Protestant Reformation: John Calvin 1.Calvin’s life and theology. 2.Calvin’s Necessity of Reforming the Church 3.Late Medieval Catholicism & Protestantism compared 4.Historical consequences of Reformation.
John Calvin ( ) Swiss Reformer— organizational mind of the Reformation Worked in Geneva Humanist background Institutes of the Christian religion Sovereignty of God ‘double predestination’ Reformed Churches in Europe & Presbyterians in America
Necessity of Reforming the Church 1.Two principal points of Christianity (p.3). 2.Calvin’s criterion for distinguishing between man- made and legitimate worship of God. (p.4) 3.Problems with church’s practices (pp. 4-6, 8-11). 4.Three stages of salvation (p. 6). 5.Remedies. (13-18)
Problems: Veneration of: –the saints (prayers for their intercession) –Relics –icons and statues Worship –Long services; preoccupation with externals –Unintelligible because complicated & in Latin Clergy –Uneducated –Abuse power
Sistine Chapel in Vatican compared to the Reformed Church
Catholic & Protestant lands, 16 th c.
MEDIEVAL CATHOLICISM PROTESTANTISM (16 th c.) SALVATION Offered through the church By grace alone through faith alone Focus on penance & EucharistFocus on personal faith Purgatory & indulgenciesRejected p. & i. Growth in God’s loveTrust in God’s mercy SOURCES OF AUTHORITY Scripture & Tradition Scripture alone External: church hierarchy Internal: individual conscience
PIETY Veneration of saints, relicsChristocentric: Christ alone Flourishing church articonoclasm (image-breaking) Elaborate worship servicesSimplicity in worship EDUCATION Highly educated clerical minorityEducated laity, catechisms Philosophy is handmaid of theologyPhilosophy under suspicion Rationalism, scholasticismAnti-rationalism, anti-scholasticism Bible in Latin onlyBible in vernacular languages
Historical Consequences of the Reformation Breakdown of church authority: from one Church to many denominations Religious wars Turning towards the Bible & individual believer Correction of some Medieval abuses
Ulrich Zwingli ( ) Swiss Reformer Worked in Zurich Opposed practices not supported by Scripture Denied ‘real presence’ of the Body & Blood of Christ in the Eucharist Defended congregational model (no bishops) which is the basis for modern Baptist, Disciples of Christ and other ‘independent’ denominations
Catholic & Protestant lands