Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Holy Spirit

2012-02-11T19:04:49Z

Theodidactus:

{{trinity}}
[[Image:Murillo Annunciation.jpg|thumb|left|Annunciation of the Virgin]]
The '''Holy Spirit''' (Greek: παράκλητος)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laparola.net/greco/parola.php?p=παράκλητος|format=HTML|language=English/Greek|accessdate=May 30, 2010|title=παράκλητος in the New Testament|quote=1c1) of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom|work=La Parola}}</ref> is the third person of the [[Holy Trinity]], both distinct and coequal with [[God|God the Father]] and the [[Jesus Christ|Son (Jesus)]].

The Holy Spirit embodies the mutual eternal love of the Father and the Son. The Greek term for the Holy Spirit is "Paraclete", which means advocate or intercessor, thereby connoting a driving force for good.

The apostles credit the Holy Spirit with giving them the courage to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in a very hostile world. Scriptural references to the Holy Spirit are in both the Old and New Testaments, and include Proverbs 8:22-31, John 16:12-15, and Romans 5:1-5.

The essential Christian teachings about the Holy Spirit are summarized in the [[Nicene Creed]]:
{{cquote|I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.}}

The bracketed language in the above will be explained shortly. Christians agree on the following two propositions:

* The Holy Spirit (also known as The Holy Ghost) is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
* Though really distinct, as a Person, from the Father and the Son, He is "one in being" with them with Them; being God like Them, He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature.

The Holy Spirit as part of the Holy Trinity is: ''Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Eternal and Equal'' (to the Father and the Son).

There is a key distinction between Western Christians and the Eastern Orthodox churches on a seemingly trivial, but extremely controversial, point. Western Christians believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father ''and the Son'' In other words, He proceeds, not by way of generation, but by way of inspiration, from the Father and the Son together, as from a single principle. The Eastern Orthodox omit the italicized language. They believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ''through'' the Son. The disagreement between the East and West is sometimes known as the ''[[filioque]] controversy'', from the Latin word and enclitic for "and the Son," although such term may more properly apply to the [[Great Schism]] of 1054.

[[Image:Holy Spirit.jpg|thumb|The Holy Spirit inhabits all who desire its presence...]]

''In the New Testament the word spirit and, perhaps, even the expression spirit of God signify at times the soul or man himself, inasmuch as he is under the influence of God and aspires to things above; more frequently, especially in St. Paul, they signify God acting in man... to the Holy Ghost we attribute the operations of grace and the sanctification of souls, and in particular spiritual gifts and fruits.''<ref> [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm Holy Ghost, Catholic Encyclopedia]</ref>

''"...for the Father and the Son come with Him when He descends into our souls (John 14:23)."''

''"He performs a sanctifying work among men (St. Athanasius, 360 AC)."''

'''Invocation of the Holy Spirit'''

Most powerful Holy Spirit,

come down upon us

and subdue us.

From heaven,

where the ordinary

is made glorious,

and glory seems

but ordinary,

bath us

with the brilliance

of your light

like dew.

:::- Celtic Prayer

According to the New Testament, Jesus after His resurrection told His disciples that they would be baptized with "The Holy Ghost", and would receive "Power, after that the Holy Ghost [was] come upon [them]" (Acts 1:4-8). [[Catholics]], but not other Christians, correctly believe that the Holy Spirit, guiding people in the way of the truth, produce positive results, known as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

== References ==
<references/>

== See also ==
[[Image:Van Dyck The Descent of the Holy Spirit.jpg|right|The Descent of the Holy Spirit]]
* [[Bible]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Christianity in Conservapedia]]
* [[Fruits of the Holy Spirit]]
* [[In the midst of a Maelstrom: the Holy Spirit and silence: an essay]] An account of the Spirit's quiet presence and activity
* [[Seven Spirits of God]]
* [[Son of God]]
* [[Symbols of the Holy Spirit]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.lifeofchrist.com/teachings/topics/BlasphemyAgainstTheHolySpirit/ Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit] This topic appears three times in the New Testament.
*[http://www.theholyspirit.com/HolySpiritPerson.asp Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit.] Facts about the Holy Spirit.

Judaism

2012-02-11T19:03:01Z

Theodidactus:

[[Image:StarofDavid.gif|right|thumb|The Star of David, a symbol of Judaism]]
'''Judaism''' was the first [[monotheistic religion]], dating back to around 2000 BC. Like [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], Judaism is an [[Abrahamic faith]], tracing its origins to [[Abraham]]. Judaism was the first of the Abrahamic faiths. The core of the Judaism as it exists today took shape from a later time period when [[Moses]] led the [[Hebrews]] from [[Egypt]] and climbed [[Mount Sinai]], bringing back the [[Ten Commandments]].

The five books of Moses (the [[Torah]]), in which the [[Mosaic Law]] is found, are generally considered to be the core of the Jewish Scripture, and are supplemented by the works of the prophets and other writings. The works of the prophets are grouped under Nevi'im, and the other writings are known as Ketuvim. The first letters of each part combined were used to create the name of the full Hebrew Bible: the Tanakh, which Christians call the [[Old Testament]]. The [[Talmud]] is another ancient Jewish writing considered by some Jews to contain traditions dating back to Moses himself, yet the Talmud also contains discussion by rabbis involving extensive disagreement and lively discussion, over interpretation of these traditions. The Talmud is not part of the [[Bible]] and the degree to which the Talmud itself is considered to be inspired varies across Judaism, with the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] generally giving it the most weight. Most Muslims and Christians, including [[Messianic Jews]], however, rightly consider the theological findings and argumentation of the Talmud to be invalid after the advent of the birth of [[Jesus Christ]].

Tikkun Olam -to help “repair the world”- is a Hebrew phrase originated in the early rabbinic period.

==Sabbath==
[[Image:Menora exb HSTR7337.jpg|right|thumb|Yarmulke and Menorah]]
Many Jews observe a weekly day of rest (the [[Sabbath]]) that begins shortly before sundown on Friday and ends after sunset on Saturday. During this time no work may be done, business transactions are forbidden, and light switches are not to be turned on or off. Jews celebrate the Sabbath by lighting candles before the Sabbath, singing songs, going to synagogue, called shul, by some, and learning.

==Branches within Judaism==
There are many different branches of Judaism. There are five large branches:
*[[Orthodox Judaism]]
*[[Conservative Judaism]]
*[[Reform Judaism]]
*[[Reconstructionist Judaism]]
*[[Messianic Judaism]]

==Ethnicities==
[[File:Remarkable Jews.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Albert Einstein]], [[Maimonides]], [[Golda Meir]] and Emma Lazarus (American poet born in New York City)]]
*[[Sephardi]] Jews.
*[[Ethiopian Jews]]
*[[Mizrahi (sometimes spelled Mizrachi)|Mizrahi]] Jews.
**[[Yemenite Jews]]
*[[Ashkenazi]] Jews.

<blockquote>
The traditional explanation, and the one given in the [[Torah]], is that the Jews are a nation. The Hebrew word, believe it or not, is ''"goy."'' The Torah and the rabbis used this term not in the modern sense meaning a territorial and political entity, but in the ancient sense meaning a group of people with a common history, a common destiny, and a sense that we are all connected to each other. <ref> [http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm What Is Judaism?] </ref>
</blockquote>
{{Clear}}

===The Diaspora===
"Diaspora" (Greek meaning "seeded throughout") is the term used to refer to the various dispersions of the Jews throughout the world through the eras of history. Its Hebrew linguistic forerunner is "Galut" meaning the "uncovering", betraying the understanding that being exiled from the Land of Israel is an exposing of Israel to vulnerability and danger. Some commonly known "Galuyot" (plural for Galut) are:

* the forced exile and assimilation among other peoples of the Northern Tribes of Israel by the Assyrians in 721, 722. Modern Israel has recognized among the in-gathering of this exile (Kibbuts Galuyot) the ''Bnei Menashe'' (Sons of Manessaeh) of northern [[India]]. These members of the "Lost Tribe" are now allowed to freely immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. ''(see [[Religion in India]])''

* the ''Falashas'' of [[Ethiopia]], among whom, like the Bnei Menashe, Jewish practices such as circumcision at 8 days and the keeping of Passover are maintained by those eligible for citizenship under the Israeli Law of Return. The are racially native African in appearance. They believe themselves to have become Jewish from the days of Solomon and the Queen of Ethiopia. That was the basis for the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selase (Holy Trinity) taking the title "Lion of the Tribe of Judah".

