The radicalism of The Reformation 

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The Reformation movements of the 16th century drastically reshaped the lives of Catholic Europeans creating new churches, imposing new methods of worship, redefining social structures, and creating strife at the local and international levels. For the essay attached are the sources 1. Martin Luther’s “95 Theses 2. Luther's“Treatise on Marriage”, 3. John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4. Jeanne de Jussie’s “The Short Chronicle”, and develop an argument discussing at least 3 ways in which the Reformation was a radical movement. Explain in your arguments why these 3 aspects would have been considered radical during the 16th century using your Merriman textbook and your lecture notes for background information. You may focus on aspects like ideology, practices, or events described in the sources.

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Page |1 Name Class July 30, 2018 The radicalism of The Reformation The Reformation was a movement in Europe that had the aim of reforming the religious beliefs and the practices in the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. These religious aspects were also supported by other church leaders and influencers at the time such as John Calvin. The reformation disrupted the unity in Christianity and began the development of a new city and a middle class. In the past centuries, there had been other efforts to reform the Catholic Church with a bulk of them being the church councils. However, they were all ineffective. In 1517, Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses which revolutionized everything. The document did not brush off well with the officials at Rome. On the other hand, John Calvin’s book took a condemning approach to the Roman Catholic Church where he criticized the figurative representation of Christ as being idolatry and against him (Calvin 100). De Jussie explains how the sisters of Saint Clare were limited in how to go about their worship and religious activities for fear of being victimized (De Jussie 42). Therefore, the reformation movement was radicalized in that it did not want to maintain any of the ideologies of the Catholic Church, its activities were violent and the parties’ practices were unjustified by the bible. First, the Reformation did not want to maintain any of the ideologies and practices of the Catholic Church. Its resolve was only to follow the apostolic model of the new church. According to them, what was not explicitly outlined in the bible was forbidden. He argued that the pope did not have power over purgatory. If he is not able to release anyone from purgatory, Page |2 then he should abolish it. “The pope does well when he grants remission to souls, not by the power of the keys, but by way of intercession” (Luther). The reformation movement was also against the representation of Christ in any figurative manner as being idol worship. The movement followed Paul’s teaching in (Acts 17:29) where it suggests that “since we are the offspring of God we should not judge the deity to be like gold silver or stone.” Therefore, when a man builds a painting to represent God, he displeases him which is what the Roman Catholic Church was doing. Consequently, the Reformation was considered radical in that it disputed almost all the ideologies of the church and wanted to persuade the masses to adopt their ideology of the New Testament. The activities of the reformation group were also violent hence considered radical in nature. This was evident in Geneva. There were clashes between the Catholics and Protestants where the soldiers would rob the city and plunder the people in Monseigneur. They would rob the food, wine and burn down everything else. They would gouge out the eyes of the paintings they could not burn down and spat on them. Some of the reformed women would go to St. Claire to try to convert the nuns (De Jussie 42-45). The war between Catholics and Christians went as far as the involvement of the women in the fight. They would fight alongside their husbands to finish off “those infidels” as they referred to them. They would use rocks to throw at the Lutherans (De Jussie 78). The Christians would torment the Catholics together with their properties. All this while the poor nuns of Saint Claire were praying and weeping. All these deaths were in the name of religion and due to the belief that one denomination was the more right or better than the other one. Some of the practices of both parties, Catholics, and Christians, in the Reformation were somewhat extreme and unjustified by the bible. The Bible outlines that God gave man the Page |3 command to multiply and fill the earth and whenever humanity tries to resist this, they end up fornicating and committing adultery. This is to say that any vows that the priests make to seclude themselves from the institution of marriage are against God's ordinance. "Therefore, priests, monks, and nuns are duty bound to forsake their vows when they find that God’s decree to multiply is strong within them” (Luther 101). On the other hand, the old testament by Christians is somehow radical in that it advocates for the stoning of someone who is found committing adultery (the male). "… that adulterers be stoned the temporal sword and government should, therefore, put all adulterers to death, for whoever commits adultery has in himself already departed." The lady is then allowed to remarry just as if her spouse has died. The Christian bible also allows one to remarry if the wife is stubborn and refuses to give in (Luther 105). For the Catholics, it was also unfair for the Pope to take demand money from the people to build the church yet he was rich. It is socially unjust, and against the natural law yet the Catholics saw no problem in it. Both Catholics and the Christians exhibited radicalism in the belief and implementation of their practices. To sum up, Radicalism was evident in the reformation group of the 16th century in various dimensions. Ideologically, in terms of the practices by both parties and by the actions and events that the group was involved in. The effects of the movement group have had effect till the current century where there is "perceived" rivalry between Catholics and Christians. For example, Catholics have an additional bible that has additional books from the Christians. Their doctrines and how they conduct their service varies since both parties were unsuccessful in completely changing each other to their denomination. However, currently, there are now no significant differences that might spark another revolution between the two parties. It can be said; therefore, the reformation group had a hidden benefit on their relationship. Page |4 Works Cited Calvin, John. "Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols." Trans. by Ford Lewis Battles in The Library of Christian Classics. Ed. John T. McNeill. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press (1960). De Jussie, Jeanne. The short chronicle: a poor Clare's account of the Reformation of Geneva. University of Chicago Press, 2007. Luther, Martin. "The Estate of Marriage, 1522." Luther’s Works45 (1962): 1-50. Luther, Martin. Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the power and efficacy of indulgences. Prabhat Prakashan, 2000. MARTIN LUTHER 95 THESES DISPUTATION OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF INDULGENCES OCTOBER 31, 1517 Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter. In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. 2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. 3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. 4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons. 6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven. 7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest. 8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying. 9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity. 10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory. 11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept. 12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition. 13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them. 14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear. 15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair. 16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety. 17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase. 18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love. 19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it. 20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself. 21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved; 22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life. 23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest. 24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty. 25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish. 26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession. 27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory]. 28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone. 29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal. 30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission. 31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare. 32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon. 33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him; 34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man. 35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia. 36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon. 37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon. 38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission. 39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition. 40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them]. 41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love. 42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy. 43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons; 44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God. 46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons. 47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment. 48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring. 49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God. 50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep. 51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold. 52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it. 53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others. 54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word. 55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. 56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ. 57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them. 58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man. 59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time. 60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure; 61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient. 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. 63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last. 64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. 65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches. 66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men. 67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain. 68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross. 69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence. 70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope. 71 . He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed! 72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed! 73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons. 74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth. 75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness. 76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned. 77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope. 78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii. 79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy. 80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render. 81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity. 82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial." 83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?" 84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?" 85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?" 86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?" 87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?" 88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?" 89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?" 90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy. 91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist. 92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! 93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross! 94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell; 95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace. END
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Name
Class
August 4, 2018
The radicalism of The Reformation
The Reformation was a movement in Europe that had the aim of reforming the religious
beliefs and the practices in the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. These religious
aspects were also supported by other church leaders and influencers at the time such as John
Calvin. The reformation disrupted the unity in Christianity and began the development of a new
city and a middle class. In the past centuries, there had been other efforts to reform the Catholic
Church with a bulk of them being the church councils. However, they were all ineffective. In
1517, Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses which revolutionized everything. Luther was committed
to the idea that salvation was only possible through faith as well as divine grace rather than
through the pope or the selling of indulgences. The document did not brush off well with the
officials at Rome. Nonetheless, the 95 Theses became the principal foundation of the
Reformation since they were written in a respectful and a humble tone. On the other hand, John
Calvin’s book took a condemning approach to the Roman Catholic Church where he criticized
the figurative representation of Christ as being idolatry and against him (Calvin 100). Further, De
Jussie explains how the sisters of Saint Clare were limited in how to go about their worship and
religious activities for fear of being victimized .De Jussie also highlighted how individuals
sought into the destruction of the city when a great company of gentlemen gathered at the
Gaillard Castle (De Jussie 42). Therefore, the reformation movement was radicalized in that it

Page |2

did not want to maintain any of the ideologies of the Catholic Church, its activities were violent
and the parties’ practices were unjustified by the bible.
First, the Reformation did not want to maintain any of the ideologies and practices of the
Catholic Church. Its resolve was only to follow the apostolic model of the new church.
According to them, what was not explicitly outlined in the bible was forbidden. He argued that
the pope did not have power over purgatory. If he is not able to release anyone from purgatory,
then he should abolish it. “The pope does well when he grants remission to souls, not by the
power of the keys,...


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