First Weekend, February 10-11

Transcription

1 COS Our Theological Heritage: The Reformation Martin Methodist College, Pulaski, TN February and March 9-10, 2012 Instructor: Dale Johnson Address: 2860 Sugartree Rd., Nashville, TN address: Telephone: Readings for the course: Peter G. Wallace, The Long European Reformation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) ISBN: Denis Janz, ed., A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions (2 nd ed., Fortress, 2008) ISBN: (N.B.: Janz s 1 st edition [2002] has no maps and fewer documents and thus is numbered differently from the 2 nd edition. You must obtain the 2 nd edition to follow directions below.) One of the following: Martin Luther, Three Treatises (Augsburg Fortress, 2003 other editions fine also) ISBN: John Dillenberger, ed., Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings (Random House, 1962) ISBN: We will read Luther s best-known 1520 treatises, An Appeal to the Ruling Class of German Nationality [or German Nobility] (August), The Pagan Servitude [or Babylonian Captivity] of the Church (October), and The Freedom of a Christian (November). The Dillenberger volume has considerably more material than the Augsburg Fortress edition, but might be available for less cost. At the first class meeting students will receive a set of supplemental handouts supporting topics of the course, as well as a set of Documents of the English Reformation. The cost for these materials will be approximately $5. Read the full syllabus more than once to get a sense of the scope, framework, assignments, and particular focuses for discussion and reading. There will be a non-graded quiz at the end of each weekend, to give students a modest indication of their grasp of the subject matter. In addition to the syllabus itself, giving the schedule for the course as well as the topics and readings to be covered, four items are attached to this document: a set of terms and phrases important for the period, a page of missteps that the instructor has found in the Wallace book, and two narrative outlines intended for discussion of crucial theological issues in the period, on free will and the Lord s Supper controversies. You should become familiar with many of the terms before the first weekend, and you should use the page of missteps as you read Wallace. First Weekend, February Pre-course assignment: 1. Read the following materials Wallace, The Long European Reformation, Introduction and Chapters 1-3 (pp ). Janz, A Reformation Reader, Introduction, Chapters 1-2, Chapter 4 (pp ), Chapter 5. Martin Luther s three 1520 treatises, noted above. 2. Write a 4-5 page double-spaced paper in which you use the three 1520 treatises to answer the following question: What might have made Luther s writings successful as the foundation of the Reformation 1

2 movement? (Assume for the sake of argument that successful refers at least to the facts that after 1520 Luther s writings were published widely and that the Wittenberg movement that he and others began had begun to establish a wide constituency of support. The question, though, is why?) The main focus of this paper must be Luther s three 1520 treatises; you have to ask yourself a few questions as you reflect on these documents, such as who might be attracted to a particular argument or complaint, and why? What arguments might have provoked conversation and debate among those who read or heard about them? Remember also that the context and the narrative about the historical situation are secondary to this paper, where the primary task is reflection on a serious historical question. Bring this paper to the first class meeting on February 10 th. (N.B.: Janz s Reformation Reader has selections from two of these treatises; you should skip these here in order to focus on the full texts.) 3. Read the two items at the end of this syllabus (debate between Erasmus and Luther, Lord s Supper controversies) carefully and be prepared to participate in discussion of them (see schedule below). 4. Pay attention to the opportunities for Focused Discussion in this first weekend, and be prepared to participate. Schedule for the first weekend: Friday evening: Introduction Theological Backgrounds to the Reformation Pay special attention in Janz to documents Ecclesiastical Backgrounds to the Reformation Pay special attention in Janz to documents 2-3. Focused Discussion: The website of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, on August 5, 2008, announced that parishioners could receive plenary indulgences for participation in events connected with the jubilee year of St. Paul the Apostle proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI the previous May. Eventually, such news appeared in February, 2009, in such outlets as TIME and the New York Times, with some reflection on what this meant for Catholics and non-catholics alike. Recognizing that indulgences had never been abolished by the Church, but had been revived by the last two popes, these articles nonetheless struggled to explain their significance, as the following quotation suggested: The latest indulgence offers de-emphasize the years-in-purgatory formulations of old in favor of a less specific accounting, with more focus on ways in which people can help themselves and one another come to terms with sin. If one of the members of your congregation asked you to comment on this development, what would you say? Would it make a difference if that member s spouse was a Roman Catholic? Saturday morning: Martin Luther Pay special attention in Janz to documents 17, 22, 23, 26-27, 31. Discussion of the Luther paper question The Renaissance and its Relation to the Reformation Pay special attention in Janz to documents 8 and 16. Discussion: Who had the better of the argument over free will, Erasmus or Luther? (document included with the syllabus) Saturday afternoon: Ulrich Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation 2