* The Galut of Babylon, the so called "''Iraqis''" exiled by the Babylonians at the time of their conquest of Judah and Jerusalem (c. 538 B.C.) This Galut developed a rival to Palestinian Jewry of the first centuries and provided the second corpus of religious literature to the developing Talmud. This was in the common language of Babyon at the time - Aramaic. This corpus came to be called the Gemara ("completion"). The [[Gemara]] dates from about 200 A.D.to 500 A.D. The Gemara and the earlier Palestinian Hebrew corpus, the Mishna, dating from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. comprise the Talmud, which regulated most of Jewish internal life, until the western European "emancipation" and assimilation of the Jews - starting in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Talmud is still regulatory for Orthodox Jews.

*The Galut of the Jews by the Roman [[Titus]] after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. They were triumphantly displayed in Rome and dispersed in the lands along the Rhine Valley known in the Hebrew tongue as Ashkenaz - which is known now as Germany. There they learned the language of the land which developed into Modern German. The Jews called their language, the early stage of German, Yiddish. From the Rhine, many of the "''Ashkenazis''" moved (were moved) to Eastern Europe, many fleeing from there, to America, to Israel, to Latin America, etc. learning new languages, but also speaking their old language, not Hebrew, but Yiddish. This, with the common religion, enabled the fostering of unity and brotherhood.

*the 1492 A.D. exile from [[Spain]], where the Jews had previously settled in the time of the [[Moors]] and some attaining to high positions and appointments as physicians, prime ministers, and poets under the Islamic conquest. This was the Golden Age of Jewry in Spain. At their expulsion ("gerush") from Spain they settled mainly around the Mediterranean basin - North Africa, Greece, Turkey, and also many going to Holland and from there to the American Colonies. The first synagogue in America was created due to this dispersion. These Jews soon were speaking the language of the their host countries - Arabic, Turkish etc. but also speaking the language of Old Spain. "Spain" in Hebrew is Sefarad, so the language is Sephardic and the dispersion is of the ''Sephardim'' (sometimes spelled Sepharadim).

*the Yemenites (''Temanim''). Yemen means "right (direction)" in Semitic languages. When facing the temple from the west, the "right" points south. Therefore, "Teiman" also means "south". This dispersion is the southerly dispersion to what is now Yemen, gaining momentum during the Himyaritic Kindom in Yemen which had adopted Judaism. With the founding of the Modern State of Israel, most Yemenite Jews have immigrated to Israel and speak Arabic as well as Hebrew.

The term "''Mizrachi''" means "easterner" and it covers a number of eastern dispersions as opposed to the Ashkenazi who were westerners - from Europe. Coming into Israel during Ottoman Turk rule (1517-1917), many immigrating Jewish families who were not European were given the name Mizrahi by the Turkish immigration authorities as they were all "lumped together" as Easterners.

The Return of the Jews to Israel is seen as a fulfillment of the Scriptures and is called Kibbutz Galuyot, the ingathering of the Exiles. Here are some of the scriptures that both tell about the ingathering of the exiles and which have provided a major influence for the some of the dispersions to return to the Land of Israel:

" I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west, To the north I will say 'Give them up', and to the south, 'Do not hold them'. Bring back my sons from far away, my daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43: 5,6

"Those whom Adonai has redeemed return, they come to Zion shouting for joy. everlasting joy in their faces, joy and gladness go with them, sorrow and lament are ended." Isaiah 51:11

"He who has scattered Israel, gathers him, He guards them as a shepherd guards his flock...they shall come back from the enemy country, There is hope for your descendants" Jeremiah 31: 10,16

"The Lord says this: 'I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations, where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation and into My own land and on the mountains of Israel.'" . Exekiel 37:21,22

==Main Holidays==
[[File:People at a Bar Mitzvah in the Western Wall tunnel.jpg|thumb|At a Bar Mitzvah in the Western Wall tunnel.]]
:''Main article: [[Jewish holidays]]''

*'''[[Rosh Hashanah]]'''—New Years. Marks the creation of the world.

*'''[[Yom Kippur]]'''—the Day of Atonement. Observant Jews consume no food or drink for the entire day.

*'''[[Pesach]]'''—celebrating the liberation from Egyptian slavery. Observant Jews hold a special festive meal, called a ''Seder,'' on the first and second night of Passover and do not eat leavened bread for the duration of the festival.

*'''Shavuot'''— Pentecost or Feast of Weeks. Traditionally celebrates God's giving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.

*'''Sukkot''' —Tabernacles or Feast of Booths. Observant Jews eat and sleep in temporary shelters shaded by cut vegetation.

*'''Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah'''—The day after Sukkot is a separate holiday, known as the "Eighth Day Feast." It also marks the completion of the cycle of reading the Torah in synagogues. The end of Deuteronomy is read, followed by the first chapter of Genesis.

*'''[[Purim]]'''—celebrates the thwarting of a plot to kill all Jews it is recorded in the Book of Esther, which is read aloud in its entirety in the synagogue.

*'''Tisha B'Av'''—also known as the Ninth of Av, 9th of Av, is a fast day that mourns the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

*'''[[Chanukah]]''' (there are several English spellings)—celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple after the revolt against the Greeks recorded in the Talmud and other non-Biblical texts. Jews light candles each night for eight nights, adding one candle each night. Chanukah is not a holiday recorded in the Bible and is considered a minor holiday from a religious standpoint, however from a secular Jewish perspective it has taken on a position of great prominence in modern times passing all other holidays as far as degree to which it is celebrated.

==Calendar==
The Jewish calendar combines lunar and solar features. During Temple times, months began when the new moon was sighted in Jerusalem. An extra month was added when needed to keep the Pesach festival in the spring. Today a complex algorithm, over a thousand years old, is used to determine when months begin. As a result, the dates of the Jewish holidays in the civil calendar vary from year to year. A day on the Hebrew calendar lasts from one sundown to the next, so for purposes of religious observances a day begins at sundown of the preceding civil day.

==Jewish Scripture==
Jewish Scripture consists of 24 books, broken down into three sections:

*'''[[Torah]]'''—The Five Books of [[Moses]]: [[Genesis]] (Bereshit), [[Exodus]] (Shemot), [[Leviticus]] (Vayikra), [[Numbers]] (Bamidbar) and [[Deuteronomy]] (Devarim).

*'''Nevi'im''' —The Prophets: Joshua (Yehoshua), Judges (Shoftim), Samuel (Shmuel), Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets

*'''Ketuvim'''—The Writings: [[Psalms]], Proverbs, Job), Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, [[Esther (Biblical book)|Esther]], [[Daniel (Biblical book)|Daniel]], Ezra, Chronicles.

The Torah is divided into portions that are read during synagogue services over the course of the liturgical year. Jews refer to all 24 scrolls as the ''Tanakh,'' an acronym of the names of the three sections. The Old Testament is the Tanakh, except with some different naming and a different ordering than the Jewish version. Some Jews find the term Old Testament to be offensive, as its meaning can be interpreted to mean the covenant of God with the Jews has been superseded and no longer applies.

==The Twelve Tribes of Israel==
The most famous of the tribes of Israel is Judah. From this tribe came [[King David]] ''“your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever”'' 2 Samuel 7:16, '' Acts 13:34. No matter what tribe you originate from, all are considered Israeli.

[[Jacob]], grandson of [[Abraham]] and son of [[Isaac]], came to be known as the father of Israel, for it is written that God changed his name to Israel. <ref>[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/tribeisr.htm The Tribes Of Israel by Wayne Blank] The Church of God Bible Studsy</ref> The descendants of these twelve 'sons' of Jacob became the twelve tribes of Israel.

In Northern Israel [[Gad]], [[Reuben]], [[Simeon]], [[Dan]], [[Naphtali]], [[Asher]], [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]] and [[Joseph]]. In Southern Israel, the tribes [[Benjamin]] and [[Judah]]. The [[Levi]] were to serve as as the priests and their assistance for all tribes having their own levitical cities within the other tribes while having no land as inheritance for for themselves.

Each tribe was composed of a group of families, united by blood ties and constituting a social and political unit. As time went on, the stronger tribes tended to absorb the weaker ones. <ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=762510356&vv=450 Twelve Tribes of Israel] MSN Encarta</ref>
After the death of King Solomon, and in the time of his son, Rehoboam, the twelve tribes divided into two camps. The south was known as [[Judah]] with Jerusalem as their capital, while the ten northern tribes made up the kingdom of Israel whose capital was [[Samaria]]. In 721/2 B.C. , the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and the elite and powerful taken away by the Assyrians (leaving the weak and powerless) and resettled among various client kingdoms of their empire. The Assyrians, in like manner, settled other conquered peoples in various places of conquered Israel in order to dilute and weaken the population causing them to be compliant to the Assyrian overlords. This is how the "Samarians" were to arise, present in the time of Jesus and and present to this day - a mixed semi-Judaized population with their religious center on Mt. Gerizim in Samaria rivaling Jerusalem. The northern dispersion came to be called popularly "the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel". But some of the "10 Lost Tribes" were not lost. At the time of Assyrian conquest of Israel, archaeology reveals, the city walls of the capitol city of the Southern Kingdom, Jerusalem, were suddenly and greatly expanded. This is because, it is thought, of the sudden influx to the southern brothers of the fleeing northerners. See also in the Diaspora section above, the Bnei Menashe, and see [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/973487.html]

The Southern Kingdom was conquered by Babylonians in 586/7 B.C. with much population taken to Babylon, which was to become a center for Judaism (and the Babylonian Talmud) rivaling Jerusalem itself. Cyrus, Emperor of Persia was to allow the Jews to return to their ancestral homeland, but many Jews preferred to remain in Babylon (most of these "Iraqis" would return to Israel with the erection of the modern State of Israel).

Alexander the Great, 333 B.C. would wrest the Middle East, and "Judah" with it, from the hands of the Persians, and after him, at the breakup of his Empire into Seleucid (northern) and Ptolomaic (southern) parts, the Seleucids took control of the Judah and Galilee (bringing "[[Hellenism]]" - the amalgamation of Greek with local cultures), and the occasion for the the revolt of the Jews against Seleucid overlord Antiochus and the beginning of the celebration among the Jews of [[Hanukah]] - the remembrance of the successful revolt, the setting up once again of a Jewish Kingdom in the promised land, and the re-dedication ("Hanukah") of the Temple (which had been desecrated). In 63 A.D., Pompey and the Roman rule would wrest power from the Hellenistic Greeks, and thus the Roman rule in the Land at the time of Jesus. The Kingdom of Judah, with its King Herod, was intended by Rome to be a buffer state between Rome and its hated adversary Kingdom - that of Persia. In this context there arose, another movement, followers of "the way" of Jesus, the forefront of another Kingdom, that was not of this world, the leading servants of which, would sit on the seats of the now ''12 tribes'' of Israel, and knowing themselves, as the "Israel of God".

Note: Among modern Jews, there is no knowledge of descent from any of the particular tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel, except Jews with the family name of Levi or Cohen (and a very few others). "Levi" is from the tribe of Levites and means "accompanier", that is the ones who accompany the priest and offering assistance in the service of the Temple. "Cohen" means priest. With the last great dispersion from the Holy Land, that of 70 AD at the hands of the Romans, with its destruction of "the House" - the Temple of God, the levitical and priestly families, now exiled to Rome and Italy were careful to record and remember their genealogies back to the tribe of Levi, as it would be they who would once again be called to function when God when would make possible the return to the Land of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple.

==Post Biblical Jewish Development and Literature==
The Jewish [[canon]] of Scripture was defined at the Jamnia (Yavneh) on the Mediterranean coast of Israel at 90A.D., about two decades after the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Jews now also lived in great numbers outside of the Land of Israel, particularly in Mesopotamia (the Land between the Rivers of the Euphrates and the Tigris), and in Alexandria, Egypt. Mesopotamian Jewry, with its large core from the exile to Babylon continually added to, was mainly Aramaic speaking while Egyptian Jewry was Greek speaking. Aramaic Jewry began the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into [[Aramaic]], this came to be known as the [[Peshitta]] ("simple" or common). This development was accelerated particularly when the queen of [[Adiabene]], Helena (Shlomzion HaMalka, converted with others to Judaism. The Old Testament Peshitta (there is also the New Testament Peshitta as believers in Jesus translated the Greek New Testament into Aramaic) contains influence from the Jewish literature known as the [[Targum]]. Queen Helena was buried in Jerusalem around 70 A.D.

The Alexandrian Jews also translated, even earlier, the Torah into their language, Greek. Later books were added to the Septuagint by anonymous translators. This is known as the Septuagint (translated by 70 or 72 Jewish scholars). The Septuagint was used by Greek speaking Jews and was naturally turned to by the Greek speaking believers in Jesus. Later Jewish scholars retranslated the Bible into Greek, as the Septuagint was seen as having issues in translations of words, these translations were done by Symmachus, Aquilas, and Theodotios, all converts to Judaism. Around the same time of this process, the Rabbinical School at Jamnia (Yavneh) under Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, decided that what was canonical for Judaism was only those books which had already been accepted as Scripture and were found in the Hebrew language. This eliminated most of the Apocrypha which was found mostly in Greek and Latin (but the book of Ecclesiasticus - "Ben Sirach" - has now been found in Hebrew and considered canonical by the Dead Sea community of Jews) as well as elevating the ''Hebrew'' Scriptures over just the Scriptures of Israel no matter in which language. Eventually over time, not only did the Septuagint drop out of Jewish usage, but so did the other Greek translations.

They were replaced by various translations of the Bible into Aramaic, one of the best known of these was the translation by Onkelos, a convert to Judaism, although Jewish scholars still used the Hebrew translation of the Bible, the laity preferred the Aramaic translations because Hebrew became out of use expect for Jewish scholars.

===="Jamnia" and Protestantism====
Though the connection of Jamnia and Protestantism is little known, it is a real one and one that exerted much influence on the developing Protestant Church and its outlook. The Hebrew canon of Scripture with its emphasis on Hebrew language originals sanctioned at Jamnia, which would exclude the Jewish but Greek language books we now know as Intertestamental or Apocryphal, would be the basis of a continuing textual study and ammendation according to the passing on of readings and comments by succeeding Jewish authorities, scholars, and rabbis. This work would be carried on through the fifth century, the time of the Masoretes - the "tradition (of Scripture) bearers". The receiving and handing on of how Scripture texts were to be read and sung, and what they meant.

When the [[Renaissance]] took hold in Europe, great interest was shown in the rediscovering both of the Greek classics, entailing the renewed study of Greek for this purpose, and the study of Hebrew language. Here now was the possibility for many scholars, and the emerging Protestant ones among them, to study the Hebrew Scriptures directly in the original language instead of the necessity of working through the Greek ([[Septuagint]]) and Latin ([[Vulgate]]) translations. But the Hebrew source resorted to by these scholars was the [[Masoretic]] text - following the School of Jamnia - without the Apocrypha. From then on, the heritage and perspective of the Protestant Reformation churches was that the Bible excluded the Apocrypha, though some of the churches would use the Apocrypha as "secondary" readings.

===The Talmud===
In Israel, there arose a literature, mainly in the common Hebrew of the day. It is known as the Mishna ("secondary"). This was primarily the recordings of discussions of Biblical laws with view to application to the present life and experience of Jews in Israel and in the [[diaspora]]. Changing conditions required more current applications. The Mishna developed over four centuries (200 B.C. to 200 A.D.) and is divided into 6 orders, numerous tractates, and smaller units (mishnayot). Most of the Mishna is comprised of "''Halakha''"- that is, legal discussions, decisions, having, in many cases, enforceable applications either by the Jewish community directly or by the Roman or otherwise authorities. The non legal aspects of the Mishna - the anecdotes, stories, remembrances of the rabbinic lives, etc. are called ''[[Aggadah]]'' ("the telling").

The Palestinian Hebrew Mishna, having spread to Mesopotamia, came to be regulatory to the Babylonian Jews, and, as the Mishna had become a "commentary" on the Hebrew Bible, so the Babylonian Jews developed a commentary on the Mishna itself. This was called the Gemara ("completion") and is in their own language, [[Aramaic]]. The formation of the Gemara took from 200 A.D. to 500 A.D. The whole Talmud then was a work of 700 years. The Mishna and the Gemara together is called the Talmud ("the Learning"). The Talmud then became regulatory until modern times for Jewish life elsewhere with but a few non-mainstream groups not accepting it.

The process of G-d sanctioned and ordained commentary (the Talmud) on the Scriptures is a legacy of the one movement that survived the first century Roman destruction of the temple and Jewish authority in Israel. The [[Saduccees]] disappeared as did the [[Essenes]] and the Herodians. But not so the [[Pharisees]]. The Pharisees believed that with the written Torah given to Moses on Sinai, there was also an Oral Torah given to him, by which the written was to be interpreted and applied. According to this tradition this Oral Torah was transmitted to others - Joshua, then the seventy, the prophets, and then to certain pairs (Zugot) finally finding its expression through the discussions and decisions embodied in the Talmudic literature. Through this the Jews created over 600 laws that they had to obey. Having a "portable" law and, so to speak, a "constitution" in the Talmud, Jews then were able to survive as Jews when they no longer had a land to live in and define them.

==Dietary laws==
Observant Jews follow a strict and complex set of rules governing what they may eat and drink. Permissible foods are called ''[[kosher]].'' Per Biblical commandments, only animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves may be eaten and they must be properly slaughtered. Additionally, all birds other than "birds of prey" are kosher, so long as they are properly slaughtered. Anything which comes from the sea must have fins and scales. According to most traditions, dairy products cannot be mixed with meat from animals or birds. Vegetables must be checked for insects, as insects are considered "treyf," meaning not kosher. Additional rules apply during [[Pesach]].

==Life cycle==
Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth, in a ceremony called a bris where the circumcision is performed by a specially trained rabbi, termed a moyl. They become adults for religious purposes when they turn 13, an event marked by a ceremony called a [[Bar Mitzvah]]. Similar ceremonies for girls when they turn 12, called [[Bat Mitzvah]], were introduced in in the 20th century.

[[Jewish law]] only recognizes marriages between Jews. [[Divorce]] is permitted, but there are exacting rules that must be followed for the divorce to be valid, including the husband presenting a bill of divorce (''Get'') to his wife.

Jewish law requires bodies to be buried promptly, preferably no later than the day after death. [[Cremation]] is not permitted. There are prescribed stages of [[mourning]] for the first year after the death of a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse of child). The anniversary of such a death is observed with gifts to [[charity]] and the recitation of a prayer, ''[[Kaddish]],'' praising God's name.

==Jewish Identity==
Definitions of Jewish identity have changed over the years, and among the various Jewish religious and cultural groupings. Whereas, the Old Testament, stresses the importance of the male side of the family for the most important aspects of cultural decision and prerogatives, thus furthering identity through the Father (male) and his clan, present Orthodox Jewish identity is defined as coming through the mother. If the mother is Jewish, regardless of the father's religion, then the child is Jewish. Reformed Judaism disregards the Orthodox Jewish definition and stresses that Judaism is equally applicable as a religious designation whether through the mother or the father, in line with de-emphasizing the racial, cultural, and genetic background in favor of stressing the ethical content in Judaism. This is in line with Reform Judaism's stress on equality between the sects even in the house of worship. The Orthodox Jewish emphasis on the parentage through the mother as constituting Jewish identity, has brought about paradox and contradiction with Judaism's own sources. Whereas it is clear from Scripture that faith in the revealed will of God and His movement in History is what constituted the people, starting from Abraham, as a People, and then as a Nation and the formation, consequently, of identity, Orthodox Judaism recognizes as Jews those who are atheistic or agnostic, free thinkers, repudiators of all religous, and even those who have become members of other religions. These are considered still Jewish, howbeit, Jews who are not good Jews. The only exception possibly in the Jewish conception of acceptability under the definition of "Jewish" are Jews who have become Christians or members of [[Messianic Judaism]]. Yet, even these, though considered apostate, are considered Halakhically (according to Jewish orthodox religious law) as being Jewish. The modern state of Israel exhibits a contradiction in the question of Jewish identity. Orthodoxy is the accepted form of Judaism, and consequently, a non Jew having converted to Judaism under Reformed Jewish rite or Conservative Jewish rite are not considered Jewish for purposes of becoming citizens of Israel under Israel's Right of Return law. But neither are Messianic Jews eligible (Israeli Supreme Court decision) for citizenship under the Law of Return, even if they be born to a Jewish mother. This is in violation of halakhic definition but is in accord with common Israeli sentiment. What is rapidly being destroyed in the modern state of Israel and which does hearken back to the predominant Biblical definition is the purely racial and cultural catagorizing as to who might be considered a Jew. This is because of the immensity and varliagation in the origins of new immigrants to Israel - Ethiopia (Falasha origin), Iraq (6th cent. exile from Jerusalem), Turkey and Greece (1492 expulsion from Spain origin), Argentinia, China, India (both the long known B'nei Israel and the recently emerged B'nei Menasha of the Northern Kingdom dispersion), the former Soviet Union, the United States, Yemen (Himyaritic Kingdom conversion origin), etc.

==Jewish Humor==
Jewish humor is first of all not jokes about Jews made by non-Jews, nor is it jokes about Jews made to ridicule, making parody of characteristics considered Jewish traits. Jewish humor is humor made by Jews sometimes using material from the Jewish life and experience to highlight Jewish fallibilities to show them either as means of overcoming or defense, or to show them as universals shared by all peoples. Jewish humor is appreciated by both Jews and non Jews, thereby showing the truth of the commonality of Jews with all peoples. Because Jewish humor often is gently self-deprecating or willing to expose the foibles of Jews themselves, which Jews understand intuitively, Jewish comedians succeed, without raising rancor, in finding the humorous situation of other nationalities, without raising rancor. An example is the Sid Caesar's "German General" (below)

ex. 1. A man comes into the office of the Rabbi, while his wife waits her turn outside. Sitting next to the Rabbi is the Rebbitzen, his wife. The man comes in seats himself, and begins his tirade against his wife. She doesn't cook well, always complains, talks too loud, hours on the phone with the girls, on and on.
The rabbi listens carefully, and finally, slams his palm on the desk and says "You're right!" The man goes out and in comes the wife, seats herself, and then begins on her husband, never at home, when he comes, takes off his shoes and his shirt and leaves them on the floor, burps in public, on and on. The Rabbi listens, gets illuminated, slams his palm on the table and says, "You're right!" The wife leaves, and the Rebbitzen explodes and turning to him says, "How can they both be right, what kind of a counsel is that to say, Are you crazy?" The Rabbi, squints at her, slams his palm on the table and says, "You're right!"

ex. 2. Moses Mendelssohn was the father of reform Judaism and a favorite at the court of Fredrick the Second. Fredrick would often make fun of the helpless Moses before the nobles of the Court. This day, Fredrick wrote a note which said "Moses Mendelssohn is the First Ass of the Kingdom", and passed it around for all to see and snicker at. When it got to Moses, he read it, went into ecstasy with delight, holding it to his breast, finally saying to Fredrick, "O my lord, I have been so touched and honored by your note mentioning my name and I humbly ask of you that you sign it for my continual reverence." Fredrick nodded, signed it handing it back to Moses, who immediately rose from his knees, held out the note, and read it in loud and emotion packed tone, "Moses Mendelssohn is the First Ass of the Kingdom, Fredrick the Second."

ex. 3. The visual comedy of Jewish American comedian Sid Caesar [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybqVRYCXFPM] , [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0SG4YhiuYU]

==See also==
* [[Jewish communities in America]]
* [[Bible]]
* [[Israel]]
* [[Israel Tourism]]
* [[Synagogue]]
* [[Orthodox Judaism]]
* [[Passover Seder]]
* [[Singing the Hebrew Scriptures]]
* [[Hebrew]]
* [[Aramaic]]
* [[Aramaic Church]]
* [[Had Gadya]]
* [[Kaddish]]
* [[Midrash]]
* [[Targum]]
* [[Christians and the Law of Moses: an essay]]
* [[Essay: The earliest Christian Church, a prison in Armageddon]]
* [[New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective]]
* [[Inspiration of Holy Scripture: An Eastern Christian and Jewish Perspective]]
* [[Messianic Judaism]]
* [[Messiah]]
* [[Jewish persecution]]
* [[Suicide bomber: a personal account]]
* [[Picture Gallery: Israeli children victims of terrorism]]
* [[Jewish holidays]]
* [[Jewish philosophy]]
* [[Gallery of Jewish Painting]]

==External links==
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html Internet Jewish History Sourcebook]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ Jewish Virtual Library]
* [http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm Judaism 101] Tracey R Rich.
* [http://www.jewishstudies.virtualave.net/ Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory]
* [http://www.AskMoses.com AskMoses.com for questions about Judaism]
* [http://www.Chabad.org Chabad's Website]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/jews/ What Liberals Say - Category: Jews], [[Accuracy In Media]]
* [http://www.aish.com Aish.com/]
* [http://www.beingjewish.com/ BeingJewish.com]
* [http://jewishanswers.com/ JewishAnswers.com]
* [http://torah.org/ Torah.org]
* [http://simpletoremember.com SimpleToRemember.com]
* [http://njop.org National Jewish Outreach Program (outreaches to assimilated Jews)]
* [http://ArtScroll.com ArtScroll.com]
* [http://Shamash.org Shamash.org]
* [http://shemayisrael.com/ ShemaYisrael.com]
* [http://jewishworldreview.com/ JewishWorldReview.com]
* [http://heebmagazine.com/ Heeb magazine.] The New Jew Review.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Judaism|*]]
[[Category:Anti-Semitism]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]

Pope

2012-02-11T19:01:07Z

Theodidactus:

'''The Pope''' (from Greek papas, father) is the head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. His Catholic titles include Bishop of Rome, he is the successor of [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]]. The Pope is the chief pastor of the whole Church Catholic, the "Vicar of Christ upon earth." <ref> Until 1870 he also was the secular ruler of an independent country in central Italy, the Papal States. Since 1929 the Pope rules Vatican City, an independent country inside the city of Rome.</ref> ''Pontifex summus'' is a title of dignity.

He appoints all the cardinals and bishops, but otherwise has limited control over them. He is infallible in certain (rare) proclamations, and cites the Bible in support of that belief:
:''Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock (Cepha) I will build my Church.'' Matthew 16:17-19. ''Be the shepherd of my sheep.'' John 21:16.

The Pope's ecclesiastical jury is called the [[Holy See]]. Since 1059 The Pope has always been chosen by the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church meeting in secret. When they have not reached a decision they burn the ballots and black smoke emerges; when a pope is chosen the smoke is white.

[[Image:XVI.jpg|right|His Holiness Benedict XVI|thumb]]

== Insignia ==
* '''Tiara'''
The pope is distinguished by the use of the tiara or triple crown. At what date the custom of crowning the pope was introduced is unknown. It was certainly previous to the forged donation of Constantine, which dates from the commencement of the ninth century, for mention is there made of the pope's coronation. The triple crown is of much later origin. (it remains only a symbol)

No pope has worn an actual triple tiara since [[Pope Paul VI]] at the end of the [[Second Vatican Council]] in 1965.

*'''Cross'''
The pope moreover does not, like ordinary bishops, use the bent pastoral staff, but only the erect cross. This custom was introduced before the reign of [[Pope Innocent III]] (1198-1216) (cap. un. X de sacra unctione, I, 15).

* '''Pallium'''

He further uses the [[pallium]] at all ecclesiastical functions, and not under the same restrictions as do the [[archbishop]]s on whom he has conferred it.
<ref> [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm The Pope] Catholic Encyclopedia </ref>

* '''Fisherman's Ring'''
It is a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net.

== Benedict XVI ==
[[Image:BENEDETTO XVI.jpg|right]]
Today the Pope is [[Pope Benedict XVI]]. On May 11, 2007 he [[canonized]] [[Brazil]]'s first native-born [[saint]]. During the ceremonies he said that today's world "needs transparent lives, clear souls, pure minds"; Christians, must resist the temptation to think of their lives as "mere objects of pleasure."

''Gerald Fogarty, a [[Jesuit]] priest and professor at the University of Virginia, said that some Catholics were disappointed with the selection of Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) because he symbolized the conservative side of the church's ideological split, especially in the United States''.<ref> [http://www.cfr.org/publication/10595/ Benedict XVI: Conservative]</ref>

== Controversy ==

The Pope is claimed to be infallible in matters of doctrine (see [[Dictatus Papae]]). The concept of [[Papal Infallibility]] (1870) is used to proclaim articles of faith, which are essential for adherents to be truly Catholic. These articles are therefore considered to be a Dogmatic definition. Such pronouncements are rare, and the concept does not mean that Catholics are to believe everything that the Pope says is correct. The last issue was asserting the [[Assumption of Mary]].

[[The First Vatican Council]], of 1870, anathematized all who dispute the Pope's primacy of honor and of jurisdiction (it is lawful to discuss the precise nature of that primacy, provided that such discussion does not violate the terms of the Council's Dogmatic Constitution). [[The Second Vatican Council]] of 1965 '''modified''' many of the dictates of 1870.

Critics of the papacy claim that past Popes who claimed successorship to St. Peter, such as [[Pope Callixtus III]] and [[Pope Alexander VI]] from the Borgia family, were so corrupt as to be unfit to wield power. An just and loving [[God]], they claim, would not have given those people the powers claimed for them by the Catholic Church. Opponents of these critics reply that even the worst Popes failed to wreck the traditions of the Church.

==History==
The '''history of the papacy''' is a major factor in European history, especially the Middle Ages.

The Pope has been the head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] for over 1600 years. The Eastern Orthodox churches reject his claims to primacy. Even more vigorously the Protestant Reformation rejected Papal claims to primacy. As secular leaders the Popes controlled Rome and the Papal States in central Italy until 1870, and especially in the 16th century were notable patrons of the arts, turning St. Peter's Church in Rome into an architectural wonder, especially notable for the artwork in its Sistine Chapel.<ref> Famous patrons of the arts include Sixtus IV (1471-1484), [[Julius II]] (1503-1513), and Clement VII (1523-1534)</ref>

Since 1929 the Pope controls only the small Vatican city-state (located inside Rome), but has diplomatic relations with most nations. The Pope's power comes from his appointment of all the bishops in the Catholic Church, and from his ability (since 1870) to proclaim a theological doctrine infallibly. The history of the Popes is interwoven with the history of the Catholic Church and the history of Europe. In terms of personalities and morality, the 262 Popes were saints and sinners who ranged very widely indeed.<ref>They were all men. The story of Joan who disguised herself as a man and became Pope sometime between 850 and 1050 was exposed as a false myth in 1650, but still circulates. Kelly (1998) 331-32. </ref>In recent centuries most have been holy men and in recent decades they have been linguists able to speak to Catholics in many languages. In recent centuries most Popes have been scions of Italian nobility; notable exceptions are Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) the first Polish Pope, and Benedict XVI (2005- ) the first German since 1523.

===Traditions===
Catholic tradition argues that Christ told Peter to found a church, that he built one in Rome, that all Popes descend from him, and that the bishop of Rome has divine authority to rule over the Church. Protestants say the Biblical texts are silent concerning any grant of universal leadership, let alone an infallible one. It was asserted centuries after Christ. Protestants often insist also that the relationship between Christ and the sinner is interrupted by the imposition of an Earthly intercessor.

Indeed, the history of the [[Reformation]] is the history of the rejection of the Papacy, while the history of the [[Counter-Reformation]] is the history of a reassertion of its power using moral authority, diplomacy, and orders such as the [[Jesuits]].

====Biblical texts====
Catholics emphasize that Jesus told [[Simon Peter]]:
:thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.<ref>Gospel of Matthew: Chapter 16, Verse 18; see also 1 Corinthians 3:11, Ephesians 2:20, [[1 Peter]] 2:5–6, and Revelations 21:14.</ref>

Peter (and Paul) did found a church in Rome in 42 A.D. and served as the bishop for 25 years until 67 A.D. when he was martyred. However, as Duffy points out, "wherever we turn, the solid outlines of the Petrine succession at Rome seem to blur and dissolve."<ref> Duffy, p. 2</ref> That is, the primacy of the bishop of Rome in the Western Roman Empire was not established for several centuries, and even then was rejected by eastern bishops who guide the Eastern Orthodox Church under the leadership of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

===Early history to 350===

===Early Middle Ages: 350-1000===

===Late Middle Ages: 1000-1500===
The 14th century was the scene of dramatic humiliations that reduced the secular power and religious prestige of the of the papacy. The French king made his man Pope and moved the papal court to Avignon in France, 1309-1377. During the "Babylonian Captivity" of the papacy, seven French popes were seen as mere tools of France. Avignon was not a holy city, like Rome, and the men there were scarcely concerned with holiness; the papal entourage demanded bribes and fees to deal with terns of thousands of petitions that flooded in. As the paperwork and expenses multiplied and the prestige of the Papacy slipped.<ref> Ullmann (2002) p. 287</ref> The return to Rome in 1378 was followed by an even greater catastrophe. A split between French and Italian factions in the Curia resulted in the "Great Schism" of 1378-1417, during which Rome and Avignon each had their own series of popes, who claimed legitimacy and authority over the church. After enormous confusion the decision was made to appeal to a church council. The Council of Constance healed the schism in 1415.

