The Decline of the
Papacy and the Push for Reform
Pre-Reformation
Reform Movements
Nominalism—philosophical system that began to
gain prominence after Aquinas’ masterful synthesis of orthodox Christianity with
Aristotelianism
--c. 1265-1347, period in which nominalist scholars were gaining ascendency in the academy—e.g.,
John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham.
(Cf. Realism—philosophical system
that was based primarily upon Plato’s philosophy, idea of universal forms and
each particular object or thing participating in the universal form)
--Clash between Realism and Nominalism has significant implications for the Church (remember
that Thomas Aquinas stands between the two and welds the two together with his
notion that grace completes nature)
--if Realism wins, then
there is room for the Church to claim the upper hand in having access to
revelation from God (in the bible or tradition)—makes the Church the leader in
moral discipline, doctrines, and theology; to contradict the Church would be to
contradict the sole means of grace; there is a connection between the temporal
world and the spiritual world which is accessible in the Church
--if Nominalism
wins, then there is no special place for the Church, because there is no
special connection between reason and faith; between the earthly and the
spiritual. With the philosophy of
Ockham, there is a radical break between faith and reason. Because there is no proof of any heavenly
reality, nor can there be any rational proof of it, the things of heaven are to
be left to the realm of faith and belief, while the things of the earth and
nature are to be the things of human inquiry and study. The Church is not, therefore, needed as any
special intermediary between heaven and earth or as any high and exalted
teacher of the rest of the world
--doctrine
of transubstantiation is denied—there is no connection between the heavenly and
the earthly in the elements of the Eucharist; the presence of the body and
blood of Christ cannot be proven rationally but must be simply accepted on
faith alone or rejected on empirical data alone
--universal
morality is undercut—different moral standards may exist in different parts of
the world if there is no universal participation in a universal form
--Christian monarchical
government is undermined—human beings may lawfully and legitimately choose for
themselves what forms of government under which they may live if there is no
universal connection between the earthly empire and the heavenly kingdom of God
--contributes
to growing secularization throughout Europe and the Western world
John
Wycliff
(1328-1384)—defender of the English
monarchy against ecclesiastical domination
--Primary tenet was the superiority
of the Scriptures over the pope
--If all things belong to God (Ps.
24:1), then they can only use (not abuse) what has been given them
(temporarily), including ecclesiastical positions of power
--Those who abused their positions
of power within the ecclesiastical hierarchy should be removed, by either a
higher ecclesiastical official, or barring that, the secular ruler
--Dreamed of a national church
headed by the king, not by the pope
--Rejected the doctrine of
transubstantiation (Wycliff asserts that the presence
of Christ in the Eucharist is a spiritual, not physical, presence) –This stance
lost him some followers
John
Hus (1373-1415)—Bohemian
priest, founder of the Hussite movement
--Christ was the head of the Church,
not the pope
--True Church is comprised only of
the elect (not the damned) –See also the
Donatist movment and the teachings
of Augustine against them
--Supremacy of Scripture as the authority
of the Church
--If popes did not obey the
teachings of Scripture, they were not to be obeyed
--Preached his ideas as the
president of the University of Prague and the preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel
in Prague; attracted support of the Bohemian king and many locals; was
excommunicated by the pope
--Emperor invites Hus to the Council
of Constance, promising safe conduct to present his views to the council
assembled;
--pope has him arrested
and tried; because of Hus’s growing unpopularity with the orthodox party, the
emperor refuses to grant Hus protection
--pope ends up being
driven away by the Council and Hus is tried by the Council
--Council condemns Hus
and has him burned at the stake
--Reaction in Bohemia is backlash
against the Council’s decrees and show of support for Hus’s doctrines and
teachings
--Catholic reaction is
to attempt several ill-fated crusades against Bohemia
--Negotiations between the
Catholics and Bohemians finally settle the affair, with Bohemian church being
granted several concessions, notably “communion in both kinds”
--the “Unitas Fratrum” still in
rebellion against the Catholic party; becomes the forerunners of the Moravian
churches
The
Lollards—English
followers of Wycliff after his death, continued on as
forerunners of Luther and Calvin
The Renaissance—Changes
in Worldview, Changes in Faith
Commonly
dated from about the mid-15th century, the Renaissance is a period
of “rebirth” of culture—the arts, literature, philosophy, law, and science—The term was applied by
contemporaries of the era, with the companion derogatory term “Dark Ages” or “Middle
Ages” being applied to the period from about 500 to their current age. Some could date the Renaissance period back
to the 14th century, after the Black Death in 1348.
--Began in Italy and spread
elsewhere as the time went on—a rediscovery of the classical Roman and Greek
ideas and arts
--Greater devotion to the classical
poets and authors; classical architecture is reproduced; ancient languages
reappear as a subject of academic study; libraries are begun
--In building the new
collections of old books, many corrupted versions of ancient works were discovered
=> desire to test which ones were authentic and how the works were composed
grammatically and syntactically (textual criticism makes its appearance here)—
--Desire to
discover the original intent of the author—ad
fontes—the sources/fountains of knowledge (cf.
our contemporary debate over the importance of the original intent of the
authors of the Constitution) in the original languages (vernaculars)
--Several
key “ancient” works were discovered to be later forgeries
--e.g.,
“The Donation of Constantine”, one of the leading texts in the arguments of the
papacy for their temporal power, was determined by Lorenzo Valla to be a
forgery
--Questions
began to arise about the authenticity of the Apostles’ Creed and the Latin
Vulgate Bible (later proven to have several key errors in the translation from
the Greek Septuagint version)
--Humanism—a devotion first
to the study of the “humanities” (art, literature, philosophy, and languages);
later a devotion to the accomplishments of mankind and mankind’s
potential to accomplish great things (cf. Greco-Roman mythology and literature)—the
negatives of sin and depravity are not so deeply felt here
--possibility of the
beautiful, the good, and the true being found in the human world
--human potential to
improve life was given a higher priority
--art for art’s sake
becomes a new avenue of expression
--the human form/body
becomes a centerpiece of devotion—not so much is devoted to the concerns of the
afterlife
--The Gutenberg Printing Press—Invented
by Johannes Gutenberg in c. 1450; leads to the more rapid expansion of ideas
through the printed page; also contributes to a growing literacy among the
population outside the monasteries and universities; and contributes to fanning
the flames of an intellectual revolution.
--Gutenberg Bible
printed first between 1450-1456; later works on other printing presses would
follow; scholars originally were the beneficiaries; Reformation contributed to
circulation of works among the laity
--Renaissance popes get
the fever of humanism as much or more than anyone—desire to bring Rome back to
its former glory and once again rival the great Italian cities of Florence and
Milan and others => popes patronizing art and music and literature almost to
the exclusion of the concern for souls and their salvation
Martin
Luther
John
Calvin