Corruption

in the Church
• Absolute power corrupts
absolutely.
• The Catholic Church up
through the 1300s was
the most powerful and
wealthy group in Europe.
• It ruled without question
and allowed no
dissention.
Corruption
• Indulgences- selling
forgiveness of sin.
• Simony- selling church
positions.
– Rich people could control
the church.
• Nepotism- giving church
positions to family
members
• Relics- Fake objects that
could “cure illnesses” and
“bestow blessings.”
 The Great Schism
• In 1301, King Philip IV of
France tried to tax the
French clergy.
• The Pope threatened
excommunication, so
Philip had him kidnapped.
• The pope died before
returning to Rome.
• The next pope, Clement
V, was friendly to the
French and moved the
papacy to Avignon in
France.
The Great Schism
(cont.)
• With the papacy in
France, French
cardinals and bishops
were named.
• The Pope lost respect
as the people realized
France ruled the
Church.
• Pope Gregory XI
moved the papacy back
to Rome, but he died
within the year.
 The Great Schism (cont.)
• The next Pope was Italian and
refused to return to Avignon.
• Many of the new French
cardinals left for Avignon
where they elected their own
Pope.
• With two competing Popes,
the Church Council did the
only rational thing left to do…
they elected a third Pope.
• Catholics were confused over
the next 40 years as all three
Popes called the others
imposters and
excommunicated one another.
 Terms
• Reformation: the religious reform of the early
1500-1600s that led to new formations of
Christian groups.
• Protestant: a Christian who separated from the
Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation.
• Denomination: a particular religious group within
a larger faith.
• Heresy: opinions that contradict official doctrine.
• Doctrine: the official beliefs and ideas of a
church.
Early Reformer:
Desiderius Erasmus
• Desiderius Erasmus
was a humanist from
Holland.
• He was against simony
and nepotism.
• He wanted to reform
the Church, not break
away from it.
• He wanted the Bible in
people’s vernacular.
• “Erasmus laid the egg,
Luther hatched it.”
Martin Luther
• The official start of the
Reformation began with
the German priest,
Martin Luther.
• Luther decided that the
Bible said salvation came
from God through faith
by grace and could not be
earned by good works.
• He helped translate the
Bible to German.
95 Theses
• In 1517, Pope Leo X needed money
to finish St. Peter’s Basilica in
Rome.
• To raise money, he sold lots of
indulgences all over Europe.
– Buyers were promised pardons for
their sins, their families’, and friends’
sins.
• Luther said this was false salvation.
• He posted 95 theses, or arguments,
on a church door in Wittenberg and
sent a list to the Pope.
John Calvin
• 1509-1564
• A French humanist who wrote
Institutes of the Christian
Religion.
• He taught that salvation was
from God’s grace for his elect.
– Predestination was the key to
salvation.
– God’s supremacy was stressed
over all things.
– People could not determine or
choose their salvation.
• Implications??
 Predestination
• Predestination teaches
that ALL events have been
willed by God.
• Because of this, no one
can choose their own
salvation.
• Free will is impossible in
this diagram.
• God has chosen, or elect,
those who are destined
for Heaven and those
damned to hell.
 King Henry’s Complaint
• King Henry VIII was not an intentional reformer like the
rest.
• His reform occurred because of personal and political
reasons.
• Personal:
– He wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, daughter of
Isabella I of Spain, niece of the Pope, because she couldn’t
produce a son and he was interested in Anne Boleyn.
– Being a Catholic, he needed the Pope’s permission for a
divorce.
– The Pope said “no.”
– So, he broke away from the Pope.
• Political:
– He no longer had the Pope interfering in his business.
Anglicanism
• The Church of England,
or Anglicanism, was close
to Lutheranism in that it
taught that salvation was
granted by God’s grace
through a person’s faith
and repentance of their
sins.
• The ultimate source of
authority was the Bible,
as interpreted by the
monarch.
Counter-Reformation
• The Catholic Church
watched as Europe began
embracing Protestantism.
• It responded with a
Counter-Reformation at
the Council of Trent
(1545-1563).
• It reaffirmed:
– Faith and good works for
salvation
– Predestination was wrong.
Jesuits
• Ignatius of Loyola was a
Counter-Reformer who
founded the Society of
Jesus, or Jesuits.
• The Jesuits were “soldiers
for Christ” who were
missionaries and teachers
of Catholic teaching.
• They spread through
Africa, Asia, and the
Americas.
Inquisition
• Sometimes, however, the
Counter-Reformation wasn’t as
peaceful as the Jesuits.
• Inquisitors were clergy assigned
with the task of silencing
heretics.
– Inquisition means questioning.
– What does that mean?
• Under the Inquisition,
reformers, Jews, and Muslims
were persecuted, imprisoned,
and executed.
Religious Wars
• French Wars of Religion- from 1562-1598
between Catholics and Protestants (especially
the Huguenots) that left over a million people
dead.
• Thirty Years’ War- mostly within the Holy
Roman Empire (Germany) between Catholics
and Protestants and Protestants…
– It ended with the Peace of Westphalia.
– This was peace between the Protestants and
Catholics and set boundaries for the two.