Transcript Renaissance - Berea College

Rebirth and Reform in the West
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
GSTR 221-O: Western Traditions II
Berea College
Spring 2004
PRELUDE TO THE
RENAISSANCE
1300s: plague, disorder,
economic recession, isolation
Latin heritage of West wellpreserved, but Greek sources
mostly lost or available only in
Arabic translation
1400s: population growth, rise
of city-states, economic
recovery, new exploration
Renaissance = “rebirth” of
Greco-Roman traditions among
literate urban elites, c. 13501550 (especially in Italy)
RENAISSANCE THEMES
Optimism regarding human
worth and potential
Revival of classical GrecoRoman values:
1.
2.
3.
Humanism -- Is there anything more
wonderful on earth, our marvelous
planet, than the miracle of man?
(Sophocles)
Naturalism – The chief good is life
according to nature. (Zeno of Citium)
Skepticism -- The unexamined life is
not worth living. (Socrates)
Ideal: l’uomo universale
(“universal man”) =
1.
2.
3.
Maximizes human potential
Models himself on nature
Subjects all to critical inquiry
RENAISSANCE
TECHNOLOGY
Although Europeans use
Chinese wood-block printing as
early as 1100s, metal movable
type invented in Germany c.
1450
By 1500, over one thousand
printers in business throughout
Europe, with more than ten
million copies of books sold
Approximately half of all books
sold are religious in nature
Other popular titles include
manuals of grammar and law,
philosophical treatises, and
romances
GIOVANNI PICO DELLA
MIRANDOLA (1463-1494)
Most famous Renaissance
philosopher
Studies at Platonic Academy in
Florence, Italy, as well as
universities of Ferrara,
Bologna, Padua, and Paris
Regards all philosophical and
religious traditions as
containing “nuggets of
universal truth” revealed by
God
Strongly influenced by Jewish
and occult traditions as well as
Christianity
His work declared heretical by
Pope Innocent VIII in 1486
THE RENAISSANCE
BEYOND ITALY
In northern Europe,
Renaissance manifests itself as
“Northern Humanism”
Like Italian Renaissance
thinkers, Northern humanists
revere Greco-Roman antiquity
and emphasize intellectual
self-cultivation
Other themes:
1.
2.
3.
Religious and social reform
Strong concern for morality
Focus on individual inner life
Key figures include:
1.
2.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
Thomas More (1478-1535)
THE REFORMATION(S)
By late 1400s, serious
questions about doctrinal and
institutional matters in
Western Christian (Catholic)
Church emerge, including:
1.
2.
3.
Role of human intermediaries in
process of individual salvation
Training and accountability of
clergy
Use of local languages in
worship and Biblical translation
Various priests and bishops
seek to reform, not split, the
Church
These reformers become
known as “Protestants”
Martin Luther (1483-1546) –
protests Church-mediated aids
to salvation, insists on sola fides
(“faith alone”) and sola
scriptura (“scripture alone”)
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)
– protests authority of Pope
over English Christians, insists
on worship in English instead
of Latin and use of English
Bible
Jean Calvin (1509-1564) –
protests idea that humans play
an active role in their salvation,
insists on absolute power of
God to save or damn
THE AFTERMATH OF THE
REFORMATION(S)
1521: With support of local
rulers, Luther establishes
“evangelical” (Gospel-based)
Christian church
1521-1688: Religiouslyinspired warfare taking place
somewhere in Europe
1555: Peace of Augsburg
(Germany) recognizes
Protestant-Catholic split, allows
rulers to choose subjects’ faith
1598: Edict of Nantes (France)
enforces toleration of
Protestantism, allows
Protestants to hold public office
“RENAISSANCE MEN”
AND/OR REFORMERS
Many reformers are
Renaissance humanists
Humanists favor reformers’
focus on inner spiritual life,
return to ancient texts, etc.
Other humanists, prizing
Christian unity, reject new
churches
Still others are suspicious of
some reformers’ opposition to
visual culture (use of images
in Christian worship, etc.)
Most laypeople are either too
rural and/or too illiterate to
participate in these urban,
literate controversies