CH 751 Study Guide

John Tetzel: A Sermon [1571]

"Don't you hear the voices of your wailing dead parents and others who say,'Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, because we are in severe punishment and pain. From this you could redeem us with small alms and yet you do not want to do so." Advocating for indulgences and paying for one's salvation as well as their deceased loved ones.

The Marburg Colloquy

(1529) - A meeting of German-speaking Protestant leaders (both German & Swiss), called by Philip of Hesse in hopes of securing the political & military alliance of Reformation states. Luther and Zwingli were the most prominent participants. Held at Philip's castle in south Germany. Those present were able to agree on 14 articles of faith, butthe 15th article, after expressing points of agreement about the eucharist, expressed their insoluble disagreement about why it is a sacrament, and about whether Christ is really present in the eucharist. It destroyed optimism about a union of Lutheran and Swiss Reformed churches

Erasmus

(d. 1536)-- Dutch humanist and Catholic priest who wrote The Freedom of the Will (1524) in which he argued that the Pope is necessary to clarify theological abstractions and questions how humans can be held accountable to sin if they have no free will. Luther answers Erasmus in his Bondage of the Will (1525) in which he argues that Scripture is clear on what needs to be known, and if you don't understand it, it's because of your own moral failing and that our will is perverse/depraved, so why would Christ need to die if we could save ourselves by will?

Servetus

(d. 1553) - taught a non-trinitarian Christianity. Condemned by both Catholics and Protestants. Was taken to geneva and burned at the stake.

extra calvinisticum

- A name given by Lutheran Scholastic theologians (early 17th century) to a feature of Calvin's christology. It states that Christ's divine nature cannot be limited by his human nature, but instead remains infinite, despite its attachment to a finite (human) nature. Thus, Calvin (and the Reformed tradition after him) reject the Lutheran doctrine of Christ's ubiquity as unnecessary (because the divine Word isn't limited by his human body).

Exsurge Domine

-- "Rise up, O Lord!"--Papal bull issued against Luther in 1520-- Pope calls Luther a "wild boar" and threatens him with excommunication. Luther responded by publicly burning the bull in Wittenberg.

sola scriptura

-- "by Scripture alone"-- foundational theological tenet of Reform theologies- holds that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.

Fourth Lateran Council

1215 held in the Lateran Palace at the Vatican-- convoked by Pope Innocent the III-- A general council of the Roman Catholic Church that (inter alia) defined dogma about Christ's presence in the eucharist (real presence via transubstantiation); clarified the relationship between baptism, penance, and eucharist; and mandated yearly communion (and thus also confession) for all Catholics.

Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy

1309-77, Pope moved from Rome to Avignon, France during the Black Death.

Flagellants

13th-14th century German heretics that believed plague was divine punishment and whipped themselves to appease God.

Council of Constance

1415 in S. Germany-- An general council of the Roman Catholic Church that (inter alia) reasserted transubstantiation (against Wycliffe), and forbade communion in both kinds to the laity (again the Hussites). It also ended the papal schism, condemned Jan Hus to death, and declared John Wycliffe a heretic.

Inter caetera

1493, Grants large portions of the New World to Spain to be under their care that they may bring the natives to faith.

Boccaccio

14th c. Italian author of the Decameron, a book similar to the Canterbury Tales and critical of the clerical class.

Requerimiento

1513, a document to be read by the Spanish Conquistadors to native populations of the New World. Gave them the opportunity to surrender to Spanish forces, who were given sovereignty over them and the land by God.

Appeal to German Nobility

1520-- One of Luther's 3 significant writings that year. Luther needed protection against the Church, so he appealed to monarchs/nobles, wanting them to take back power from the church. This was a political treatise moreso than a theological one. In it, Luther argued the theology of the priesthood of all believers, contending that "a cobbler is more righteous than a monk" and that a minister is chosen for the convenience of the people rather than himself. He also claimed that the Pope is subject to the Word, not above it. He also said that the princes of Germany should stop sending taxes to Rome and keep the $ in Germany. The princes were big fans. They ran with Luther's ideas, imposed more taxes on peasants, and ultimately caused a peasants' revolt

The Freedom of A Christian

1521. Discusses the principles of new life in Christ as it grows out of a new understanding of the nature of the Christian Gospel. "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none, bound to his neighbor only in love." Denied the Aristotelian idea that good works make good people.

