Sheet Review Test 3 (The Reformation) The Eve of the Reformation (13th-15th c.) 1. In what ways did Anselm and Aquinas reflect the Medieval synthesis between faith and reason? - Anselm's idea that logic is inherent in Christian belief - Aquinas' 2 realms of knowledge (revelation & reason), where some things escape reason & reason never contradicts faith 2. How did nominalism challenge the Medieval synthesis? What consequences did nominalism have for understanding the basis of authority in Church? For science? For governmental authority? - No universals exist, only the particular - No universal form or abstract ideal, we construct broad concepts of specific things for our own convenience - God does not do things because they are reasonable; He simply does them (can contradict human rationality) God did not set an eternal order in the universe; he left us to make our own order Church no longer has divine authority; only has power thru collective agreement Foundations for modern science emphasis on observation Foundations for modern democracy idea that people can & should decide how their society should be 3. How was nominalism expressed in Ockham's theology? Where does his theological reflection begin? What is the primary source for theological reflection for Ockham? Ockham's razor do not introduce unnecessary concepts to explain the way things are; i.e. you can understand clouds without talking about a universal "form of cloud" Theology begins w/ God's absolute power God can do anything that doesn't contradict logic God's power is above reason and right/wrong (God does not do good things, but what God does is good) God can only truly be known thru what he reveals (which may or may not be within the confines of human reason) 4. What does Ockham emphasize about the Christian life? Why? Trust in God is fundamental Believe what is revealed Double truth doctrine truth discovered thru human reason can conflict with truth revealed by God 5. What were some of the undercurrents in Western Christendom from the 13 th-15th centuries that were important for the emergence of the Reformation? Rise of the bourgeoisie Nationalism and rise of nation states (i.e. France) 6. How did developing nationalism affect the papacy? How were the problems that developed with the papacy in this time resolved? Be specific. - Increasing power of monarchs undermined papal authority Papacy moved to Avignon in 1309 and Clement V largely served the interests of the French king Urban VII elected and returned papacy to Rome
French cardinals rescinded his election and Clement VII was declared pope as well, ruled in Avignon Council of Pisa (1409) new pope elected, other two refused to step down Council of Constance (1414) all 3 popes forced to resign; Martin V elected 7. What is the Renaissance? What are the characteristics of humanism that came to describe the ethos of the Renaissance? How did a "return to the sources" impact attitudes about the Church? What was a key invention during this time? How so? Renaissance = "rebirth" Renewed interest in arts and new emphasis on Classical themes, human achievement Growing dissatisfaction with Church, which appeared to have declined in stature over the years in the context of this new historical review Printing press (1445) allowed easier dissemination of ideas, information 8. In what way did the Renaissance affect the papacy? How did this provide the context/conflict out of which the Reformation sprung (remember your lecture on Luther)? Heightened interest in fine arts spread to Church Popes commissioned major works for churches and for themselves These projects were expensive and popes needed new ways to generate revenue to pay for them Selling indulgences, simony, etc resulted/increased Emphasis on statues, icons, ornate dcor seemed to distract from Christian message 9. What were the foci of pre-Reformation movements? Hus and Wycliffe focused on which type of reform? What were the central tenants of their theology and challenges for the Catholic Church? Early calls for reform simony buying/selling of church offices (i.e. bishoprics) nepotism appointing of family members to various positions absenteeism bishops heading multiple bishoprics and often never actually being present in some or any of them Wycliffe and Hus focused on doctrinal reform Wycliffe rejected absolute papal authority & wanted Bible translated into vernacular Hus cited Bible as final authority on Christianity, demanded an end to selling indulgences Martin Luther (1485-1546) 1. Why was Luther's early years "anxious"? What about Medieval teaching on grace failed to soothe and even increase Luther's anxiety? Luther never felt justified by God Period convention taught that grace received through penance and sacraments Luther felt if God was truly just then no amount of penance could forgive his sin 2. To what were Luther's 95 Theses a response? How do his theses (at least those listed in class) critique the issue to which Luther responds? When and where did he post his Theses?