3 Pay special attention in Janz to documents Focused Discussion: From Zwingli s Sixty-seven Theses (Janz, pp ), pick out two that you believe are especially significant for Zwingli s point of view, theologically and ecclesiastically: one that is positive (i.e., what should be believed or practiced) and one that is negative (i.e., what should not be believed or practiced). Be prepared to explain or defend your selections. Give some examples of theses that you would write to address contemporary issues in the church. John Calvin and the Reformation in Geneva Pay special attention in Janz to documents 70-71, 74, 76, 77-79, 81, Discussion: What was at stake in the Lord s Supper controversies? (document included with the syllabus) Pay special attention in Janz to document 54. Second Weekend, March 9-10 Assignment for the second weekend: 1. Read the following materials-- Wallace, The Long European Reformation, Chapters 4-6 and Conclusions (pp ). Janz, A Reformation Reader, Chapter 4 (pp ), Chapters 3, 6, and 7. Documents of the English Reformation (15 photocopied pages). 2. Write a 4-5 page double-spaced paper in which you use the readings in Janz, Chapter 6, and the Documents of the English Reformation to take up the following questions: How many parties contended for position and authority in the Church of England from 1534 through the 1640s? What were the issues or concerns that aroused interest and passion? What do you believe this says about the character of that phenomenon called the English Reformation? You will note that the documents in Janz, Chapter 6, are from the government s perspective, including the two from Thomas Cranmer, then Archbishop of Canterbury. Those in the printed set of materials represent a wider set of perspectives, and these will be crucial for your engagement with the questions for the paper. Bring this paper to the Friday evening class meeting, March 9 th. 3. Read the handout on Anabaptists and the magisterial reformers carefully and be prepared to participate in discussion of it (see schedule below). It will be included in the materials distributed to students during the first weekend. 4. Pay attention to the opportunities for Focused Discussion in this second weekend, and be prepared to participate. Schedule for the second weekend: Friday evening: Competing Jurisdictions in the Reformation Era Focused Discussion: From the two diagrams distributed on the first weekend (Competing Jurisdictions: Religion / Politics), evaluate over the period the following questions: Who is up? Who is down? What difference did this make to the progress of the Reformation, either Protestant or Catholic? The Anabaptist Movement and the Radical Reformation Pay special attention in Janz to documents 35, 37-38, 44, 56, 58-59, 61-63, 67. Discussion: Were the magisterial reformers correct in perceiving the Anabaptists as they did? (handout) Saturday morning: Catholicism in the Reformation Period 3

