reformation (1553-1553)

o       Final Years (1555-1564)

John Calvin (or Jean Cauvin in French) (10 July 1509, Noyon, Picardie, France ( second of three sons) – 27 May 1564) created a systematic theology on Christianity and helped fashion western civilization by breaking Roman Catholicism’s responsibility agenda to formulate an individualistic decentralized individualist Christianity which many adopted as a alternative to modernity’s choices of reformations. The Reformation was a ritual revolution which is better described as overlapping competing reformations. The Protestant Reformation is now argued by the academic community as an elite accomplishing a more pedagogical apparatus on how we understand multiple movements intersecting in a more complex northern renaissance experience. We now speak of multiple ‘Reformations’ coexisting, and operating in and of an individuality. Yet, reformations are intersecting locally and regionally all the while creating unification and division at the same time.

Calvin as compared to Martin Luther was superiorly trained scholar. Calvin trained at The University of Paris (1521-‘34) and at Orléans. He was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism or Reformed theology. In Geneva, his ministry both attracted other Protestant refugees and over time he made that city a major force in the spread of Reformed theology. He is famous for his teachings and writings, in particular for his Institutes of the Christian Religion. What makes Calvin a success is that Luther’s ideas are out in the public sphere, out in the literate classes of the merchants – and yet, they do not embrace all of Luther’s ideas but, they are interested in their own version of a new church reform.

Take note that Reformations are overlapping are in fact, competing reformations. And once Luther comes on to the scene he assumes all will adopt him.  Luther says “I’m wise, you will follow me.” And that does not happen.  People sense that they can impose their own reforms if they do not follow Luther. A Frenchman, called John Calvin was born in southwest France.  By 1509, he is a generation younger than Luther.  He is born in world without Luther, and once in school he will know about Luther through his writings.

Early Years (1509-1535)

In 1525 o4 1516, Gerard withdrew his son from Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans. Calvin explains that his father wanted him to get a better education for a position in law. After a few years, Calvin set off for the University of Bourges in 1529 when he had learned that the humanist lawyer, Andreas Alciati had taken up residence there, but Calvin only spent eighteen months there in which he had learned Greek. It was in Bourges that Calvin converted to the reformed faith, and nothing is known about this conversion. He made only one reference to this event in his preface to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Luther’s rupture with the Church was known and this probably led in some part to Calvin who was quizzical in the first place now exposed to the language of the original copies of the New Testament.

Calving owed his security to the Catholic Church, and his father was a notary employed with the Church. So Calvin enjoys an education and his father gets for his son a church pension -- for both the education and funding. So Calvin is more trained as a humanist, more than Luther was and Calvin is trained in Classical Latin. Calvin is steeped in many of the ancient Roman Texts, the Greek philosophers, and also Law. He goes to three universities (1521-34).  In Orléans and Paris are his main training years, and he was trained in law at Paris (1532 Licentiate in law). During 1532 he published his first book, a commentary of Seneca’s De Clementia. After uneventful trips to Orléans and his hometown of Noyon, Calvin veered back to the Collège Royal ( later to become the Collège de France) in October of 1533. At this time conservative faculty members were engaged in tensions with radical students who saw themselves in the role of humanist –reformers. Nicolas Cop, a friend of Calvin’s was elected that autumn as rector of the university and on 1 November 1533 he gave a speech on reforming the church. The faculty revolted and Calvin had to flee the University due to his association with Cop. Calvin did not go with Cop to Basel, but fled southwest where he had found Louis du Tillet who gave him shelter in Angoulême. He shortly stopped at his hometown and Orléans but finally fled France during the Affair of the Placards in mid-October 1534. Unknown reformed consciousness student put up placards around the campuses and city attacking the Catholic Mass – the reaction was to crack down on Protestants within the Parisian city. Paris was not place for reformed minded Calvin.

William Farel

William Farel (Guillaume) (1489-13 September 1565) was a French evangelist, and a founder of The Reformed Church in the cantons of Neuchâtel, Berne, Geneva, and Vaud in Switzerland. He is most often remembered for persuading Calvin to remain in Geneva in 1536, and persuading him to return to Geneva in 1541 after both of their expulsions in 1538. Farel, a firebrand preacher, engaged pro-reformist Catholic priest Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples, who had criticized the Roman Catholic Church. He was a part of a larger group of Cercle de Meaux who had gathered together in 1519 by the reform minded bishop of Meaux, Guillaume Briçonnet, who had invited a number of evangelical Humanists to work in his diocese to help him implement his reform program within the Catholic Church. Included humanists to the Cercle are Josse van Clichtove, Martial Mazurier, Gérard Roussel, and Françios Vatable. Not wholeheartedly into reform,  as a group,  they did emphasize the study of the Bible and a return to theology of the patristic founders of Christianity. Working with Lefevre in Meaux, Farel came under the influence of Lutheran ideas and became an avid promoter of them. Being forced from Switzerland because of his writings against the imaged in Christian Worship, he spent time in Zurich with Huldrych Zwingli and at Strasbourg, with Martin Bucer ( 11 November 1491-28 February 1551, Protestant reformer whose principle ministry was in Strasburg,  promoted the ‘virgin birth’ concept of Mother Mary; main work, De Regno Christi in two large vols. ). He convinced Neuchâtel to join the reform in 1530. He had established himself at Geneva in 1532, where he remained as a minister, drawing Calvin to the city, but breaking with him over the Eucharist. He was banished from Geneva in 1538 (along with Calvin and other Protestant reformers), in part for his rigorous positions, and retired to Neuchâtel, where he died. Farel did not live to see the split between Lutherans and Calvinism. At the time he has asked Calvin to go back to Geneva, to Farel, it was all a part of Protestant movement – a unifying effort against the Catholic Church’s traditions.

Placards

Calvin: First things he published were writing about Seneca, a silver age philosopher. And this becomes his master’s degree thesis. What led to Calvin was the road left by Luther, because the Luther reformation makes the students go nuts and students nail placards communicating ( Paris own 95 thesis moments) an end to Catholic mass. And Francis I had no intention to allow Lutherans the “Placard scandals.” He advocated that they should be jailed and later banning the movement. So these reformation-minded students and people begin to head south, where French court supervision was less regulated at the time.

So people go south to escape the crackdown. And in 1534, Calvin breaks with Rome and goes to Basel. He is not a university professor, and doesn’t have prince behind him as Luther, and as well he has no degree. He and his father had a falling out too.  So Calvin at the age of 15 years old is now cut off from his ecclesiastical stipend. He still  decided to write on Christian topics. So in Basel, Erasmus’ town, he begins to the write the theological guideline for the reform of Christianity, and in 1536 he publishes the first version, of what is called “Institutes for the Christian Religion;” It will be the foundation work as what we think of as Calvinism. The Presbyterians are the direct heirs to John Calvin.  At 26 years-old, think about a systematic exploration of Christian Doctrines, a foundation of a future successful religious program -- it was romantic story. John Calvin was “every” poor. And he had written Institutes of the Christian Religion in an attack.  It was of poor scholarship, but at that the time is was a great example of desire of people who had wanted a change.  Now the people had a new blue-print for a new beginning, and Luther was not going to work for everyone. Calvin’s was first embraced in urban context, in free imperial cities.

Reform work commences (1536–1538)

March 1536 Calvin published the first edition of the Institutiones Christianae Religionis (Institutes of the Christian Religion), rather commentaries on the Christian religion, in six volumes. After this publication he left Basel for Ferrara in Italy where he served as secretary to Princess Renee of France. He did not stay there long and by June he was back in Paris with his brother Antoine on family’s business.  Following the Edict of Coucy which allowed a six month period for heretics to reconcile with the Catholic Faith, Calvin decided there was no future in France.

On 16 January of 1537, William Farel (Guillaume) and Calvin presented their Articles concernant l’organisation de l’église et du culte à Genève (Articles on the Organization of the Church and its Worship at Geneva) to the city council.[24] The merchants complained how could they afford such an auspicious program of starting a new University. That construction would be extremely expensive.

Genevens (Operation French Reformation)

Unlike German speaking towns in Basel, Zürich, Bern and other protestant cities, Geneva which had recently disposed of the over lordship of the House of Savoy ( c. 1520s), spoke primarily French. Therefore there were no close ties to the German protestant reforms in Geneva,  Switzerland. In 1533, Bern sent protestant reformers to Geneva, and they managed to convert Geneva to a Protestant town by 1535, yet with conflict.

A man named Guillaume Farel (1489-1565), a firefly preacher who had been engaged in the city of Geneva to try to get the merchants to embrace the protestant religious reform, and Calvin created a strict reform of the Geneva Church and advocated an expensive school to be funded by the local merchants.  This preacher saw no concrete idea in Luther’s ideas but sees Calvin as someone who could crystallize it. And the merchant class runs the city and they want reform.  They want to drive out the Bishop too. And so the bourgeoisies want to drive out the city the bishop,  and the traditional power structure to the cities. Calvin and Farel are given agenda by Geneva, and this is considered phase I. To reform the church, Calvin says to the bourgeoisies: “What we need you to do is to build up a school system, to teach your stuff, all the things. And then the bourgeoisie said, “ this is too expensive.”  Then they give Calvin the boot in 1538 and he ends up going to Strasburg, and eventually will be invited back to Geneva. Calvin will be seen as the second major reformist after Luther.

Geneva tossed out Calvin in 1538

Geneva tossed out Calvin in 1538, and other Protestant reformers as well. Calvin moved to Strasbourg where he began to, preach and write commentaries on the Bible, which would become six volumes (first edition) of The Institutes of the Christen Church. Calvin mixed secular politics with religious spiritual life and combined the two into a working systematic doctrine. This systematic style helps explain its success.  It helps tell the practitioner that the Church is for one’s secular life and one’s spiritual life, and it can produce this program economically, so that one can spend most of the week doing one’s secular state duty. At Strasburg, Martin Bucer is a Protestant minister and Calvin will form a long lasting friendship with Bucer who promotes the virgin birth scenario.

Minister in Strasbourg (1538-1541)

Calvin ministered 400 to 500 members in his church. He preached or lectured everyday with two sermons on Sunday. Communion was celebrated monthly and congregational singling was encouraged.[25] Calvin and Bucer argued but basically agreed upon theology. They spent many years together. Geneva had politically warred with Bern and Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto wrote a letter to the Geneva city council ordering them to re adopt Catholic dominance. The city council flinched and looked for someone to ecclesiastically represent them. First Pierre Viret was consulted, but turned down the offer. So the council looked back and asked what about Calvin. In a desperate situation, and wanting to get rid of the Catholic bishop (who had nominal political control, as tradition) the council commissioned Ami Perrin on 21 September 1540 to find a way to get Calvin to come back and represent them in authority.

Back to Genève 1541 to Build A University

In 1540, Calvin is invited to go to the town in Geneva and he arrives in 1541. He had advocated an expensive school project and got kicked out for the expensive idea. Now a new set of merchants and officials had invited him back to proceed and begin the University of Geneva, becoming the premier Calvinist reformation training center. This time, Calvin was hesitant, but the Geneva council was in desperate measures. They would agree to what he had demanded in the first offering. On November 20, 1541 the council passed the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques. It defined four ordinal ministerial functions: pastors ( not priests) to preach to the congregation and administer the sacraments; doctors (as Ph.Ds, not Medical Doctors) to instruct believers in the faith; elders to provide discipline; and deacons to care for the poor and needy.[26]

Calvin’s Crowning Jewel: Back to Genève 1541 to Build A University

Calvin’s Crowning Jewel: He manages to get the founding fathers of the city to make the University of Geneva. So Calvin is accredited for starting the University of Geneva. The focuses are the masters of religious studies and the Ph.D. program in theology. Calvinist Clergy will become the Doctors of the Calvinist church. So illumined bishops, popes, sacraments, the nuns, and all Rome – so what are the hierarchy of the Calvin Church? The highest illuminati are the Ph. D Doctors of the Church; it is where their authority comes from God.

What becomes the legitimizing act of the Calvinist Church is the granting of the degree of a Minister degree. Each Minister will have a call for a congregation, a confirmation of your audience that accepts you. So Calvinist reform begins in Geneva, and his school reshapes the liturgy (Sunday worship and the how the people come to pray). Catholicism, in comparison has many services each day:  go to church more than once a day. But in Calvinism, patrons will no longer observe the Lord’s supper once a week.

In Calvinism, the Sunday becomes an entire day of Religion, while the rest of the week is set for working in the secular community. On Sunday, one spends time at Sunday school and then later one goes to service --  so it was like an 6-7 hours on one day or an all day thing. So these focuses were on the opening up the preachers’ preaching. The Catholic Church was systematic on performance ritual, whereas the Calvinist liturgy  is about teaching,  which is incorporated with the preaching, of a 1 -2 hour liturgy that the people all gather for in Church and then they come back for further bible instruction and study later in the day. Calvin believes there is a lot of learning to be done. 

1540 Geneva New Official Ask Calvin Back

[ Someone]  translated the Bible into French ( who did this).  In Calvin’s case, in 1541 he is invited back to the town in Geneva,

Discipline and Opposition (1546-1553)

Throughtou the rest of his life in Geneva, Calvin held friendships with Montmore, Cordier Cop, Farel, Melanchthon, and Bullinger.[27] Around 1546, Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva from a group advocating liberation from ecclesiastical and civil law. This group called the Libertines comprised wealthy and political elite or traditional inter-related families of Geneva. [28] Things got heated and Jacques Gruet was arrested, tortured and beheaded, accused of leaving an unsigned threatening letter on the pulpit of St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached. Yet, the libertines had secured the majority of the syndics or civil magistrates, continuing to defy and cause trouble for the Consistiore. [29] Consistiore had the power to excommunicate, yet the civil council had much to say in matters. Calvin lost considerable political power, but could not be banished as before. In 1553 on the 13th of August, Michel Servetus, a Spaniard had became famous for denying the trinity of Christ ( mainly in his work Dialogorum de Trinitate libri duo) . He and Calvin eventually came into contact when he showed up unannounced, and yet he had asked to go to Geneva. At this time Calvin had written Farel on 13 February of 1547 that he would not give safe passage to Servetus. [30]  Both the Spanish Inquisition and the Inquisitor-general of France sought out Servetus who was hiding in Vienne. Under an assumed named, and for unexplained reasons he had journeyed to Geneva, where Calvin had him arrested. A show down between Calvin’s political power as a preacher and reformer against the civil services of the city ensured. It was a church matter, and at the same time Cervetus fame meant everyone would be watching. So Calvin had the authority over the libertines. The libertines allowed the trial to drag on to shame Calvin. The difficulty was that Servetus was not well liked for his views all over Europe.  The Geneva council, listening to other cities’ replies such as Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Schaffhausen appeared to unanimously convict Servetus to be burnt at the stake.  Calvin and other ministers asked that Servetus would receive a beheading, to no avail. Servetus was burnt alive on 27 October 1533, at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.[31] Since it was Calvin that had arrested Servetus, he received fame as a result, as well as Geneva. Yet the issue of if the council who were full of locals and not Frenchmen still had the excommunication powers, the influx of French persons as a result of international fame of the Servetus’ trial led to election numbers declining for the libertarians in the 1555 syndics election. Plots were hatched to kill Frenchmen, but escaped. The plot was accused upon manufacturing merchant Pierre Ameaux, who in January of 1546 verbally attack Calvin calling him a ‘Placard.’ He was accused of heading up the libertines and trying to conduct a coup d’état. The Calvinists formed a larger French contingent and forced the libertines, including Pierre and other council leaders to flee the city. Calvin then arrested conspirators left in the city and executed them, by beheading them. Calvin represented a pragmatic political-religious figure – a new model of secular binded with religious leader. John Calvin took control of the city and the Church polity had ended. He would live out his reign as de facto ruler till his death uncontested. What matters more were his ideas that spread and the continuing formulation of what sacraments to keep or discharge. Luther now became a unique personality, and was not seen as a Luther follower. So Luther now attacked Calvin as a competitor. This the point in historiography where Calvinism begins to be seen as legitimate, and Calvin is now seen separate from Martin Luther and his own reformation.

Calvin Church

Predestination

Calvin on Predestination

Calvinism, What is it?  

Everyone born are destined to achieve salvation or damnation. Yet you must work at the four basic tenets he set up.

The four tenants:

1.      Pursue your God given talent.

2.      Practice good morals.

3.      Practice frugality (save money for a rainy day).

4.      Practice things in moderation.

If one practices this every-day; this would be a sign that possibly you will make it to heaven (saved).

Definition: Calvinism

The practice of Church, Family Life, and Political Life all come under the auspices of what we call Calvinism. Sovereignty of God is the Calvinist Church connected to The State. Calvin took over Geneva and ruled it as a de facto Christian Monarch. This was his model. Yet, before he became a Monarch he had written that sometimes Christians must obey secular leaders. However, when things do not go well, either you serve Calvinism or you cannot be saved, even when God knows already if you are going to be saved or not. It is a contradictory viewpoint that allows a practitioner to live as a noble in a feudal court or live as a serf – or as a blend in between. Many intend this was the solution which resulted in the idea of the middle classes that rose up in the United States of America after World War II. However, what was the middle class, when empirically the middle class was wealthier than 90% of the world’s populous? It was all in a perspective of world comparison, rather than internal state comparison. It was self individualism, partly under laws allowing limited access to power but expansive individual freedom, and of submissive to the state and its welfare programs of state assistance, while working for the feudal lords that became rich. Whatever the case, this idea of blending Monarchism with some type of quasi-democracy allowed the middle class to be created. Yet a common view by many historiographies, I intend, is qualified.

