- Jacobsen describes the ending of the nineteenth century ended very positively. The Protestants moved into an era of modernity, the Catholics were looking to care for a new industrialized Europe and the Orthodox Christians were slowly regaining their control over their nations and churches. According to Jacobsen the first world war should never have been fought. During this war the German Protestants portrayed the war as a holy crusade against the Germans. The Russian Orthodox leaders explained that the war against Western Europe was necessary to defend Russia against the “antichrist”. The French Catholics were drawn to images of Christ. They drew the Sacred Heart of Jesus on their flag which portrayed their strong faith. The Anglican church told the British soldiers to kill all Germans. Whether they were old, young, good, or bad the Germans needed to die to stop the spread of a dictatorship. “Almost all the war rhetoric, on all sides, mixed God, glory, and gutsiness into a hot soup of righteous fervor” (122). Essentially all the major branches of Christianity in Europe were changing and shifting the Word of God in order to shape their own ideals. They wanted to sway soldiers, civilians, and governments with the Bible in order to get what they wanted. Pope Benedict XV spoke adamantly about how the war was silly. He said that due to five million civilian casualties that the war was “the death of a civilized Europe”. The laïcité was a law of required secularization. Due to these new laws church attendance dropped and people started straying further and further away from organized religion. The spread of communism was fast behind the iron curtain. Due to the armistice and lack of fighting this gave way to a huge wave of communism to sweep across half of Europe. Christian communities were vastly affected by the spread of communism in Eastern Europe. Mainly Christianity varied from country to country and ultimately the Balkan War in the 1990’s pitted the Orthodox Church and the Muslims against each other.
- The decline of Christianity in Europe stems from wide spread secularization. Churches in Europe are left empty. Cathedrals that once help hundreds of Christians now stand empty. Jacobsen makes two conclusions. The first is that the Protestants have been more affected by secularization than any other denomination and that Eastern Europe is more secular than Western Europe. Due to immigration there has been a steady rise of Muslims in Europe migrating from Africa and Asia. Due to Muslim immigration larger and larger strictly Muslim communities have begun to form all across Eastern Europe. Due to the rise of Muslim immigrants Christianity has begun to take a dip. Due to the rise of Muslim immigrants Western Europeans began to evaluate their faith differently. This has lead to a renewed sense of faith and belief in Christianity.
- European intellectual life has judged the relationship between reason, science, and faith to be controversial. For European Christians they want to seek truth in faith. Most believe that if they were required to pick between faith and truth they would pick truth due to Christ being truth, therefore truth>faith. Thinkers like Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Dun Scotus, and Martin Luther have asserted their own ideals in regard to reason. The most important of these is Luther he believed that Christianity should be explained in simple terms. In order for reason to come from Christianity, it must be kept simple so every man can understand it. Science is controversial in the European Christian community because for example some Christians completely reject the idea of evolution to where other Christians fully accept that evolution is an explanation of how the world came to be as it is now. This controversy has lead to divisions within the Church but the ultimate goal is to attain truth keeping in view Christ and His teachings. As for faith, faith in the Christian ideals have been steadily declining in Europe due to the rise of secular and scientific thinking/reasoning. More Christians are turning to science, reason, and truth instead of turning to their faith in Christ. This ultimately leads to the fall of Christianity.
- I think that Post-modern ideals will lead to a further decline of a Christian lifestyle in Europe and the Americas. I think with the rise of science, truth, and reason Christian countries and communities are becoming more and more secularized. Christian communities will be forced to adapt to post modern ideals and ways of though instead of relying on their faith in Christ. Ultimately I believe that Christianity will continue to steadily decline, immigration will continue to rise, and science which can now in my opinion be considered a religion will supplement Christianity.
