Transcript Text original baptism

The Reformation and the Bible
Week Eight:
Theology in Context
Session Overview

Lecture
– Examine the myth of Protestant Origins
– Consider some contexts behind the Reformation
– Outline some aspects of the Reformation
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Consider the Reformation as Reformations
Highlight some main themes in Reformation thought
Overview some main Reformers and their differences
Seminar
– Examine justification through faith
– Explore some issues concerning scripture and
tradition in Protestant and Catholic thought
The Myth of Protestant Origins:

Or, how the Reformation didn’t happen
– In the midst of Catholic Europe

A unified monolithic religious Christendom
centred around unswerving loyalty to the Pope in
Rome
– A monk is thinking:
Hi!
My name’s Martin Luther.
And I’ve just come to a
unique realization!
The teachings of the Church
have departed from the
Bible. I must go and tell
everyone!
So he marches
from his monastery
to the castle church
in Wittenburg (Germany)
and posts his complaints
on the door
Hi!
It’s me, Martin Luther, again.
And I’ve just started the
Protestant Reformation.
Launching a devastating
attack on the power and
authority of the Pope and
the entire Roman Catholic
Church!
However, this is not what happened…

…so, if that didn’t happen what did?

Martin Luther did not walk from
monastery to castle church

He did write the famous ’95 Theses’ but
gave them by hand to fellow academics
However:

Luther didn’t want to attack Rome’s authority

Luther wanted reform not (yet) Reformation

Luther’s theses intended only to start debate on
indulgences (see later)
– “It is a mystery to me how my theses… were spread to so many
places. They were meant exclusively for our academic circle
here.” (Luther, M., letter, quoted in Miles, M., The Word Made
Flesh, p. 244)

So what turned a minor provincial debating paper into the
schism that has split Western Christianity till today?
Some Contexts of the Reformation
Into (early) modernity
 The state of the church
 War and plague
 Calls for reform
 Renaissance and Humanism
 Other factors
 Luther

Into modernity

Medieval world > early modern world
– feudalism > capitalism

Break down of old order and established hierarchies
– loose federation of small states > powerful centralized
nations

Princes want greater autonomy and freedom
– new forms of government: e.g. Republics, absolute
monarchy

Moves away from ecclesiastical power
– The political world of medieval Europe is passing…

… does a new political sensibility need a new religious
sensibility?
The State of the Medieval Church

Heresy
– Numerous heretical groups/ movements
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Papal crises
– C 14th: 2 rival popes

Council of Pisa 1409
–
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Result = 3 popes
Council of Constance 1417
–
Implications:
• councils more powerful than popes
• congregation of believers possess greater authority
– Debt
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taxes
sell church positions
spiritual benefits, esp. indulgences (to which we shall return)
Corruption
– multiple positions (simony)

Savonarola
– minor clergy in poverty
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The Clergy
– Ignorance

Diocese in C 16th England:
–
–
168 of 311 country clergy could not recite the Ten Commandments
some could not even say who had composed the Lord’s Prayer
– Immorality

Diocese of Constance: 1,500 illegitimate children/ year
War and Plague

Ravaged Europe C 13th & 14th
– 100 Years War
– Black Death

instability and doubt
– The afterlife
• Judgement
• purgatory

apocalyptic expectations
– Joachim of Fiore
– “The end of the world is nigh”
Calls for Reform

Luther was not the first (or last) reformer:
– Other (important) reformers:
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Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (fifteenth century)
– trying to reform corruption - pope’s ambassador to Germany
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John Wycliff (1329-1384)
– More on him in due course…
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John Hus (1373-1415)
– Rector of the University of Prague
– Influenced by Wycliffe
– Council of Constance
• safe-conduct from Holy Roman Emperor
• burnt at the stake – heretic
• Irony
• never regarded himself as a heretic
‘The Morning Star of the Reformation’
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John Wycliff (1329-1384)
– Oxford academic
– Lollards
– Main critiques:
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Bible = infallible
– above church authority and tradition
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NT = model to judge church
holiness of character = true test of righteousness
– not church position
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attacked pope’s involvement in political disputes
– Motivation = worldly
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cult of saints = debased
– ‘magical’ healing or blessings
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Treasury of Merit
– A fallacy and blasphemy
– What is it and why is it so very important: see later….
Renaissance and Humanism

