Protestant Reformation

• What abuses did you find within the Catholic Church?

Abuses in the Church

• Nepotism: Appointing one’s own relations as cardinals or bishops whether they were suitable or not.

• Simony: buying or selling important Church positions.

• Pluralism: Holding more than one Church position at the same time.

• Absenteeism: A priest or bishop living away from his own parish or diocese.

Indulgences• “Listen now, God and St. Peter call you. Consider the salvation of your

souls and those of your loved ones departed…consider that all who are contrite and have confessed and made contribution will receive complete remission of all their sins. Listen to the voices of your dear dead relatives and friends, beseeching you and saying, ‘Pity us, pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for pittance.’ do you not wish to? Open your ears. Hear the father saying to his son, the mother to her daughter, ‘We bore you, nourished you, brought you up, left you our fortunes, and you are so cruel and hard that now you are not willing for so little to set us free. Will you let us lie here in flames? Will you delay our promised glory? ‘

Remember that you are able to release them, forAs soon as the coin in the coffer rings, The soul from purgatory springs.Will you not then for a quarter of a florin receive these letters of indulgence

through which you are able to lead a divine and immortal soul into the fatherland of paradise?”

Johan Tetzel

It is Sunday morning. You are preparing to attend worship services at a local church. As you are about to enter the church, a church official greets your family with a collection plate and asks if you would like to buy some forgiveness this morning. Your parents place some money in the plate while you put in two quarters. You remember you had lied to your mother earlier in the week, and you want to buy back that indiscretion. A quarter should do it. You always buy a little forgiveness for dearly departed Uncle Harry who died two years ago. You figure Uncle Harry needs a lot of sins removed, so you usually buy back one or two each time you come to church.

Your family settles into a pew and prays silently. There will be another collection after the priest conducts a good part of the service in a foreign language that no one in your family understands.

The priest does finally address you in a comprehendible language when he gives his hour-long sermon in which you get to hear bits and pieces of the Bible. You have heard that the Bible is the word of God, but at eight hundred dollars a copy, your family has not been able to afford one. Your parents have stated that there is no need for the expense of a Bible since the priest tells them exactly what to believe in it and interprets it for them.

As you are exiting the church, you place another quarter into the plate the church official is once again holding at the door as you leave. You really liked Uncle Harry and like the idea of having a certificate forgiving his sins.

Luther’s Beliefs• SalvationJustification by faith alone. Only faith in God would decide who would be saved• The BibleThe Bible is the only source of truth and authority for all Christians.• Communion ServiceLuther replaced the Latin Mass with a Communion Service in the German language. • ConsubstantiationBoth the body and blood of Christ and the bread and wine are present at

Communion. • Three SacramentsBaptism and Eucharist and penance• Priesthood of all believersPriests should not be a special group. People could read the Bible for themselves, so

they were as good as priests. No saints• Married ClergyLuther himself married a former nun, Catherine Von Bora, in 1525

Hymn:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snj9yR5Ae_k

• A Mighty Fortress Is Our God becomes popular across Europe and across faiths. Supposedly Adolphus of Sweden led his troops in song before battles in 30 Years War

• Look at the reformers ideas and see what it would have changed about the Catholic Church…

• Rotate around each primary document and answer the questions as a group. Please put all names on your responses and turn them in.

Calvin • Predestination God has chosen those who are to be saved and those who

are to be damned before they are born. “…the predestinating decision of God is made from God's knowledge of his own will (Romans 9:15), and is therefore not contingent upon human decisions (rather, free human decisions are outworkings of the decision of God, which sets the total reality within which those decisions are made in exhaustive detail: that is, nothing left to chance). ” (stolen from wikipedia) All part of God’s plan

• The Bible The Bible is the only authority for Christians to follow • No bishops-only ministers Calvin’s Church contained ministers who were elected

by the people to preach the Bible.