95 Theses was response to selling of indulgences in area by friar Tetzel (raising money to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome) Posted on door of Wittenberg Church Oct 31, 1517 Distinguished between penance as Christ's "life of repentance" and penance as the clerical sacrament Inner repentance doesn't help unless it produces outward mortification of the flesh If Pope had the power to release people from purgatory, he would do so out of Christian compassion and not in the name of profit 3. How did Luther understand the "righteousness of God" before his conversion? How did he understand it after his conversion? Luther articulated his experience of salvation as "justification by faith"? What did he mean by this? How would this have impacted the Catholic Church's sacramental theology? Pre-conversion: God's righteousness as demand for man's obedience to His Law (i.e. via sacraments) Post-conversion: Righteousness is a gift God gives a person freely (sola gratia) to a person who trusts God through Christ alone (sola fides) Made sacraments unnecessary for salvation 4. What is the meaning and significance of this phrase simul (or semper) justus et peccator for Luther? How would this have relieved Luther of his previous anxiety? How does Luther's understanding of justification different from the Catholic Church's understanding? How did Luther avoid the charge of being antinomian? "At the same time / always a sinner and just" - God can declare a sinner righteous before they actually act righteously, their transformation is forthcoming - Would have relieved Luther of the idea that he was undeserving of any type of grace and hopelessly steeped in sin NOT antinomian When one receives Christ's righteousness, they receive Christ himself in the indwelling Spirit 5. How did Luther understand the faith that justifies? - It is a divine gift, not a human work - "Christus pro me", idea that Christ's sacrifice was for all of mankind 6. What was the occasion for and significance of Luther's book, The Bondage of the Will? In what way does nominalism demonstrate its influence upon Luther in this work? - Written as a response to Erasmus - Affirms that humans can do nothing to help their salvation, only God's decision to give or not give grace will determine their fate - Whether or not this is "just" is meaningless because justice is a human concept and anything God does is just 7. Discuss the term sola scriptura. How did this effect Protestant Christian worship? How did Luther read the Scriptures and thus think about the canon? - Leipzig Dispute (1518): led Luther to deny papal & conciliar infallibility - Scripture has supreme authority - Sermon more important than mass in church services
Led to a very Christocentric reading of the Scripture Law lets people know what God wants; Gospel gives them power to love God & others 8. What happened in 1521 at the Diet of Worms? What happened immediately afterwards? Who did Luther marry? Allowing the clergy to marry, what impact did this have on the Protestant tradition? What happened in 1529 at the Diet of Speyer? In 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg? Diet of Worms (1521) Luther condemned by Catholic clergy and HRE Emperor Charles V Prince Frederick has Luther kidnapped and makes him translate the NT into German married Katherina von Bora (1525) break with mandatory celibacy for clergy set precedent for Protestant clergy Diet of Speyer (1529) princes of the German states could individually choose the religion of their respective realms Diet of Augsburg (1530) Augsburg Confession presented to Charles V by German princes 9. What are various ways a person's religious life associates with his or her political life? How did Luther deal with this issue (i.e., What role did the state play? What role did the Church play? How did a Christian relate to both of these?)? State (public sphere of life) ordained by God to restrain sin through laws does not redeem, no ecclesiastical authority Church (private sphere of life) redeems teaching of the Word, administering of the Sacraments If state contradicts Church, Christians should disobey State but should NOT rebel against it, instead should suffer through it John (1509-1564) Calvin 1. What city is primarily associated with the Calvin's reformation? Who influenced him to stay in this city initially? Why was Calvin kicked out of the city for a period of time? Calvin primarily assoc w/ Geneva Reformation leader Guillaume Farel convinced him to stay there Calvin & Farel eventually kicked out for conflicting w/ civil authorities Invited back to stop influences of Catholicizer Sadoleto 2. What is the difference between the radical reformation and the magisterial reformation? What event would have indicated that the magisterial reformation taking place in Calvin's city did not mean that there was freedom of religion? 3. Calvin's commentaries and his Institutes are some of the primary sources of information we have for Calvin's thought. What books did Calvin preach from in the OT and the NT? How many editions of the Institutes did Calvin publish? What was the purpose(s) of the Institutes?
In OT: Pentateuch, Joshua, Psalms, Isaiah In NT: everything but Revelation and 2-3 John 8 Latin editions, 5 French ones 2 purposes First Ed. basic theology primer for Christian laity; sold very well 2nd 8th theological tone for ministerial instruction, Scriptural study guide 4. How many books make up the Institutes? What is the topic of each book? 4 Books Book 1: Knowledge of God Book 2: Knowledge of the Redeemer Book 3: Way We Receive Christ's Grace Book 4: Church, Sacraments & Civil Authorities 5. For Calvin, what is necessary for true piety? What the sources for our knowledge of God? True piety based on knowledge of God and of ourselves Godly knowledge came from Creation before the Fall, and comes from Scripture in the post-Fall world 6. For Calvin, what is the basis of the authority and reliability of the Scriptures? How does this differ from Luther? From the Catholic Church? authority of scriptures comes from Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer, not from the judgment of the clergy Luther believed the Scripture was inherently the ultimate authority Catholics believed authority came from popes/bishops because of apostolic succession 7. What is Calvin's notion of providence? Where does he begin his reflection on God's providence? Why does he do this? How does this differ from fatalism? From observatism? What does Calvin mean that God achieves His will through secondary causes? Does this make human choice irrelevant? How so? What is the goal of God's providence according to Calvin? Providence everything that happens in Creation is God's will as continuation of his creative activity not from impersonal necessity or simply according to God's foreknowledge & permission Calvin begins this concept w/ fearful contingency of life God works through secondary causes (people doing things) People will do God's will but not necessarily follow His precept (wickedness) Human action still necessary because goal is manifestation of God's glory 8. How does Calvin understand original sin? because of Adam's sin, humanity is first guilty & liable to God's wrath, and then as a result humans bring forth "works of the flesh" we sin because we are sinners we can contribute nothing to our salvation 9. What are the offices of Christ in his role as the redeemer? Why does Calvin believe that Christ must be truly God? Christ the Prophet: content of God's revelation