Humans are all evil and there is nothing one can do about it Institutiones Christianae Religionis volume II

Calvin argues that original sin is so corrupted mankind, there is no way for mankind to not be evil. Calvin argues, why try to be good people, you will never be good people. Many intend this idea led to the justification of capitalism in the 19th century. All forms of capitalism eventually suppress, hurt, offend, destroy, or kill other human beings, in some capacity. Calvin intends that the chosen are to be viewed as successful business people. Therefore, he understand that in doing so, man cannot be inherently good. This is a part of the renaissance thinking on realism, and is continued here in the period of the Protestant Reformation(s). It is difficult to understand how Calvin is saying Jesus would tell you go to out and hurt someone to make money because you are a part of sinings history and therefore are always evil so just do not care about your neighbor--- life is money and money is cut-throat competition.

Sacraments: Calvin devotes several chapters of the Institutiones Christianae Religionis to attack the Catholic religion intending it is of the Anti-Christ.

Calvin accepts baptism and the Eucharist. He defends infant baptism, though he denies that baptism is necessary for salvation.

In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Calvin throws out the Catholic ( transubstantiation) and Luther’s consubstantiation  forms, and rejects the Holy Spirit with brings the grace of God, and rather intends that this ritual should only be done ( about once a month) in faith, which then persay depicts the partaking of the real body of Christ. Calivin is vague enough to allow someone not to think heavily into what is happening to them, or what they are actually doing.

Free-Will  is not a part of Life Book volume III

Calvin says, since we do not know who is predestined for salvation, we all must work for the salvation of all. Only God knows who is saved. In this way, Calvin has taken out collective and personal responsibility. His only disclaimer is that salvation can only come through the Church, apparently Calvin’s as a competing religion. Calvin intends the Catholic Church is not a Church at all, but of the devil. Therefore, all Catholics will never be or have been saved by God. Calvin’s critical doctrine on predestination finalizes Luther’s sentiments that some people that are chosen will go to heaven and others will go to hell. There is no pergatorium. There is not chance at redemption. There is no chance for penance.

On Secular Authority Institutiones Christianae Religionis

Calvin on Predestination intends God is Sovereignty is all Christians’ lives, as the Marriage of Church and State, but Secular authority is ambiguous in that sometimes one must obey its secular leaders and sometimes the Magistrates must side with the common Christians. Confusion is ripe and inherent in Calvinist Doctrines.

The institutes include a long chapter on civil government which is not a contradiction as it was with Luther. Magistrates have their offices of God, and common people should not attack tyrants. However, Magistrates can defend the common against the Tyrants’. If a leader of many different forms of government is good, then the common people should support them. This is democratic-like. Yet, private persons may not undertake vengeance on wicked rulers. This is more geared toward Monarchism.

Luther intends that secular authority maintains one cannot be a Christian if they live by the sword.  Government, in general under Luther is not connected the specificity of Christian life and therefore is solely in the realm of secular authority and not authority of God. Calvinism associates a loose and broad understanding without a defined boundary to what is of God’s and what is not. Luther understood and argued Jesus’ saying about separating secular power from the inner quest of God while Calvinism intend the opposite with a vague form of understanding a blend can happen and the people need to sort this boundary out themselves.

Calvin is so confused he doesn’t know what is going on in Scriptures. He cites Peter saying, “we ought to obey God rather than men.” Calvin takes this passage to mean that Calvinists, as magistrates should never allow earthy authority to divert Calvinists from the supreme allegiance of God. Yet, as Luther so correctly cited, Jesus illustrated the separation between Church and State by his own words. Calvin repeats his sentiments, and says. “This may subject us to great danger by exposing us to the wrath of kings, but we should suffer anything rather than deviate from piety.”

Calvin stresses the complete ruin of humanity’s ethical natural against a backdrop of the sovereign grace of God in salvation. It teaches that fallen humanity is morally and spiritually unable to follow God or escape their condemnation before him and that only by divine intervention in which God must change their unwilling hearts can people be turned from rebellion to willing obedience (that is God’s will to like you, in which he may not and you will never know).  

Here God is the Free-will actor and not the human being. Calvin states it is God who “must” meaning that he implies that God do something, in which God is rather subservient to Man’s predicaments. God’s faith is a free gift, where as under Catholicism one must earn God’s faith in good human’s actions of charity, doing good works and carrying for each other. To make Calvin’s ideas about faith as saving grace of human salvation simple to understand. Calvin’s doctrine of irresistible grace (also called “efficacious grace”) asserts that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined (Predestination) to save.  In very simple terms, God saves people who he likes, and there is nothing you can do about it. You cannot earn it, you cannot enjoy it, and you will never know.  The problem with this logical push, is that how can Calvin know that going to the Calvinist Church is the only pathway to salvation? How does he know what God knows when he intends God knows and humans cannot know what God intends? However, this mentality and argument was appreciated in its time and people found it much better than having bishops in their cities, and going to Church to receive the Eucharist at a more frequent rate. Church in Calvinism was only once a week, and usually all day, and consisted of more teachings including secular teachings for its congregations. Therefore, during the weekdays, the congregations could go out into the world and make money with their talent. This was extreme liberalism of the individual knowing that they cannot know if they are going to be saved, so why care? The Church schools acted as community hook-up units, where people congregated to interrelate and organize public projects – yet under the name of Christianity. Sovereign Grace is what it is, all people can get the Grace of God but only if God already knows he likes you. You will not know, but he already knows, and God will not tell you.

You absolutely do not need to do community service, help people in your community, care if someone lives or dies or care about goodness and moral Samaritan works. No works, either good done by your own free will or sanctioned by some authority will get one any closer to salvation. However, a sign that you will get into heaven is that you economic dominate your neighbor. This is a sure sign that Calvinism is working for you and you have a strait pathway into heaven. All the other religions are damned.

Some Calvinist names: English were the Puritans; Congregationalists were the Dutch. Dutch Reform was from Holland, Huguenots were French. Another example is that the Amish of today are a direct off-shoot of the Puritans. Thousands of branches of churches have their off-shoots roots with Protestants of today. However, due to world migration to the United States of America, for example, in SouthernMore popular names include: Methodist; Baptist; Mormons; Holy Rollers; Jehovah witnesses; 7 th Day Adventist; Quakers; Amish. California, the most diverse place on earth in year 2000, data was gathered that there are over 2000- plus different religious sects alone. Talk about pluralism as it associates with individualism.