Revival of study of Greece and Rome
– Renewed study of classical languages
Read New Testament in Greek
 Read Old Testament in Hebrew

– Challenge adequacy of Latin vulgate
– Renewed study of ancient philosophy and
increased rationalism in study

Challenge scholastic methods and assumptions
Other Trends
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Printing
– widespread dissemination of Luther’s ideas
– vernacular translations of Bible
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Preaching
– demand for more educated form of piety


cities
Personalised spirituality
– Mystical manuals (e.g. Cloud of Unknowing,
Theologica Germanica)
Luther’s Context:
Or some of them – he has a lot too…
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95 theses provoke debate
– One issue = indulgences
– Not attack on whole church
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However, this provoked Rome
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Met virulent opposition
– excommunication 1521
=break with Rome
Therefore: the Reformation begins in 1521/2 not 1517!
So what was the indulgence
issue?

5 Key factors
–
–
–
–
–
The practice of indulgences
Treasury of Merit
Purgatory and the cult of the dead
Tetzel
Luther’s arguments
The Practice of Indulgences
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Originally:
– Indulgences = a form of penance
– For remittance of sins the church would impose a penance (i.e.
fasting, pilgrimage, etc.)
– The indulgence was a certificate to say this had been done
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By Luther’s time:
– Indulgences were (essentially) sold
– While the notion of penance existed, most people associated
getting the piece of paper with getting the reward
– Moreover, they could be bought for other people, including the
dead
– They had also become associated with the idea of the Treasury of
Merit
The Treasury of Merit
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What was it?
– A great celestial ‘bank account’ of holiness and good merit

Where did it come from?
– The saints, due to their vast holiness and prayers, had built up
more good merit than they needed for salvation, i.e. the Treasury
of Merit is their surplus

Why was it useful?
– Because it could be made available to ordinary believers to make
up for their shortfall via the pope
– It could also rescue those in purgatory…
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The critique?
– Wycliff:
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idea = pure fantasy
pope could control = blasphemy
Purgatory and the Cult of the Dead
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From c. C 11th become standard teaching
– At death: mini judgement
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Exceptionally good: heaven
Exceptionally bad: hell
Mediocrity: purgatory
– A place of torture/ purgation – rid soul of sins and make ready
for heaven
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C 14th Black death and war
– Great concern with dead
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Whole families, even villages died – were they ready?
Late medieval faith, “was a religion practised by the living on
behalf of the deceased”
Tetzel
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Johannes Tetzel:
– Indulgence seller for Archbishop of Mainz
– 3 Sees and St Peter’s, Rome
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“As soon as a penny in the pot both ring, a
soul from purgatory will spring”
– Utterly incensed Luther:
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Posted 95 theses
Luther’s arguments
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The nature of repentance:
– Remission of sins from true repentance through Christ alone
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(Theses 16-17)
The Pope’s authority:
– Pope cannot forgive sin, only declare its forgiveness by God
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(Theses 6)
– At most, pope can only forgive church punishments in this life
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(Theses 20,21,24,25)
– Pope’s authority cannot extend to purgatory
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(Theses 13-19, 22, 25)
Faulty theology:
– No Treasury of Merit
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(Thesis 62)
No use:
– Better to give money to the poor than buy indulgences
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(Theses 41-45)
Rhetoric:
– “Why does not the Pope empty purgatory for the sake of most holy love and the
supreme need of souls?”
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(Theses 82)
– “All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation because of letters
of pardon, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.”
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(Theses 32)
From debating points to
Reformation
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Why did the Reformation happen now?
– The context?
The significance of the contexts
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Into (early) modernity
– Princes want freedom from Rome and control of church lands