Martin Luther

1545. "At last, by the mercy of God, meditating both day and night, I baec heed to the context of my words, namely, 'In it righteousness of God is revealed as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live.' There I began to understand that the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith." This was a conversion period for Martin. He goes from hating the word righteousness to understanding that it comes from, by, and through faith.

Consensus Tigurinus

1549) - A confession about the eucharist agreed upon by both sides of Swiss Reformation (the Calvinists of Geneva & the Zwinglians of Zurich) at a meeting in Zurich. It denies that the eucharist itself conveys grace, but that the Holy Spirit acts through them to convey grace to the elect. Thus, it aims to honor both Calvin's and Zwingli's concerns, while rejecting Roman Catholic and Lutheran views.

Francisco de Vitoria

16th c. professor of theology in Paris. Wrote "On the American Indians," attempting to give valid moral reasons why it was acceptable for Spain to take the lands in the New World.

Bessarion

A 15th century Greek scholar who taught much to the West after the fall of Constantinople. Tried to rally people to retake it.

The Grievances of the German People (March 1521)

A Diet (legislature) voicing issues against the papacy and Rome. Ex. 13. Concerning regulations of Papal Chancery: These regulations are made for the benefit and advantage of of Roman courtiers and often changed or reinterpreted so as to allow the transfer of ecclesiastical benefices, especially in German, into Roman hands and to compel us to buy back or lease these benefices from Rome. This is against both statutory law and equity

Letter of the Knights of St. John; George Sphrantzes

A courtier in the Byzantine empire, serving as an important diplomat and ambassador for several emperors. Towards the end of his life, Sphrantzes composed a chronicle, known as the Chronicon Minus, which is partly an autobiographical work. In the section republished below, the author writes about the siege of Constantinople, and about the lack of assistance the Byzantines received from their Christian neighbours.

Martin Luther

A letter protesting the use of indulgences to finance building a new cathedral.O God, most good! Thus souls committed to your care, good Father, are taught to their death, and the strict account, which you must render for all such, grows and increases. For this reason I have no longer been able to keep quiet about this matter, for it is by no gift of a bishop that man becomes sure of salvation, since he gains this certainty not even by the "inpoured grace" of God, but the Apostle bids us always "work out our own salvation in fear and trembling," and Peter says, "the righteous scarcely shall be saved." Finally, so narrow is the way that leads to life, that the Lord, through the prophets Amos and Zechariah, calls those who shall be saved "brands plucked from the burning," and everywhere declares the difficulty of salvation. Why, then, do the preachers of pardons, by these false fables and promises, make the people careless and fearless? Whereas indulgences confer on us no good gift, either for salvation or for sanctity, but only take away the external penalty, which it was formerly the custom to impose according to the canons.

Bolshevik

A member of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which was renamed the Communist Party after seizing power in the October Revolution of 1917.

Ottoman empire

A multicultural Muslim empire that ended the Eastern Roman Empire after taking Constantinople in 1453.

Inter Caetera

A papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain (the Crowns of Castile and Aragon) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde islands.

Teresa of Avila

A prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author during the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross.

Quest for the Historical Jesus

Academic efforts to provide a historical portrait of Jesus. (18th-19th century)

Anabaptism

All the baptisms all the time! (not really). Proponents of re-baptism for those who'd been baptized initially as infants on the grounds that baptism needed to be performed on believers (scriptural principle), and infants aren't that yet. Also contended that God doesn't send children to hell. Held that once baptized, one is the child of God and doesn't belong to the State, no taking of oaths b/c you should speak truth always; also no images, music, or crucifixes. No hanging out in pubs, no hanging out with non-believers, and super literal interpretation of scripture. LOADS of fun, these guys. They got persecuted a lot, which helped spread them throughout Europe.

Farel (d. 1565)

Along with Calvin, he trained French missionary preachers. Influenced the government of Geneva to allow Geneva to become a safe-haven for Protestants fleeing persecution and disallow non-Protestants.

Soviet

An elected or government council of a communist country

Believers' baptism

Anabaptists were big proponents of this idea. Basically, it means that folks should only be baptized as adults, not infants, since infants are not yet capable of having faith in God. Part of this was also the belief that God wouldn't condemn the souls of children to hell.

Devotio moderna

Apostolic renewal through humility, obedience, and poverty. a. Nominalist soteriology provided explanation of how human's could have a role in their own salvation. Most notably sen through Thomas a' Kempis' The Imitation of Christ (introspection) dissolved the idea that clergy and monks had a better chance of getting to heaven than the average Christian.

