01.22. The Reformation

Fundamental Bible Studies

Lesson 22 Topic: The Reformation

Departures from the truth resulted in the formation of the Catholic Church. Had there been no apostasy there would not have been this denomination. The departures which we studied in our last lesson resulted in this apostate organization and plunged the world into the period commonly called the Dark Ages. The Reformation was an attempt to remove from the Catholic church certain faults and abuses. When Constantine decreed that Christianity would be the official religion ( A.D. 313) the union of church and state began. This idea continued until the pope and religious leaders told kings and princes what to do. More Christians were put to death during the Dark Ages by Kings and others at the insistence of Popes and Cardinals than were put to death by heathens before the time of Constantine. By A.D. 1215 nearly all people were Catholics. The Bible was kept from them by order of the Pope. Hugh cathedrals were built by money extracted from ignorant people. Images and relics were worshiped. In A.D. 1229 one-tenth of all England’s movables were demanded by the pope to help him carry on a war. Indulgences were freely sold to raise money. It is no wonder thoughtful people rebelled and sought a Reformation.

Some Reformers

John Wycliffe was a highly educated priest and teacher in Oxford University. He saw the people being robbed by the priests and their open immoralities. He preached against these things. He translated the Bible into English so that the people might read it in their own language. Wycliffe was arrested many times and finally died in 1384. So bitterly did the Catholic powers hate him that thirty years later they tried him for heresy, condemned him, dug up his bones and burned them and the ashes were cast into the Severn River. Ulrich Zwingli, born AD 1484, led the Reformation in Switzerland. He successfully defended himself against Catholic charges and secured the independence of the Swiss churches. Switzerland became the headquarters of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was born in 1483. Luther was highly educated as a priest, but he became disgusted with the idolatry and superstition of Catholicism. Finally he completely rebelled against Rome on Oct. 31, 1517, when he nailed ninety-five objections to the Catholic church on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther endured severe persecution by the Catholic Church. He translated the Bible into the language of the German people. The prelates and princes under orders from the Pope burned his Bibles and forbade their circulation. They could not stop his work however, and Luther’s followers became numerous. He said, “Call yourselves Christians, not Lutherans. Luther was not crucified for you nor were you baptized in the name of Luther, but in the name of Christ”. (See 1 Corinthians 1:10-13). The followers of Luther formed the Lutheran church, however. John Calvin, a Frenchman, was driven from France to Switzerland. He did much to encourage the Protestants. Protestantism grew but so did persecutions. On August 24, 1572, St. Bartholomew’s Day, Catholics at the ringing of the church bells killed more than 20,000 Protestants in France - - men, women and children were murdered. The pope celebrated. Over 100,000 Huguenots were driven from France. John Knox embraced the teaching of Calvin and did much preaching in Scotland. He established Presbyterianism so firmly that in 1560 it was made the established religion of Scotland. Henry VIII in 1527, who had previously been called by the pope, “Defender of the Faith” wanted to secure another divorce so he could marry Catherine of Aragon. The divorce could be granted only by the pope who feared to do so since Henry wanted to divorce a Spanish wife and her brother, the King of Spain, had a sizeable army ready to descend on the pope. Henry disavowed all allegiance to the pope and organized the Church of England or Episcopal church. Some anti-Catholics formed themselves into independent churches known as Baptist churches. The first of these was formed by Mr. John Smythe in Holland in 1608. John and Charles Wesley were devout men who were disturbed at the worldliness in the Church of England. Between the years 1728 and 1791 their followers gradually developed into a separate organization from the Church of England in which John Wesley lived and died a member. They formed themselves into Methodist churches. There were many other reformers. Most of them tried to remedy the evils which had grown up especially in the Catholic hierarchy. We owe them a debt of gratitude. They gave the Bible back to the people. Unfortunately the followers of these people usually formed themselves into denominations wearing names not found in the Bible and teaching doctrines not taught in the Word of God. Most of them also brought with them certain false doctrines and practices from the Catholic church.

1.Who made Christianity the official or state religion? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2.What was the religious condition of most people about 1215?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3.    Why did people rebel against Catholicism? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4.Why did the Catholic powers hate Wycliffe? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 5.Where did Zwingli do his work? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6.    Name some reforms undertook by Luther. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

7.    What happened on Aug. 24, 1572? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8.What church was founded by Henry VIII? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9.When and where was the first Baptist church formed?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 10.What church grew out of the work of John and Charles Wesley?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

11.What was probably the greatest accomplishment of the reformers? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ In what way did they fall short? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

12.    What has happened to the followers of the reformers? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _