John Wycliffe and John Huss both are considered forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. John Huss is often considered a disciple of Wycliffe. They both believed in the sufficiency of scriptural authority and not the dual authority of scripture and tradition. Both also believed in a church of the elect, which is essentially hidden, believing society and secular occupations had similar attributes to the church, where the source of all authority is the sovereignty of God. Martin Luther is descendant of this tradition. The English reformation had one of the strongest “heretical” traditions in Europe in Wycliffe and the Lollards. Positively identifying influence and origin in the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation is difficult, it is undeniable …show more content…
By Royal appointment in 1374 he became rector of the parish of Lutterworth, this and various ecclesiastical appointments provided income. The last eight or nine years of his life is when he penned the writings for which he would become famous. His treatises regarding divine and civil dominion offered the theory that God grants use of the property and if it is misused it will be forfeited. He also maintained that Popes were not need to administer the church. The doctrine of dominion he set forth with the writings On Divine Dominion in 1375 and On Civil Dominion in 1376 lead to his condemnation in 1377, when several papal bulls were issued against him, and Oxford was to stop teaching the doctrine. Wycliffe became more extreme after this, rejecting all ceremony not found in the Bible. He thus condemned transubstantiation, the sacramental power of the priesthood, and the effectiveness of the Mass. He also denounced the rites, ceremonies, and rituals of the church as interfering with the worship of …show more content…
Amidst the Great Papal Schism, Wycliffe advocating a strict Augustinian view of predestination, argued the church consisted of those chosen by God and was invisible and entrance is beyond control the church or its officers. Wycliffe’s belief in the authority of scripture and that lay men could understand it, given the chance, seem to be the driving factors in his involvement in producing a translation from the Vulgate to the English vernacular of the fourteenth century. Wycliffe sent out “faithful and poor priests” to share the Gospel with all they could. They had tracts and written scripture, especially portions of the Gospels and the Epistles. They taught the Lord’s Prayer, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Ten Commandments in the English of the common man. Wycliffe’s writings and these preachers produced followers known as “Lollards.” Wycliffe and his preachers were outspoken and critical of the corruptions of the church. Wycliffe also taught against the transubstantiation, this alienated John of Gaunt one of his powerful supporters. The politico-ecclesiastical theories that he developed required the church to give up its worldly possessions, and in 1378 he began a systematic attack on the beliefs and practices of the church. The Lollards, a heretical group, propagated his controversial views. Wycliffe’s preachers were accused of starting the “Peasant Revolt” of 1381, likely a false charge as the
The Church of England was not a good religion during the sixteenth century, the puritans want to practice their own religion but the Church of England would not allow them. People didn’t want to obey the churches authority anymore. The Puritans it particular did not want to follow the Church of England. Over time, “the church of England began to crack down on those who refused to bow to their authority” (www3.gettysburg.edu) this caused the Puritans to leave England. The puritans left England and went on a dangerous journey to be free from the church. It was so bad that, “it got to the point where the puritans decided to face the dangerous journey to the New World rather than be persecuted for their religion” (www3.gettysburg.edu) these people would rather put their lives and families in danger than to be put down by the Church of England. There were ranks inside the church and women were at the bottom.
The Reformation debate letters from John Calvin and Jacopo Sadoleto illustrate the religious controversy of the sixteenth century. Sadoleto’s letter was addressed to the magistrates and citizens of Geneva, pleading them to come back to the Catholic church, as they had fallen to the ways of the Reformers. In his letter, Sadoleto painted the Reformers as ‘crafty’ and ‘enemies of Christian peace’ (30), never directly addressing them. Calvin does, however, address Sadoleto’s insinuations directly in his response. The two letters disagree when it comes to justification, Sadoleto believing that it comes by faith and works and Calvin, more so along the lines that faith is what really matters. Calvin successfully argues against Sadoleto’s premise and presents influential points, making his argument more convincing than his opponent’s.