Diet of Worms

April, 1521-- court called by Charles V (the Holy Roman Emperor) at the Pope's request to try to get a handle on Luther. Luther thinks it's going to be a debate, but it's an inquisition. He's asked if he wrote his books (yes, he did). Then he's asked if he's willing to renounce them. He asks for 24 hours to think about it. Comes back and says he won't recant unless he's convinced by the testimony of either Scripture or reason. Quoth Luther, "My conscience is captive to the will of God."

Reconquest

Argon and Castille united through marriage and sought to retake Spain from the Muslims. In 1492, Grenada was surrendered by the Muslim prince.

Council of Ferrara-Florence

At this council, the Latins demanded that the Emperor of Byzantine Empire heal the schism in exchange for reinforcements. It was announced from the Hagia Sophia. Latin help did not arrive in time, as Constantinople fell in 1453.

Transubstantiation

Catholic position on Christ's presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist-- "the body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar"

memorial view of the Eucharist

Classically articulated during 16th c. Reformation. The notion that the relationship of the eucharist to Jesus Christ is merely commemorative. Thus, it denies that Jesus Christ is specially present in the eucharist. Ulrich Zwingli and most Anabaptists held this view, as do most baptist churches today.

"God and the Soul"

Concept from Harnack (19-20th Century)

Templars

Created in the time of the Second Crusade (1147), this order of knights swore vows to protect the holy places from the infidels. French knights active in Jerusalem.

Wycliffe

Died 1384. Wanted many to read the Bible to see that the Mass was not the way of Christ. Led the Lollards, who translated the Vulgate into English.

Bucer

Died in 1551. Was a dominican friar from Strausburg in the catholic church influence by Martin Luther. Eventually excommunicated, married. Worked with Cranmer on the Book of Common Prayer.

"Kernel and husk"

Distinction between that which is essential in the message of Jesus and that which is incidental and bound by the historical circumstances in which Jesus lived.

Saladin tithe

England (and some France), 1188, All profits taxed to fight; In response to fall of Jerusalem in Battle of Hattin

St. Bernard: Apologia for the Second Crusade

Excerpt from a letter that serves an apology for the Second Crusade. He strongly believed that it was the right thing to do and had God's support. The only reason it failed (the first or the second?) was because the people (soldiers) did not have faith in God to see them through. Therefore, he along with the person he's writing to, should not be held accountable and should have clear consciences.

Penance

Express sorrow (contrition), confess sin with promise of sin and repentance (confession), and address consequences of wrong (satisfaction). Indulgences address last part, not the first two. What if sin isn't confessed? Sin you don't know about? Maybe commit sins and didn't know they were sins? Every person, has accumulated temporal debt. Indulgences were to pay off that debt.

ubiquity of Christ

First articulated by Martin Luther in the 1520s. Claiming that Christ's divine properties become proper to his humanity, Luther insisted that Christ's human body is ubiquitous—present everywhere—by virtue of God's ubiquitous presence to the universe. This, Luther insisted, was one way of making sense of Christ's real presence in the eucharist without denying Christ's presence in heaven. Firmly rejected as monophysite by Calvin, this became an iconic mark of Lutheran/Reformed disagreement.

Heidelberg Disputation

Forum hosted by the Augustinian Order at which Luther was permitted to defend his theology. It was in this setting that Luther disputed the Theology of Glory (which says humanity must work hard to earn God's favor) and put forth instead the Theology of the Cross which said God is as He revealed Himself in Christ-- God's power looks like weakness, God's holiness is revealed in a broken, bleeding body on a cross, etc. Priests who heard Luther speak that day went out of the meeting preaching the Theology of the Cross, making Rome even more pissed at Luther.

"God wills it"

France, 1095, Cry of people in response to Urban II's call to First Crusade

Bernard de Clairvaux

France, Recruited for the second crusade (1147), which ended in failure. Also mediated schism for Innocent II. Authored Apologia for the Second Crusade

Hugenots

French Protestants who were inspired by the writings of Calvin. The tide of the Reformation reached France early in the sixteenth century and was part of the religious and political fomentation of the times. It was quickly embraced by members of the nobility, by the intellectual elite

Robert de Clari

French author of an account of the sack of constantinople (1204). Details the treachery of the Greeks.