The Council issued the decree ''Sacrosancta,'' (April 1415) asserting that in matters touching the faith and the unification and reform of the Church, a general council stood above all other authority, including papal. Another decree ''Frequens,'' (October 1417) tried to set controls on the pope and cardinals and proposed that a new council meet within five years and be convened regularly every ten years thereafter. The Church was on the verge of a constritutional revolution that would have shifted power from the pope to the bishops. However the papal forces fought back and by defeating the Council of Basel (1431-1449) regained control.

It took years to rebuild the neglected infrastructure of the city of Rome. The papacy never regained the secular power it had lost, and the loosened religious authority allowed an opening for radical reformers such as [[John Wycliffe]] and the Hussites.

===Reformation and Counter-Reformation: 1500-1700===
Frommel (1986) shows the popes did not provide a coordinated policy for Roman urban development. Rather, they had their own building agendas, driven by an egocentric spontaneity to outdo predecessors and eternalize family glory. Their agendas did reflect papal prominence in the city and created an imperial aura.

===1700-1815===
The Pope confronted [[Gallicanism]] in France, which reduced the Pope's power over the bishops. The Gallican argument was that the pope was supreme in spiritual matters, but that temporal affairs were the province of the government. The main issue was the selection of bishops, who had powerful temporal roles in terms of ownership of lands and churches. "Royal Gallicanism" emphasized the powers of the king. "Ecclesiatical Gallicanism" emphasized the powers of the bishops vis-a-vis the pope.

====French Revolution====
Much worse was the [[French Revolution]] in the 1790s, which disestablished the Church, forced many priests and bishops into exile, and seized vast landholdings.

====Napoleon====
Religion had been a major issue during the [[French Revolution]], and Napoleon resolved most of the outstanding problems. Thereby he moved the clergy and large numbers of devout Catholics from hostility to the government to support for him. The Catholic system was reestablished by the [[Concordat of 1801]] (signed with Pope [[Pius VII]]), so that church life returned to normal; the church lands were not restored, but the Jesuits were allowed back in and the bitter fights between the government and Church ended. Protestants and atheists were tolerated.<ref> Donald Sutherland. ''The French Revolution and Empire: The Quest for a Civic Order'' (2003) ch 11</ref>

===1815 to 1914===
====Pius VII====
Pius VII (1800-23) was stripped of powers by [[Napoleon]] but made a striking comeback after Napoleon's fall in 1815. Pius VII was a deeply religious Benedictine, and a theologian; he lived simply and avoided nepotism. His unusually able Secretary of State Cardinal Consalvi won the restoration to the Pope of most of the territories in Italy which Napoleon had seized. He reinvigorated numerous monastic orders and helped create new societies for men and women, especially those engaged in teaching and missionary work.
Most important was the restoration of the Jesuits in 1814; they had been suppressed in most countries. They grew larger and even more influential in the 19th century.

====Conservatism====
After 1800 the Papacy became the center of conservatism in Europe in reaction against the liberalism of the French Revolution and its admirers. The Papacy recognized that throughout Europe millions of peasants and poor folk were devoted to the saints and traditions of the Church; the Popes responded energetically by promoting new Marian devotions (such as the rosary). Rome had fallen into disrepair and Pius VII began the restoration of the city's artistic glories, an enterprise that continues into the 21st century. <ref> Kelly (1999); Duffy (2006); Latourette (1958) vol 1. </ref> Much like other heads of state, popes can have political leanings, which tend to be conservative, especially on issues of abortion. However, on some issues popes have been known to hold more liberal opinions; for example, Pope John Paul II was against the coalition action to free Iraq from tyranny.

====Ultramontane vs Gallican====
The "ultramontane" tendency in the Church centralized more power and authority in the Papacy. It was opposed by the "Gallican" tendency, especially in France, to give national churches more control over their affairs. The ultramontine forces generally won out, especially with the declaration of papal infallability at the First Vatican Council in 1870. The ultramontane forces cited the old doctrines of [[Robert Bellarmine]] (1542-1621) and [[Francisco de Suárez]] (1548-1617) to bolster the papal claim to absolute power in spiritual matters.

Gallicanism in France was damaged by the rise of ultramontanism in the 1850s and the devotional revolution that shifted piety to devotions sponsored by Rome. Gallicanism was officially suppressed by the First Vatican Council in 1870, which established the paramount authority of the pope as a matter of dogma. However informal manifestations of Gallicanism continue in some countries, especially China. In Canada, the Irish clergy fought for ultramontanism against the French clergy, who were Gallican. The [[Catholicism in Ireland|Irish]] won out with the support of the Vatican.

After Vatican II, 1962-65, the multiple and often confused controversy over papal authority and infallibility ended quietly.

====Facing Modernity====
Despite dire predictions, the Church adapted to modernity in its own way and increased its role in people's lives in the 19th century. The Church escaped irrelevance by using the same means as did emerging nation-states; establishing more administrative and doctrinal centralization in Rome; establishing a homogeneous culture, aided especially by universal use of Latin; promoting new rites and folk devotions, especially those focused on Mary and other favored saints; promoting pilgrimages to holy sites; encouraging clergy to endorse and lead regional nationalist movements that focused on historic languages and cultures; creating many new teaching orders and establishing Catholic schools and colleges; supporting intellectuals and publishing houses; enhancing papal power; and cultivating an image of both theologiocal canonical and moral superiority. Of special importance was the missionary activity, based especially in Germany, that was in competition with Protestant missions in China, India, Africa and other non-Christain lands. The Jesuits proved highly adept at promoting the Papal cause. The Pope thereby became less symbolic and more powerful. There was internal dissent among some Catholic intellectuals, such as historian [[Lord Acton]] in Britain and theologian Ignaz von Döllinger in Germany, who opposed the declaration of the dogma of papal infallibility.

====Facing Liberalism====
Burns (1990) takes a sociological perspective on the Papacy's long battle with liberalism. He shows how the papacy, in reaction to the rise of the liberal states of the 19th and 20th centuries, gradually reformulated Catholic ideology within the limited autonomy they possessed and carefully subordinated social and political issues to more purely religious and moral issues as they constructed an ideological opposition to liberalism.

In Germany in the 1840s the ultramontane movement used mass meetings and pilgrimages to combat the growth of liberalism and modernism. However the abnti-clerical liberal press attacked these mass meetings, and in response a large number of Catholic newspapers emerged in Germany starting in the 1840s. To ensure their own survival, these newspapers championed the liberal idea of press freedom. In addition, local clubs were established to mobilize the Catholic working class. These clubs tried to end discrimination against ordinary Catholics by working to establish freedom of religion and freedom of thought and by entering the electoral process. With the unification of Germany in 1870, the new nation faced the problems of consolidation, one of which was secularization. The laws dealing with secularization opened a poltical battle between Bismark and the Protestants and liberals on one side, and the Catholics on the other, called the "Kulturkampf." The Catholics organized their own political parties and protected their interests by voting as a bloc into the 1930s, when the Nazis closed down all other parties.

====Syllabus of Errors====
The [[Syllabus of Errors]] of Pope [[Pius IX]] in 1864 rejected the liberal doctrines of the modern world.<ref> see text at [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9syll.htm]</ref> It denounced pantheism, naturalism, nationalism, indifferentism, socialism, communism, freemasonry, and other modern views. The Pope claimed for the Catholic Church total control over science and culture. The liberals viewed this as a declaration of war by the Church on modern civilization. Its repercussions within France, the U.S., Britain and other countries were resounding, nearly destroying the liberal Catholic movement and furnishing a powerful weapon to the anticlerical faction, or (in the U.S.) to anti-Catholic Protestants. Opponents stressed the Papacy had become intolerant and medieval and largely political in nature.<ref> Latourette (1958) vol 1 ch. 6</ref>

====Freemasons====
In many countries the Church faced off against the Freemasons, a secret society that was politically active in numerous countries. The Papacy coordinated a counterattack. For example in Brazil, the religious question in the 1870s centered on the Masonic controversy and the struggle between regalist and ultramontane forces. One method of counterattack was to found Catholic universities. Thus Mgr. Ignace Bourget, second bishop of Montreal, Canada, founded Laval University, as a Catholic reaction to a liberal and secularist outburst in Quebec. Bourget said the university would be the principal instrument for "wresting the elite from the clutches of liberalism."