Christ the Priest: atones for sins of the Elect Christ the King: carries out God's salvific purpose in history Christ's deity demonstrated from nature of his benefits 10. How do the elect receive Christ's benefits? What are the means that achieve this? Christ's benefits received thru union with Christ Brought about by Spirit and human faith 11. What is Calvin's notion of faith? Faith not a mental ascent based on church authority, but on implicit knowledge/awareness of God 12. From where to where does Calvin move his discussion of predestination in the final edition of the Institutes? How does Calvin begin his discussion of predestination? According to Calvin, what is the purpose in God revealing this "terrible" truth? What characterizes Calvin's view of predestination? Moved from discussion of Providence in Book 1 to discussion of redemption in Book 3 Begins w/ experiential observations Why doesn't everyone who hears the gospel respond to it? Why is the gospel not preached everywhere? God's grace magnified by this demonstration of how dependent humanity is on Him Grounded in God's eternal will, individuals are predestined (not groups), people can be elected into salvation or into damnation 13. What is Calvin's view of the church? How is Calvin's understanding of the Lord's Supper a via media between Luther's notion and Zwingli's notion? Church is where Word is preached and Sacraments given nurtures belief teaches believer how to lead a more Godly life regulated by Presbyters Last Supper Christ was spiritually present NOT literally present (as per Catholics and Luther) NOT merely symbolized by communion (as per Zwingli) 14. What is the technical term for the ordering of the decrees of salvation? Why were later Reformed theologians concerned with this issue? What is a supralapsarian? an infralapsarian? Ordo salutis Supralapsarian God chose elect/reprobate before the Fall Infralapsarian God chose the elect/reprobate after the Fall 15. To what was the Synod of Dort a response? What were the central tenants of the Remonstrant Articles? Who wrote them? What was Dort's response to these articles? Where did they agree? Where did they differ? Debate b/w Intra-Reformed and Dutch Reformed Christians Key Tenets: desperate nature of human condition & need for God's grace people can reject God's grace unsure if a believer will always remain a believer foreknowledge over foreordination
Christ died for all Response: YES, Humans completely dependent on God for salvation Salvation based on God's unconditional choice Limited atonement NO, People can't resist God's grace NO, Believers will always persevere
The English Reformation and the Puritans 1. What events led to England's break with the Catholic Church? After the break what can we say about the Church of England? Was it Protestant or did it remain Catholic? Why? After death of King Arthur, consort Catherine of Aragon married Henry VIII failed to produce a male heir Henry demanded an annulment on grounds of obscure church law that forbade a man from marrying his dead brother's wife Although most Catholic scholars agreed, Catherine's family had strong ties to Rome and the Pope would not grant an annulment 1534 England breaks ties w/ Catholic Church, marriage annulled, Henry now the supreme leader of the new Church of England Essentially maintained Catholic doctrine as it was, but papal authority replaced with royal authority 2. What happened to the reformation in England after Henry VIII died? In the reign of Edward? Mary? Elizabeth? after Henry's death in 1547, reform went underway son Edward VI succeeded him laity partook in communion wine, not just bread clergy allowed to marry Book of Common Prayer liturgy put into vernacular Mary ascended throne in 1553 Catholic who restored ties to Rome and persecuted Protestants "Bloody Mary" Elizabeth became queen in 1558 allowed Protestant exiles to return supported moderate reforms Antagonistic towards Roman Catholics and radical Protestants such as Puritans 3. Who are the Puritans? Why did they arise? What were the various notions about church government among the Puritans? What tended to be their theological outlook? revival movement that wanted to "purify" the Church (Presbyterian/Episcopal authority), some wanted to separate from the Church (congregational authority) Calvinist doctrine 4. What gave rise to the period of Puritan rule known as the Protectorate? What important document was drafted in order to establish unity with Scotland?
Puritans had taken control of Parliament and were supported the invading Scottish (who were Calvinist) in hopes that Charles I would give in to their agenda Westminster Confession attempt to establish religious alliance w/ Scottish by advocating Presbyterian form of church governance Charles I ultimately executed and Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector 5. Who was William Perkins? What was the purpose of his book, A Golden Chain? Was Perkins an infra- or supralapsarian? Why does Adam fall? What for Perkins were evidences of election? What were the types of reprobates? When does the experience of conversion occur for Perkins in his ordo salutis? How does Perkins's presentation of the ordo salutis reflect a pastoral concern? What was the goal of God's decrees for Perkins? How then does Perkins understand evil? Puritan theologian supralapsarian Adam fell because God decreed it as such Election: effectual preaching & hearing mollifying of the heart faith remission of sin imputation of righteousness mortification & vivification repentance Reprobation: Those who answer God's call but eventually lapse Those who are never called & are ignorant of God
What are the four solas of the Reformation? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Sola gratia "by grace alone" Sola fide "by faith alone" Sola scriptura "by Scripture alone" Solus Christus "by Christ alone" Soli Deo Gloria "glory to God alone"