The state of the church
– Dissatisfaction
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War and plague
– Possibility for indulgences to be abused
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Creates dissatisfaction
– Challenge to traditional beliefs/ way of life
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Calls for reform
– It wasn’t new
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A ready and primed audience
Renaissance and Humanism
– Critique of church tradition
– New intellectual currents
– New emphasis upon religion of Jesus and Biblical views
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Other factors
– Luther’s pamphlets spread by local printer
– A desire for a new forms of piety
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Luther
– Had political protection
– Provided a spokesperson for ideas
Other factors in favour
Loss of prestige of church
 Women vs. male hierarchy
 Peasants want new social order
 City burghers want new respect
 Other influential reformers also appear…
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The Reformation(s)
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IMPORTANT:
– Various uses: The Protestant Reformation; The
Catholic (Counter-)Reformation; The Lutheran
Reformation; The Reformation
– The (Protestant) Reformation was the (natural)
expression of long standing dissatisfaction with the
church and its teachings
– The Reformation was not a unified event – other
currents/ thinkers either independently or inspired by
Luther took it in different ways
– Nevertheless, certain common features exist against
the Reformations/ Reformers
The Main Issues in Reformation
Thought
Indulgences
 Priesthood
 Tradition and scripture
 Justification by faith alone
 Sacraments
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Central focus:
– Back to basics

establish truths from the Biblical text
The Two Reformations
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Magisterial Reformation
– So-called because they accept civil magistrates
– Want reform of corrupt practices in church
– Traditional beliefs and practices accepted and
adapted
– Mainstream reformers: Luther, Calvin, Zwingli

Radical Reformation
–
–
–
–
Rejects all secular and conventional authority
Want total reform of the church
All beliefs and practices open to question
Anabaptist movement (and offshoots)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
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Biographical:
–
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–
–
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Entered order of Augustinian Friars 1505
Professor of Biblical Theology at University of Wittenberg 1512
Public attention 1917
Confrontation with Rome: Leipzig Disputation 1519; Diet of Augsburg
1518 – Frederick the Wise, German soil, fled; Excommunication 3rd Jan
1521; Diet of Worms 1521 – banished by Charles V; ‘prison’ Wartburg;
‘free’ 1522
Theological
– Personal concerns for salvation – not justified by being a good monk
– Rethinking of previous theology
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
The theology of the cross
Free Grace – justification
– Both ideas from: Johann von Staupitz – spiritual father
– Was the Reformation a continuation of late medieval trends not a new
movement?

Politics
– Protection of Frederick the Wise
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Indulgences and relics
– German princes tired of Roman control
– The Peasant's War
John
Calvin
(1509-1564)
 Significance
–
–
–
–
Second generation of reformers
Saw himself as faithful follower of Luther
greatest theological systematizer
theocratic state – Geneva
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Model for others
Theology
– God’s absolute sovereignty
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Humans utterly sinful - entirely dependent on God’s grace
– unable to do anything for own salvation
– Augustine & Luther
– Predestination
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God pre-decided the elect
– gives grace
– No salvation apart from this
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Geneva
– Arrives 1536 – invited to set up reform; leaves 1538; invited to
return 1541
– Sets up reforming system and school - spreads
Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531)
aka Ulrich, Huldreich
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‘The Third Man of the Reformation’
Life:
–
–
–
–
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Early role as pastor to mercenaries in papal employ
Vicar of Zurich 1519
Sets up reform programme (before Lutheran?)
Died in battle
Main difference with others:
– Sacramental theology
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Catholic Church accepts 7 sacraments
(Most) Reformers accept 2 (baptism and Eucharist)
Eucharistic theology
– Catholic: transubstantiation
– Luther: Christ’s real presence
– Zwingli: just a memorial
Radical Reformation
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Often termed Anabaptist – but not unified group
Early Anabaptist movement around Zurich
– Swiss Brethren 1525
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Dispute with Zwingli
–
–
–
–
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Anaptist – re-baptist
Only accept adult baptism
Difference: reject all church tradition
Only adult baptism in NT
Reject anything not in NT
– Therefore (some) dispute Trinity, Divinity of Christ
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Most killed: Munster
– Continuation: Quakers, Amish
Seminar:
Justification by faith
 Bible and Tradition

Read Luther:
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The ‘autobiographical introduction’
or ‘Preface to his Works’ of 1545
Discuss the following four questions:
– What change occurs in Luther’s understanding of the term
‘the righteousness of God’
– Luther sees ‘faith’ as essential to salvation. Discuss what it
means to him in relation to these three terms/ ideas:
knowledge; trust; unity.
– Find the term ‘passive righteousness’. What do you
understand Luther to mean by this? How does it relate to
faith?
– What difference is there between Luther’s theology of
justification outlined here and what you know of previous
medieval/ Catholic beliefs and practices.
Luther