The importance of a social framework for the new society, where the Church would be all encompassing, developed from the teachings of such religious reformers as John Wycliffe and John Calvin. The Church would be directly involved in the running of the community and its regime. Enforcing such laws established by scripture read from the Bible, the government disciplined Hester for her committed sin. The Puritans considered the Bible as the “true law of God that provided guidelines for church and government”. They wished to shape the Church of England to meet their ideals, emphasizing Bible reading, prayer, and preaching in worship services. They simplified the ritual of the sacraments and also wanted more personal and fewer prescribed prayers. The Puritans stressed grace, devotion, prayer, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue while including a basic knowledge of unacceptable actions of the time.
... urges and argues for the need for re-evolution of Laud career and achievements. According to Kevin Sharpe, “Laud is too often depicted from the standpoint and propaganda of enemies. His own letters and speeches, even more his sermons and treatises, remain inexplicably neglected” (1983). He goes on by arguing that at his trial he denied that he was an Arminian, one can argue that Laud was a pro-Arminian. Sharpe argues that Laud truly believed in the Church of England, and he was seeking peace and unity in the church. Sharpe points out, “Laud had much in common with them (Puritans). Like the puritans he sought an upright and well-educated clergy; like them he was virulent against popery, hard against clerical failings and intolerant lay profligacy” (1983). Sharpe concludes his essay by arguing that Laud’s name was blacken because he tried to reverse the Reformation.
The 16th century was a time of social, political, and religious change in Europe. The Protestant
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Luther’s defiance inspired other people to create Protestant denominations. His 95 Theses had started a religious revolution. His protest for reform had inspired others to demand religious change. His openness and ideas for change encouraged reformers such John Calvin, who provided Protestantism 's theological underpinnings. Whilst there were some negative effects of Luther’s teachings, such as the St Bartholomew’s day massacre (1572) where mobs of Catholics began a general massacre of Huguenot Protestants, Catholicism and Protestantism spread throughout Europe and America. The Evangelical awakening was a revitalization movement in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism. The theological teachings of the Bible had significant social effects - in the areas of education, prison reform, hospital facilities, poor relief, and the abolition of slavery. All in all it can be said that a ‘breath of new life’ swept through both church and nation as the evangelical awakening was a revival of faith. One such theology was called Liberation Theology, and stated that “the poverty of the poor is… a demand that we go and build a different social order” (Gustavo
From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”
Early reformers had some hesitation when considering challenging the church, however, neither Carlstadt nor Zwingli had scruples for separating from the unanimity of the Roman Catholic Church. Both Carlstadt and Zwingli began establishing further differing reforms or changes to the views of Martin Luther. Both evangelical and reformed traditions agreed that the church had instituted to unnecessary sacraments upon the laity especially given that the Bible only stated two sacraments, therefore both of these traditions rejected the superfluous sacraments while keeping the sacraments supported by the Bible. Carlstadt, who vehemently supported Luther’s attack on the church and the sale and purchase of indulgencies, began radical reforms within Germany. Such reforms that Carlstadt initiated included not elevating certain elements in regards to communion, wearing secular clothing during services, abolition of the mass, and condemning iconoclasm thus instituting a church without visual illustrations of God. Zwingli additionally called for further reform than Luther. Zwingli believed that unless the Bible stated a certain ceremony, ritual, symbol, or sacrament then it should be abolished from the church services. Though Zwingli believed that transubstantiation should be upheld, much like Luther, he did not believe that
Though there was no driving force like Luther, Zwingli or Calvin during the English Reformation, it succeeded because certain people strived for political power and not exactly for religious freedom. People like Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII brought the Reformation in England much success, however their reasons were based on self-gain and desire for political power.
The tithes from the people were what made the Church so wealthy (“The Medieval Church”). With wealth and power, and the fear of damnation, the Church was able to be as corrupt as it wanted because there was no one to stop them. Because of this corruption in the Church, a man by the name of Geoffrey Chaucer bec...
Greengrass, Mark. The Longman Companion to The European Reformation, C. 1500-1618. London: Longman, 1998. Print.
The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.
A Century of Theological and Religious Studies in Britain, 1902–2007 by Ernest Nicholson 2004 pages 125–126