THEOLOGY Final Focus Questions
The seven official sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick. A sacramental is an object or devotion which has spiritual benefits such as holy water although it is lesser than a sacrament
What are the seven "official" sacraments? What is a sacramental?
Calvin expressed that the church authority belonged to anyone who was willing to preach the word of God. To ensure that the authority was balanced he set up a consistory of church leaders, government, and church members to be the authority of the church and city in Geneva.
How did Calvin address questions about church authority? Include at least one specific example from his experience in Geneva
Radical Reformers are called so because they radicalized or went "one up" from what other Protestant Reformers believed such as Luther and Calvin. The Four distinctive elements are voluntarist principle (active decision), restorationism which means they wanted to return to the church (either the church of the New Testament or in the afterlife with Jesus), they must be dedicated believers, and they were pessimistic about the people of the rest of the world.
Why are the Radical Reformers called "radical"? List and briefly describe the four distinctive elements that characterize most of the Radical Reformers?
Penances should not be a one time only thing but that it should be deeply spiritual In other words, we need to be in a lifelong penance
(Martin Luther's 95 Theses) In theses 1-4, what is Luther's argument?
Trying to show that the pope does not have any authority The pope only has authority through God In other words, he says that the pope does not have the authority to do what he is doing
(Martin Luther's 95 Theses) In theses 5-11, what does Luther argue against and why?
To do his duty to the Church
(Martin Luther's 95 Theses) Letter to the Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz--What is Luther's intent in writing the archbishop?
By perseverance seasoned with the most holy faith
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) By what means is love acquired?
By perseverance and virtue
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) How is lively faith to be recognized?
The affect of desire, not through admitting words simply When we know that we cannot do things on our own so we turn to God
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) How is perfect prayer attained?
With the knowledge of God's goodness
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) How should the soul season the knowledge of herself?
She had a vision of the devil saying she is worthless and it was him trying to confuse her but she decided to turn to Jesus in this time He wanted Catherine to despair or to have pride
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) What are the roles of vocal and mental prayer?
The affection of charity That they wish to receive the Eucharist but they can't so they wish to receive it still
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) What does it mean to communicate virtually with the Body and Blood of Christ?
To exert himself for the salvation of souls
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) What is the purpose of each person?
It strengthens our souls and focuses us away from the devil's pull
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) What is the role of the Eucharist in prayer?
Holy desire, charity, purpose
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) What two things does Catherine call a continual prayer?
If she feels God's presence, she should avoid vocal prayer
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) When should the soul abandon vocal prayer?
God is not going to interrupt her when she is saying the liturgy of the hours (Never during the liturgy of the hours)
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) When should the soul never abandon vocal prayer?
In the house of self-knowledge with holy prayer, where imperfections are lost (the church
(St Catherine of Siena's A Treatise of Prayer) Where can the love of God and neighbor be acquired?
Calvin believed in election that some people were chosen by God to be in a closer relationship with Him than others. Double predestination was part of this belief as it means that our lives do not affect our final destination, it is pre-decided before we are even born. This means that our actions do not affect whether we will go to heaven or hell after this life.
Briefly describe Calvin's doctrine of election. Include a description of "double predestination"
Medieval people did not care about individual accomplishments, and Renaissance people did
Contrast the medieval and Renaissance view of humanity.
Medieval people were theocentric (God centered) and Renaissance people were anthropocentric (human centered).
Contrast the medieval and Renaissance view of the world.
Some feature of Catholicism at this time were the many apparitions of Mary, the Pope's authority was strengthened, many found the Catholic church after rejecting Enlightenment ideals, and the Church resisted giving up control in regards to marriage and other issues
Describe some of the main features of Catholicism as it was practices after the French Revolution and before the First Vatican Council.
a. Reform and liturgy: mass in vernacular language, altar was turned around so that priest faced people, new contemporary music, changes in Church's shape b. Church as a "people of God": everyone is declared equal, the pope is leader of all the bishops but all successors of the apostles and part of the "college", the laity are all equal but they have different roles within the church. Parish councils were set up of laypersons to advise the priests in their decisions c. The ecumenical movement: Christians must not be separate anymore; intermarriages were acceptable, jews were not responsible for Jesus' death and shouldn't be punished d. Dialogue with the secular world: basically allowed Catholic religion to support modern movements If religion seems to be in accord with these movements e. The theology of revelation: both written and oral traditions were necessary, understanding of revelation has changed over time but revelation itself doesn't change, humans wrote the bible so that fact needs to be taken into account when interpreting them, and the Church has sole authority to interpret traditions. Finally it asserted that the Bible is essential to all parts of life
Describe the major contributions of the second Vatican council in the following areas
The factors that contributed to the birth of the Renaissance movement are an emergence of an urban business class, the emergence of nation-states, and the invention of printing
Discuss the factors that contributed to the birth of the Renaissance movement
Spain and Portugal came to dominate missions to the New World because of Pope Alexander VI's five bulls which split the new lands to determine who could conquer which lands. The missions were immoral due to slavery and the encomienda systems but they did spread Christianity to the new world.
Explain how Spain and Portugal came to dominate the missions in the New World and evaluate their performance in this area.
The beliefs of liberalism is that the best atmosphere for human development was freedom and that church and state should be separate. Economic liberalism is laissez faire which means that the government should not interfere with the free market/economy. Pope John Paul II criticize this thought because he believes that property owners do not have absolute right and that their rights must be balanced out to protect the rights of all people.
Explain the beliefs of (a) liberalism and (b) economic liberalism. How did Pope John Paul II criticize economic liberalism?
Why did Enlightenment thinkers insist so strongly on freedom of religion? What did they see as opposed to religious freedom?
Explain the disagreement between Enlightenment philosophers such as Condorcet and traditional Christianity on the subject of human nature and progress. Which side do you think was right? Why?
Humanist education centered on the studia humanitatis, which is a liberal arts education. Latin and Greek literature, history, and ethics
Explain the goal and practice of humanist education.
Enlightenment is a cultural movement with emphasized reason, science, morality, religious tolerance, progress, and human freedom. Rationalism is meant to explain that reason can solve every truth and reality of the world so there is no need for supernatural beliefs. These views challenged Christianity because they believed that religion is simpler than Christianity makes it out to be and that God is unnecessary (similar to Ockham's razor).
Explain what is meant by the Enlightenment and by the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Why was it such a challenge to traditional Christianity?
The purpose of the Council of Trent was to either reconcile reformers and bring them back to the Church or to remove them and reform the Church internally. The council faced difficulties as it took 10 years for it to convien due to location arguments, the Emperor and Pope fought over power of the council, and some church leaders just didn't want a council out of fear, political gain, etc
For what purpose was the Council of Trent called? What difficulties did it encounter?
Luther believed that the true church was found where the gospels were preached and where the sacraments were rightly administered. Luther believed that the true church existed from the apostles to his time through the hidden church or believers in the gospels faithfully.
How did Luther define a true church? When and where does it exist?
Calvin's understanding of the Eucharist is different that Luther and Zwingli's because he believes that it is how God nourishes us and that we should only care about the fact that God is present in us after we receive communion rather than focusing on how Jesus is present in the Eucharist.
How does Calvin's understanding of the Eucharist differ from that of Luther and the of Zwingli?
Removed anything that appeals to the supernatural Says there are no extra elements of history, only things that concretely occurred Pulls anything out of history books that has to do with non-materialistic motivations for anybody
How does scientific history differ from older forms of history? In what way has it been a major shaper of a secular view of the world?
The missions by these religious orders were not for political and economic power but to spread the Christian faith which was different from the patronage missionary efforts. THeir work was also different because they assimilated into these cultures rather than forcing Christianity culture on them. The main leaders of these missions were St. Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci who were Jesuit missionaries who spread the faith to India (Francis) and India which was accomplished by Ricci.
How were the missions conducted by the Jesuits and Capuchins in the fifth stage of missionary expansion different from those conducted under the direction of the Spanish and Portuguese? Who were the main leaders of the missions conducted by the Jesuits and Capuchins? What were their major accomplishments?
Two similarities were that they believed that Christians forgot that their salvation comes from God alone and that the Bible should be able to be interpreted by anyone. They disagreed on the Eucharist because Zwingli said that was only spiritually Jesus' body and blood, and that images should not be used because people will worship them. Zwingli was as opposed to the use of images in worship because he believed that it broke the second commandment.
Iist at least two similarities and two difference between the teachings of Zwingli and Luther. Why was Zwingli so adamantly opposed to the use of images in worship?
Three events that could have lead to the English Reformation were the fact that King Henry VIII wanted to divorce or annul his first wife, the words of reformers such as John Wycliffe (Pope did not have authority), intellectually rebirth, and the growth of power of the English monarchs over time.
List at least three events or movements that led to the English Reformation.
Two denominations which developed from this split were the Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church. Another group that was influenced by this split was the Oxford movement
List at least two movements or denominations that developed within the Church of England after the Reformation era.
Zwingli influenced the creation of the Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ and Baptist Churches. Calvi influenced the Presbyterian Church. Radical Reformation inspired the Amish, and the Society of Friends (Quakers). English Reformation inspired the Church of England and present day Methodist and Episcopal Churches
Name at least one Christian denomination that has been significant;y influenced by each of the four reformers or movements described in this chapter (Zwingli, Calvin, the Radical Reformation, and the English Reformation)
The first stage of missionary expansion occurred in the first to fourth centuries from Asia Minor, Mediterranean coast, and it spread to Iran, Iraq, and Ireland. The missions were lead by the apostles, Paul, and saints such as Patrick and conversions were brought about by preaching.The second stage occurred in the fifth to ninth centuries and covered the Byzantine Empire (East) along with England. The missions were lead by princes, Popes, and religious monks and nuns. Whole people were converted during this time because a ruler such as a prince changed his religion then all his subjects did as well. Princes changed their religion for political and spiritual reasons. The third stage occurred in the eleventh to fifteenth centuries to convert the Muslims. This was done by the Church and monks and they converted by persuasion not force.The fourth stage occurred in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries into the new world by religious and political rulers. People were converted by concurring.The fifth stage occurred in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV in the non-Christian lands. They worked to convert people in these lands by missionaries from the office of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
Review the five stages of the missionary expansion of Christianity. When did each stage occur, and what areas were covered in it? Who led the missions, and how were conversions brought about?
The Portuguese mission in Africa was largely a failure because Christians who lived in Africa as missionaries did not set good examples, the officials (clergy and secular) only wanted power and riches so they did not spread Christianity like they should have done, and there was fighting between the natives over if they should be Catholic or their tribal religion. The mission ultimately ended after the only native bishop, the king's son, died and no native took his place. Slave trade also erupted which is one of the reason why Christian missionaries were not good examples for the natives.
Review the main events of the Portuguese mission to Africa and explain why this mission was largely a failure
a. Avignon Papacy—referring to a period in the Late Middle ages when the pope moved his court to Avignon, France. Before the papacy returned to Rome, the church leadership would be involved in an even greater struggle for power called the Great Schism. b. The 'Babylonian Captivity' - the period from 1309 to 1378 when the Popes were based in Avignon, France rather than Rome which was associated with the apostolic succession of St. Peter. A total of seven popes reigned at Avignon; all were French, and the papacy increasingly fell under the influence of the French Crown. Furthermore, this was called the "Babylonian Captivity" because the French king effectively controlled the Avignon Papacy, weakening the authority and power of the papacy. Allies and enemies of France feared that, with the "captivity" of the pope, the French could control all of European affairs from Avignon. c. Great Schism-the split within the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Gregory XI moved the papal court back to Rome, only to die the following year. When the new pope Urban VI announced that he planned a reform of the curia (college of cardinals), a large faction of French cardinals protested by calling for a return of the papcy to Avignon. The cardinals decided to elect their own pope named Clement VII, resulting in two different popes, an Italian pope named Urban VI and a French pope named Clement VII (and a third pope at the Council of Pisa named John XXIII), each saying that he was the real pope and the other one was the antipope. The schism within the papacy was resolved by the Council of Constance with the election of Martin V (1414-1418).
To what situation does the Avignon Papacy refer? Why is it sometimes called the "Babylonian Captivity"? How does the Avignon Papacy relate to the Great Schism, and what was the effect of these tow situations on the church of the time?
Luther meant by justification by grace through faith that everything will be put right by God, that grace is a free gift from God, and that you must have faith or trust that you are willing to risk everything for Christ. He came to this idea by studying the Bible and by teaching lectures as a new school, the University of Wittenberg.
