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Page 3 of 4
THE FIRST MAJOR SPLIT IN
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
The formation of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church
The Eastern Christian church in Constantinople split (1054) with the
rest of the Church headquartered in Rome and formed the Orthodox
Church. The dispute was both theological and political. After
all
Constantinople was the headquarters of the only remaining part of the
proud old Roman Empire and they were unhappy about the dogmatic
(theological) authority from Rome. They froze the rules preached by the
church up to the Nicean Creed. They also permitted the inclusion of
elaborate Icons and perhaps most importantly claimed the authority of
the Apostolic succession hence claimed they were the only true church.
View the History of Orthodox Christianinty
THE ISLMIC ENEMY.
The Muslim Arabs spread their faith across the whole of North Africa
and up into Southern and Eastern (Aragon) Spain. This created not only
huge problems for the Christians in the North of Spain but also the
rest of Europe. For some 500 years the Muslim Arabs and the Muslim
Ottomans controlled the European sources and trade routes for Gold and
Spices. Gold, required to make currency was running out in
Europe. The Arabs had plenty, mined in North Africa at Gao
close
to Timbuktu in present day Mali. Spices (mainly pepper which
the
Romans thought was almost as valuable as Gold) came from Java, in
present day Indonesia and came to Europe via the Arab trading port in
Egypt of Alexandria. The Christian/Muslim wars lasted some 700 years
were ended finally by the English at the height of their Naval and
imperial powers of 200 years ago.
CHRISTIAN AND JEWS
Christians, in this period also suffered the self inflicted economic
constraint as the Roman controlled Christian Church did not allow the
setting up of financial institutions like banks as part of Christian
religious laws. The Jewish faith permitted money lending
(Usury).
William the Conqueror (a Christian) asked the Jews in France to come to
England with him to ensure this service was available in his new
domain. England had to wait 500 years until Elizabeth 1st ruled as a
Protestant Queen and money lending by Protestant Christians were
allowed.
750 YEARS AGO
THE START OF A RELIGIOUS
REVOLUTION
The Christian Church is seen to become too powerful and too dogmatic.
From 1000 years ago, with the economic and cultural stability brought
to England by the Normans both Church and state flourished. The Church
ran life at grass routes level which included the collection of
religious taxes from the people. Probably more happily given than the
state taxes collected by the Barons. Much of the Church money would
have had to go to Rome. However the local Bishops seemed to be doing
rather well perhaps some even living the high life. This caused
resentment amongst the people most who lived just above starvation
level if the harvest was poor.
One of the first to complain was Oxford University philosopher John
Wycliffe (1329-1384). However being a University Don his
complaint was mainly about theological issues. He wanted the church to
get back to basics that the bible taught rather than the
interpretation authorised by the Popes. A particular point was the
doctrine of “Transubstantiation”. That is the Roman
Christian doctrine states that during Mass in Church, when the priest
offers wine and bread as a symbol for Jesus’ blood and body
that
they actually turn into the blood and body of Jesus. Wycliffe
was
kicked out of Oxford and labelled a heretic. His Fundamentalist
thinking was carried forward by the Lollards.
The main issues were, Transubstantiation.
The rule that the Church in Rome could effectively interpret the Bible
as it wished. Wycliffe thought individuals should interpret the bible
as they wished.
He also attacked the hierarchy of the church. That is the power of
Bishops etc.
All these points were adopted by the English Protestants 150 years
later.
What Wycliffe complained about was mirrored across Europe by other
independent but like minded observers.
Also during this period the English Kings had to balance their
control of the country with the power of the Church of Rome
sometimes providing different rules.
500 YEARS AGO
The Renaissance and the Reformation in the Christian Church
Three events elevated Europe from a medieval society to what we have
now, as represented by freedom of thought, speech and writing and a
respect of our fellow human beings or Human Rights. These
movements started in Italy and spread rapidly through Europe then west
to America with the European explorers and eventually, with the English
to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. (The areas dominated by the
Islamic Ottomans were closed to Europeans and hence closed to
Renaissance thinking.)
The three events were:
- The Cultural Renaissance
- Science
- The Religious Reformation
Without the first two the Reformation would not have happened.
Renaissance is a French word that means Re-birth. The Roman
Christian church had ruled for 1000 years across the whole of Europe.
The message was very appealing. If you follow the rules laid down by
the Pope in Rome, when you die you will go to paradise (heaven). A very
powerful promise when the length of life was so short. Of
course
the rules included the payment of religious taxes, mainly in the form
of farm and property taxes as the Church owned so much land via both
the Monasteries and the Church Parishes. The Church was the only source
of education and scholarship. Indeed generally the only people who
could read in the land were either the clergy or those few trained by
the clergy. The penalty for arguing with the church (Heresy)
was
death.
The catalyst for this revolutionary thinking or re-birth was
the
fall of the headquarters of the Eastern Christian church in
Constantinople to the Muslim Ottomans in 1453 after some 250 years of
military conflict. Whereas the German Vandals who sacked Rome
some 1000 years earlier left nothing, this time many of the scholars
and theologians in Constantinople who fled made it to
northern
Italy. They brought with them their ancient books describing not only
the teachings of the Eastern Church but also the almost 2000 years of
thoughts and art from the Greeks and Romans which had been lost to the
western world. A freedom of thought, science and art was
reborn.
THE REFORMATION.
The ideas of the early “reformers” were to change
the
“bad” or earthly habits that the Church of Rome had
in
their opinion fallen into. (Similar in a way to how Jesus had set out
to Reform the “corrupt” Jewish Church). As with
Jesus the
early reformers were risking death by confronting the
establishment. Without the fall of Constantinople it might
never
have happened. The first reformer is said to have been the German Monk,
Martin Luther when in 1517 he nailed up his 95 complaints
against
the Church in Rome on the door of the castle church at
Wittenburg. Following many trips to Rome, he failed to reform
the
church, and was immediately condemned to death by the Pope but with the
support of some German princes he survived and formed the Protestant
movement. He was followed in Switzerland by Zwingli (1520)
and in
France(actually Geneva in Switzerland) by the more extreme
fundamentalist, Frenchman John Calvin. All these
men
of course were preceded by 150 years by Oxford English scholar John
Wycliffe who had exactly the same ideas and complaints. Wycliffe and
the Lollards did not have the weight of the Renaissance behind
them. Also by the Italian Friar, Savonarola who was burnt at
the
stake in Florence in 1498.
Eventual country converts to the new Protestant thinking were:
- England 1552 after various blood baths.
- Scotland with the help of charismatic evangelist John Knox
who
preached the more fundamental views of Calvin to establish the
Presbyterian Church in 1592.
- In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland the less
brutal views of Luther were adopted earlier starting in 1527.
- In the Netherlands, then ruled by the Spanish under the
umbrella
of the Holy Roman Empire, the north part converted to Lutheranism which
in 1568 sparked a series of European wars culminating in the 30 years
war(1638-1668) between the new European Protestants and the traditional
Roman Catholics.
ENGLAND SEPARATES FROM
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THERE FOLLOWS A BLOOD BATH.
In England the story went as follows:
Henry 8th with the support of Thomas Cromwell, (not to be confused with
Oliver C) destroys Roman Papal authority in England. (1529-36) Note
there was no theological change. Henry divorces Catholic Catherine of
Aragon and marries his already pregnant second wife Anne Boleyn.
Divorce not permitted under Roman Catholicism. Henry no longer has to
pay taxes to the Pope and can keep the money for himself.
Henry kills Thomas Cromwell because he arranges a marriage to an ugly
woman poor Anne of Cleves(from Catholic Flanders in northern France)
and appoints Protestant convert Thomas Cramner as Archbishop of
Canterbury. The Bible is translated into English for the first time and
is distributed more widely thanks to the first printing presses in
England which were housed in the Palace of Westminster (Houses of
Parliament) to enable the King to keep control.
Henry 8th dies and his only surviving son Edward 6th is appointed King
at the age of 10. Edward is advised by his uncle and more importantly
Thomas Cramner. Edward is persuaded to convert to the ideas
of
Luther and became the first Protestant King. John
Knox who
later converted Scotland to the more fundamental Protestantism of
Calvin works as chaplain to Edward 6th under Cramner.
