Unit III: Reformers Shake the Church

1. Unit III: Reformers Shake the Church • Throughout the history of the institutional church, there were those who saw its human flaws and defended the Scriptures against a Christianity organized by human law, hierarchy, and often corrupt practices … • …these are their stories and the people who followed them.

2. A. Early Reformers • Peter Waldo and the Waldensians (c. 1200) a. Was a rich man in Lyons, France. b. Sold everything to live a life of poverty and devotion. c. He believed that Scripture should be superior to human authority. d. He believed that Christians should not live to gain wealth. e. He felt that Christians should abstain from “worldly ways.”

3. 2. John Wyclif (1324-1384) a. Scholar/teacher in Oxford, England. b. He got into trouble with the Pope because he opposed indulgences and the abuse of ecclesiastical authority. c. He was supported by English nationalists who opposed Rome’s interference in their affairs. • English nobles wanted the wealth of the churches. • Peasants were also oppressed by the church. d. He translated the Bible into English.

4. John Hus (1371-1415) a. He was the leader of the reform movement in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). b. He was very influenced by Wyclif. c. He was burned at the stake in 1415 as a heretic. d. His followers (Hussites) took up the Refomer cause after his death. They were later called Moravians. e. As a result, his followers were also persecuted. f. One of the greatest leaders of the Reformation, Martin Luther, said that “we are all Hussites.” Meaning, all true believers owe their spiritual ancestry to the work that Hus did.

5. Mystics • Emphasized an inner life of devotion. • Leading up to the Reformation, two leading mystics were Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153): • He founded 163 monasteries in different parts of Europe; He was the first Cistercian monk placed on the calendar of saints and was canonized by Alexander III, 18 January 1174. Pope Pius VIII bestowed on him the title of Doctor of the Church. • He entered the monastery at a young age; belonged to a family of the highest nobility in Burgundy. • He advocated austere reform of monasticism. • He was consulted frequently by the papacy; used to settle international disputes; and even preached the Third Crusade.

6. and Meister Eckhart (1260-1327): • Belonged to the Dominican Order. • Learned scholar; one quote: • "People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works."

7. Humanists • Instead of viewing the world through a religious perspective, they used education, science, and art to explain their surroundings and experiences in life. • They often defended Reformers’ opinions. • Erasmus was the leading humanist during the Reformation period.

8. B. The Reformation • The Lutheran Reformation • Backdrop to the Reformation • People were fed up with the church and its abuses. • People were becoming more educated, thereby being exposed to more views outside of what the Church taught. • More people were entering the middle classes, and the middle classes were acquiring more power, thus challenging the authority of the Church. • In many countries throughout Christendom, nationalist groups were gaining popularity, urging the overthrow of the authority of the papacy in their countries.

9. 6b. Martin Luther • He was educated to become a lawyer, but chose to become a monk instead as a result of a life-changing experience. • Luther experienced the grace of God through Scripture, transforming his views of God and His Church. • As a result, he wrote extensively against the corruption in the church. • The spark that ignited the Reformation was Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses (Statements) on the door of the Wittenburg Church (a public forum at the University where he worked). • He would have been executed or imprisoned by the Roman Catholic Church, but he was backed by powerful German nobles. • Luther had support from all levels of German Society.

10. 6c Peasant’s Rebellion • In 1525, the peasants of Germany revolted against the oppression of the church and state. • Luther, however, opposed this rebellion, citing that both church and state possessed rightful authority, even if corruption is present. • As a result of Luther’s opposition, his credibility with the lower classes was damaged.

11. Ulrich Zwingli • He led the reform movement in Zurich, Switzerland in the early 16th C. • He also criticized the Roman Catholic Church. • He married as a clergyman, defying the church’s rule on celibacy. • He translated parts of the Bible into the national language. • He was eventually killed in battle; brutally murdered by Catholics.