What did Luther mean by "justification by faith"? How did he come to this idea?
a. Mysticism—a spiritual phenomenon that expresses itself in direct, intense experiences of union and oneness with God. Generally, the mystical journey consists of three phases: purgation (cleansing from sin), illumination (an attraction to all the things of God, especially scripture and the divine office, the official prayer of the church), and finally union (the state of oneness with God). b. Mysticism was considered an essential part of the spirituality of the Late Middle Ages was that the passionate and prophetic character of the mystic was solely needed in a time when the church and the Christian people were wondering if they had indeed been abandoned by God, or if they were victims of God's wrath. IN these troubled times, when the world seemed to be falling to pieces, people needed the guidance of the mystics. c. The three stages of the mystical experience are: - Visionaries, whose union with God produced visions which taught them about faith and eoften called them to prophecy or to service - Others were so overcome by the presence of God that they would experience ecstasies (from ek-stasis, "standing outside"). While in ecstasy, they experienced supernatural phenomenona of various sorts: raptures, trances, various types of transformation (levitation, changes in appearance, miraculous events). - Still others felt drawn closer to God in an experience of "divine darkness" where they realized the full extent of how little God can be understood or perceived
What exactly is mysticism, and why was it considered an essential part of the spirituality of the Late Middle Ages? What are the states of mystical experience?
The aftermath of the Enlightenment from a Christian standpoint is that the Church lost its uncontested authority and that they could no longer force their beliefs upon people's. Criticism of this thought included that these thinkers led to destruction of social traditions and values, that they didn't respect the Church, and that it was too exclusive since it didn't acknowledge other types of thought. The facet of Enlightenment thought that is most widely accepted today is religious freedom and tolerance.
What facets of enlightenment thought have become widely accepted?
He translated the Bible into German and believed that everyone should be able to read it in their own language, the liturgy was translated into German and he changed the Eucharistic prayer, Luther also composed two catechism (one is small, other large), and in regards to the hymns he wanted his members to be actively involved in the service so he had them sign hymns which he wrote.
What innovations did Luther make with respect to the Bible, the catechism, the liturgy, and the hymn book? Why did he consider these changes necessary?
Neo-scholasticism is a scholastic philosophy which focused on the ideas of clarity of its concepts, concept of trust as constant and unchanging, its objectivity of its claims, and that it was rational which didn't depend on revelation. Catholic theology was improved by this philosophy because it recovered and interpreted St. Thomas' works and developed them
What is neo-scholasticism, and what contributions did it make to catholic theology in the period between the First and Second Vatican council?
a. Nominalism (nominal:existing as something in name only: not actual or real): questions about the appropriateness of use of language (A nominalist is someone who thinks that the thing dogs have in common is just the use of the word—that is, that they're all called dogs.) Ockham's contribution was to come up with a distinction between words about words and words that point to words. Ockham's conclusion is that many philosophical errors arise due to the misunderstanding of language. Grand philosophical terms or words are the worst culprits, in his view. For example, attempting to think about human beings in general leads people to use the word humanity, and then philosophers suppose humanity is a real quality that all human beings possess. Stop right there! says Ockham, instead the word humanity is merely a kind of mental marker standing for all the people you know or have heard about, MINUS all their other (specific, individual collective) characteristics. In this way, Ockham's supporting theory is supposed to explain how words you use in sentences, which Ockham calls terms, refer to things. Alas, that's not why the theory is also sometimes called supposition theory. Instead, the label is attached , so to speak, because originally, in Latin , the word supposition means standing for and approximates to the idea of bearing reference in English. (Think supporting theory). Position taken in the dispute over universals—words that can be applied to individual things having something in common. Nominalism denied the real being of universals on the ground that the use of a general word (e.g., "humanity") does not imply the existence of a general thing named by it. The nominalist says that the existence of a thing is to be found in the particular, and not the universal. Rather the speaking of "Man" (a universal), the nominalist refers to "a man" (a particular). The nominalist position denied that there is a similarity between the particular things to which the general word is applied. b. Nominalism: argues that knowledge can be derived only from experience of individual things. Universals of humanity or truth do not really exist in reality, but as concepts in the mind. According to Ockham, we can only know God through revelation, accepted in faith, not through reason (analogizing human goodness and wisdom to divine goodness and wisdom). Faith, not reason, is the basis for our relationship with God. c. Scholasticism: medieval theology that took the truths uncovered by philosphers like Aristotle, who believed that one could work one's way up to understanding the ultimate truth using one's senses and reason and he emphasized responsibility on the sinful human being, and this approach showed how these truths were compatible with Christianity, by showing how reason could deepen one's understanding of what one believed because of divine revelation . In general, scholastic theology, so-called because of its setting in medieval universities, tried to harmonize faith with seeking understanding in reason which could deepen one's understanding of what one believed regarding God's authority by seeking Greek philosophy.