Answers:
– What change occurs in Luther’s understanding of the term ‘the righteousness of
God’


From a wrathful God – righteousness = punishment of unrighteousness
To loving God – righteousness = forgiveness of sinners
– Luther sees ‘faith’ as essential to salvation. Discuss what it means to him in
relation to these three terms/ ideas: knowledge; trust; unity.
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Faith is personal not just knowledge of historical events
Faith requires a leap to trust that God will remit sins
Faith unites the believer to Christ
– Find the term ‘passive righteousness’. What do you understand Luther to mean
by this? How does it relate to faith?
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This means that salvation is God’s work, we do nothing – it is given
Therefore, we do justify ourselves by having faith, rather, because we have faith
God will graciously save us, but even this faith is a gift from God
– What difference is there between Luther’s theology of justification outlined
here and what you know of previous medieval/ Catholic beliefs and practices.

It is a change from salvation through works – the believer does good and purifies
himself to become acceptable before God to belief that man’s inherent sinfulness
means he/she can never be acceptable before God and so salvation is pure
‘graciousness’
The Bible and Tradition
Problem 1: The translation of the text
 Problem 2: The OT – the content of
scripture
 Problem 3: The authority of tradition and
scripture

Problem 1: Translation

The Latin Vulgate
– Accepted translation/ version of Bible


Jerome: 382 and 405 CE
Honoured by centuries of tradition
– However:
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Renaissance scholarship found flaws
– Comparison with Greek and Hebrew
– Raises many questions:
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Why do some versions assume ‘authoritative status’, e.g. AV?
Why does Christianity accept translations as the Bible (vs. Islam
and Judaism and Hinduism)?
Is it necessary to read Greek, Aramaic, and Syriac (several forms
of each) to understand the NT?
Problem 2: The Old Testament
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3 versions
– Comparison of Vulgate against Hebrew Bible
– ‘Extra books’ rejected by reformers

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Addition to Jewish canon
Form appendix: apocrypha
another agenda: some Catholic practises, praying for the dead,
found in ‘apocrypha’ (2 Macc. 12: 40-6)
Question: what scripture consists of.
– Issues arising:
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Who decides what is in or out?
Christian vs. Jewish tradition?
New lists of scriptural works – now OT in debate
Problem 3: Grounding authority (i)
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Sola Scriptura – by scripture alone
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This motto of the Reformation meant that
anything not grounded in scripture was:
– Not essential to salvation
– Was not countenanced for Christian belief

Question: what is the role of tradition for the
reformers?
Problem 3: Grounding authority (ii)
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
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Read Calvin, selected from The Institutes of the
Christian Religion, VIII, 8, 9, 10, 11 & IX, 2, 8
Compare with The Council of Trent on scripture
and tradition
How would you define the difference between
the Protestant and Roman Catholic positions on
the relationship and role of tradition and scripture
as expressed here?
Problem 3: Grounding authority (iii)


3 theories of scripture and tradition (McGrath):
T0: scripture as interpreted in the Spirit
– Sebastian Franck (16th): “[The Bible] is a book sealed with seven
seals which none can open unless he has the key of David, which
is the illumination of the Spirit”

T1: scripture as traditionally understood
– Calvin: “The difference between us and the papists is that they
believe that the church cannot be the pillar of the truth unless she
presides over the Word of God. We, on the other hand, assert
that it is because she reverently subjects herself to the Word of
God that the truth is preserved by her, and passed on to others by
her hands.”

T2: scripture supplemented by tradition
– Council of Trent (1546): “All saving truths and rules of
conduct… are contained in the written books and in the unwritten
traditions, received from the mouth of Christ himself or from the
apostles themselves.”
Concluding Discussion

By deciding what constituted scripture were the
Reformers not actually asserting the tradition of the
church (to be able to make and change the Christian
canon) as more important than scripture?

Some people have suggested that the Reformation rather
than strengthening the prestige of the Bible, by providing
a fundamental challenge to all authority – including that
of the text – provided a vital step in the development of
Biblical criticism. To what extent do you think this might
be true?

Many reform movements, such as the Reformation, have
envisaged a return to the original revelation and the pure
teachings of the text. Is it ever possible to return to an
original text? What constitutes a barrier to this?