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I. Martin Luther
- a. During second half of 15th century, the new Classical learning that was part of Italian Renaissance humanism spread to northern Europe and spawned a movement called Christian or northern Renaissance humanism whose major goal was the reform of Christianity
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I. Christian or Northern Renaissance
- a. Northern humanists cultivated a knowledge of the classics, the bond that united all humanists in fellowship
- i. Return to antiquity writingsà they focused on sources of early Christianity, Scriptures, and writings of church fathers
- They discovered a simple religion that was distorted by complicated theological arguments of the Middle Ages
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I. Christian or Northern Renaissance
Most important characteristic
- i. Most important characteristic: reform program
- 1. Ability of human beings to reason and improve themselves and education of Classical and Christian antiquity sources, they could reform church and society through inner piety or inward religion
- a. As a result, they supported schools, brought out new editions of classics, and prepared new editions of the Bible and writings of the church fathers
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I. Christian or Northern Renaissance
belief in power of education
- a. Belief in power of education= important
- i. Christian humanists believed change in humans will change society
- 1. Reformation shattered their optimism says Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More
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Erasmus
- a. Erasmus
- i. Christian humanist who formulated and popularized the reform program of Christian humanism
- ii. Born in Holland and educated by Brothers of the Common Life; wanderer, conversing everywhere in his tongue, Classical Latin
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i. The Handbook the Christian Knight (1503)
- By Erasmus
- 1. Preoccupation with religion= “philosophy of Christ”
- a. Christianity should be a guiding philosophy for the direction of daily life rather than a system of dogmatic beliefs and practices that the medieval church stressed
- i. Emphasis on inner piety and deemphasis on external religion (sacraments, pilgrimages)
- 2. Return to simplicity of church: understand Scriptures and church fathers
- a. Latin bible= erroredà edited Greek text of NT from earliest available manuscripts and published it along with new Latin translation (1516)
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Annotations
- erasmus
- i. Annotations
- 1. Detailed commentary on Vulgate Bible
- ii. Reform of church, to him, meant spreading understanding of philosophy of Jesus, providing enlightened education in the sources of early Christianity, and making common-sense criticisms of the abuses in the church
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The Praise of Folly (1509)
Erasmus
- 1. Humorous and effective criticism of corrupt society, especially clergy
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Erasmus success?
- 1. Did not achieve reform of church he wanted
- 2. Moderation and emphasis on education crushed by Reformation
- a. He helped bring about Reformation
- i. But disproved of Luther and Protestant reformers
- 1. He didn’t want to destroy unity of medieval Christian church, just reform it
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Thomas More
- i. Son of London lawyer who had good education and knew law
- ii. Interested in new Classical learning and learned Latin and Greekà public career that made him chancellor of England
- iii. Career in government didn’t keep him from intellectual and spiritual interests
- 1. Knew other English humanists and befriended Erasmus
- iv. Translated Greek prose and poet authors into Latin and did much prayer and private devotions
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Thomas More:
Utopia: 1516
- Utopia: 1516/ controversial work
- 1. Account of idealistic life and institutions of Utopian community, an imaginary island in vicinity of New World
- a. Reflects his concern with economic, social, and political problems of his day
- 2. Presented new social system in which cooperation and reason replaced power and fame as the proper motivating agents for human society
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a. Thomas More
Utopian society
- 1. based on communal ownership rather than private property
- a. Residents: 9-hr shitfts and rewarded according to needs; had leisure time and no competition or greedà led enriching lives
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Thomas More and Henry VIII
- 1. More exposed to abuses and corruption he criticized in Utopia; yet, he justified his service to the king
- a. Still, his religion and belief in a universal Catholic Church was more important to service and his intolerance of heresy led him to persecute, which impacted the church
- b. He also gave up his life opposing England’s break with the Roman Church over Henry VIII’s divorce
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