Take away Catholic Collective Responsibility, and one is on their own.

1. Everyone must be on guard, because everyone is responsibly for their own actions.

2. No Pope; No Priests, don’t like it or need them anymore.

3. Most important, is that the Catholic Church rule is now split between the new worlds -- now with Protestants. South America is fully Catholic and the new migration to North America will be fully Protestant dominance changing the world for centuries.

Calvinists wear  simple clothes, no card playing, no theater (Mostly because women started to dominate the French stage, and no dirty dancing).

Catholics didn’t want you to make a profit. Tithes and supporting the Catholic Church was a duty of a good Catholic. Calvin said; keep your own damn money.” So what do you think people voted on? People seen this as Catholics not free and Protestants free.

English Refugees, Consensus Tigurinus and English- Speaking Reform

Consensus Tigurinus was a document by Luther in an attempt to consolidate evangelicals after his break with Luther over the Doctrine of the Sacrament. Initially, Luther and Calvin had mutaul respect for each other, but the a viewpoint divide was between Huldrych Zwingli and Luther on the Eucharist. This forced Luther to place Calvin in Huldrych’s camp. In 1555, in a response to another Lutheran, Joachim Westphal’s treaties that attacked Calvin, he wrote Defensio sanae et orthodoxae doctrinae de sacramentis (A Defense of the Doctrine of the Sacrament). This was another battle over the role of the Holy Sprit. Luther accepted that consubstantiation argument that the Holy Spirit was alongside the bread and wine during the Eucharist ritual, but Calvin intended it was nothing more than just drinking wine and eating bread as a ritual. At the same time, Calvin began to accept English Refugees and gave them sanctuary. Under the cities protection (Calvin now was the de facto ruler), they were able to develop and build their own reform churches under John Knox and William Whittingham. They eventually carried with them back to England and Scotland Calvin’s ideas on doctrine and polity. [32] Yet, Calvin tried to unify the evangelical Churches in Germany, with little avail at this time. He then focused on his homeland, France. He sent between 1555 and 1562 over one hundred ministers that were schooled at Geneva University to France and supported them financially. The council had told Calvin, because he now was a revolutionary, they would not support him due to political upheavals beginning in France at this time. The Geneva council did not want a large French army invading their city.

The Spread of Calvinism into other parts of Europe

In March 1536, Calvin published his first edition of the Institutiones Christianae Religionis or “The Institutes of the Christian Religion,” at Basel. He then goes to Geneva in 1536 and is booted out by 1538.  While Luther gets the whole thing rolling, it quickly becomes overlapping and many different chapters, and Calvin is like a general (1541) in Geneva gets his reformation going, a second generation form,  a generation younger’s. It is hard to imagine Calvin without Luther.  Calvin comes on the scene as a 26 year-old to write his own systematic theology on Christianity, and it opened a Pandora’s Box. What is important is the fragmented, and Charles V doesn’t have absolute authority over the German Princes, to it is an advantageous relationship between Luther and the German princes. The independent cities are different than the noble Prince cities. And nobles were thrown out --- they were run by a bourgeois merchant class, and consolidated power in the bishops – so the bishops and the Merchant class worked well together, the bishops gave power to the merchants who then made up the city councils. Zurich, Strasbourg (Calvin as Minister in Strasbourg (1538–1541)) and Geneva: these were merchant upstart cities of merchants who wanted to get away from the Church and start their own governments. There is this debate that it was not about people rushing to change from the Catholic Church. In Germany many nobility as well as peasants did not agree on the 1555 Rule of princes deciding for themselves what religion they would adopt in their perspective principalities. Even Charles V had come to recon this dilemma. Many argued that non-reunification resulted in constant confrontation over traditions. The most important thing to understand is that Martin Luther did not produce a theology, he was a critic like Karl Marx, who criticized things but gave no solutions. So  they debated this after this fact, there was no comparable agreement in the German states about this reform, and this is why Calvin is necessary to understand; because Calvin has a theology and program; so they need some theological visionary, and he is a bit unusual.

By the time he is 26 years of age, he has The Institutes of the Christian Religion, and these wind- up being the blue print for the Protestant reformation proper, and it starts to spread first en masse at France.Pierre le Clerc established the first Calvinistic community at Paris; other communities are established at Lyons, Orléans, Angers, and Rouen. By 1559 Bishop Jacques Spifamius of Nevers began to support Calvinism, and in the same year Paris witnessed the assembly of a general synod of French Reformers, which then adopted a Calvinist Creed and introduced into the community a Swiss presbyteral constitution for the reformed communities. It was Waldensians who brought books published at Geneva and handed them out at Paris. This was one reason the Index was created by 1557. Yet, it did little to stop the proliferation of knowledge.  From Basel, Stasburg, and Geneva, a steady flow of reform book material and preachers begin to flood into France in 1559.  This was definitely part of the Protestant plan.  Calvin’s church schools are churning out Doctors of Calvinism, and not doctors on philosophy or law in the general sense – but reform Doctors with degrees of Doctors.

Calvin provides in the institutes the blue print, and works are continuing for a decade ( 1539, version, and by 1559 when Calvin dies, it is long as the entire old testament and three gospels, it is a complex theological document, he put his heart and mind into this, and defined his humanist learning, patristic scholarship and Christian scholarship – important to understand of Luther. “The Institutes” are a complex set of arguments and muses, and Luther’s mind is less systematic and Melanchthon gives Luther a systematic theology. But as a characteristic of organized religion, Calvin manages to do that. There are 6 major chapters in the first edition of the “Institutes.”