What is nominalism? How does it differ from the scholasticism of the Middle Ages?
Ressourcement is the theological movement that sought to rejuvenate theology be recovering older scripture works and original traditions. This movement inspired many theologians to get back to the roots of Christian beliefs by retranslating them, reinterpreting them, and writing on what they believe these works meant today (De Lubac)
What is ressourcement, and what contributions did this movement make to catholic Theology in the period between the first and second Vatican councils?
Counter-Reformation is the movement that worked to counter the teachings and practices of the Protestant reformers. The Catholic Reformation was the effort to bring rebirth to the Church in its theology, religious piety, spirituality, and morality. The Counter-Reformation was negative whereas the Catholic Reformation would be more positive because it was trying to improve the Church and explain on what the Church already had
What is the difference between the Counter-Reformation and the Catholic Reformation? How are they related to one another?
Marxism criticised religion for encouraging the poor to accept their fate rather than helping/encouraging them to reach better economic standing. This is the most significant ways that Marxism helped Christianity change as well. Marxian communism can be described as a political religion because it had its own heresies, schisms, scriptures, authorities, shrines, holy days and cult of the dead.
What kinds of criticism does Marxism make of religion? What is the most significant way in which Marxism has offered a constructive criticism to Christianity? Finally, in what ways cold Marxian communism, as it developed in Russia for instance, be described as a pseudo-religion or a political religion?
The third and fourth stages are similar because both church and secular leaders wanted to explore in order to gain new things. Both wanted riches and to control new lands but the Church wanted to convert these people while the secular leaders wanted power. The relationship changes from two independent efforts to one unified effort in the fourth stage where secular leaders ran missions to non-Christian lands to convert people and to gain riches.
What motives did the missionaries and the explorers have in common?
The most basic value of human beings is their right to determine their own destiny. This was the greatest thing during the modern period because they believed autonomy or one's self as law was most important.
What seems to be the most basic value recognized by human beings in the modern period? What are two possible interpretations that modern Christianity as given of this fundamental value?
Some signs of reform were that Spain became a Christian country, the Bible was being translated, scholastic theologians were being trained and scholarship was encouraged, oratories or group who worked to combat scandals of the church were formed, and a new religious order, Theatines, was formed
What signs of reform were present in the Catholic Church even before the challenge of Luther and other Protestant reformers?
Renaissance humanism was an intellectual movement that sought to revive and teach Latin and Greek Classics. This allowed scholars to study the original language of the New Testament.
What was Renaissance humanism, and why was it important?
Deism is the belief that God made the world as a machine and started it but now it runs on its own. This differs from Christianity because they believe that God is present and that revelation is necessary to get to know him unlike Desists.
What was deism, and did it differ from Christianity?
The new scientific method was that it explained events in nature by formulating them mathematically and testing them in experiments. This changed how we looked at the world because we began to see it as a machine rather than an object that God was controlling. This challenged Christianity because this view said that their was no need for God because everything in the world could be explained by this new theory.
What was the "new" about the scientific method of the scientific revolution, how did it change the way human beings thought about the natural world, and why was this a challenge to traditional Christianity?
