2. The Reformation was…
-An act of God
-The rise of the popular people
-The break from the tyranny of the Pope
-A rejection of the Bible’s teaching
-The destruction of English ways of life
- The result of a adulterous King’s passion
Complex!
5. Justification By Faith
“The old Church was immensely strong, and that strength could only have been
overcome by the explosive power of an idea.” Diarmaid MacCulloch
Luther’s ‘Conversion’:
Romans 1 v. 17 “…the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith…”
- Idea of imputation
Implications:
- Personal salvation
- No need for a Pope, priest or confession
- The power of an idea
7. “…the real - if most unlikely - revolutionary was Henry himself.” David Starkey
The power behind the Reformation?
Henry’s motivations:
- Love
- Money
- Power
- Theological persuasion
The results:
-The formation of the Church of England
- The role of Parliament (Elton’s ‘Revolution in Government’)
- Reformation from above
9. Zwingli’s difference:
- Emphasis on adult baptism
- Rejected the veneration of Saints
- Rejected the need to fast e.g. Lent
- Questioned the rue nature of mass e.g. symbolic over literal
Anabaptist Movement:
-Zwingli’s teaching and the birth of Anabaptism
- Huge later implication for denominational Christianity
- Again, the power of ideas and questions
11. Humanism:
-Closely tied with the Renaissance
- Europe’s intellectual heavyweight
- Huge impact of Classical study
Defender of the Faith?
-He criticised the Roman Catholic Church, especially before Luther’s doctrine
became established
- Yet he eventually sided with the Catholic Church
“He was a vocal critic of church abuses, but unlike the reformers he did not
advocate doctrinal changes or challenge the teaching authority of the Church.”
Erika Rumnel
13. “….[Catholicism] exerted an enormously strong,
diverse, and vigorous hold over the imagination and
the loyalty of the people up to the very moment of
Reformation.” Eamon Duffy