1 The Reformation 2. WHERE AND HOW DID REFORM START? NOVEMBER 12, 2017
Paul s Epistle to the Romans 2 Hearers of the law who sin will be judged. Doers of the law will be justified. God justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are justified by Christ s blood. We die to sin and sin will have no dominion over us, since we are not under law but under grace. But our internal struggle continues
3 Augustine of Hippo Bishop of Hippo Regius from 396 to 430 Notable works: Confessions, City of God, On Christian Doctrine Doctor of the Church
Augustine on salvation 4 Adam s sin ( original sin ) is inherited by each of us through carnal procreation. We are each guilty before we have done anything. We are sunk in sin, meaning that we don t deserve salvation and can t save ourselves. All have fallen and all need redemption. But an outside force is needed to break the hold of sin on us. The law was written so that we can see how we fall short and need God s help. We depend on the all-powerful God. Out of his love for us, God grants us grace. He breaks the power of sin over us. God takes the initiative. God is perfect. As the perfect being, God does not change and does not change his mind. Therefore, God chooses only once the elected to be saved, and the damned, before our creation.
Other doctrines of salvation: Via moderna 5 The central feature of the doctrine of salvation is a covenant between God and humanity. This covenant establishes mutual obligations between God and his people. God promises to justify a person on the condition that he or she first fulfills certain demands, doing your best ; i.e., rejecting evil and trying to do good. God will not deny grace to anyone who does what lies within them. Although our works are of negligible value, God graciously treats our works as if they are valuable.
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. James 2:17 6 Corporal acts of mercy 1. Feed the hungry. 2. Give drink to the thirsty. 3. Visit the sick. 4. Clothe the naked. 5. Visit the imprisoned. 6. Shelter the homeless. 7. Burial of the dead Acts of spiritual comfort 1. Counsel 2. Correction 3. Comfort 4. Forgiveness 5. Endurance 6. Prayer 7. Instruction
Gregory of Rimini exemplifies the modern Augustinian school. 7 Taught between 1342 and 1358 Gregory s doctrine of salvation reflects the influence of Augustine, emphasizing the need for grace, fallen and sinful humanity, divine initiative in justification and divine predestination. Salvation is totally God s work. Only God can initiate justification. All the resources for salvation lie outside humanity.
Bishop John Fisher tried to reconcile Augustine s teaching with medieval Church doctrine. 8 God gives us prevenient grace. Prevenient grace opens our eyes to sin. We then feel contrition, leading us to confession, absolution and penance, giving us grace; or we wait for grace. Filled with grace, we do our best and we are saved.
Early reformers: The Waldensians 9 A Profession of Faith by Waldes of Lyons, written about 1180 And since, according to James the Apostle, faith without works is dead, we have renounced the world; whatever we had we have given to the poor, as the Lord advised, and we have resolved to be poor in such fashion that we shall take no thought for the morrow, nor shall we accept gold or silver, or anything of that sort from anyone beyond food and clothing sufficient for the day. Our resolve is to follow the precepts of the Gospel as commands. We wholeheartedly confess and believe that persons remaining in the world, owning their own goods, giving alms and doing other good works out of their own, and observing the commandments of the Lord, may be saved.
Early reformers in England: John Wycliffe 10 The scripture belongs to the Church and only the Church can interpret the Bible correctly. But the Church is the body of all those who are predestined to salvation. Therefore, the Bible should be put in the hands of everyone, in their own language. He wrote that in a sacramental and mysterious way, the body of Christ is present in communion, along with the bread. Attacked clerical privilege and the luxury and pomp of churches. Had a role in translating the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, completed in several versions between 1382 and 1395. The Church condemned several of Wycliffe s teachings as heresies.
Early reformers in Bohemia: Jan Hus 11 Jan Hus preached church reform and against the sale of indulgences. Forgiveness can come only from God. Convicted of heresy by a Church council in 1415 and burned to death. Hussites (or Utraquists ) repelled five papal crusades 1420-1431 and 90% of Czechs were Hussite. Mass was conducted in Czech, laity took both elements at mass, and the local church was independent of Rome. Brethren went further.
The church lacked authority to answer decisively what must we do to be saved? 12 The Great Schism of 1054 split the church into West and East. In 1302, King Philip IV of France kidnapped Pope Boniface VIII. Beginning with Clement V in 1305, popes lived not in Rome but in Avignon until 1377. During the Papal Schism of 1378-1417, three different men claimed to be pope. Conciliarists claimed that a universal church council could override the pope.
Acknowledgments 13 The Holy Bible, RSV Timothy George, What the Reformers Thought They Were Doing, Modern Age, 59:4, Fall 2017. Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, v. 1: The Early Church to the Reformation, HarperOne: New York: 2001. Brad S. Gregory, The History of Christianity in the Reformation Era, The Teching Company: Chantilly, Va.: 2001. Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation, Viking: New York: 2003. Alister E. McGrath, Reformation Thought, 3 rd ed., Blackwell: Malden, Mass., 1999. James J. O Donnell, Augustine: Christ and the Soul, http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/twayne/aug4.html13