(1) The Old Testament Law, in particular. The Mosaic Law, the fundamental characteristics, and how that functioned. (2) Section on the Creed: this is unusually move for Calvin as he does move into the gospels, a short formulation of the fundamentals of the Church this would be put together by Church councils over the first 300 years of the Calvinist Church. Fundamental beliefs of the Christian People: The Choice of focusing on the Creed, is saying to his audience is that I want to go back to the Patristic founding of the Church, because it allows them to skip over the medieval papacy and the myth that they were making. More or less after Augustine, the Church fathers are suspect. And they do not want to give authority to Ambrose or Aquinas who had shaped the medieval religious experience.

(3) Calvin’s systematic theology:  Only two sacraments are rooted in the New Testament: Baptism (a legitimate claim in the Bible) and the Eucharist.  Calvin says forget about consubstantiation (Luther’s adopted idea), and lets “only” just imitate what Jesus had done during in the last Supper.  Forget about the Holy Spirit coming down and imbuing a spirit represented in the bread and the wine as it is supposed to represent the divinity. It just a meal, Calvin portends.  Transubstantiation was a myth, Calvin reiterates it was created in the middle age and does not exist in the Bible.

These writings were important because it organizes the new Calvinist churches and took authority away from the Catholic Church. The sacraments were once a week in Catholicism. But now, Sacraments were only once a month in Luther’s church. The Focuses of the Alter is important for the last supper, but Luther takes this thing out, and taken off to the side? So what become the real focuses?

(4) 5 sacraments and the denunciation, and anti- Roman polemic of Calvin. This is an element that is concerned with correct teachings. They represented bad theology, and if you look back at the wedding, Jesus just went to the wedding. Jesus said to his mother, why is it of my concern? At the wedding and marriage, it was a civil act, and legal binding, such as legal issues of dowry and inheritance, so these were civil things. A religious dimension does not disappear but it was not a sacrament. A sacrament always brings the Spirit. So Luther was doing away with the concepts of the Holy Spirit. “Calvin praised the work of his predecessors, Philipp Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, and Martin Bucer, but he also took care to state that his own work was distinct”[33]

1550s Church formed into City Government.

Calvin immediately helped to restructure the municipal government of Geneva so the clergy would be involved in municipal decisions, particularly in disciplinary measures.

No More Holy Spirit

Calvin’s denunciation of the Holy Sprit and as the sacraments was big part of this new reform of the Church.  It is where he gets into his own distinct reformation. And what Calvin says, as what is important about the Holy Spirit, was what Luther had intended as the Word of God. In the most clear way,  Calvin was compatible with Luther’s public program for teaching scriptures as a way of emancipation from the Catholic Church. It is when the “word” of God is actually taught to the public, and not preaching over their heads, but explaining the scriptures to the people. Roman Latin Mass meant that the public could not really understand what was being said. And Calvin places a huge amount of emphasis on teaching the understanding of scripture, and placed importance on training new clergy to teach the masses instead of preaching at them.

At the age of 28 years old, Geneva is where Calvin resides.  His first the reform is of education.  He got kicked out of Geneva, but then was asked to return because the merchants weight their options. He believed children should be taught Latin, but proper Latin to children – not Medieval Latin. He reforms the churches in Geneva, the most important idea is that the “Church is the school of the civilization” So he religitized the Church. This is a school-church concept, rather than a Holy Spirit and economy of salvation Church program. It was the idea of universal schooling. All children could go to grammar school, and educate all the people is what Calvin is saying to the Geneva Merchant class.

Calvin Education Children

A key to Calvinism’s success is the education ( or indoctrination) of children. After taking control of Geneva in 1555, Calvin among his many projects focused on the collége. A site for the school was found on 25 March 1558 ( sign of Aries) and opened the following year on 5th of June in 1559. Although the school was one unique Institutiones, Calvin broke it up to include adult and children learning. A primary grammar school called the collège or schola privata, and an advanced school called académie or schola publica. The college eventually became the Collège Calvin, one of the college preparatory schools in Geneva, while the académie became the University of Geneva.[34]

The First French center of Calvinism was Lyon

The First French center of Calvinism was Léon. The painting, a center of the church, it looks like a different liturgical space, there is a real ritual revolution, that changes the way people interact, where is the focus of attention? It is the pulpit ( the Bully Pulpit) [ the brain washing pulpit). It was like a lecture hall, the emphasis is to teach you how to live your life ( just like the Catholic Church) but in a nationality since of things.

“Calvin praised the work of his predecessors, Philipp Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, and Martin Bucer, but he also took care to state that his own work was distinct” (Cottret 2000, pp. 17-18; Parker 2006, p. 22-23).

Iconoclast revolts in France

Begins around 1560s -1561 and onward.

No statues, and images, no use of images such as in Catholic Church ( this is because of the literacy rates are more important than artistic pursuits), no relics, no building church upon saints and Calvin followers feel they have a moral conviction to cleansing of the Church  -- tear down the statues, burn the paintings, break the stain class windows, This is what we call iconoclasm, and this is a big part of Calvinism. Images have a role in Lutheranism, it is pedagogical role, and these images go into private spaces, so there is not a trashing of images like in the Calvinism reform.

Costume that the preacher is wearing is like a clock of someone who has a degree? The doctoral gown, and they will not wear a priestly robe, and they will focus on good education and the “primacy on the word.” So how attractive is this?

In Genève (Geneva, Switzerland), they believed it served their needs, so they accepted it, and they started to covet this new religion and started to see others as competitors (it described an elemental nationalistic posture).

The room, the space, it is this understanding of space that creates the context of Iconoclasm. In France there are two large families: North of France, there are the Guises and they are strong Catholics and aligned with the French Monarchy. And the Bourbon families are sympathetic to the Calvinists for their own gang reasons. They are mainly in southern France --  it was success in the Southern France, and some protect Calvinist sympathizers in the south of France. This probably can be explained in the Paris is toward the North and the south is far away from the central authorities.

Taking over the towns: We are embolden, Iconoclastic’s revved up their bravery,  and they implied we must have our own towns for our own ways and traditions of this new religious denomination. It was a popular claim ( such as populism, the majority of mob rule models in history). As a popular claim, some by force initiated social unreast in a rather revolutionary form. Beginning in earnest around 1560s –‘61s, these first acts were the group by groups of Calvinist sympathizers. They will trash local French churches in southern France and take out the iconoclasm of a town. They take over churches and cause social upheaval. So the iconoclasm was overthrow by radical reformationists, in attempt to change the religious landscape of France. They held big bonfires and it had affected innocent people who had donated expensive works of art to local churches.

People who were connected to these iconoclastic works of art, these were people who had invested considerable amounts of time and effort for beatification to appease the Lord. They did not see the mobs as good. So it was a competing group of nobles now who had started to go against each other and became a noble warfare for political control draped in spiritual clothing. The gang-lands of the famous or infamous Iconoclastic battles led to the death of high ranking nobles on both sides. In 1563, there was a negotiation on both sides to stop the killing and property destruction. The French Monarchy at this time was weak because a youth sat on the throne of France. The Edict (1563) on Amboise, appeased the Protestant faction and gave Calvinists authority to operate peacefully in about 100 French towns.  At the beginning there will be a measure of toleration  and they can have only a church but not the town as political control. Yet iconoclastic violence does not stop altogether.

( Needs editing) Competing Bourbons in the south France Dynasty be 1572 Charles is 9 years of age and he is invited  by the Bourbons up to the court in Paris, and says lets reason together some type of plan for peace. And the Sister Margarita, to marry the young Bourbon guy, Henry of Navarre. and this was overdone French thing.  ( Queen Margot, film)

1572 The St. Bartholomew Massacre. Plunge France into 20 years of religious warfare.

So a lot of protestant nobles go to France, and some are suspicious, and they all go to Paris.  Catherin de’ Medici, now Regent, and Henry, some say, blames the massacre on the Queen’s orders (Catherin de’ Medici). And others say some people became (nobles)  paranoid and guns went off. No one is for sure. However, on St. Bartholomew day in 1572, perhaps as many as 2,000 people died in a series of riots, and casualty of these riots is Coligny who is hurt. He was a supporter of the Calvin’s side.

Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy en France 

Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy en France begun 24 August 1572 ( the feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle) with the injury  of Admiral Gespard de Coligny ( and his later assasination), a leading Protestant ( called in France, a Huguenot) who was a military leader which invoked passion at a gathering in Paris of important French Protestants, and Catholic importants to solve issues relating to Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Country of France. The exact number of fatalities will never be known, because for months the violence spread into the rural countrysides of France. It has been estimated that 2,000 Huguenots were killed at Paris, and over 3,000 in the countryside (French Provinces). Ever since Léon became part of the first Iconoclastic revolution areas in France ( c.1560s), Protestantism had became aggressive, politically unstable, militaristic and socially troublesome.

A culmination of events can be determined as sparking passions:

(1) The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which put an end to the Third War of Religion, August 8, 1570.

(2) The marriage between Henry III of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois on August 18, 1572.

(3) The failed assassination of Admiral de Coligny on August 22, 1572.

Because of dynastic problems, Catherin de’ Medici planned to marry her daughter Marguerite de Valois to Protestant prince Henry of Navarre. The marriage was arranged on 18 August, 1572, and was not accepted by staunch Catholics. Therefore, they stated that in order for Henry to become king, he needed to convert. This was also the sentiment of the Pope, King Philip II. This problem of turning over a long tradition of France over to a protestant leaning King explains the contention and the meeting at Paris with Protestant French Nobles. There is no conspiracy accepted that Catherin de’ Medici devised such an elaborate plan to get the reaction to get the nobles to Paris for the slaughter to take place. It was a social reaction not planned. Catherin feared Coligny was bringing France closer to war with Spain over the issue of the Netherlands. Coligny had plans to invade with a French military faction at Mons to liberate some French Protestants besieged by Alba in Mons. In the Netherlands, the Duke of Alba, who governed the Netherlands on behalf of Philip II, took advantage to stir up trouble.

These types of military rumors and sentiments had angered Catholics that believed Coligny would escalate a real serious war with Philip II’s most powerful military in the world.

The French Guises were Catholics (Cardinal of Lorraine, the Duke of Guise, and the Duke Aumale) who in tradition are considered suspects because one of the firearm shots came from the direction of a Guise owned building during the assassination attempt of Admiral de Coligny. They argued they wanted revenge for Francois de Guise who they believed Coligny had murdered ten years prior.

Coligny came from traditional families were wealthy in the south of France. This was where Protestants came over from Switzerland and influenced the French.  This was mainly at the  southern eastern portions of France proper.

Before the marriage would take place, the governor of Paris, Francois, Duke of Montmorency fled the city amidst public consternation of a marriage of a protestant king of France. As the weeding approached the anger form the public intensified. France was not the same as most other countries of Eloper. During the medieval ages, they held two dominate dynasties, the Merovingians, and Carolingians. Any attempt to upset tradition resulted in outrage that typified French caprice and fickleness.

After Coligny’s assassination attempt, Protestants reacted by storming the Queens dinning quarters, scaring the Queen Regent. 4,000 strong military soldiers of Coligny’s military surrounded Paris but did not attack. Fear of Huguenot reprisals scared the queen and Catholics. Protestantism was vicious, and bent on destruction. When the Protestants stormed into to the queen’s eating quarters, they demanded she take out her authority on the Guises and Catholics. She being a stanch Catholic must have been horrified, and that she believed that they country would be immersed in bloodshed.