Frederick II

German prince that protects Luther; economic and politically interested in Luther. Money needed to stay in Germany, not go to Rome. Drawn to Luther's personality, but also had other interests. HRE is fragmented (Bohemian Church, German Prince and Luther.

Erdmann thesis

Germany, 1940's, Secular military culture took over Western church during crusades era. Religion was a recruiting tool to battle enemies of the faith.

Providence

God's guardianship and care for His creatures and creation.

Niketas Choniates

Greek author of an account of the sack of constantinople (1204). Details the horrors of the Latins.

Gabriel Biel

Held the view that grace remains intact after the fall. Similar to Pelagian. God wouldn't tell you to be perfect if you couldn't actually do it. Had a different view of grace from Lombard and Aquinas. Influenced Martin Luther. Pactum theory; to the one doing their best, God does not deny grace. Grace remains intact after the Fall (Pelagius) There is some ability to do what God has called you to do. (Pelagius tried to protect the character of God - wrong idea). Luther saw Biel's position as earning one's salvation. God preserved the human will after the fall, but the will of humans is intact.

Charles V

Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 until the 1550's and grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella-- 20 years old at time of the Diet of Worms, also fighting wars on two fronts against the French and Ottomans. He has a huge jaw in paintings.

Francis 1

King of France (1515-1547) who waged four wars against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V from 1521 to 1544.

Richard I

Known as Richard the Lionheart, one of the chief commanders in the Third Crusade (1189). King of England

Zwingli

Leader of the Swiss Reformation-- Catholic priest who survived the plague; big fan of Luther in the beginning, esp. On the Freedom of the Christian; defended perpetrators of "the affair of the sausages" when folks ate sausages during Lent, arguing meat during Lent not forbidden in Scripture; wrote his own 67 theses; he and Luther eventually had a nasty falling out over the sacraments.

Leipzig Debate

Luther vs. Johann Eck (d. 1543)-- Eck was a stalwart defender of Rome and Church authority (even though he was concerned about clerical abuses of power). Eck argued in defense of Church and papal authority, Luther argued against. Luther held that Jesus did not give the keys to the church to an individual person (Peter), but rather to everyone; he argued that the power of the church is declarative, not sacramental (ie focus should be on the Gospel, not the sacraments). Eck accused Luther of being a Bohemian (ie a heretic).

sola fide

Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone.

95 Theses

Martin Luther developed these to combat the selling of indulgences by Rome, specifically Tetzel, in his own parish. Indulgences had been around since Pope Urban II during the Crusades. Putting up Theses was an invite to debate. Attack on indulgences were academic. Luther uses German nationalism to argue that the office of Pope is not biblical, elements of Eucharist had symbolic but nor real presence, and confession could be received by anyone. Not that indulgences are bad or evil, but they are abused (main theme).

October Revolution

Overthrew the czar and brought the Bolsheviks, a Communist party led by Lenin, to power. Encouraged by Russian setbacks in World War I. (20th Century)

Innocent III

Pope in Rome who called fourth crusade in 1202, which led to the sack of Constantinople.

Urban II

Pope who preached/called the First Crusade in 1095 in France.

Election

Refers to God's choosing of individuals or peoples to be the objects of his grace or to otherwise fulfill his purposes.

Martin Luther

Sermons on the following ideas: Inner change precedes outer change and the gospel shouldn't be turned into rigid regimentation

Plenary Indulgences

Skips purgatory altogether if one went on Crusades; remission from temporal punishment of sin. Sin is both eternal, sin toward God, and temporal. Indulgences do not gain remission of eternal, but temporal.

Leo X

Super corrupt Pope (1513-21)-- lived lavishly; issued plenary indulgences to pay off Michaelangelo for the Sistine Chapel (plenary indulgences were previously only offered to Crusaders); pissed off Luther something fierce.

Encomienda

System used especially during the 16th century in the Spanish-controlled areas of the New World. Slave labor camps of natives run by the Spaniards to help pay debts.

communion in both kinds

The administration of communion in the form of both elements (bread & wine). Insisted upon by Jan Hus, Martin Luther, and all major Protestant Reformers. Made illegal by the Council of Constance (1415). Later left to the pope's discretion by the Council of Trent (1562).

Predestination

The doctrine that because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and completely sovereign, he "from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass," (Westminster Confession).

