A member of the Sorbonne, the theological faculty of the University of Paris. Brother to Jacqueline Arnauld, abbess of a Cistercian convent called Port-Royal outside of Paris. After Cornelius Jansen's death in 1638, he assumed the leadership of the Jansenist cause. In 1643, he challenged the Jesuits and their teaching that frequent confession could compensate for frequent sinning. Was nearly expelled from the Sorbonne for his controversy. Befriended Blaise Pascal, who helped him defend his position.

[tags]Antonine-Arnauld-II, Blaise-Pascal, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cornelius, history, Jesuits[/tags]

In 1521 Martin Luther stood before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. In that same year Ignatius Loyala entered convalescence from an injury and soon had a spiritual conversion of sorts. Loyola subsequently formed the Society of Jesus, the greatest single force in Catholicism's campaign to recapture the spiritual domains seized by Protestantism.

While the Catholic Church did not immediately respond to the Protestant challenge, when it finally did it called upon its spiritual warriors, the Jesuits. It convened a new, militant council; and it reformed the machinery of the papal office. Faced by the rebellion of almost half of Europe, Catholicism rolled back the tide of Protestantism until by the end of the sixteenth century Protestantism was limited roughly to the northern third of Europe, as it is today.

Some historians have interpreted the Catholic Reformation as a counterattack against Protestantism; others have described

During the Thirty Years' war, when the Catholic Imperial forces crushed the Bohemians and gave control of the University of Prague over to the Jesuits, King Christian IV of Denmark was appalled by this Catholic victory. Also being eager to annex German territory, he entered the war against Ferdinand and the Catholic forces. Without adequate support, however, his venture was doomed from the start. In 1626 the Danes were completely routed in the Harz Mountains and forced to withdraw to Denmark like a pack of whipped pups.

[tags]BlogRodent, Christian-IV, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Jesuits, thirty-years-war, Bohemians, University-of-Prague, Denmark[/tags]

(1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63)

One of the most important councils since Nicea in 325 until Vatican II in 1962-65. Called to build a doctrinal fortress against the challenging Protestant Reformation. Under the influence of the Jesuits, Trent developed into a powerful weapon of the Counter Reformation. In response to the Protestant's sola scriptura, the council insisted on the supreme teaching office of the Roman Church. Tradition as well as Scripture was held as a valid source of revelation. May be seen as the demarcation of division between the Protestant and Catholic Churches.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-of-Trent, history, Jesuits, Reformation[/tags]

(1585-1638)

A Dutchman who had adopted St. Augustine's view of sin and grace at the University of Louvain. He came to believe that the best way to defend Catholicism against the Calvinist challenge was to return to the doctrines of Augustine and establish a rigorous moral code for the Catholic clergy to combat the lenient ethics of the Jesuits. Carried on his campaign as professor of Scripture at Louvain and later as bishop of Ypres. Supporter of Augustine's views of predestination and held that man's will is not free; that good works could never save, only God's grace.

[tags]Augustine, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cornelius-Jansen, history, Jesuits[/tags]

The most aggressive opposition to the "cheap grace" of the French Jesuits came from a movement called Jansenism. Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638) was a Dutchman who had adopted St. Augustine's views of sin and grace at the University of Louvain. He came to believe that the best way to defend Catholicism against the Calvinist challenge was to return to the doctrines of the great North African Father Augustine and establish a rigorous moral code for the Catholic clergy to combat the easy-going ethics of the Jesuits. The Jesuits called it Calvinism in Catholic garb.

[tags]Augustine, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cornelius, history, Jansenism, Jesuits[/tags]

The Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius of Loyola, a young Spanish nobleman, the first Superior General of the Jesuits. Was approved by Pope Paul III in A.D. 1540 as a new religious order. Jesuits attempted to live energetically in the world without being of it. The Society of Jesus became the greatest single force in Catholicism's militant campaign to recapture the spiritual domains seized by Protestantism. Became the instrument of the Catholic Church in her "Reformation", or "Counter-Reformation" in the early 1500's. They were to be chivalrous soldiers of Jesus, their mission to convert the heathen and reconvert Protestant Europe. Eventually they became lenient in their priestly roles and made many allowances for sinful human nature, so called "cheap grace."

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Ignatius, Jesuits, Jesus, Pope-Paul-III, Protestantism, Reformation[/tags]

(1491-1556)

Founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). During his convalescence from a war-wound in 1521 he read two popular inspiration works and thus began his conversion. Was mystically enlightened at Manressa and reduced his rebirth to a plan for spiritual discipline, which eventually became a military manual for soldiers in service to the pope, the Jesuits. Loyola believed that God and Satan are external to man, and man has the power to choose between them by the disciplined use of his imagination.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Ignatius-Loyola, Jesuits, Jesus[/tags]

(1623-1662)

A French physicist and Roman Catholic. Attended meetings of the Academy of Science with his father, and his scientific curiosity was aroused at an early age. Invented a calculating machine for his father, a tax collector, and discovered basic principles of atmospheric and hydraulic pressures. While recovering from a hip injury, was won over by Jansenists and became an avid student of Scripture. After a brief bout of disillusionment when his father died and his sister joined a convent, he was reconciled with God on November 23, 1654. Joined Arnauld as an advocate in his case against the Jesuits, his writings condemned by the Pope.

[tags]Blaise-Pascal, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Jesuits[/tags]

(1534-1549)

The first pope to make a serious attempt at reforming the disorder in the Catholic Church. His reform started in the College of Cardinals, he appointed to the college a number of champions of reform, including leaders from the Oratory of Love: adoleto, Pole, and Caraffa. Also appointed a reform commission to study the conditions in the Church of Rome which issued a report in 1537. Called for a general council of the Church at Trent, Italy in 1545-53 decades after Luther's theses appeared. Instituted the Roman Inquisition and the Index of prohibited books. Approved the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as an official order, spiritual soldiers in his service.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, Church-of-Rome, ChurchRodent, history, Inquisition, Jesuits, Jesus, Pope-Paul-III[/tags]

(1552-1610)

A missionary who found the door opened to take the gospel to China. The spiritual successor to Francis Xavier. In 1567 a small island off the coast of China, Macao became a Portuguese colony. For years, however, the entrance to China seemed impossible. The ruling Ming dynasty had no interest in contacts with the outside world. They considered the Chinese as the givers of culture, not the receivers. Confucianism was dominant. In 1579 Allessandro Valignani, a leader of the Jesuits in the Orient, called Ricci to Macao and placed the burden of China upon his shoulders. He settled in Macao to learn the Chinese language and customs. In 1583 he secured permission to settle in Chaoch'ing, the provincial capital. With their traditional respect for the scholar, the Chinese responded to a man who dressed in the garb of a Mandarin, spoke their language, and was able to open to them

(See Jesuits, see also Ignatius Loyola)

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Ignatius, Jesuits, Society-of-Jesus[/tags]

Leader of the Jesuits in the Orient. In 1579 he called Matthew Ricci to Macao and placed the burden of China upon his shoulders, to whom the door to China eventually opened for the Gospel.

[tags]Allessandro-Valignani, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Jesuits, Matthew-Ricci[/tags]