Edward dies at the age of 14 in 1553 and is succeeded by Mary the
daughter of Henry 8th and his first wife the Catholic Catherine from
the Spanish Royal family. Not surprisingly Mary took England back to
the Catholic faith under control from Rome.
Mary kills Thomas Cramner and in all about 300 newly converted
Protestants by the then normal punishment for heretics by burning alive
at the stake! She was nicknamed Bloody Mary. Mary marries
King
Philip, of Spain as the most powerful Catholic ally in the world. (Head
of the Holy Roman Empire) but Philip leaves her.
When Mary dies in 1558 of cancer she is succeeded by a charismatic
single minded and very intelligent Elizabeth the daughter of Henry 8th
second wife the English girl Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth saw it was
her
duty to return England back to the new Protestant faith.
Elizabeth was as ruthless as her elder sister Mary.
Elizabeth died after a reign of 35 years, no husband, no simple
Protestant succession. James the 6th King of Scotland won the English
throne in 1603 by virtue of his great grand mother being the daughter
of Henry 7th . (And unified England , Scotland and Ireland). It was
only in 1592 that Scotland had been converted to Calvinist
Protestantism by John Knox. Powerful Catholic Englishman
Robert
Catesby visited James in Scotland when it was known he was to become
King of England and thought he had persuaded him to take England back
to the Roman Church. He was mistaken, shaken and horrified
and
vowed revenge. He hired a staunch Catholic freedom fighter
(terrorist!) who had become an expert in explosives as a Religious
mercenary in Europe. His name is now well known, Guy Fawkes.
A team of 12 set about blowing up King James and all his ministers at
the next state opening of Parliament when they would all be under one
roof in the Palace of Westminster now the Houses of
Parliament.
With all the Gun Powder in place in the cellar, the 12 took on a 13th
to fund them for a few more weeks. He betrayed them and Fawkes, Catesby
and their band were captured on the, you’ve guessed it, 5th
November 1603. (All children in England remember this day with an
annual firework party.) The Church of England has remained independent
of the Papal rules from Rome ever since.
Click here
for a detailed chronology of religious events over the 100 years from
1500 to 1600.
Click here
for a comparison of
beliefs between Christian Protestants and Christian Roman Catholics.
Plus some examples of the effects the Puritan/Presbyterian Protestant
extremists had on the inhabitants of the British Isles.
250 YEARS AGO
For 100 years after Protestant King James 1st (1603-1625) the English
were fearful of the chaos which might occur if any King changed the
faith of the country. James ruled over a not very Protestant Church of
England, a residual but illegal Catholic following and a noisy group of
Calvinist fundamentalists called the Puritans. The English
Kings
were trying to rule in Calvinist Presbyterian Scotland and an Ireland
who refused to change from their sincere Roman Catholic
beliefs.
Not an obvious recipe for a quiet life for either King, the church or
parliament.
1642 The English civil
war. Religious background.
Charles the 1st tried to rule without parliament, indeed he did not
call his ministers together for 17 years! Eventually he
needed
money to finance an army to quell various Catholic riots in England and
particularly also Ireland. The Scots were also a problem as they
refused to adopt the English Prayer Book. (All Calvinist religions ban
any formal approach to prayer as is laid down in a Prayer Book and a
heavy hierarchy including Bishops ) Parliament refused the
money
as his ministers were frightened of what would happen to them if the
King had a powerful army at his disposal. The King needed to be stopped
and the way to do it was for the ministers to form their own army.
Hence the Civil War.
Oliver Cromwell lead the Parliamentarians who were nicknamed
“Round Heads” after the appearance of their metal
helmets
and their ultra short hair. The Kings army were nicknamed
Cavaliers and retained the fashionable long hair of the time. Cromwell
organised his army very well and spent time teaching them the art of
battle and indeed formed a formidable fighting force. They won.
Cromwell did not become King but “Lord Protector”
and
quickly set about quelling the religious riots in England, Ireland and
Scotland. He earned a reputation for being particularly
brutal
fully supported by his ”Model Army”. His excuse for
wholesale human genocide was to cleanse his territories of religious
dissidents for once and all. In both England and Ireland he was
particularly hard on Catholics who he murdered in the name of God.
Worse, in Ireland he kicked out any suspect landowners and replaced
them with “good” Protestants from England. This
mass ethnic
cleansing was “successful” in six Irish counties.
(Act of
Settlement 1652). In Scotland he was reluctant to fight as
Puritans and Presbyterians were both Calvinists, but the Scots refused
to negotiate. So in went Cromwell and his Model Army. They
won
there too.
However the Protestant succession could not be guaranteed.
- James 1st 1603-1625 had only just been converted from being
a
Catholic when he became King. Surprisingly he ruled as a Protestant
(Anglo Catholic) and not a Scottish Presbyterian Calvinist. He hated
the English Calvinist Puritans to such an extent that many fled to
America in 1620 (The story of the May Flower and the origin of Thanks
Giving day in the US)
- Charles 1st 1625-1649 had left all religious matters to his
Archbishop Laud a ruthless Protestant Cromwell
1651-1658 was a ruthless Calvinist Puritan but preached religious
tolerance! This is supported by the fact that he re-allowed Jews back
in the country after an absence of some 400 years.
- Charles 2nd 1660-1685 although he had been in exile in
Catholic
France and was married to Catherine of Braganza a Catholic from
Portugal, when offered the English throne he ruled as a
Protestant. Parliament was very much ruling the country and
were
very nervous of the threat of the Puritans to the extent of passing the
following Laws (Clarendon Codes):-
- All Clergymen and people in local government must take
(Protestant) Anglican communion.
- Those not attending Anglican Sunday worship would be
punished.
- Puritan and any other non conformist meetings (including
Catholic) to be limited to a maximum of five people.
Charles on his death bed
“converted” to the Catholic faith which would
rather
indicate he had been a Catholic all along only admitting to it to
improve his chances of getting to heaven by receiving the last rites
from a Catholic priest.
Charles had no children by
his Catholic Portuguese wife but having many mistresses he had 14
illegitimate sons and daughters.
- James 2nd 1685-1688 was the younger son of Charles 1st who
during
the reign of Charles 2nd had shown great leadership in charge of a huge
expansion of the English Navy but was a Catholic. He promised
parliament he would supress any desire to bring England back to
Catholicism but no, from 1688 he tried to introduce a
“Declaration of Indulgence” that was a cancelling
of all
laws against Catholics and the other banned religions.
Parliament’s response to this alarming change of heart was to
send a message to the husband of James’ daughter Mary, the
Dutch
Protestant Prince William of Orange, and asked if he would like to send
an army to England and claim the throne for himself. (Mary
had
refused to accept the crown unless also offered to her
husband).
When William arrived in London James fled to Catholic France and
Parliament had the Protestant king they wanted. This was not
the
end of the matter however. James went to Ireland with an army of French
mercenaries where he knew he could gather more loyal Catholics to form
a huge army to get his throne back. Their first job was to
eliminate any Protestant support in the north of Ireland. They lay
siege to the town of Derry (or Londonderry) where the Irish Protestants
had fled, confronted by such a formidable army. The new English King,
William of Orange came to the rescue, the siege was lifted and James
and his Catholic army regrouped south by the river Boyne. Protestant
William routed the Catholic army of James who fled back to France. This
victorious battle of the Boyne is celebrated by the Irish Protestants
(Ulster Orange Men) annually to this day. On the death of
William
his wife’s Protestant sister Anne inherited the throne
- Queen Anne 1702-1714 married Prince George of Denmark and
they
had 17 children but they all died! Hence a protestant
successor
had to be found once more.
- George 1st 1714-1727 was the best they could find, a German
King
(King of Hanover one of the states of the Holy Roman Empire) and great
grandson of James 1st. German George spoke no English (he communicated
with his Parliamentary ministers when he had to in French). Initially
he surrounded himself with German advisers but latterly appointed a
chief English Minister, Robert Walpole. England has had a chief
minister or Prime Minister ever since. George had very little to do
with running the country setting the example for all future Kings and
Queens thus eliminating the problems brought about by the religion of
the Monarch.
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