• Christ is not present at Communion Calvin believed that the bread and wine remained bread and wine at Communion. God is everywhere all the time so communion no different.

• The power of the Church Luther had stated that the princes should be the heads of the Protestant Church in their own states. Calvin believed, however, that governments should obey the leaders of the Church. Created his own theocracy in Geneva, Switzerland

• Henry VIII just wanted a divorce• Act of Supremacy in 1540’s put Henry at head of

church. Able to take Church land and revenue. The land was given to the upper classes tying them to the monarchy giving the monarchy more power

• Very little change in doctrine but Henry takes lands of the Church as his own

• Pilgrimage of Grace was a rebellion against the religious changes but it was put down easily enough.

• How should the Catholic Church react?Catholic Reformation had begun before Luther as high Church officials wanted to reform behavior of clergy (not Catholic doctrine). Also meant to renew spiritual fervor.Counter-Reformation was to stop Protestant growth. Council of Trent was to reform church and secure reconciliation with Protestants.• Write a speech to the Pope as a faithful

Catholic clergyman. (Not you AP Euro)

• Counter-Reformation SpeechIt is 1545. Twenty-eight years have passed since Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,

Germany. The Reformation has now spread to many countries in Europe—even to Italy, the homeland of the Roman Catholic Church. This rapid growth of Protestantism has stunned Catholic leaders and has prompted Pope Paul III to call a meeting known as the Council of Trent.

The Pope has asked you to deliver on of the opening day speeches when the council begins its meeting next week. He wants you to talk about

two important matters: • measures that should be taken to check the spread of Protestantism, and • reforms which need to be made to bring about improvements within the Catholic Church. Your speech should take into consideration a number of important issues:

– Should the Church continue to think of Martin Luther as a heretic?

– Would it be a good idea to bring back the “Inquisition,” a Church court of the Middle Ages that tried and often executed heretics?

– Should an “Index of Forbidden Books” be drawn up listing books that are not to be owned, read or sold because they are dangerous to the lives of good Christians?

– Do people need the help of the clergy to explain the Bible?

– Do clergymen have spiritual power that laymen do not have?

– Should the Pope have the final say in Church matters?

– Are both good works and faith needed to forgive one’s sins?

– Is it okay for church officials to continue selling indulgences?

– Should people to allowed to buy Church offices?

– Should seminaries be established to train worthy people to be clergymen?

– At the risk of war, should the Pope side with Catholic states and opposed Protestant states in Europe?

All of your points should explain how these actions will both oppose the spread of Protestantism while at the same time reform the Catholic

Church.

Catholic BeliefsSalvation• Good works as well as faith were needed to save a person’s soulThe Bible• People should not take their own meaning from the Bible. It should be explained

to them by the pope and their bishops.The Mass• The mass is truly a re-enactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and must

be said in Latin. • TransubstantiationAt communion, the bread and wine are completely changed to the body and blood

of Christ. This was changed in November 2011 to consubstantiation based on the idea of misinterpreted texts.

• Seven SacramentsBaptism, Penance (Confession), the Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders,

Extreme Unction (last rites)• Separate PriesthoodA priest is a special person who is ordained in the sacrament of Holy Orders. Only

priests can offer the sacrifices of the Mass and forgive sins in Confession • Priests can not marry

• Inquisition• Index of Forbidden Books• Jesuits go out to educate, convert, missionaries• Reforms:SeminariesNo more simony, nepotism, pluralism, absenteeismNo more girlfriends allowedIndulgences should be reasonableNew Religious Orders worked to educate and

renew faithMore Fanfare: funerals, flourishing art work, lists of

miracles (mostly performed only on upper class), more decoration in churches

THIS IS HUGE!!!!!!

• Protestantism will emphasize the power of the state instead of the Church.

• It will also leave more money in the state treasuries or the peoples’ pockets.

• Both of these impacts will promote free commerce and political participation in the areas that adopt a Protestant faith much more so than areas which remain Catholic.