Background of Reformation Background of Reformation Papal corruption

Background of Reformation

Background of Reformation • Papal corruption & abuses – Avignon Papacy & Papal Schism – Renaissance popes – Buying posts, absentee priests, plural posts – Illegitimate children were appointed priests, bishops, abbots & abbesses – Parishioners lost faith in sacraments administered by immoral clergy

Early Reformers • John Wycliffe (1330 -84) – Morningstar of the Reformation – Oxford educator; taught superiority of Bible; lectured through Bible – Wycliffe desired to place Bible in hands of people in their own language, so he & followers translated Bible from Latin Vulgate into English (1381 -84)

John Wycliffe: Writings • On the Church: Bible is sole criterion of doctrine to which no ecclesiastical authority may add; papal authority was not confirmed by Scripture (concurrent with Avignon Papacy & Great Papal Schism) • On Apostasy: Appeal to state to reform entire ecclesiastical order • On the Eucharist: Attack on transubstantiation – lost secular support

Early Reformers • John Huss (1372 -1415) – Priest in Bohemia (Czechoslavakia); popular preacher in Prague; Dean of School of Philosophy at University of Prague – 1382, Anne of Bohemia married Richard II of England & invited Bohemians to study in England; they were influenced by Wycliffe & took his teachings back to Bohemia where they impacted Huss

John Huss’ Teachings • True church is composed of those chosen or predestined by God • Christ, not Peter, is Rock on which church is built • There should be no civil punishment for religious heresy • Bible is final authority for matters of doctrine • If pope or bishop does not obey Bible, he is not to be obeyed • Christ, not church, is only mediator between God & humanity • Only God can grant forgiveness, so for church to sell forgiveness through indulgences is to usurp God’s authority

Background of Reformation • Greek New Testament vs. Latin Vulgate • Renaissance & emphasis on humanism • Rise of nationalism • Gutenberg printing press

Types of Reformation • Catholic Reformation – The Church has all necessary ingredients of Christianity – Leave structure untouched but cleanse it – Emphasis on moral & administrative reforms – Types • Episcopal (Cyprian) • Great leaders (Donatists, Lollards, Hussites, Erasmus) • Monastic (Benedict, Cluniacs, Cistercians) • Conciliar (Pisa, Constance, Florence/Ferrara/Basel)

Types of Reformation • Magisterial Reformation – Church prior to RCC had necessary ingredients of Christianity – Alter structure & doctrine of church to condition prior to papal domination – Recreate church of first 5 centuries, NOT prior to Constantinian union of church & state

Types of Reformation • Magisterial Reformation – Church to remain State-Church: magistrate initiates & supports reform & defends church – Reform included moral & administrative concerns but mainly theological & ecclesiological – Uniformity in doctrine still necessary – Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Reformed, England

Types of Reformation • Radical Reformation – Only primitive, Apostolic Church provides true model – Reform the church to pre-Constantinian type, which is NOT a state-church – Reform was moral, administrative, theological, ecclesiological; emphasis was on primitiveness, voluntarism & separation of church & state

Types of Reformation • Radical Reformation: Three Types – Biblical: Use Bible as ultimate authority for reconstructing primitive church; examples: Anabaptists, later English Baptists – Spiritualistic: Emphasize immediacy & primacy of revelation from Holy Spirit; new revelations come to God’s prophets that augment & even supersede Scripture; examples: Zwickau prophets, Münster – Rationalistic: Human reason is authority in determining sense of Scripture & primitive model; challenge to doctrines of Trinity, vicarious atonement; examples: Servetus, Unitarians