4 Pay special attention in Janz to documents 98, , , , The English Reformation and the Puritan Movement Pay special attention in Janz to documents 88-90, 92, Read all of the Documents of the English Reformation carefully, especially to discern differing angles on the issue of reform. Discussion of the English Reformation paper Worship and Theology in the Reformation Period Saturday afternoon: Themes in the long Reformation : Orthodoxies, Pluralisms, and Religious Identities Read Wallace, chap. 5, for trajectories and themes. Make notes regarding examples on the handout for this set of materials. (A maximum of 5 points will be added to a student s final exam total for turning in an appropriate set of notes on these topics.) Pay special attention in Janz to documents Focused Discussion: What does the expression spiritual equality of woman with man in Christ mean in the Reformation period? What gains for women are represented here? What losses? What difference does it make? Pay special attention in Janz to documents 5-6, 30, 65-66, 87. Worship and Theology in the Reformation Period, Part 2 The examination for the course will be taken at home following the conclusion of the second weekend s classes. This will enable students to reflect on the material of the second weekend, including the class sessions, more carefully than they might otherwise do, as well as to integrate the broader themes of the course more successfully. Details and specific instructions will be provided during the first weekend of the course. Computing final grades: Four assignments comprise the written materials for the course: two papers on specific questions (one due at the beginning of the first weekend, the other due at the beginning of the second weekend), and two parts of the examination. These four items will be weighted equally in determining final grades. Active and helpful participation in discussion portions of the course can raise one s grade by 1/3 of a letter (e.g., from B to B+). Attention: Academic Honor Code: All local pastors taking classes through the Memphis/Tennessee/Holston Course of Study Extension Schools, at all locations, are expected to carefully read and adhere to the Memphis/Tennessee/Holston Academic Honor Code which is posted at the COS website: All course assignments, including prework, must be submitted with a signed copy of the Academic Honor Code Cover Sheet. Assignments without a signed cover sheet will not be accepted. The Academic Honor Code, forms, and process are intended to support local pastors with course assignments and to provide a means of grace when dealing with issues and understandings about matters of academic integrity. 4

5 Reformation Era Terminology adiaphora benefice catechism Convocation cuius regio, eius religio curia ex opere operato facere quod in se est Holy Roman Empire (and electors to position of emperor) indulgence marks of the church purgatory sola fide sola gratia sola scriptura transubstantiation via media Vulgate 5

6 Missteps in Peter Wallace s The Long European Reformation (2004) Wallace s book is a competent narrative of the context, political and social situation, and religious and theological issues of the Reformation, though it is shorter than most other examples of this kind. It also, however, includes some errors, confusions, missteps, and misunderstandings that should be corrected for any serious reader s engagement with the book. The following should be noted: 1. Wallace says that Luther s Eucharistic theology came to be known as consubstantiation (98), and he uses the term thereafter as descriptive of Luther s view. But Lutherans from the sixteenth century to the present have strenuously objected to this characterization because substance language has no place in Luther s Eucharistic theology and was in fact a piece of his opposition to the doctrine of transubstantiation. Luther believed that Christ was present in, with, and under the elements (the expression real presence is commonly used), but this had to be accepted as Christ s promise to the church; it is a mystery of faith that should not be explained further. 2. Wallace describes Calvin s Eucharistic theology as sacramentarian spiritual presence (105), which term he previously says was held by persons who saw communion as a metaphor to remind believers of Christ s spiritual presence in their lives, no miracle was necessary, just faith in God s mercy (98). It is more accurate to see in Calvin a much more robust Eucharistic theology, contrasting with Zwingli s or some Anabaptists views, which could appropriately be labeled sacramentarian. This difference between Zwingli and Calvin later provided some tension within the Reformed tradition. 3. On the doctrine of election, Wallace states that unlike Luther, Calvin drew no comfort from God s mercy, for election was always in doubt (105). While it is true that one cannot know God s sovereign will, Calvin speaks of God s generous favor and his freely given mercy, without regard to human worth in his discussion of predestination (see Janz, pp ), which surely suggests comfort. 4. Thomas Wolsey was archbishop of York, not Canterbury (107). And Martin Bucer, reformer of Strasbourg, spent his final years at Cambridge, not Oxford (108). 5. Wallace says that Farel invited Calvin to Geneva in 1536 and coaxed Calvin into settling there ( ). But Calvin s own narrative (see Janz, pp ) says that going to Geneva was somewhat accidental and that Farel proceeded to utter an imprecation that God would curse my retirement should Calvin not stay and assist with the reform movement. 6. Wallace states that the 1559 Book of Common Prayer had language that left the official stance on the Eucharist extremely vague (134). Yet what it did by combining the 1549 and 1552 formulas was purposely ambiguous, not vague, allowing persons with differing theologies of the Eucharist to believe they had a home in the Church of England important for civil and political as well as religious, purposes. 7. In discussing the Church of England in the 18 th century, Wallace says that the monarch was the supreme head of the church (199). But in the Act of Supremacy of 1559, a subtle shift in language was made from 1534, using supreme governor instead of supreme head, in the hope that this would allow some Catholics to support the claims of the monarchy. That language continues to the present. 8. When discussing 17 th century Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and the like, a hyphen should not be used in the word nonconformity (contra Wallace, 165, 188). 9. The difference between General and Particular Baptists in England is not between salvation for all and a second adult baptism for true believers (Wallace, 188), but over free will vs. predestination in relation to salvation. 6

7 Who had the better of the argument over free will, Erasmus or Luther? Questions involved here that have not gone away: salvation (God s relation to humankind), the meaning of justification by faith, the character of the Christian life, WWJD (models of Jesus, or what Christ means for us), human agency, etc. Antecedents of the debate: Doing what lies within you and late medieval theology Luther at the Heidelberg Disputation, 1518: `Free will after the fall is nothing but a word, and as long as it is doing what is within it, it is committing deadly sin. Erasmus, On the Freedom of the Will (1524) With what impudence is the obedience of those who obey the divine commands praised, and the disobedience of those who do not obey condemned? Why is there so frequent a mention of judgment in Holy Scriptures if there is no weighing of merits? Or are we compelled to be present at the Judgment Seat if nothing has happened through our own will, but all things have been done in us by sheer necessity? Pelagius has no doubt attributed too much to free choice, and Scotus quite enough, but Luther first mutilated it by cutting off its right arm; then not content with this he thoroughly cut the throat of free choice and dispatched it. I prefer the view of those who do attribute much to free choice, but most to grace. Erasmus, Enchiridion militis Christiani (Handbook of the Christian Soldier), 1503 life is nothing else than a sort of perpetual warfare as the highest pay proposed ought to go to him who has stuck to his task, so the highest punishment ought to be meted out to him who deserves it. Heaven is promised to him who fights strenuously. here no one has failed to conquer unless he did not want to conquer weapons of Christian warfare: prayer and knowledge (Scripture, writings of antiquity) the crown of this wisdom is to know yourself the war is not between man and man but within the self (inner vs. outer, spirit vs. flesh) The Kingdom of Heaven belongs not to the lazy. think of Christ not as an empty word, but as nothing else than love, simplicity, patience, purity in short, whatever he has taught seek the example of godliness [in] Christ himself. For this is the sole archetype. Luther, The Bondage of the Will (1525) this is what your words assert: that there is strength within us; there is such a thing as striving with all one s strength. But if one does not know what this `strength is what men can do, and what is done to them what this `striving is, what is the extent and limit of effectiveness then what should he do? It is fundamentally necessary and wholesome for Christians to know that God foreknows nothing contingently, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His own immutable, eternal and infallible will. This bombshell knocks `free-will flat, and utterly shatters it. if not, how can you believe, trust and rely on His promises? it follows that `free-will without God s grace is not free at all, but is the permanent prisoner and bondslave of evil, since it cannot turn itself to good. It is a settled truth, then, that we do everything of necessity, and nothing by `free-will ; for the power of `free-will is nil, and it does no good, nor can do, without grace. 7

8 If we do not want to drop this term altogether which would really be the safest and most Christian thing to do we may still in good faith teach people to use it to credit man with `free will in respect, not of what is above him, but of what is below him. with regard to God, and in all that bears on salvation or damnation, he has no `free-will, but is a captive, prisoner and bondslave, either to the will of God, or to the will of Satan. I have the comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His merciful favor promised to me. Some extensions of the debate: Conflict among Lutherans in Germany after Luther s death Calvinists vs. Arminians (or, different kinds of Calvinists?) in the Netherlands Synod of Dort (1619) repudiates free will and establishes high Calvinist orthodoxy Calvinists vs. Methodists (George Whitefield vs. John Wesley) within the 18 th -century Church of England Particular Baptists vs. General (or Freewill) Baptists in England and America Who had the better of it? Whose view prevailed? Does it matter? 8

