THE REFORMATION. 1 15/10/2017 The Context of the Reformation. 3 29/10/2017 Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli. 5 12/11/2017 The English Reformation

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1 THE REFORMATION Course Outline Week Date Topic 1 15/10/2017 The Context of the Reformation 2 22/10/2017 Martin Luther 3 29/10/2017 Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli 4 05/11/2017 John Calvin 5 12/11/2017 The English Reformation Aims To equip participants in understanding the historical and theological context of the Reformation To introduce participants to the key figures of the Reformation To help participants to understand the theological significance of the Reformation 1

2 Session 1 The Context of the Reformation Why Study the Reformation? History is very much neglected in our society today. We have been conditioned to think that what is newer is better. As a result of that, many today do not see the relevance of history. Christians are not immune to this attitude towards history. The Reformation happened about 500 years ago. Why study the Reformation? Here are a few reasons. Studying the Reformation: Helps us to understand our own Protestant heritage, practices and traditions Helps us to read and understand the Bible better Helps us to see our own cultural influences Helps us to appreciate what God has done in the past through flawed human beings We study the Reformation because of what we can learn. We learn of the treasure of the gospel. We learn how easy it can be for the church to lose sight of its value. We learn of the origin of most of the practices of church life that we simply take for granted. We learn what doctrines should matter most. We learn how to proclaim those doctrines in the world in which we live. And we learn about real people, gifted and talented, who also possessed the flaws and limitations of humanity. Above all, we learn from them that our faith and trust lie not ultimately in their lives and in their examples, but in the God-man, Jesus Christ. They all point us beyond themselves to him. Luther said it best: We are beggars. The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World, page 23 Stephen J. Nichols 2

3 Cultural Education and literacy rate The World in the 1500s Spirituality The start of social mobility instability in community Renaissance humanism Humanists were lovers and connoisseurs of words. They saw them as containing power which could be used actively to change human society for the better. The words such inspired such excitement were found in ancient texts from long-vanished societies with the same belief in the transforming power of poetry, oratory and rhetoric - ancient Greece and Rome. Part of the project of transforming the world must be to get as clear a picture as possible of these ancient societies, and that meant getting the best possible version of the texts which were the main records of how those societies had thought and operated." The Reformation: A History, page Diarmaid MacCulloch 3

4 Technological Scholarship and learning before printing press The invention of printing press "The effect of printing was more profound than simply making more books available more quickly. It affected western Europe's assumptions about knowledge and originality of thought. Before the invention of printing, a major part of a scholar's life was spent copying existing texts by hand, simply in order to have access to them. Now that printed copies of texts were increasingly available, there was less copying to do, and so there was more time to devote to thinking for oneself: that had implications for scholarly respect for what previous generations had said. Copying had been such a significant activity that in previous centuries of Christian culture, it had been given a privileged place against original thought." The Reformation: A History, page Diarmaid MacCulloch The Roman Catholic Church Sacramental world The 7 sacraments ""It [Eucharist] was such a sacred and powerful thing that by the twelfth century in the Western Church, the laity dared approach the Lord's table only very infrequently, perhaps once a year at Easter, otherwise leaving their priest to take the bread and wine while they watched in reverence. Even when laypeople did come up to the altar, they received only the bread and not the wine, a custom which has never received any better explanation than that there was worry that the Lord's blood might stick in the moustaches and beards of the male faithful." The Reformation: A History, page 11 Diarmaid MacCulloch 4

5 Purgatory Eternal punishment and temporal punishment Treasury of merit Indulgences The Papacy 5

6 "After the eleventh-century papal revolution it makes sense to use a specalised meaning of the word 'Church' to describe the ordained clergy of western Christianity: they were professional Christians, supported by endowments and levies in money and goods from the laity. Their professionalism was expressed by their possession of an information technology - literacy (the ability to read and write)." The Reformation: A History, page 27 Diarmaid MacCulloch Moral Corruption Celibate priests and bishops or is it? Buying of bishopric Abusive and exploitative practices Discussion How would you start reform in the church? What would you address first? Precursors to the Reformation (Taken and modified from thecripplegate.com) John Wycliffe ( ) John Wycliffe is known as the first English reformer. He was a Priest in England when he began reading the Bible in Latin and saw how unbiblical Catholic doctrine had become. Meanwhile, the Pope had fled Rome for France (Avignon) and a rival Pope was elected both of whom demanded the loyalty of all Christendom. Wycliffe refused, and encouraged others to do the same. Wycliffe attacked the authority of the Pope and asserted that the Scriptures instead of the church was the sole authority for believers. So he began the first ever English translation of the Bible. For this, he was declared a heretic by the Popes and placed under house arrest. There he died, but not before his translation had sowed the seeds of truth that would impact England for generations. 6

7 Forty years after his death, the Church ordered his body exhumed and burned, then had his ashes dumped in the Swift River. But rather than stemming the Reformation, the truths that Wycliffe translated spread from England, across the sea, and into Europe, eventually resulting in what we call now the Protestant Reformation. Jan Huss ( ) Huss means goose in Czech, and John Huss is fittingly known as the became the most popular priest in Bohemia. swan of the Reformation. Before being burned at the stake for teaching that salvation is by faith apart from works, he declared that while this particular goose may be cooked, a swan would rise from his ashes 100 years later to confront the Catholic Church. Huss was born in poverty, but became a priest so that he could have an income. Later he found Wycliffe s writings and through them was converted to Christ. He began preaching the gospel and soon The Catholic Church abhorred his popularity as much as they detested the gospel which he preached. A Church Council had been called to settle the papal schism three (!) different Popes had been duly elected, each condemned the others and the Council of Constance was supposed to undo this. He attended the council under the promise of safe-conduct from the emperor. Instead, they found Huss guilty of heresy and sentenced to death. Before burning him, they dressed him in his priestly robes, then stripped him naked, and placed a paper crown with mock flames and demons on his head. They burned him to death as he recited Psalm 51. 7

8 Bibliography Cairns, Earle E. Christianity Through the Centuries. 3 Rev Sub edition. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation: A History. Reprint edition. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, Nichols, Stephen J. The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, Reeves, Michael. The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, Trueman, Carl R. Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Reprint edition. Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus,