Although the focus of this class is on the history of Protestants of various stripes, it’s also important to realize that Catholicism changed a good deal during the last five hundred years. In this lecture, you’ll get a brief sketch of the history of significant Catholic movements and doctrinal declarations during this period, including the inquisition, Council of Trent, the Jesuits, doctrines about Mary, the first and second Vatican Councils, and much more.
This is lecture 11 of a history of Christianity class called Five Hundred: From Martin Luther to Joel Osteen.
All the notes are available here as a pdf.
—— Notes ——
Initial Responses to Reformation
- Pope Leo X thought Reformation was just a drunken brawl among German monks
- 1541 Regensburg Colloquy
Inquisition
- started in 12th France to combat heresy of Cathars and Waldensians
- The 1578 handbook for inquisitors spelled out the purpose of inquisitorial penalties:”… for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit.”
- 1821 Inquisition abolished in Portugal; 1834 Inquisition outlawed in Spain
- 1908 Inquisition renamed to The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office
- 1965 Inquisition renamed to The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)
Council of Trent (1545-1563)
- response to Protestant movement
- Catholicism after Trent is called Tridentine Catholicism
- 7 sacraments, recognized Apocrypha as canon, Scripture and Tradition determine doctrine
- bishop as pastor of diocese rather than prince of the church: have to live in their diocese, preach regularly, inspect clergy to insure proper teaching, meet regularly at synods
- support of Baroque style of art, music, and architecture
- 1559 Index of Prohibited Books
- list had circulated since 1521 in Paris and Louvain
- 1966 Index of Prohibited Books abolished
- still to this day the word Imprimatur (let it be printed) is on approved Catholic books
- 2011 imprimatur first applied to iPhone app
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
- Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
- 1521 severely wounded by a cannon ball
- 1522 stayed in a cave for a while practicing severe asceticism
- 1523 pilgrimage to the holy land
- 1524 finished Spiritual Exercises (Ignatian Contemplation)
- returned to Spain and preached on street corners
- 1528 attended University of Paris and got master’s degree
- 1534 started Jesuits with 6 companions, taking solemn vows
- 1540 Society of Jesus approved by pope
- Rules of the Order: vows of poverty, chastity, obedience to pope, go anywhere in the world
- Rule 13 “That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity … if [the Church] shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black.”
- Missionary Activity
- Francis Xavier (1506-1552) preached in India and had success in Japan
- Matteo Ricci (1522-1610) dressed as Confusion scholar, brought Christianity to China
- Robert Nobili (1577-1656) brought Christianity to Brahman caste in India
- Alexander de Rhodes (1591-1660) preached in Vietnam
Colonialism