9 What was at stake in the Lord s Supper controversies? Questions involved in this topic: What is a sacrament? How many are there? What do they do? How does God work? What does presence mean? Does it make any difference in the Christian life? One medieval definition of sacrament: a material or physical element, clearly and publicly presented, which by similarity represents, by institution signifies, and by constitution contains an invisible spiritual power (grace, forgiveness of sins). Catholic Church, c. 1500: seven sacraments (Council of Florence, 1439). On Eucharist, transubstantiation of the elements (decreed at Lateran Council IV, 1215), the change happens ex opere operato ( by the very performance of the act by the priest), reproduces the sacrifice of Christ; one kind only to laity (Council of Constance, 1414), every Christian to receive communion at least once a year (normally, at Easter) th c. controversy with Hussites in Bohemia over one kind ( Utraquists = both kinds ) Luther s first critique, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520: shackles on the sacrament : one kind, language of substance (transubstantiation in particular), mass as a sacrifice. Criteria for sacrament: Word and sign (institution by Christ / promise and material element); means of grace thus, only two, baptism and Lord s Supper. In later writings, This is my body to be taken seriously as part of the promise, but presence not to be specified except as in, with, and under the elements (i.e., not consubstantiation ). The sacramental gift is Jesus Christ, and thus unbelievers eat Christ s body to their condemnation. Early liturgies (1523, 1526) are services of Word and Sacrament. Zwingli s critique and affirmation: L.S. a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ and an assurance of the redemption which Christ has given us the atonement has been accomplished and ought not to be made dependent on the celebration of the sacrament; thus, no means of grace. The actor is not Christ ( This is ) but the congregation ( Do this ) the past is brought into the present through the work of the Spirit. Material things have no saving effect (a humanist theme: flesh vs. spirit distinction). Early liturgy (1525) is a preaching service, with emphasis on simplicity and public testimony to what God has done, and a quarterly L.S. (Easter, Pentecost, feast of patron saints of Zurich in September, and Christmas) as thanksgiving for the Gospel. Marburg Colloquy, October 1529, initiated by Prince Philip of Hesse. Chief participants: Luther and Melanchthon from the north; Zwingli, Oecolampadius, and Bucer from the south. North: This is my body is all we need to know; it is God s promise, through Christ, of forgiveness of sins; what God says, God brings about, and we are bound to obey; Christ is in heaven and here in the Sacrament [the doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ s body]; the sacrament is a sacred symbol, not a mere sign. South: John 6:63, The flesh profits nothing, shows that we should not look for Christ s body in the Supper; Jesus is risen and sits at the right hand of the Father and thus not here on earth; one must move from carnal to spiritual eating (i.e., don t cling to the flesh of Christ, but focus on his divinity); this is my body is figurative speech; the sacrament is not only a sign, but in it is the true body of Christ through faith. 9

10 Calvin s theological concerns as they relate to the Lord s Supper: The gospel: that we should be engrafted into [Christ s] body (justification and sanctification here). How is Christ present? In believing, through the work of the Spirit, and through the Word (sacraments have same function as the Word and are means of grace). This is a gift from God. Communion with Christ takes place in the L.S.; the whole Christ, divine and human, is given to all but received only by faith (thus, C. does not have to be concerned about spatial location issues, as the Holy Spirit is the bond). L.S. an occasion of assurance as well as mystery. Worship: wants weekly L.S.; Genevan Council insists on quarterly; C. rotates it among the three churches, where each has it quarterly. Radical perspective: Spiritualists (e.g., Caspar Schwenkfeld) deny any value to externals and eliminate sacraments altogether. Anabaptists (e.g., Schleitheim Confession, 1527) use the expression the breaking of the bread, which makes it an occasion of fellowship and of distinction from those who remain in the world. Some ways in which the Lord s Supper is understood in succeeding generations: As a mark of confessional identity, a form of disciplinary control ( fencing the table), a converting ordinance, as well as continuations of the positions above or various combinations of same. 10