Chapter 4 the Protestant Reformation and the Puritan Background

Chapter 4 the Protestant Reformation and the Puritan Background

 

I. The Protestant Reformation and the Puritan background

a) Martin Luther -- Wittenberg, Germany

1.          Marks beginning of Protestant Reformation

♣            1517 - 95 Theses nailed on door of Wittenberg's cathedral

−               denounces authority of church hierarchy

−               sola scriptura = scripture alone: the scriptures are the only source of God's word (not the Church)

−               sola fides = faith alone is the source of salvation (not sacraments or good works)

♣            Marks the beginning of a wave of new denominations--each moving further from Catholic forms

b) John Calvin -- Geneva, Switzerland

1.          Expounds on ML's teachings: Calvinism

♣            the root of Puritanism, Scottish Presbyterianism, the French Huguenots, and the Dutch Reformed church

2.          1536 - Institutes of the Christian Religion

♣            Principles of Calvinism:

−               God is all-powerful and all good

−               Humans are weak and wicked

−               Predestination:

−                      from the moment of creation, the elect had already been chosen for heaven--the rest are bound for hell.

−                      Visible saints: demonstrate their membership in the elect by living holy lives

b) The Church of England (Anglicanism)

1.          King Henry VIII

♣            Breaks with the Catholic Church in England

−               Anglican Church maintains most of the Roman Catholic rituals and creeds

2.          Dissenters within the Anglican Church...

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