One tradition not adopted by all or even most historians is that the Queen and Charles IX met on the evening of August 23, 1572 to discuss a plan to eliminate leading Protestants. Yet this tradition is unsubstantiated. The Swiss Guard had the authority to police the Protestant/Catholic meeting at Paris. They also acted as the Queen’s defenses against the 4,000 Protestant supporting military surrounding Paris after Coligny’s assassination attempt. He was injured, and somehow during the night, he was murdered and thrown out the window. Protestants sleeping at the Saint-Germain l’ Auxerrois, a Paris church for kings’ of France, near the Louvre were expelled from their quarters, and then the slaughtering began – according to some traditions. The Swiss policing force somehow gave citizenry firearms which led to their involvement  of searching out Protestant nobles for slaughter. It actually started after Coligny’s body was found in the street, dead that a wave of violence began. Yet, know one knows of the first shot. The massacre lasted for days, and the king tried to plea for everyone to stop. Children and mothers were not protected, and found murdered (Paris, and surrounding portions estimated at 2,000 dead). Violence spread to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Bourges, Rouen, and Orléans (estimated 3,000). From that August until October, various sporadic and spontaneous massacres of Huguenot had occurred. Huguenots planned revenge, but the Pope Gregory XIII celebrated the slaughter with a Te Deum to be sung, and commissioned Giorgio Vasari to paint three murals, one depicting the murder of Gaspard de Coligny – also in the Sala Regia, a wounded Coligny, his death, and Charles IX before Parliament. To Rome, Coligny was considered a threat to Catholicism, and this was part of the militant Counter Reformation. Yet, as time went onward, French Catholics begun to wonder if fighting endless religious wars was worth the effort. This legacy of the French Catholic and Protestant religious wars was its natural inclination to morph into a nationalism, described elementally in the new movement called Politiques. Like the Swiss Brethren, under the Zwingli movements, and prior to his arrival in religious matters, Swill patriotism was on the horizon. Since Luther had defined the individual’s relationship to grace and predestination, all that was left was individuality and one’s personal destiny. The collective past of guilt and community spirit was therefore replaced by paganistic individual self destiny. Since God had already predetermined ones fate, it was senseless to do any positive work in the community for salvation purposes. What was left was material gain from hard work (Calvinism). If you could start a business, and in life finally buy that luxurious home, you were framed as famously as the Chosen of God. The Thirty Years’ War began as another piece of religious relationship to power, but ended in paganist power struggles for resources, boarders and refinement of materialistic gains. 

The myths of this episode of history of religious power struggles in government were established in the film by D.W. Griffith’s film called “Intolerance” (1916). This film intends over 100,100 Protestants were slaughtered and the Catholic Church clergy rang bells and jumped for joy in the streets of Rome. While the film had not understood the secular politics of a French Protestant on the throne (Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism, or he would never had ascended to the throne of France) the wars of history were secular, just as in 1571, at Lepanto, the Holy League was tired of the Barbary pirates supported by a massive Ottoman fleet, because this created economic and family heartache. There was a Christian celebration but the battle was to free captive slaves that were economically the lively hood of many North African cities. The framing of wars of the world over religion has no merit in world historiography. People do not kill each other over consubstantiation or over moving an alter off-to-the-side of the church after celebrating and partaking of the Eucharist. Luther referenced too many times his German patriotism, and the fact that Italians were invading their homeland with pardon-merchants (Commissaries of Indulgences, authority by Roman Catholic Church for raising monies for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica). The German princes cared of the power and economic control while the Golden Age was at hand. Rome’s economic control and the Protestant Reformation were solely about economic emancipation argued sophisticatedly by religious intolerance and scriptural dissension.

Henry III forms the Catholic League 1574 (Holy League is of Venice, of Papal States, of Italy, of France), and radicalized by Amboise, and king revokes all the treaties of toleration and this leads to outpouring an din 1579 Guise and Henry die in battles, and Henry III dies without a son, and the only remaining sibling is queen Margorot the wife of Henry of Navarre. And by Dynastic rules of the day, Henry had a claim on the throne. Yet because he was a heretic from the Catholic perspective and France was overwhelmingly Catholic, the wars grind on.

France was not like Germany which was fragmented by German princes who in 1530 were able to choose their own locality of religion by treaties. France was the huge national center, the center of Catholicism.  So it was not fragmented like the Holy Roman Empire. So negotiations of Henry de Navarre and negotiations go on. The Pope says convert back to Catholicism and you can go be a king. At first he backs down but then re evaluates. By the negotiations in 1593, Henry does converts back to Catholicism,   and says, “Paris is worth the Mass.” He wanted to be the King and get the money and power more importantly to the Protestant ruffians who championed division. So he ends up taking over the French Monarchy.  So by 1598, Henry grants a new toleration idea , called an Edict of Nante(s). It conformed to order for  Catholics and Calvins to live together, co-exist,  and perform no violence against each other; as well no proselytizing. Louis XIV will revoke this by his ideology of a one religious state. So by the 1590s, in Germany, and by the 1555 agreement it had stopped, there were  a mutual coexistence of religious ideologies. But in 1590s, the demography of Europe shows a religious map of Europe which is divided mainly between the Lutheran and Calvinist movements, illustrated the reformation had changed the maps of the church. 

Reformation Fallout of War ( Liberalism/Nationalism)

I intend that liberalism was not the result of the breaking up of the Catholic Church as it was form the Golden Age influx of wealth from the Crusades which began to eat away at the economic blockade of Islamic powers. The Crusades were not so much based upon religion but as a response to the four centuries of Islamic aggression and blockage to trade with the traditional east (so normalized during the Roman period).

Luther preached a competitive religion, it was antagonistic. 

Here is a guy that criticized Calvin were tried and killed for treason. So it got vicious. There was no end of religious intolerance. It was like lets not move to pluralism, lets have competing versions of Christianity and they believe they are right, and in the German land they go to war for 20  years ( until 1555) and then 1618 ( another war), starts a thirty year war, and takes a place in Germany – winner take all for 30 years. As I intend, the Thirty Years’ War begins as a religious dispute but becomes an economic issue of boarders and nationalism.

Calvin will send preachers out to France, very early and before the University is up and running, and he sent these preachers in the 1550s as clandestine churches in France, and for a couple decades these churches are like underground. And Charles V had condemned these reformationists as a whole as heretics.

Continuation of the Renaissance alongside the Reformation in the late 15th – 16th centuries.

In another realm of the renaissance far away from small republican city-states live massive empire ideologies.  The political realm, then we do speak: In the Italian Renaissance, we understood the revival of the republican politics and but also we also see during the Northern Renaissance and during the Protestant Reformation, the idea  De Regna Christi ( or The Imperial Empire) – what did this mean?

Competing Constantines.