欧洲文化入门要点

WEEK 1-3

Reformation and Counter-Reformation P138-139

The Reformation was a 16th century religious movement as well as a socio-political movement. It begin with Martin Luther‘s 95 thesis in 1517.

This movement aimed at opposing the absolute authority of the Roman Catholic Church and replacing it with the absolute authority of the Bible,

The demands of the reformists:

---direct communication between the individual and God

---simplifying rituals

---abolishing heavy taxes levied on their countrymen

---abolishing the indulgences

1) Pre-Luther Religious Reformers

John Wycliffe (about 1330¡ª1384) p-139

Chief forerunner of Reformation. English theologian and religious reformer.

He believed that Christ is man¡®s only overlord and that salvation depends upon predestination and grace rather than on membership of a visible church.

He took up the translation of the Bible into English for the first time.

Jan Hus (1372-1415)

A Bohemian Czech religious leader, theologian. Attacked the abuses of the Church/ was imprisoned and exiled/ was burnt at stake / the Hus War

2) Martin Luther(1483-1546) and His Doctrines

Martin Luther was the German leader of the Protestant Reformation. His doctrine marked the first break in the unity of the Catholic Church.

Beginning of the Reformation p-140

Translation of the Bible

Gospel of love and Ideas of Equality

In the history of Germany, Martin Luther was more than a religious leader, he was a fighter for democracy and nationalism, a humanist who helped to build a competent educational system and a writer whose forceful language helped fix the standards of the modern German language

3) John Calvin (1509-1564) and Calvinism

Calvin was a French theologian.

His Institutes of the Christian Religion was considered one of the most influential theological works of all times.

Presbyterian government

Calvinism stressed the absolute authority of the God’s will, holding that only those specially elected by God are saved.

Calvinism was one of the main courses of the capitalist spirit

4) Reformation in England p-143

John Knox Scottish Presbyterianism

Henry VIII / matrimonial affairs / Catherine Aragon / Anne Boleyn

In 1534, the Act of Supremacy marked the formal break of the British with the papal

authorities. Thomas Cromwell---Vicar-Gene ral of the Church, King’s Chief Minister further broke from the Pope, closed the monasteries, took away their land and introduced church reforms.

In England, the question of reform was not fundamentally one of belief or interpretation of the Bible but one of rejection of the supremacy of the Pope.

5) Counter-Reformation p-144

Council of Trent

The sessions of the Council reaffirmed that the Church had the sole right to interpret the Bible. The Council declared that the Latin Vulgate of Jerome to be the definitive translation of the text. It was also stressed that Catholicism was a religion of infallible authority.

The Catholic Reformation, that is, counter-reformation afterwards was to a great extent occupied with the principles and requirements laid down at the council of Trent.

Ignatius and the Jesuits p-145

Ignatius was a Spaniard who devoted his life to defending the Roman Catholic Church.

Ignatius and his followers called themselves the Jesuits, members of the Society of Jesus.

Today the Society of Jesus is still active with a membership of 31000, having institutions in various parts of the world.

6) Protestantism and the Rise of Capitalism p--146

Reformation movement broke the absolute authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestantism came into being.

Liberal ideas

Science

Calvinism

Navigation and discoveries of new lands

7) Conclusion P147

In education and cultural matters

In religion

In language

In spirit

D. Renaissance in Other Countries

The influence of the Italian Renaissance reached every corner of Europe.

In France

In Spain

In the north: Flanders

In the Netherlands

In Germany

In England

In one word, Renaissance in Europe ¨produced giants in power of thought, passion and character, in universality and learning.”

1)Renaissance in France