====Women====
Camp (1990) traces the treatment of women. In the late 19th century the papacy began to revise its public teachings about the proper role of women in the Church and society. From Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) to Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), papal social pronouncements reveal an evolution in attitudes toward a woman's proper "place" from the view that women are passive subordinates to men in all spheres of life to the current teaching that lay and clerical women are equal but complementary partners with men in religious, political, economic, and social endeavors. However, the papacy has remained firm in the conviction that ordination to the priesthood is for men only.

===Since 1914===
Student and youth groups were formed in major countries, with Papal blessing. For example the French Federation of Catholic Students (FFEC) was formed in 1922 to keep college graduates within the orbit of the Church, shield them from hostile ideological and political influences, and deepen their spiritual experience. It was a conservative movement, ultramontane in outlook; and boasted 16,000 members in 1939. During the Vichy years 1940-42 it was politically active at first in support of Vichy before being won over by nationalist ideology at the instigation of spiritual leaders and joining the underground resistance movement.

John XXIII (1958-63) enjoyed uniformly favorable, if sometimes puzzled, treatment from the English-language media. Initially, the focus was on his wit and warm personality. His unexpected calling of Vatican Council II and his major encyclicals - ''Mater et Magistra'' and ''Pacem in Terris'' - transformed his image into that of a bold innovator. In the end, it was his concern for world peace at the height of the Cold War and his effort to reach beyond Catholics to address all people of good will that won Pope John XXIII universal praise and affection.

====Holocaust issues====
Coppa (2005) reassesses the attitudes and policies toward Nazi racism of Pope Pius XI (1922-1939). Although Pius XI accepted and practiced religious anti-Judaism, he consistently opposed racial anti-Semitism on theological grounds throughout his papacy. As a result, he resisted the course of accommodation and conciliation favored by others within the Catholic Church, including Eugenio Pacelli (1876-1958), who served as papal secretary of state from 1930 prior to succeeding Pius XI as Pope Pius XII in 1939. Between 1933 and 1939 Pius XI waged a campaign against Nazi and Fascist racism and anti-Semitism that included public speeches and published condemnations denouncing the division of humanity on the basis of race as well as the commission of a "secret" encyclical on the incompatibility of racism and Catholicism that remained unpublished until 1995. His confrontational stance therefore sharply contrasted with the silence of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust.

== External links ==

*[http://www.cwnews.com/index.cfm Catholic World News] Conservative updates and commentary.
*[http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/viewmessaggi.aspx?f=65482&idd=431&p=97 Papa Ratzinger Forum]
*[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/benedict_xvi/index.html?inline=nyt-per Times Topics] Benedict XVI in ''The New York Times''

==Bibliography==
===Surveys===
* ''Catholic Encyclopedia,'' "The Pope" (1913) [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm online edition] many articles on related topics
* Coppa, Frank J., ed. ''Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy.'' Greenwood, 1998. 473 pp.
* Duffy, Eamon. ''Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes,'' (3rd ed 2006), 496pp; Yale University Press; heavily illustrated history by leading Catholic scholar
* LaDue, William J. ''The Chair of Saint Peter: A History of the Papacy.'' Orbis Books, 1999. 374 pp.
* Levillain, Philippe, ed. ''The Papacy: An Encyclopedia.'' Routledge, 2001. 1780 pp.
* ''New Catholic 'Encyclopedia'' (1967), numerous articles
* Steimer, Bruno and Parker, Michael G., ed. ''Dictionary of Popes and the Papacy.'' Crossroad, 2001. 278 pp.

===Specialized studies===
* Baumgartner, Frederic J. ''Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections.'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 272 pp.
* Brown, Peter. ''The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity 200-1000 AD'' (2002), 640pp
* Ralph J. Capio; "The Papacy: A Case Study in Organizational Longevity," ''Journal of European Studies,'' Vol. 26, 1996. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002278435 online edition]
* Carlen, Claudia. ed. ''Papal Pronouncements, a Guide, 1740-1978: Vol. 1: Benedict XIV to Paul VI.'' and ''Papal Pronouncements, a Guide, 1740-1978: Vol. 2: Paul VI to John Paul I.'' Pierian, 1990.
* Chadwick, Owen. ''The Popes and European Revolution.'' Oxford U. Press, 1981. 646 pp.
* Daniel-Rops, Henri. ''The Church in the Eighteenth Century'' (1964)
* Daniel-Rops, Henri. ''The Church in an Age of Revolution'' (1965).
* Frommel, Christoph L. "Papal Policy: The Planning Of Rome During The Renaissance." ''Journal Of Interdisciplinary History,'' 1986 17(1): 39-65. Issn: 0022-1953 Fulltext: in Jstor
* Hales, E. E. Y. ''Revolution and Papacy, 1769-1846,'' (1960)
* Logan, F. Donald. ''A History of the Church in the Middle Ages.'' 2002. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102805754# online edition]
* Mullett, Michael A. ''The Catholic Reformation,'' (1999), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102890994 online edition]
* Pastor, Ludwig von. ''History of the Popes From the Close of the Middle Ages'', (1894-1930), 16 vol, older Catholic history [http://books.google.com/books?spell=1&lr=&q=pastor+history+popes&as_brr=1 online from books.google.com]
* Ullmann, Walter. ''A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages,'' (2002), 393pp, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107602176 online edition]
* Wright, A. D. ''The Early Modern Papacy: From the Council of Trent to the French Revolution 1564-1789.'' Longman, 2000. 335 pp.

===Specific Popes===
* ''Catholic Encyclopedia,'' "The Pope" (1913) [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm online edition] many articles on all the Popes and related topics
* Collins, Jeffrey. ''Papacy and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Rome: Pius VI and the Arts.'' Cambridge U. Press, 2004. 355 pp.
* Coppa, Frank J., ed. ''Great Popes through History: An Encyclopedia.'' Greenwood, 2002. 600 pp.
* Gouwens, Kenneth and Reiss, Sheryl E., ed. ''The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture.'' Ashgate, 2005. 437 pp.
* Kelly, J.N.D. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Popes'' (1988). 349pp; scholarly short biographies; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=54850171 online edition]

===Since 1815===
* Burns, Gene. "The Politics of Ideology: The Papal Struggle with Liberalism." ''American Journal of Sociology,'' 1990 95(5): 1123-1152. Issn: 0002-9602 fulltext: in Jstor and Ebsco
* Camp, Richard L. "From Passive Subordination To Complementary Partnership: The Papal Conception of a Woman's Place in Church and Society since 1878." ''Catholic Historical Review,'' 1990 76(3): 506-525. Issn: 0008-8080 Fulltext: in Ebsco
* Chadwick, Owen. ''A History of the Popes, 1830-1914.'' (1998), 616pp; a standard recent history. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=12355195 online edition],
* Coppa, Frank J. ''The Modern Papacy since 1789.'' Longman, 1998. 296 pp.
* Coppa, Frank J. "Between Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism, Pius XI's Response to the Nazi Persecution of the Jews: Precursor to Pius XII's "Silence"?" ''Journal of Church and State'' 2005 47(1): 63-89. Issn: 0021-969x Fulltext: in Ebsco
* Gillis, Chester, ed. ''The Political Papacy: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Their Influence.'' Paradigm, 2006. 208 pp.
* Holland, Joe. ''Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age 1740-1958.'' Paulist Press, 2003. 404 pp.
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'' 5 Vol'' (1958), a detailed history of Chritianity 1800-1950 by a fair-minded Protestant scholar. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101463833 vol 1 online edition]
* Packard, Jerrold M. ''Peter's Kingdom: Inside the Papal City.'' Scribner's, 1985. 352 pp.
* Pollard, John F. ''Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy: Financing the Vatican, 1850-1950.'' Cambridge U. Press, 2005. 265 pp.
* Rittner, Carol and Roth, John K., ed. ''Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust.'' Leicester U. Press, 2002. 291 pp.

