Background of ReformationBackground of Reformation

Background of ReformationBackground 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 ReformersEarly 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: WritingsJohn 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 ReformersEarly 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’ TeachingsJohn 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 ReformationBackground of Reformation

• Greek New Testament vs. Latin Vulgate

• Renaissance & emphasis on humanism

• Rise of nationalism

• Gutenberg printing press

Types of ReformationTypes 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 ReformationTypes 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 ReformationTypes 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 ReformationTypes 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 ReformationTypes 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