Lesson 10 on my History of Christianity notes by Dan Nelson

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Lesson 10 on my History of Christianity notes
X. Forerunners of the Reformation 1174-1498
A. What abuses and ideas the leaders spoke about
1.Transubstantiation They saw this against scripture, the finished work of Christ, and the laws of nature.
2. Papal Authority They believed the Pope had a level of authority that he had falsely assumed and should be given only to Christ as revealed in the Scripture.
3.Scriptural Accessibility The question of where authority came from for belief and practice was simple to them since most of them translated the scripture and saw it contrary to the church’s practice.
4. Purgatory and Indulgences Purgatory was not taught in the scripture and a person’s eternal destiny was set at death and could not be changed through an indulgence or any other means.
B. Revolutionary leaders in the Pre-Reformation

1. Saint Patrick and his Missionary Spirit (386-459). Patrick was a missionary to England who preached the gospel and baptized many converts by immersion. He preached all over Ireland and many turned from paganism to Christianity. He did not acknowledge the authority of the Pope and baptized converts through immersion as evidenced by the many baptismal pools found in Ireland.
   Patrick was a Briton who was kidnapped and put into slavery in Ireland. He did come back to Briton but developed compassion for the Irish people. He was reared a Christian and felt called to go back to Ireland and preach the gospel to them. Patrick refused to acknowledge the authority of the church in Rome and baptized by immersion those converts who came to him. Although there is a significant gap between the forerunners of the reformation and Patrick, Patrick would be classified in this list because most of his messages related to the doctrine of salvation by faith and in his baptisms by immersion in the many baptismal pools of that area, which indicate his allegiance to the New Testament method of baptism by immersion (Bainton, 143).
2. Peter Waldo, (1140-1218),
   was a rich merchant of Lyons. Shortly after marriage to a rich nobleman’s daughter, he vowed to live a life of self-denial and poverty after hearing wandering troubadour singing the virtues of the monastic life. He reappeared and provided an adequate income for his wife, placing his two daughters in a cloister and gave the rest of his estate to the poor. He launched a mission to the poor and enlisted two priests to translate portions of the Bible into French. After memorizing long passages, Waldo began to teach common folk to imitate Christ by practicing voluntary poverty. He sent his followers out two-by-two in the apostolic pattern. They identified themselves as the poor in spirit and were known as the Waldenses.
   Waldo’s unauthorized preaching soon met stiff opposition from the Archbishop of Lyon who ordered him to stop. He refused by quoting Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” The Waldenses wanted to purify the church by a return to the simple life of the apostles. This meant the surrender of worldly power. The Papacy had not renounced the sacraments its exclusive priesthood nor admit that faith in God might be something other than the mandates of Rome.
   The Waldenses were so clearly a “back to the Bible” movement that over the years many evangelical Christians had tried to present themselves as Reformers before the Reformation. The Waldensian call to return to the Bible does indeed sound like Luther or Calvin, but their view of salvation, lack of penance, and poverty lacks the clear note of God’s grace that sounded so powerfully in the Reformation(Shelly. 225-227).
3. John Wycliffe (1324-1384)was an English reformer who completely rejected the ideals of Catholicism. His followers were called Lollards. They memorized the Scripture and preached what they memorized.
   Wycliffe also was the first to question Papal authority granted the papal schism that occurred for seventy years. He also found the ethical deportment of the Popes whose lives were a glaring contradiction to those of the apostles were not successors of the apostles nor the true church of the elect, but manifestly the reprobate. He said the priest does not have the ability to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ by transubstantiation because there is no transubstantiation. He began to interpret the Bible in contradiction to the wishes of the Church at that time (Bainton, 237-238).
   Wycliffe’s denial of transubstantiation gave his enemies their opportunity, he was effectively silenced at Oxford by the Bishop of Canterbury in 1382. Wycliffe gained enough support that the church authorities had the good sense not to move against him. He died in1384. On learning of his death, the Papacy dug up his bones and scattered his ashes in the Thames River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. In essence, it was symbolic of his teachings, starting in England and flowing to the whole world.
4. John Huss (1369-1415) was a priest from modern-day Czechoslovakia who favored reading of the Scripture, baptism by immersion, and freedom from the universal Church. He began to preach and explain the Bible verse by verse, and the crowds at his local parish church were not able to fit into the church building. John Huss was influenced by JohnWycliffe’s writings after his ordination and was appointed rector and preacher at Bethlehem Chapel. Huss began to study the Scripture and have serious doubts about the lifestyle of many of the immoral and decadent popes of his day. The chapel where he spoke increased by massive numbers as he went through the Bible and taught the Scripture.
   He was summoned to the Council of Constance in 1414 in hopes of presenting his views to church authorities. Upon arrival, he found himself a victim of an inquisition. He was asked to recant heresies which he always stoutly disclaimed. For Huss, the truth was supreme, “I have said that I would not, for a chapel full of gold, recede from the truth.” For eight months he lay in prison, his letters during the last month rank as great Christian literature. Finally, he was condemned by the council after being promised safe passage.
   On July 6,1415, the day of his burning came, on the way to the place of execution he passed through a churchyard and saw a bonfire of books. He laughed and told bystanders, not to believe the lies circulated about him. He knelt and prayed. His last words were, “God is my witness that the evidence against me is false. I have never thought or preached except with an intention, of winning men, if possible, from their sins. In the truth of the gospel I have written, taught, preached; today I will gladly die.” (Shelley, 249-251).
   Huss’s primary contribution was the move to a more Biblically oriented congregation for which he got in trouble. He questioned the authority of Rome and also believed in giving the Lord’s supper and communion to the laity.
5. Girolamo Savonarola
   (1452-1498) was called the “Morning Star of Reformation.” He preached from the Bible and against the power of the Papacy. Savonarola did not use the liturgy but trusted the Lord for messages from the scriptures. He spoke out against the hypocrisy of Rome and the corruption of the Popes. Savonarola’s parish church was located in Florence, very close to Rome, thereby putting him in range of the wrath of the Church. He was tortured, tried for heresy, and when he would not repent was burned at the stake.
   C. Progress and disappointment in confronting church corruption
6. The Pre-Reformers Set stage for the reformation
   The grievances ignored, corruption of the church, and contradiction with the scripture made it only a matter of time until revolution would occur and give freedom of religious expression to the world.
7. People suffered and died for convictions contrary to Catholic Doctrine. Many martyrs were claimed during this time of opposing Catholicism. Incidences such as the Crusades at the Spanish Inquisition are blights on the history of the Church. The corrupt nature of the Papacy during this time, with several popes fathering illegitimate children or leading armies to war, also was a stain upon the Church.
   The church even tried people who tried to rulers loyal to the Papacy such as Joan of Arc in 1431. The civil power was the most important factor for the church instead of truth and the scripture.
8. The Response of the Church. The Church was strong enough to extinguish these voices temporarily, but the stage was set for the Reformation and the power of the state leaders to get behind voices of change and have a massive overhaul of the Universal Church.
   Dan Nelson