Constantine XI

The last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Died at the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Schleitheim Confession

The most representative statement of Anabaptist principles, endorsed unanimously by a meeting of Swiss Anabaptists in 1527 in Schleitheim (Switzerland).

Via moderna

The movement emphasized logic and direct experience and rejected empty speculation and abstraction. A policy of the nomen's who followed William of Ockham

Deep Time

The multimillion year time frame within which scientists believe the earth has existed, and which is supported by the observation of natural, mostly geological, phenomena.

real presence

The notion that Jesus Christ is "really" present in the eucharist, thus excluding any merely symbolic or metaphorical understanding of his presence. The Roman Catholic Church maintains real presence via transubstantiation, Luther did so via consubstantiation, and Calvin via "spiritual presence." Zwingli and most Anabaptists rejected this notion.

lectio continua

The practice of reading Scripture in sequence over a period of time.

Summary Instruction for Indulgence Preachers

This outlined how ministers should go about accepting indulgences and penitentiaries. These speeches and rules led to Martin Luther writing his 95 theses

Mehmet II

Turkish Sultan that conquered Constantinople in 1453.

John Tetzel

Went around selling indulgences in germany, a wealthy area and highly taxed. And therefore became the first public antagonist of Luther. Luther's congregation went to_______l to buy indulgences and Luther was very curious about this. After investigating he was not pleased and wrote his "Sermon on Indulgences and Grace."

Mistra

Where many fled after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantine XI was crowned here. It fell a few years later.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Wrote "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies" Became a priest in 1502. Severe critic of the economienda system and mistreatment of natives.

Institutes

__________ of the Christian Religion (final edition: 1559). Preface and purpose - began as a catechism for lay people in 1536. Intended it to be for Protestants who were groping for an understanding of Protestant theology and Christian life. Revised in 1538 as a handbook for pastors. Not a systematic theology, although it is not unsystematically organized. Companion for biblical exegesis. Intention that theology never be divorced from one's heart. Christianity is not a doctrine of the tongue or the intellect, but revealed when it possesses the whole soul and the heart. Revised and expanded five time. First, in 1536 (Latin). 1539, in Latin in France under a pseudonym. Thirdly, in 1541 to Theologians and pastors in French. In 1542, the Institutes were banned in French and Latin. In 1545 and 1551 and 1553. First edition was six chapters and the last was 80 chapters, divided in four books. 1540's and 50's, they were translated in Spanish and English

Zwingli Affair of the sausages

a bunch of dudes ate sausage during Lent. Was there at the time, but swears he didn't eat the sausages. Defended those who did eat the sausages on the grounds that there is no scriptural basis for not eating meat during Lent. It was a kickoff for the Swiss Reformation.

Thettelwort

a word that affects something/makes it active. In Luther's theology, God's spoken word in Scripture is a thettelwort. This is set in contrast to a heisselwort which is a word that names something that already exists. Luther contends that humans name things, but God makes things be.

Sphrantzes

confidant of Constantine XI and eye-witness to the Siege of Constantinople-- he was ransomed and his children were sold to the Sultan; his daughter died and his son was killed for plotting to overthrow the Sultan.

Ockham

d. 1347 English philosopher and theologian. Considered a founder of nominalism. -- date: 1347 ; denied that there was universal reality behind "nomen" which makes it impossible to find a logical line of thinking.

Hus

d. 1415 From Bohemia. Wanted both bread and wine to be given during communion. Was burned at the stake, but the ________ church was founded after his death.

Lollardy

followers of Wycliffe; people who mumble all the time and make no sense. No political champions as the church and crown were united against them. They produced the first complete, English translation of the Latin Vulgate

Ussher chronology

is a 17th-century __________ of the history of the world formulated from a literal reading of the Bible by James _________, the Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland).

the red apple'

term used to refer to Constantinople. Reference to a Turkish proverb: "A ____ _____ invites stones."

Third Rome

the idea that some city, state, or country is the successor to the legacy of ancient Rome (1871-1918)

Consubstantiation

view that originated in the 11th Century-- A term to describe the notion that, at the consecration of the eucharistic elements, the substance of the bread and wine are joined by the substance of Christ's body and blood, with no change to the elements themselves. (An alternative to transubstantiation.) Repeatedly condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Berengar, Wycliffe, and Luther. Zwingli held that consubstantiation was no better than transubstantiation, theologically. This was the big point of contention between Zwingli and Luther.