a. Traveling from the Middle East, ships returning to Europe carried rats and fleas, which spread two virulent forms of bubonic plague: one spread by contact with the blood of its victims, the other by respiration as a form of pneumonia. It was familiarly known as the Black Death because black growths and pustules appeared on the victim's body. These would burst, and gradually the entire body would swell, discolor, and decay. b. First, death as a grinning skeleton holding a scythe. Second, Christ on the cross with discolored flesh and weeping wounds warned people that this world was passing away. Also, this image gave hope to Christians that by Christ's redemptive death on the cross better things awaited those who experienced great suffering as Christ had suffered. Third, pieta in which Mary mourns over her crucified so. It encouraged Christians to identify their suffering and death with that of Christ and to wonder at the amazing love of God present even in life's most difficult moments. c. Medieval people assumed God must be punishing them for something, though they weren't sure what. One response was the cult of "flagellants", who travelled round in groups praying for forgiveness and whipping themselves as a sign of their repentance. Other Christians blamed the plague on the Jews, resulting in pogroms or organized massacres against them across Europe during the Black Death. Likewise, the dying could not receive the anointing of the sick because a priest was not available or he would not come out for fear of contamination so lay persons were aloud to hear the last confessions of the dying to reassure them that God would not forget them but forgive them at the end. d. Following the Plague, the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 came about because of the mistreatment and overworking and overtaxing of peasantry. In large part, the revolt was caused by the farm labor shortage resulting from the plague. The shortage was made even worse by the fact that peasants who had been farmers were leaving the farms for more interesting jobs as artisans. The large landowners were not pleased about their loss of income and the higher wages they had to pay the workers who remained in farming. In order to recoup their losses and stop the flow of peasants off the land, the landowners shifted to wool production and other more profitable, less labor-intensive crops. They also managed to get extremely repressive legislation passed to keep peasants on their farms. They froze farm wages at very low levels and exacted very high taxes from peasants
What was the Black Death, and how did this plague get its name? What was the impact of the Black Death on religious art and literature? On the social structure of Europe at the time?
Indulgences were something that was sold by the Church to be used rather than a work of satisfaction to gain forgiveness of sins. A work of satisfaction was the last part of Penance which usually required prayer, fasting, or donations. Luther became involved because he attacked the practice of indulgence sales in his ninety-five theses. He wanted to spark academic debate so he composed this list of moral and theological issues with the sales of indulgences and posted it on a church's door.
What were indulgences, and how were they related to the sacrament of Penance? Why an dhow did Luther become a controversy over church authority?
Some developments in biblical studies were that Lagrange founded the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem as a center for Bible study, Pope Pius XII's writing which told that we need to uncover the meaning of scriptures, and the belief that the Bible needed to be interpreted by pre-modern means
What were some of the developments in Catholic biblical studies during the period between the first and second Vatican councils? How did these developments anticipate the second Vatican council's teaching on revelation?
Some of the goals of the liturgical movement were to recover musical traditions, to reform the worship experience, and the main part was to get back to the traditions while also making the mass simpler and more understandable so that Christians could feel more presence in the service. It anticipated the reform of the Second Vatican council by having scholars look at old texts to find the most authentic form of worship
What were some of the goals of the Catholic liturgical movement in the period between the first and second Vatican councils? How did these developments anticipate some of the reforms of the Second Vatican council?
The Council of Trent also set things in place to avoid the need of another reform. Some of these things were that they abolished the selling of indulgences, simony and nepotism were abolished, the breviary and catechisms were created and simplified so that they could be commonly used, and education of clergy was establish
What were the disciplinary or practical reforms made by the Council of Trent?
The council addressed the doctrinal issues of justification and salvation, that you can increase your justness by good deeds, and that faith cannot be lost but it can be denied. They also fixed that there are seven sacraments and that sacramentals are beneficial but they are not sacraments. These things were important because the Protestant Reformation believed in these things incorrectly and could have lead Catholics astray if they had not been addressed
What were the doctrinal issues addressed by the Council of Trent, and what is their importance?
What were the main characteristics of Renaissance art? Illustrate each of these by referring to one of the plates described in this chapter.
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Renaissance popes?
The First Vatican Council was called in 1869 and lasted till 1870. It was called in order to give support to the Pope, to establish the the Pope's teaching authority was without error which is meant to be understood as his infallibility is only in regards to moral and faith matters
When was the first Vatican council called, and what was its purpose? What was its most important teaching, and how was this teaching intended to be understood?
The Second Vatican Council was called in October of 1962 until December 1965 and was called because the new Pope, John XXIII felt the Holy Spirit was calling him to call a council. Some people didn't think it was going to be an ecumenical council because they thought he just wanted to reaffirm church teachings but instead the Pope wanted to focus on the lives of Christians and how they should live their faith.
When was the second Vatican council called, and what was its purpose? Why did some persons consider it to be an ecumenical council, while others did not?
Bartolome de las Casas was a friar in the New World during the fourth stage of missionary exploration. Casas tried to reform the missions by traveling to Spain and back in order to end slavery of the Christian natives because he felt that they should not be enslaved (eventually he believed that all slavery was immoral, not just of Christians). His efforts created the foundation of human rights which we exercise today
Who was Bartolome de las casas? How and why did he try to reform the missions in the New World? What impact did his efforts have?
Ignatius of Loyola was the founder of the Society of Jesus or Jesuit order. He wanted missionary expansion into new lands, to reform the church, and for education to increase. These things were important because they became the interests of the Catholic reform
Who was Ignatius of Loyola, and how did he shape the movement he founded? Why did this movement become so important to the effort of Catholic reform?
a. John Wycliffe: a reformer of the late medieval period. He preached against abuses in the church such as the wealth and power of the clergy and the Avignon Papacy and challenged some of the church's doctrines such as the "visible" church claims to be the source of salvation for Christians were wrong because those predestined for salvation were chosen by God alone, he also taught that personal holiness ought to be the basis of religious authority in the church not one's ecclesiastical rank or ordination, and Wycliffe attacked the doctrine of transubstantiation and the notion of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist because he thought the bread remained bread (called his doctrine of "remaining"). He also advocated the translation of the Bible into English, the language of the people. Lollards, a group who implemented his ideas, advocated clerical poverty and confiscation of church property. The distributed vernacular translations (in the language of the people) of the Bible and preched a return to simple, scripture-based Christianity of the early church. b. Jan Hus: a reformer of the late medieval period. Like his contemporary, John Wycliffe, he preached against abuses in the church and challenged some of the church's doctrines. For example, Hus accepted Wycliffe's teaching about the authority of scripture as the source of doctrine. However, he did not accept Wycliffe's doctrine of "remaining" in the Eucharist. He criticized the intention of one of the antipopes o send a crusading force against Christians in Naples and he criticized against the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. He was eventually executed as a heretic because they claimed that Hus taught the doctrine of "remaining."
Who were John Wycliffe and Jan Hus? What were their concerns? What were the religious teachings that brought them into conflict with the authorities?
Luther opposed the Peasants' revolt because he believed that God gave these leaders authority and even though they were using it incorrectly they must obey them anyway. I think Luther's understanding of reform was that it was not based on social, political, or economic reform, it was strictly spiritual. By this I mean that he only wanted to reform the Church, he did not want to reform society.
Why did Luther oppose the Peasants' revolt? What does this tell you about his understanding of reform?
Luther refused to recant at the Diet of Worms because he believed that his writings were correct since he could not find any Scriptures or clear reason why his writings were wrong. He also stated that he was listening to his conscience which told him not to recant his writings.
Why did Luther refuse to recant the Diet of Worms?
Nominalist theology caused anguish for Luther because he was always worried that he had not done his best, that he hadn't confessed all of his sins, and that he was not forgiven for his sins because he was not sorry enough for them. Luther became angry with God according to his confessor because he did not have faith in God and himself that he was doing his best and that God would give him the grace he needed to get to heaven.
Why did nominalist theology cause problems for Luther?
a. Weather conditions in Europe caused drought and starvation b. The bubonic plague killed 1/3 of the population in place c. The European economy and social institutions were in shambles d. The Church hierarchy had become a source of scandal e. England and France were engaged in the Hundred Years' War f. First, shifts in the intellectual climate of the late medieval period gave rise to nominalism, a development within scholasticism that would have a radical impact on theological inquiry g. Second, there was the scandal of the Avignon papacy, the Great Schism, and the responses of reformers who sought to bring the church back to holiness h. Third the Black Death had a profound impact on the Christian art and literature i. Finally, the late medieval period saw the rise of mysticism, a spiritual phenomenon that provided people with direct experiences of humanity's deeply personal and intimate relationship with God.
Why do we speak of the fourteenth century as one of change and crisis?
Historical criticism is the use of historical knowledge to evaluate existing traditions. It allowed for critical thinking while reading ancient texts
Why was the development of historical criticism important?