Final Exam Flashcards
Thomas Aquinas on the Papacy
Submission to the pope was necessary for salvation
Thomas Aquinas on Indulgences
He taught that thanks to the work of Christ and the meritorious deeds of the saints, the church has access to a “treasury of merit” – a great spiritual reservoir that priests may draw from to aid Christians who have insufficient merit of their own.
Waldenses
They had a back-to-the-Bible movement like other reformation movements that would follow, however, their views on salvation (which included penance and poverty) lacked a clear note of God’s grace that sounded so powerfully in the Reformation.
Weapons of the Catholic Church
Preaching to return them to the truth, a crusade to crush all hardened resistance, and the Inquisition to uproot heresy completely
Dominic’s strategy for reaching the Albigenses
To become poor himself so that they would not see him as halving false religion
The Inquisitors were subject to…
no law, only to the pope. In 1252 they were even given the right to torture as a means of getting information and confessions from accused heretics.
Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy
It was the 72 year period that Clement V was pope, during which he never set foot in Rome, preferring instead to stay close to home.
Great Papal Schism
It was a time when two popes had been appointed at the same time. It was brought on by the practice of the papacy to live outside of Rome the preference shown by the cardinals to pick someone from their own nationality.
Great Papal Schism Ends
In 1417, a vote was called on a national basis. One incumbent stepped down, the other two were deposed and a new Vicar was chosen.
Wyclif’s Standard
Wyclif judged the Catholic Church on the standard of teaching of Scripture
Traditional Doctrine Wyclif Attacked
Transubstantiation
Council of Constance
The council was mainly called to address the problem of multiple popes. John Hus had hopes of presenting his views to the assembled authorities, but upon his arrival he found himself instead a victim of the Inquisition.
Luther’s verse of “revelation”
Romans 1:17
Luther on Indulgences
It troubled Luther deeply; he began to criticize the theology of indulgences in his sermons
Luther on the Four Basic Concerns
- How is a person saved: not by works but by faith alone
- Where does religious authority lie: not in the visible constitution called the Roman Church, but in the word of God found in the Bible.
- What is the church: the whole community of Christian believers – since all are priests before God.
- What is the essence of Christian living: serving God in any useful calling, whether ordained or lay
Anabaptists most Fundamental Issue
nature of the church and its relation to civil government
Munster Rebellion
Munster was an episcopal city that became controlled by a group of fanatics led by Jan Matthis. Many looked to the creation of the Lord’s kingdom in Munich and when the bishop of the region sent an army to besiege them, they defended themselves. A former Innkeeper, Jan of Leiden, eventually took control, instituted new laws and called himself King David. They were able to hold out in the city for a time, but eventually it was taken and the view of Anabaptist had been changed to stand for wild-eyed religious fanaticism.
Anabaptist Beliefs
- Discipleship: the relationship of the believer with Jesus Christ must go beyond inner experience and acceptance of doctrines, but should involve a daily walking with God, in which Christ’s teaching example shape a transformed style of life.
- Love: In their dealings with non-Anabaptists they would act as pacifists. They would not go to war, defend themselves against persecutors, or take part in coercion by the state.
- Congregational view of church authority: all members were to be believers baptized voluntarily upon confession of personal faith in Christ. Each believer, then, was both a priest to his fellow believers and a missionary to unbelievers.
- Separation of church and state: Christians are a free, uncompelled people, and civil authorities exceed their competence when they try to force faith. The church is distinct from society, even if society claims to be Christian.
Calvin’s Central Doctrine
The Sovereignty of God
Act of Supremacy
It held that the King was the head of the Church of England, meaning that the Pope was not, and solidified England’s break with Rome. Henry VIII intended no break with Catholic faith and the only changes that later took place were the suppression of monasteries and the publication of the English Bible.
Theological Shift under Edward
There was an abrupt shift in the protestant direction, because (as Edward was only ten years old) a group of royal advisors had power over the government and they sympathized with the Protestant Reformation.
England’s Pentecostal Swing Ended
Edward died and his half-sister, Mary, who was devoutly Catholic, ascended the throne.
England’s Religious Peace
Queen Elizabeth strove for compromise and wrote Thirty-Nine Articles which were essentially Protestant but many were worded in a way which would satisfy both Protestants and Catholics
Marked Difference between 16th and 17th Centuries
Acceptance of Religious Differences
Transistion from “Age of Reformation” to “Age of Reason”
Thirty Years’ War
What are the four fundamental truths articulated by the Dissenting Brethren of Westminster for the denominational theory?
- Considering man’s inability to always see the truth clearly, differences of opinion about the outward form of the Church are inevitable.
- Though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the faith they are not matters of indifference, each Christian is obligated to practice what he believes the Bible teaches.
- Since no church has a final and full grasp of divine truth, the true church of Christ can never be fully represented by any single ecclesiastical structure.
- The mere fact of separation does not of itself constitute schism. It is possible to be divided at many points and still be united in Christ.
View of Man in Reformation vs. Age of Reason
The Reformers preached original sin and looked upon the world as fallen from God’s intended place. The Renaissance had a positive estimate of human nature and the universe itself.
Deism
That He was like a watchmaker. He created the world and wound it up as like a clock, then let it run. They believe that he does not interfere with the world.
Collapse of Deism
Bishop Joseph Butler’s The Analogy of Religion virtually ended the debate for thinking people. He challenged reason’s sovereignty and claimed that reason provides no complete system of knowledge, and in ordinary life it can offer only probabilities.
