Term
| 1) The Christian Church had experienced challenges to its authority and calls for reform prior to Martin Luther's rebellion. What are the seeds that were planted before the time of Luther? |
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Definition
critics of the church became primarily concerned about the clerical immortality, clerical ignorance and clerical pluralism and absenteeism
primary ideas of reformation were Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, the Brethren of the Common Life, Thomas à Kempis, and the papacy [Pope Julius II] able to sow the seeds for Luther’s ultimate rebellion.
Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros: Spanish. visited religious houses, encouraged the monks and friars to uphold their rules and constitutions, and set high standards for the training of the diocesan clergy
Brethren of Common Life:lived in stark simplicity. carried out the Gospel teaching of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the sick. Taught in local schools, teaching with the motive of gaining future, devout priests. Religion should be a personal experience. Sola scriptura.
Thomas a Kempis: Wrote the Imitation of Christ. Gained wide appeal among laypeople. Urges Christians to take Christ as their model and seek perfection in a simple way of life.
Papacy: Pope Julius II: formed the Ecumenical Council (universal). although it wasn't universal because most of the bishops were from Italy. Recommended higher standards for education. Instructions for the common people. Tried to eliminate bureaucratic corruption.
clerical immortality: celibacy and it's level of difficulty to maintain, clerical drunkenness, gambling, and indulgence in fancy dress.
clerical ignorance: low standard of education. standards for ordination were low. priests were barely able to read/write.
clerical pluralism/absenteeism: clerics [higher ecclesiastics] held several beneficies (offices), but seldom visited their offices. instead, they collected revenues from all of them and hired poor priests to do all the work for low income. |
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Term
| 2) What are the principle ideas upon which the Protestant Reformation and eventually the Lutheran Church were founded? Be specific. |
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Definition
initially began with the motive to improve the deteriorating state of the church, with the priests’ low standard of education and the clergy’s practices of pluralism and absenteeism.
beliefs of the church using the debated questions on how a person should be saved, where religious authority resides, what the church actually is, and what the highest form of Christian life might be.
Catholic vs. Lutheran
how a person should be saved:
Catholic: faith & good works.
Lutheran: just faith. saved my arbitrary decision of god. sacraments not necessary.
where does authority reside?
Catholic: Bible and traditional teaching of the church.
Lutheran: Sola Scriptura --> only in the Bible (scriptures). interpreted by a person's conscience.
what is the church?
Catholic: place belonging to clergy.
Lutheran: church consists of the entire community of Christian believers.
what's the highest form of Christian life?
Catholic: superiority of the monastic and religious life over the secular.
Lutheran: all vocations have equal merit. every person should serve God in his or her individual calling, whether it be ecclesiastical or secular. |
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Term
| 3) Although the Protestant Reformation was an important religious movement, discuss the political, economic and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation. |
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Definition
Social:
- Caused the government to show contempt toward the clerics
- introduced preacherships
- caused massive peasant revolts
- and imposed the household importance for women
Political:
- royal authorities were convinced that running counter the religious norm would impose a threat to the security of the state --> Protestantism spread --> stirred patriotic emotions throughout the states (Germany)
Economic:
- kings and lords got all the wealth and land from the church and monasteries
- freed up a lot of money because peasants didn’t have to pay additional church dues anymore |
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Term
| 4) What accounts for the great success of the Protestant Reformation? To whom did the Lutheran faith appeal and why? |
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Definition
The Lutheran faith appealed to all classes -->
Lower class: Plays and dialogues --> blatant and easily understood concepts --> pope = Antichrist
Middle class: woodcuts and other forms of art and poetry. They typically had sufficient intelligence to interpret the pictures and the lyrics incorporated in the woodcuts and poetry.
Upper class: documents --> The Ninety-Five Theses. They had full literacy and comprehension of in depth, analytical writing. |
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Term
| 5) What were the political motivations for European rulers to join the Protestant Reformation? Cite specific examples. |
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Definition
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Term
| 6) What were the basic tenets of the theology of John Calvin and the society he created in Geneva, Switzerland? How was Calvin influenced by Luther and where do his ideas diverge from those of Luther? Finally, how can we explain the popularity and success |
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Definition
Tenets of John Calvin’s theology:
- absolute sovereignty & omnipotence of God
- total weakness of humanity.
- asserted that compared to God, mankind is an insignificant grain of sand.
Similarity:
- Calvin believed in the equality among all vocations
- principle of Sola Scriptura
Differences:
- predestination.
- elect
- reprobate
- forms of sin found in modern culture
- dancing
- playing cards
- preventing sins by preventing idleness.
Popularity/Success:
- where it spread: Netherlands, Scotland and Switzerland. |
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Term
| 7) How did Protestantism spread throughout Europe and what new sects and denominations evolved in the second half of the 16th century? |
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Definition
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