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Team 7 Question 3
- Gonzalez describes the period of slavery as a time of confusion and rebellion within different denominations of the church. Due to a wide spread disagreement on slavery many denominations broke from each other and only the Catholic Church came out unscathed. Simply, people disagreed on whether or not it was ok to own slaves from a biblical standpoint. Some denominations of Christianity banned slavery like the American Methodists who banned slaveholding among its members. Many Methodists in fact took a stand against slavery. However, Methodists and Baptists alike were trying to attract more numbers to grow their congregations. They both changed their stances on slavery. Some denominations were confused on how to act, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church declared slavery as going against God’s will and yet didn’t want slavery to be abolished. This seemed to be a contradiction. How could a congregation say that slavery went against God and yet they didn’t want to see it be abolished in the U.S. Soon in the South preachers were telling their congregations that slavery was necessary due to it helping the U.S. agriculturally and that slaveholders were freeing blacks from their uneducated and barbaric homes countries. The Methodist Church split due to this dispute. Then the Civil War began. During this time both preachers in the North and South defended their sides using biblical scriptures. After the war ended resentment was still alive and well. Then Jim Crowe laws started springing and blacks became separate but not equal. This gave rise to the Black Baptists. After the Civil War black churches started to spring up everywhere and this led to the church becoming a pivotal part of the black communities. Ultimately there was a lot of dispute and confusion within the church on whether or not people should own slaves. This dispute led to many churches splitting up, and forming new communities. After the slaves were set free the Church became an integral part within black communities. Although Jim Crow laws were in effect the church gave people a place to come and worship freely.
- In Truth’s speech she defends the right of women saying that she has worked, toiled, eaten, and has drunk as much as any man. She is as good as any man because she has plowed the fields by herself, nobody has been there to help her. She gave birth to 13 children and no man was there to help her. Nobody treats her with respect except for Jesus Christ. The only man that has treated her with and kind of respect was Jesus and then she goes on to say that women are just as equal to man because Christ came from God and Mary. There was no man involved. Joseph was not involved in the conception. She finally points out that if Eve was strong willed enough to turn the world upside down then any women is strong enough to correct the wrongs in this world. She brings out the point that women are just as capable as men, that Christ came from God and Mary, and finally that women are powerful you just need to look at Eve to find that truth.
- Douglas makes the comparison that the United States is like Judah. America has taken slaves and they will be punished for it. He says that the people of the United States take pleasure in slavery. That Americans rejoiced in the fact that they are becoming wealthy off of the work of slaves. He is saying that the people of the United States cannot forget the cries of Jerusalem when they were in captivity. The cries to God asking to be rid of the chains that they possessed. The black slaves in the United States just like the salves in Jerusalem are yearning to be free of their chains. How could the United States act just as Jerusalem’s captors did? Douglas then uses the Declaration of Independence to argue for man’s ownership of their own body. That within the Declaration of Independence man has a right to their own body, they have a right to be free, they have a right to seek their own future. Douglas argues that there isn’t a man alive that could not know that slavery is a wrong practice, and that it is flat out going against the will of God. Douglas even goes as far to say “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” He is saying that Americans hail the 4th of July as Independence day, a day where they were free from the rule of British oppression and yet to the American slave it is just another date. It has no bearing for them because although they are in America they are not free from their oppressors. To the American slave the 4th of July is a faux holiday and is only an example of America’s arrogance. Looking at the verses Isa 59:1 says that the Lord will save all people. The Lord’s arm extends to all people who are being punished and those people will be saved. Genesis 1:3 shows the omnipotence of God. Lev 25:10 states that jubilee in the past has set slaves free and annulled all debt. :13 again shows Jubilee and :18 says to obey God’s laws in order to live in peace and harmony. Isa 58:6 God is saying that he has set people free, he has lifted the chains of injustice, freed people from their injustices, and broken off the yoke of slavery in the past and Douglas is alluding that America should do the same. Isa 61:1-2 Isaiah is saying that God has sent him to free the people from captivity, bind up the brokenhearted, and release the prisoners from darkness. Douglas is alluding that is Isaiah one of the greatest prophets set slaves free then truly the U.S. must recognize and respect the precedent set by Isaiah. Luke 4:18-19 is from Christ’s stand point saying that like Isaiah Christ has come to set people free, proclaim that the Lord is God, proclaim the Gospel, and free the prisoners from their sin. Douglas alludes to this because Jesus the Son of God set slaves free and freed them from their bonds. If the Son of God did this, then the U.S. must then recognize that slavery is wrong. All of these versus are strategically used to show that God has freed slaves in the past, lifted their burdens, and let slaves become free men. Douglas urges that the U.S. should do the same. He urges the U.S. to mirror both God and Christ’s judgement to free people from slavery.
