Religious Thought - AP European History

The belief that God does not exist is called “atheism;” the belief that God may or may not exist, but “I need to see proof for myself” is called “agnosticism.” Deism is the belief that God created the universe with certain permanent laws (the law of gravity and so on) and then sat back and left creation to its own devices: essentially a “watchmaker God,” who created the world and then left it alone. Deism grew in popularity during the so-called Age of Reason in Europe, when scientists and thinkers like Newton began to uncover certain seemingly perfect laws about the universe.

The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 after he was injured in a battle. Working with other like-minded Catholic men, Ignatius developed the Jesuits to be a counterbalancing force to the great success of Protestant Reformers in Europe. The Jesuits would become the "foot soldiers" of Catholicism in spreading the message to different cultures and countries.

John Wesley was an Englishman who lived from 1703 to 1791. He did not initially try to break away from the Anglican Church of England, believing that Methodism was just a part of Anglicanism. Wesley was against the idea of predestination and believed in using laypeople to spread the gospel and work for change. Wesley is credited with leading many Methodists to become advocates for important social change.

Indulgences were sold throughout the medieval period in Europe by the Catholic church as a means to grant oneself forgiveness for sins or to gain forgiveness for someone who had died. The idea was the Catholic church was in charge of dispensing “merit” so that people could enter into heaven and that those who give financially to the church should benefit. They became extremely popular in 1517, when Pope Leo X sold indulgences to build a new St. Peter’s Basilica, as many people attempted to gain forgiveness. The selling of indulgences outraged Martin Luther, who mentioned them throughout his 95 Theses and fought against them as one of his main issues for reform. In 1567, the church outlawed the selling of indulgences.

Under Catholic teaching, the sins of believers were forgiven upon the crucifixion of Christ; nonetheless, some sins still carry the need for some form of penance or the enduring of a punishment. The doctrine of indulgences allowed for believers to perform certain good works in order to be relieved of the need for penance. Often this meant saying special prayers or giving to charity, but in some cases, priests were open to selling indulgences outright for personal gain. This cynical form of indulgence-granting was one of the factors that led Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses in order to reform the church. Thus, indulgences contributed to the tumultuous religious reorganization of Europe known as the Reformation.

John Calvin (1509-1564) was an influential theologian whose teachings formed the basis a wide array of newly formed churches. Chief among Calvin's theological differences from the Catholic church was his belief in predestined salvation. According to Calvin, God was absolutely sovereign in all matters of salvation, meaning that works and faith by human beings are worthless, no matter how good, without being chosen by God for salvation. Rather unintuitively, this led Calvin to preach that moral rectitude in every facet of life was of the utmost importance. Surely, if one had been chosen for salvation by God, he argued, then one had to be of the highest character and ought to show it.

The prestige of the Papacy declined significantly in the decades leading up to the Protestant Reformation. The Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, a fourteenth-century event in which popes were held in Avignon by the French King, and the Great Schism, in which two separate popes, one in Rome and one in France, were elected for several decades, both contributed negatively to the prestige of the Papacy. The Pope’s involvement in secular politics also contributed to the declining prestige of the Papacy, as it angered the rulers of Europe and inspired disdain from intellectuals. Finally, the rise of humanism put a greater emphasis on the abilities and virtues of man and less emphasis on salvation. The Italian city states were only gaining wealth in this time period, so this answer choice cannot be said to have contributed to the declining prestige of the Papacy.

The Second Vatican Council (sometimes called Vatican II) was convened in 1962 under Pope John XXIII and ended in 1965. This council was held in Vatican City and had the primary task of working to make the church and its teaching relevant in the modern era. Many of the initiatives undertaken at the council were meant to make the church more accessible to people, such as allowing the Mass to be said in languages besides Latin. Overall this council is credited with reviving and modernizing the Catholic Church and ensuring that it could stay true to its teachings and continue its mission even while the world was rapidly changing.

Jan Hus and John Wycliffe were both European religious reformers in the centuries leading up to the Protestant Reformation. Both men emphasized personal communion with God and diminished the significance of the Church as the only path to salvation.

The Roman Catholic Church had long held that there were seven sacraments that outwardly reflected inner faith. Luther disagreed and outlined in his published writings that only baptism and communion were legitimate sacraments within Lutheranism.

It is important to remember that whilst Luther was a reformer, he was not a revolutionary. Luther was actually quite attached to many aspects of the status quo. He was famously appalled by the Peasants Rebellion in Germany. His reaction to the rise of the “extremist” Millennials and Anabaptists was one of outrage and disgust. He encouraged the German princes to eradicate these denominations wherever possible.

All of these were early adopted tenets of Lutheranism except for predetermined salvation, more commonly called “predestination.” Predestination is a tenet of Calvinism that states that the fate of all men regarding their salvation or damnation is predetermined by God. It is a crucial tenet of Calvinism and one that separates from the vast majority of other denominations of Christianity.

The peace at the end of the Second Kappel War allowed each Swiss canton (district) to determine its own religion. This allowed Protestantism to flourish in Switzerland, particularly in the cities of Zurich, Geneva, and Basle.

The Church of England, also called Anglicanism, was founded for different reasons than the rest of the Protestant denominations. It was the will of one man, King Henry VIII, to rule without interference from the Pope that was the primary motivation behind its founding, rather than any doctrinal or philosophical disagreements. So, in Anglicanism, the sacraments were upheld and Catholic theology continued. The belief in Predestination is unique to Calvinism and the belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ was adopted vehemently by the Millennials, but also loosely believed by most denominations at the time.

The Jesuits, also called The Society of Jesus, were founded by Ignatius Loyola in the early 1540s. Their stated goals were the preservation of Catholicism, the eradication of Protestantism, and the education of the young and the non-believers. They were actively engaged in the inquisition, as well as in missions to the New World and Asia.

In Catholicism, the Pope is the leader of spiritual matters in Europe, but he is not the secular ruler of those countries. In Anglicanism, the sovereign is the ruler of the church, but this is not theocracy. In Lutheranism, the church is subservient to the secular rulers; however, in Calvinism, particularly in Switzerland, the government and the religion are one and the same. The government is divinely ordained and governs according to religious law. This was the case, most prominently, in Geneva during the sixteenth century.

The Anabaptists differed from the other denominations of Christianity primarily because the Anabaptists practiced adult baptism. This was considered heretical and deeply sinful by the rest of Christendom and is one of the reasons why the rise of the Anabaptists was met with such wide reaching disdain and anger.

In Calvinism, the fate of all humans is predetermined by God. You are either part of the “Elect” who are already saved, or you are not; however, one way to tell if you part of the “Elect” is if you are wealthy. It has been observed by many historians that the so-called “Protestant work ethic” is a result of the Calvinist emphasis on working hard and becoming wealthy as a sign that you are divinely blessed.

The Council of Trent was convened in the middle of the 1540s. Its purpose was to meet the threat of Protestantism around Europe and to define the tenets of Catholicism. The Council of Trent reaffirmed the seven sacraments and ruled that salvation was through faith and good works (e.g. venerating the saints and listening to the clergy).