lesson 2 Flashcards
protestant reformation
the period during the sixteenth century when, as a result of protests against some beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, new churches were formed that were separate from the Roman Catholic Church.
what was life like before the protestant reformation
-Until the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, all western Christians were under the authority of the Roman Church, led by the Pope.
-Few could read the Bible, because it was written in Latin and partly because they were illiterate.
-Christians learnt about their faith from the Church through the teachings of the clergy (Latin mass). Priests who had learnt Latin taught people what the Bible said.
what was studying bible like after protestant reformation?
-following the Reformation, Protestant Christians were able to study the Bible in their own languages, and to form their own opinions about its meaning.
-They could then argue about its meaning and challenge its interpretation.
pre protestant reformation
doctrine was drawn
from the Latin text of the Bible and traditional teachings of the Church.
These were often passed down through word of mouth.
post reformation
-Christians were able to study the Bible in their own languages.
-Discussions about interpretations of passages began.
-Due to the availability of scriptures, Protestants claimed the freedom to challenge traditional interpretations.
whats the background to interpretation of scripture
-During the sixteenth century, the authority of the Catholic Church was being challenged by the reformers and the Bible became more widely available and read due to translation.
-Protestants considered the Bible over the authority of the Church to be their principle guide to Christian belief and practice.
-‘Liberal theology’
what’s liberal theology
-was the attempt to show the relevance of religious ideas to modern life.
-It also sought to rationalise and present the Christian faith in a way that was compatible with science and with modern thought.
what did Albert Schweitzer and others do?
-tried to get beyond the biblical text in their quest to understand the historical Jesus.
-Part of this was the development of biblical criticism – the systematic and crucial examination of the biblical text.
-Liberal biblical criticism argued that the Bible should be studied like any other collection of ancient documents.
-These theologians used ‘higher’ criticism and ‘lower’ criticisms
higher criticism
examining how different passages and books were written and how they relate to one another
lower criticisms
-examining in detail the content, language and meaning of individual passages to identify the precise meaning of the original words.
first feature of biblical criticism
Biblical criticism examines the original languages in which scripture was written, to make sure that the translated words reflect the meaning that their authors intended.
second feature of biblical criticism
-looks at the form of each piece of writing
-in order to find the context in which it should be understood.
third feature of biblical criticism?
-examines the background to each passage of scripture -
-including the commonly held views of the day,
-things that the writer would assume his readers would know and therefore did not need to explain.
what was the intention of biblical criticism?
-intention of biblical criticism was to find the truth expressed through the scriptures, without assuming that a straightforward acceptance of the translated text would be enough.
-not the first time that scriptures had been examined critically or considered to be anything other than a literal account of events.
st augustine
in the fifth century considered some biblical narratives to be allegories, designed to inspire religious feelings and morality, rather than factual accounts.