Team 7, Question 3 4/12
A.
Mainly the problem that the church had with Henry VIII was that his marriage to Catherine in the eyes of the church with illegal due to him marrying his brother’s widow. “Since canon law prohibited a man’s marriage to his brother’s widow, the English representative in Rome obtained a pal dispensation” (Gonzalez, 88). The legality of his marriage would always be in question since it did not follow the canon law. Henry then would suggest that his bastard son who was the duck of Richmond become his true heir. This action too would be viewed as illegitimate according to Papal law. The pope refused to recognize his bastard son. He then tried to get his marriage with Catherine annulled to the fact that she would not bear him a suitable heir for the kingdom. Henry becoming very frustrated due to the apparent obstacles created by the church would turn to his trusted religious advisor, Thomas Cranmer. He suggested going to the religious schools for an appeal, this unfortunately would not work as well. Henry’s solution to his papal frustration was to call upon ancient laws and put the clergy under the direct authority of the king. He then strong-armed the pope into making Thomas Cranmer the archbishop of Canterbury. Henry, now that he has obtained the papal authority threatened anyone that would oppose his rightful place as the undisputable head of the church. He even would go as far as saying “any who dared call the king a schismatic or a heretic would be considered guilty of treason” (90). King Henry VIII more than anything wanted an heir to take over his kingdom. Unfortunately for him, he had to marry his brother’s widow which in the eyes of the church was illegal, and yet they married anyway. After that marriage Henry and his new wife Catherine tried to have a son, after this was unsuccessful he tried to divorce his wife. He suggested that since he couldn’t have a son then his bastard child should be able to take the throne. For this to happen he went to the church and asked if this was possible, it was not. He then simply wanted a divorce, and the church denied him. Eventually King Henry VIII would incant an ancient law enabling him to take over the church. All of these factors lead to the schism and hatred between the Catholic Church and Henry VIII. Henry VIII simply wanted to divorce his wife in order to remarry and then have a son. Pope Clement VII could not annul this marriage due to politic reasons. He had a relationship with Charles V and “Clement VII, could not invalidate Henry’s marriage to Catherine without alienating Charles V” (88). Clement didn’t want to alienate Charles because Charles essentially had the pope under his control, and since Catherine is Charles V’s aunt she didn’t want any dishonor so she pleaded not make the divorce go through. Both theologians and legislators concluded that Henry VIII should not be labeled the head of the church and to label him the head of the church what would unethical. He forced his way to his seat of power and he didn’t deserve to be the head of the church.
B.
This document fits the timeline of the previous reading however it does not address any of the events in detail. It doesn’t address the political shifts from all the parties involved in King Henry’s rise to power within the church, it does not explain in detail how much effort Henry put into divorcing his wife, it also does not mention that he was close friends with Thomas More before he decided to excommunicate him. The position that this reading puts Henry in is one of “he was right the entire time” and that “he could do no wrong”. Simply stated it says “Kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority from time to time to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, offenses, contempts, and enormities”. King Henry affirmed that he had absolute divine power of everything within the church. He had the power to put any law he felt fit, he also had the power to repeal any law that he didn’t like because he is now the supreme ruler within the church and the state. This reading says that the king is given this power because he is the spokesperson to God and that everything the king does is for the unification of the Church and in the name of Christ Jesus.
C
This document deals with communion, transubstantiation, if priests can marry or not, if priests have to abide by the rules of chastity, if private masses are ok according to the laws of God, and if confessions are necessary for believers. I think that these rules are leaning more towards the Catholic Church. I think that these forms lean more to the Catholic side because they are still holding dear the practices of Catholicism. Masses are still being revered, priests are to remain unmarried, and laws regarding widowing and chastity are to be upheld. I think the consequences within this document is that these rules will cause a great schism between the Catholic Church and Protestant reformers. The Protestant Reformers will not see these changes as a step in what they believe is the right direction. They will believe that these rules and laws are just reaffirming what the Catholic church believes and practices on a daily basis.