Dismayed at the hundreds of divisions within Protestantism, in 1960, as chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in USA, and later General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, he proposed that the Protestant Episcopal Church and Northern Presbyterians jointly invite the Methodists and the United Church of Christ to form a new Christian Church. This would have created a denomination of about 19 million members.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Eugene-Carson-Blake, history, Presbyterians, Protestantism, World-Council-of-Churches[/tags]

(1509-1564)

John Calvin (aka. Jean Cauvin) played an important role in the Protestant Reformation—perhaps second only to Martin Luther in importance.

Calvin wrote the deeply influential Institutes of the Christian Religion (published in 1536, see also the Britannica summary), developed the "presbyterian" model of church government, and has been called the "organizer of Protestantism" because of his pastoral work organizing churches in Strassburg and Geneva.

He was born on July 10, 1509 in the city of Noyon in Picardy, France (where his childhood home is now a museum), was raised with children of the aristocracy, adopted the Latin "Calvin" as a young scholar. His father was the Bishop's secretary serving the cathedral in Noyon, and he ensured that Calvin was well educated. At age 14, Calvin enrolled at the University of Paris and later attended the College de Montaigu there. Calvin studied theology and in the

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

A zealous supporter of the Counter Reformation, the Jesuit-educated Ferdinand was named the King of Bohemia — shortly before he was also elected Holy Roman Emperor. Attempted to uproot Protestantism from Bohemia and impose Catholicism upon his subjects.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Ferdinand-II, history, Protestantism, Reformation[/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]

Once Luther had passed from the scene, a period of bitter theological warfare occurred within Protestantism. There was controversy over such matters as the difference between justification and sanctification; what doctrine was essential or nonessential; faith and works; and the nature of the real presence at the eucharist.

This is the period when Lutheranism developed — something which Luther foresaw and condemned. The Book of Concord, which sets out what we now understand as theranism, was published in 1580. It included Melanchthon's Augsburg Confession and Augsburg Apology; Luthers's two Catechisms and the Schmalkald Articles (drawn up in 1537); and the Formula of Concord. Some of the Lutheran theologians drove large numbers of people over to the Calvinist church through their dogmatism. The Calvinists in Germany adopted the Heidelberg Confession as their statement of faith.

The tragic Thirty Years' War perpetuated political strife in Germany in the seventeenth century, until

On Luther's death, Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) took over the theological leadership of the movement he had begun. Melanchthon taught Greek, first in Tubingen, then at the University of Wittenberg. There in 1518 he met Luther, changing Melanchthon from a humanist into a theologian and reformer. Gifted for logical consistency and wide knowledge of history, Melanchthon's influence on Protestantism was in certain ways even greater than Luther's.

Melanchthon publicly supported Luther at the Leipzig Disputation (1519). When Luther was away from Wittenberg, Philip represented and defended him. In 1521, he wrote the Commonplaces (Loci Communes), the first book which described the teachings of the Reformation. He also contributed to Luther's German translation of the Bible.

At Marbur (1529) Melanchthon opposed Zwingli. He claimed that the service of holy communion was more than a memorial. Melancththon was responsible for the Augsburg Confession (1530), which remains the chief statement of faith

After 1530, when Emperor Charles V attempted to quench the growing Lutheran heresy, the Lutheran princes banded together in 1532 in the Schmalking League, and between 1546 and 1555 a sporadic war was waged, eventually culminating in the compromise in 1555, the Peace of Augsburg, which allowed each prince to decide the religion of his subjects, forbade all sects of Protestantism other than Lutheranism, and ordered all Catholic bishops to give up their property if they turned Lutheran.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Lutheranism, Peace-of-Augsburg, Protestantism[/tags]

Ernst Troeltsch early in the twentieth century called Protestantism a "modification of Catholicism" in which Catholic problems remain, but different solutions are given. The four questions that Protestantism answered in a new way are: How is a person saved? Where does religious authority lie? What is the church? And what is the essence of Christian living?

While at the same time denying any relation to the Catholic Church, many Protestants fail to realize that they hold the name "Protestant" simply because their theology in response to the above four questions stands in direct protest to Roman Catholicism's own theology.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Ernst-Troeltsch, history, Protestantism[/tags]

After 1530, the emperor, Charles V, made clear his intention to crush the growing heresy initiated by Martin Luther. In defense, the Lutheran princes banded together in 1531 in the Schmalkald League, and between 1546 and 1555 a sporadic civil war raged. The combatants reached a compromise in the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which allowed each prince to decide the religion of his subjects, forbade all sects of Protestantism other than Lutheranism, and ordered all Catholic bishops to give up their property if they turned Lutheran.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Lutheranism, Martin-Luther, Peace-of-Augsburg, Protestantism, Schmalkald-League[/tags]

(1563)

Written by Elizabeth I, Queen of England, these articles were essentially Protestant, but were worded in such a way that both the Protestants and Catholics were satisfied. The liturgy of the Church retained many Catholic elements and bishops in apostolic succession governed the Church. Described as the best of both worlds, the Middle Way between Protestantism and Catholicism.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Elizabeth-I, history, Protestantism, Thirty-Nine-Articles[/tags]

A writer of the early twentieth century. Is quoted describing Protestantism as a "modification of Catholicism" in which Catholic problems remain, but wherein different solutions are given.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Ernst-Troeltsch, history, Protestantism[/tags]