Defining Traditions after the Reformation

1. History of Christianity IICH 5002Post Reformation DevelopmentsDr. Daryl C. CornettChair, Department of Church HistoryMid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

2. Defining Traditions after the Reformation • Catholicism • Council of Trent (convened in 1545) • 17th century challenges to RC convention • Gallicanism (ancient Gall = France) • Opposition to papal power by monarchs • Jansenism (Cornelius Jansenius) • Controversy over doctrines of grace and predestination • Condemned by Popes and fizzles out • Quietism (Miguel de Molinos, Spiritual Guide, 1675) • Kind of mysticism, “quiet” contemplation • Considered too passive (de-emphasis on religious works) • Considered too subjective (visions, dreams, etc.)

3. Defining Traditions after the Reformation • Lutheranism • Luther died 1546 • Philip Melanchthon became his successor • Authored 1530 Augsburg Confession • More the humanist than Luther • Less dogmatic, more irenic is spirit • “Strict Lutherans” – Matthias Flacius • Accusing the “Philippists” of compromise • Debate over what’s essential and what’s peripheral • 17th cent – development of “Protestant Scholasticism” • Systematizing theology (Luther did not do so) • Returning to Aristotle (ironic) • Produced in the universities • Resulting in a strong confessional tradition (sectarian)

4. Defining Traditions after the Reformation • Reformed • The challenge of Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) • Dutch Reformed pastor • Instructed under Theodore Beza (Calvin’s successor) • Professor (Leiden) who challenge on what basis predestination takes place • Controversy between “Arminians” and “Calvinists” continues on the topic after his death • 1610 – Arminians issue the “Remonstrance” dealing with five theological issues.

5. 1. That God, by an eternal and unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ his Son, before the foundations of the world were laid, determined to save, out of the human race which had fallen into sin, in Christ, for Christ’s sake and through Christ, those who through the grace of the Holy Spirit shall believe on the same his Son and shall through the same grace persevere in this same faith and obedience of faith even to the end …

6. 2. That, accordingly, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that he has obtained for all, by his death on the cross, reconciliation and remission of sins, yet so that no one is partaker of this remission except the believers.

7. 3. That a man has not saving grace of himself … But that it is necessary that by God, in Christ and through his Holy Spirit he be born again and renewed in understanding, affections and will and in all his faculties, that he may be able to understand, think, will, and perform what is truly good, according to the Word of God.

8. 4. That his grace of God is the beginning, the progress and the end of all good; so that even the regenerate man can neither think, will nor effect any good, nor withstand any temptation to evil, without grace precedent (or prevenient), awakening, following and co-operating… But with respect to the mode of operation, grace is not irresistible; for it is written of many that they resisted the Holy Spirit.

9. 5. But for the question whether they [the truly saved] are not able through sloth or negligence to forsake the beginning of their life in Christ, to embrace again this present world, to depart from the holy doctrine once delivered to them, to lose their good conscience and to neglect grace – this must be the subject of more exact inquiry in the Holy Scriptures, before we can teach it with full confidence of our mind.

10. Defining Traditions after the Reformation • Reformed • Synod of Dort (Nov. 1618 – May 1619) • Gathering rejected the five articles of the Remonstrants (Arminians) • Birth of the 5 points of “Calvinism” • Total Depravity • Unconditional Election • Limited Atonement • Irresistible Grace • Perseverance of Saints • Westminster Confession (Reformed orthodoxy) • Produced in England - 1647

11. European Enlightenment • Ingredients of the “Age of Reason” • The Renaissance • Literature, political theory, art, elevation of human ability • Frustration over “religious war” • Rise of modern science • Copernicus (1473-1543) • Galileo (1564-1642) • Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

12. European Enlightenment • Rene Descartes (1596-1650) • Father of modern philosophy • Characterized by skepticism • Intuitional knowledge • “I think, therefore I am” • The Meditations on the First Philosophy in which the Existence of God and the Distinction between mind and body are Demonstrated

13. European Enlightenment • John Locke (1632-1704) • Empiricism – knowing comes from experience through the senses • “Tabula rasa” – blank tablet • Focus on politics and morality • Confidence in reason • Essay Concerning Human Understanding

14. European Enlightenment • Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) • Combines intuitive knowledge (Descartes) with empirical knowledge (Locke) • Religion outside realm of reason • Reason cannot prove God’s existence • Ideas lay outside reason • “thing in itself” unknowable • Sensation is applied to categories of the mind (time, space, causality, etc.) • Critique of Pure Reason

16. European Enlightenment • Deism • Herbert of Cherbury (1583-1648) • Father of English Deism • True religion is universal and natural • Opposing dogmatism and sectarianism • Not abandoning religion – belief in God • Skepticism • David Hume (1711-1776) • Challenged empiricism with phenomenalism

17. European Enlightenment • French Political Philosophers of 18th Century • Voltaire (1694-1778) • Skeptic and Deist • Christianity (The Church) the enemy • History was man’s struggle to create better and better society • Montesquieu (1689-1755) • Republic superior to monarchy • Human corruption must have a “check and balance” • Separation of powers political theory basis of most modern Western government • Rousseau (1712-1778) • Rulers exist to protect and serve the people • The Social Contract, 1762

18. European Enlightenment • Rise of a more secular culture • Alternatives to the church • Salons • Beginning and most popular in Paris • The leisure room • Meeting for discussion on religion, philosophy, politics • Masonic lodges • Emerging as a “new” place of fellowship and purpose • Emphasis on brotherhood and morality • Scientific Academies • Organizations strictly for scientific pursuit and discussion • Reading papers, performing experiments, sharing theories • Royal Society of England (one of the first)

19. 17th & 18th CenturySpiritualists & Pietists • Spiritualists • Characterized by the mystical: dreams, visions, subjective experience • Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) • Lutheran – claimed visions and immediate revelation • George Fox (1624-1691) • Englishman – founder of the “Quakers” or Society of Friends • Doctrine of the “inner light” • Rejecting salaried ministers, formalized worship, creeds, Calvinism

20. 17th & 18th CenturySpiritualists & Pietists • Pietists • A desire for a more personal, deeper, heart-felt devotion, but dependent on objective revelation • Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705) • Lutheran – “father of Pietism” • Emphasis on personal faith – not church • Encouraged small groups for prayer & study • Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) • Lutheran – met and joined Moravians • Notable missionaries • John Wesley (1703-1791) • Anglican – influenced by Moravians • Developed idea of personal pursuit of holiness • Rejected Calvinism • Methodism, characterized by holiness, evangelistic zeal, and Arminian theology