You've been dying to read an excerpt from the next chapter. You couldn't sleep at night...you couldn't concentrate at work...you couldn't eat. Okay, maybe you could eat.
Well here we go, an excerpt from United States History: Roots through Constitution
Chapter 2: Christianity Jumps the “Puddle”
A Split in the Church and a Flight from Persecution
In the first chapter, you learned that Christianity was introduced to Rome largely through the efforts of the Apostle Paul. However, the Roman government did not jump up and down saying, “Yippy, Skippy, isn’t Paul a hero?” No, in fact, Paul loses his life for his efforts; he upset many powerful people who demanded his death. Nonetheless, the proverbial cat was let out of the bag; people were hungry for a personal relationship with the one true God, and like it or not, Mr. Caesar, Christianity took root in Europe. Within time, the fledgling (young and small) Church of Rome would evolve into the Roman Catholic Church, and Catholicism would spread throughout Europe.
What is Catholicism? Perhaps you are a Catholic, or know friends who are. For those who don’t know the meaning of the term, let’s take just a moment to explain. The literal meaning of Catholic comes from the Greek language; the word katholikos is an adjective meaning universal. The “plan” incorporated the belief that the church of Jesus Christ would become universal, or the church of all believers. Over time, the practices of the Roman Catholic Church helped define the identity and characteristics of Catholicism. Examples: The Apostle Peter is considered to be the Father of the Church based on the scripture from the Book of Matthew, “He (Jesus) said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter said in reply, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew: 16:15-19.) Another belief: there is only one holy and apostolic church (a church whose leadership has been handed down from the Apostle Peter. A third belief: Jesus was crucified on the cross and bodily rose from the dead on the third day. A fourth: the head of the church, here on earth, is the pope.
Have you ever watched the news and seen the current pope, Pope Benedict XVI (16th) addressing a crowd, offering a prayer, or cruising around in his Popemobile? The word pope comes from the Latin term, papa, meaning father. The Catholic Church would need a church father, or leader, to assist the universal church in following a consistent course outlined by God. Catholic tradition holds that the Apostle Peter was the first pope, and followed by Pope Linus (not the one from the Peanuts comic strip). A belief in the Catholic Church is that all popes are successors of the Apostle Peter. As a successor, there would be a laying on of the hands, and with prayer of empowering the incoming pope, the blessing that Jesus gave to Peter would be passed on to successive popes. Therefore, each pope would have special insights as to God’s will. In fact, the pope would be the final authority for the Catholic Church in determining meaning of the Bible and being able to gain full understanding of God’s intent for faith, morality, and life in general. Should any matter arise that created dispute among believers, the pope would have final authority to clarify God’s will. Following the Fall of the Roman Empire, approximately 500 AD, churches became even more important influences of stability in Europe; the power and protection of Rome eroded, and Europe was in a state of unpredictability. As the Roman Catholic Church served to stabilize the uncertain continent of Europe, the pope gained much power in the eyes of believers.
Over the centuries, there have been many popes who have been faithful to serve God, and a few who have abused their position of power and brought shame upon the church. Power can be a dangerous thing in the hands of some. For instance, millions of Americans own guns and drive cars. But a gun in the wrong hands of an evil person, can prove disastrous. A car driven by a drunk or careless driver, can cause untimely death to innocent people. Power, in the hands of some people, can also lead to calamity. In 1770, William Pitt the Elder, a British politician spoke this in Parliament: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it..." A century later, Lord Acton, a British historian, echoed those thoughts when he penned this famous quote: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (You better memorize that quote, I’ll be repeating it a bunch in this book. In fact, memorize Lord Acton’s name as well. You toss that quote out and people will be impressed; you mention the guy’s name who coined the phrase, and well, people will probably give you $5 just for the privilege of knowing you.)
During the development and history of the Catholic Church, a few practices were followed that became a problem for some believers. Catholicism embraces the belief that believers should do acts of good works while on earth (example: helping a widow or orphan). But a practice took root incorporating the teaching that these acts would earn the believer merit points, accumulated to earn one’s way into heaven. Through the course of living a really holy life, a believer would earn more merit than he or she actually needed to get into heaven. So, what would become of those extra points when the believer died? Well, those points would become stored in the Treasure House of Merit. For what purpose? If another believer sinned, they might be able to purchase what was known as an indulgence – an assurance, sometimes on paper, of forgiveness. See, the idea was that the sinner was buying the merits earned by the first believer who didn’t need those credits to get into heaven. The effect of this was that many Catholics were led to believe this was God’s plan, and in the meantime, the Church was making money be selling the concept of forgiveness.
As mentioned, these kinds of practices led to problems among some people, people such as a German monk named Martin Luther. In 1517, Luther confronted a preacher named Johann Tetzel for selling indulgences to raise money for the reconstruction of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Luther was outraged by the practice of forgiving believers’ sins through the payment of money. He cited the Bible in proclaiming that forgiveness comes through a believer’s faith in Jesus as the redeemer. Luther wrote a paper we know as the Ninety-five Theses rejecting practices such as the selling of indulgences, took them to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, and purportedly posted them on the doors to
the church on October 31, 1517. By doing so, he was announcing his challenge to the Catholic Church leadership as a debate to be held at the University of Wittenberg. Basically, Luther was calling out the church for scaring Catholics into giving money to the church out of fear they hadn’t been good enough to get into heaven. For this and other attacks on the church, Luther was excommunicated (kicked out) of the Roman Catholic Church.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
The year 1517 serves as the birthday of the Protestant Reformation. Many churches which we either attend, or drive by, today were birthed from this movement. Examples of these churches include Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, and many more. Just as Christians made their split from Judaism at the time of Jesus Christ, Protestant churches were comprised of former Catholics who decided to separate from Catholicism in protest (Protestant) over certain practices of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther contended that individual believers could understand the words of God directly as they were enabled by God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, they really didn’t need a church leader such as the pope, to interpret matters of God; believers could do so independently. So, while Protestants and Catholics believed in the same God, the same Jesus, the same Bible, there was a split within Christian churches; the Catholic Church continued as it had, and new Protestant churches were springing up with believers who chose to separate themselves from the dependence on the Pope and other Catholic practices such as salvation from good works and forgiveness based on indulgences.
Enter King Henry VIII of England. England, like most other European nations was a Catholic nation at the time. Please understand, that during the Middle Ages, the influence of the church and church leadership was MUCH greater than what we experience in the United States today. For instance, if the Pope was the “hotline” to God, then the government dare not ignore the counsel nor directives from the Pope. Back to Henry: he was married to Catherine of Aragon. Like all kings, Henry looked forward to passing the British throne on to an heir, and preferably a son. Unfortunately, Catherine produced only one daughter, and the future of not having a male heir proved too depressing for Henry. So, he sought a method of getting rid of Catherine and replacing her with a new wife. Today, divorce is very common. In the 1500s, it was not. Why? Because the Bible speaks against divorce, and the Pope, speaking for the Catholic Church, did not allow it.
In July of 1530, King Henry sent a letter to Pope Clementine VII asking for an exception – seeking an annulment (basically, a cancellation) of his marriage to Catherine. The Pope declined permission, and so, it seemed Henry would be stuck with Catherine. However, this was occurring at roughly the same time as the Protestant Reformation. Call it trickery or coincidence, King Henry claimed to have a divine revelation (a discovery given from God). Henry contended that God wanted him to start a new church in England wherein the King of England, and not the Pope, would be the head of the church. The king would have direct access to God’s will and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. (Pretty good timing for old Henry, eh?)
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