Chapter 14: Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church

Christian Humanists

More, Erasmus, Colet, and Lefevre d’Etaples who advocated church reform through education and social change in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Clerical Immorality

The issue of priests having concubines, neglecting celibacy rules, engaging in drunkenness, gambling, and extravagant dressing in the early sixteenth century.

Indulgences

Pardons granted by the Pope that were sold to reduce the punishment for sins, leading to Martin Luther's protest against them in 1517.

Consubstantiation

Luther's belief that Christ is spiritually present in the Eucharist alongside the bread and wine, in contrast to transubstantiation.

Predestination

Calvin's belief in God's predetermined fate for individuals, a key tenet of Calvinism that influenced his theology and social thought.

Anabaptists

A radical group within the Reformation advocating adult baptism, religious tolerance, separation of church and state, and communal property sharing.

English Reformation

Initiated by Henry VIII in 1527 to establish the King as the supreme head of the Church of England, breaking away from Rome and traditional Catholicism.

Appeals and Supremacy Acts

Led to heated debate in the House of Commons, resulting in the beheading of figures like John Fisher and Thomas More.

Dissolution of English Monasteries

Undertaken between 1535 and 1539 under Thomas Cromwell's influence, leading to the sale of monastery lands and funding wars.

Pilgrimage of Grace

Massive multiclass rebellion in 1536 against religious changes in the north of England, the largest in English history.

Presbyterian Church of Scotland

Established by John Knox, strictly Calvinist in doctrine with governance by presbyters instead of bishops.

Counter-Reformation

A reaction to Protestantism, involving Catholic efforts to persuade or coerce heretics to return, starting in the 1540s.

Council of Trent

A meeting intermittently held, reaffirming authority of Scripture, Church tradition, sacraments, and transubstantiation, aiming to reform the Catholic Church.

Society of Jesus

Founded by Ignatius Loyola, resisted Protestantism, converted people to Catholicism, and spread Christian education, known for the Spiritual Exercises.

Index of Prohibited Books

Published by the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office in 1542, listing forbidden books and managing the Roman Inquisition under Roman law.