The students were even more enthusiastic and attentive in our Thursday classes than they were previously. That is not a criticism of the attention in the previous days, but an appreciation for the way in which they seem to be growing in their effort and perception of the subject matter. History is often thought to be dull and boring by some, though it is a great help to those who learn from it and grow as a result. That is especially so with Religious History.
Our classes started with a quick review of the atrocities committed by the Catholic Church in the Inquisition as well as the slaughter of many in Europe who opposed the papacy and the Roman Catholic hierarchy, especially in southern France where an estimated two-thirds of the population was wiped out by the forces sent from the pope. We also noted other factors that led towards the Reformation Movement like the teaching of celibacy and its effect of rampant immorality among the priests, simony (the sale of offices and services by the Catholic Church and its official), the sale of indulgences, and hagiolatry (the worship of departed saints).
We then examined the preparatory work of John Wycliffe (often called “The Morning Star of the Reformation) in set the stage for the Reformation Movement. We also briefly noted the work of John Huss, Savonarola, Erasmus and others who played a preparatory role as well.
We then turned our focus for the bulk of the morning session of the German Reformation and the leading work of Martin Luther. We examined the sale of indulgence by John Tetzel and Pope Leo X’s selling of the archbishopric of Mainz to Prince Albert for about $ 500,000 (in present terms) as events that triggered Martin Luther’s opposition. We noted many of the 95 theses nailed to the door of the Wittenburg cathedral and the battle between Luther and the Catholic powers that opposed his teaching. We examined both the good points of Martin Luther’s work and the bad points where his teaching was not in agreement with Scripture.
In the afternoon session, we covered the works of Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in the Swiss Reformation Movement. We noted that Zwingli’s views were much closer to the truth of the Scriptures, but his influence was muted due to the brevity of his life which was the result of his fighting in carnal warfare to advance the cause of Reform.
We took the bulk of the afternoon session on the history, work and teaching of John Calvin. The root of his systematic theology was his mistaken concept of God’s sovereignty which allowed no place for freewill. We noted the conflict between John Calvin and the teaching in rebuttal to his teaching done by Jacob Arminius who defended the Bible teaching of the freewill of the individual. We also covered the major tenets of Calvinism and how they conflict with the Scriptures.
We ended with setting up the political and religious conflict that led to the English Reformation Movement which we will cover tomorrow morning, the Lord willing. We will leave that to the next report. God bless!