== References ==

<references/>

==List of Popes==

Following the name of each Pope is the year of their accession.
[[File:Papa Benedetto XVI PD WC.jpg|thumb|330px|Pope Benedict XVI]]
#[[Saint Peter]] (30?)
#[[Pope Linus]] (67)
#[[Pope Anacletus]] (76)
#[[Pope Clement I]] (88)
#[[Pope Evaristus]] (97)
#[[Pope Alexander I]] (105)
#[[Pope Sixtus I]] (115)
#[[Pope Telesphorus]] (125)
#[[Pope Hyginus]] (136)
#[[Pope Pius I]] (140)
#[[Pope Anicetus]] (155)
#[[Pope Soter]] (166)
#[[Pope Eleuterus]] (175)
#[[Pope Victor I]] (189)
#[[Pope Zephyrinus]] (199)
#[[Pope Callixtus I]] (217)
#[[Pope Urban I]] (222)
#[[Pope Pontian]] (230)
#[[Pope Anterus]] (235)
#[[Pope Fabian]] (236)
#[[Pope Cornelius]] (251)
#[[Pope Lucius I]] (253)
#[[Pope Stephen I]] (254)
#[[Pope Sixtus II]] (257)
#Pope Dionysius (259)
#Pope Felix I (269)
#Pope Eutychian (275)
#Pope Caius (283)
#Pope Marcellinus(296)
#Pope Marcellus I (308)
#Pope Eusebius (309)
#Pope Miltiades (311)
#Pope Sylvester I (314)
#Pope Mark (336)
#Pope Julius I (337)
#Pope Liberius (352)
#Pope Damasus I (366)
#Pope Siricius (384)
#Pope Anastasius I (399)
#Pope Innocent I (401)
#Pope Zosimus (417)
#Pope Boniface I (418)
#Pope Celestine I (422)
#Pope Sixtus III (432)
#[[Pope Leo I]] (440)
#Pope Hilarius (461)
#Pope Simplicius (468)
#Pope Felix III (483)
#Pope Gelasius I (492)
#Pope Anastasius II (496)
#Pope Symmachus (498)
#Pope Hormisdas (514)
#Pope John I, Martyr (523)
#Pope Felix IV (526)
#Pope Boniface II (530)
#Pope John II (533)
#Pope Agapetus I (535)
#Pope Silverius, Marytr (536)
#Pope Vigilius (537)
#Pope Pelagius I (556)
#Pope John III (561)
#Pope Benedict I (575)
#Pope Pelagius II (579)
#[[Gregory the Great|Pope Gregory I]] (590)
#Pope Sabinian (604)
#Pope Boniface III (607)
#Pope Boniface IV (608)
#Pope Adeodatus I (615)
#Pope Boniface V (619)
#Pope Honorius I (625)
#Pope Severinus (640)
#Pope John IV (640)
#Pope Theodore I (642)
#Pope Martin I, Marytr (649)
#Pope Eugene I (654)
#Pope Vitalian (657)
#Pope Adeodatus II (672)
#Pope Donus (676)
#Pope Agatho (678)
#Pope Leo II (682)
#Pope Benedict II (684)
#Pope John V (685)
#Pope Conon (686)
#Pope Sergius I (687)
#Pope John VI (701)
#Pope John VII (705)
#Pope Sisinnius (706)
#Pope Constantine (708)
#Pope Gregory II (715)
#Pope Gregory III (731)
#Pope Zachary (741)
#Pope Stephen II (752)
#Pope Paul I (757)
#Pope Stephen III (768)
#Pope Adrian I (772)
#Pope Leo III (795)
#Pope Stephen IV (816)
#Pope Paschal I (817)
#Pope Eugene II (824)
#Pope Valentine (827)
#Pope Gregory IV (827)
#Pope Sergius II (844)
#Pope Leo IV (847)
#Pope Benedict III (855)
#Pope Nicholas I (858)
#Pope Adrian II (867)
#Pope John VIII (872)
#Pope Marinus I (882)
#Pope Adrian III (884)
#Pope Stephen V (885)
#Pope [[Formosus]] (891)
#Pope Boniface VI (896)
#Pope Stephen VI (896)
#Pope Romanus (897)
#Pope Theodore II (897)
#Pope John IX (898)
#Pope Benedict IV (900)
#Pope Leo V (903)
#Pope Sergius III (904)
#Pope Anastasius III (911)
#Pope Landus (914)
#Pope John X (914)
#Pope Leo VI (928)
#[[Pope Stephen VII]] (928)
#Pope John XI (931)
#Pope Leo VII (936)
#Pope Stephen VIII (939)
#Pope Marinus II (942)
#Pope Agapetus II (946)
#Pope John XII (955)
#Pope Leo VIII (963)
#Pope Benedict V (964)
#Pope John XIII (965)
#Pope Benedict VI (973)
#Pope Benedict VII (974)
#Pope John XIV (983)
#Pope John XV (985)
#Pope Gregory V (996)
#Pope Sylvester II (999)
#Pope John XVII (1003)
#Pope John XVIII (1004)
#Pope Sergius IV (1009)
#Pope Benedict VIII (1012)
#Pope John XIX (1024)
#Pope Benedict IX (1032)
#Pope Sylvester III (1045)
#Pope Benedict IX (1045)
#Pope Gregory VI (1045)
#Pope Clement II (1046)
#Pope Benedict IX (1047)
#Pope Damasus II (1048)
#Pope Leo IX (1049)
#Pope Victor II (1055)
#Pope Stephen IX (1057)
#Pope Nicholas II (1059)
#Pope Alexander II (1061)
#[[Pope Gregory VII]] (1073)
#Pope Victor III (1086)
#[[Pope Urban II]] (1088)
#Pope Paschal II (1099)
#Pope Gelasius II (1118)
#Pope Callixtus II (1119)
#Pope Honorius II (1124)
#Pope Innocent II (1130)
#Pope Celestine II (1143)
#Pope Lucius II (1144)
#Pope Eugene III (1145)
#Pope Anastasius IV (1153)
#[[Pope Adrian IV]] (1154)
#Pope Alexander III (1159)
#Pope Lucius III (1181)
#Pope Urban III (1185)
#Pope Gregory VIII (1187)
#Pope Clement III (1187)
#Pope Celestine III (1191)
#Pope Innocent III (1198)
#Pope Honorius III (1216)
#Pope Gregory IX (1227)
#Pope Celestine IV (1241)
#Pope Innocent IV (1243)
#Pope Alexander IV (1254)
#Pope Urban IV (1261)
#Pope Clement IV (1265)
#Pope Gregory X (1271)
#Pope Innocent V (1276)
#Pope Adrian V (1276)
#Pope John XXI (1276)
#Pope Nicholas III (1277)
#Pope Martin IV (1281)
#Pope Honorius IV (1285)
#Pope Nicholas IV (1288)
#Pope Celestine V (1294)
#Pope Boniface VIII (1294)
#Pope Benedict XI (1303)
#Pope Clement V (1305)
#[[Pope John XXII]] (1316)
#Pope Benedict XII (1334)
#Pope Clement VI (1342)
#Pope Innocent VI (1352)
#Pope Urban V (1362)
#Pope Gregory XI (1370)
#Pope Urban VI (1378)
#Pope Boniface IX (1389)
#Pope Innocent VII (1404)
#Pope Gregory XII (1406)
#Pope Martin V (1417)
#Pope Eugene IV (1431)
#Pope Nicholas V (1447)
#Pope Callixtus III (1455)
#Pope Pius II (1458)
#Pope Paul II (1464)
#Pope Sixtus IV (1471)
#Pope Innocent VIII (1484)
#[[Pope Alexander VI]] (1492)
#Pope Pius III (1503)
#Pope [[Julius II]] (1503)
#Pope Leo X (1513)
#Pope Adrian VI (1522)
#Pope Clement VII (1523)
#Pope Paul III (1534)
#Pope Julius III (1550)
#Pope Marcellus II (1555)
#Pope Paul IV (1555)
#Pope Pius IV (1559)
#Pope Pius V (1566)
#[[Pope Gregory XIII]] (1572)
#Pope Sixtus V (1572)
#Pope Urban VII (1585)
#Pope Gregory XIV (1590)
#Pope Innocent IX (1591)
#Pope Clement VIII (1592)
#Pope Leo XI (1602)
#Pope Paul V (1605)
#Pope Gregory XV (1621)
#Pope Urban VIII (1623)
#Pope Innocent X (1644)
#Pope Alexander VII (1655)
#Pope Clement IX (1667)
#Pope Clement X (1670)
#Pope Innocent XI (1676)
#Pope Alexander VIII (1689)
#Pope Innocent XII (1691)
#Pope Clement XI (1700)
#Pope Innocent XIII (1721)
#Pope Benedict XIII (1724)
#Pope Clement XII (1730)
#Pope Benedict XIV (1740)
#Pope Clement XIII (1758)
#Pope Clement XIV (1769)
#Pope Pius VI (1775)
#Pope Pius VII (1800)
#Pope Leo XII (1823)
#Pope Pius VIII (1829)
#Pope Gregory XVI (1831)
#[[Pope Pius IX]] (1846)
#Pope Leo XIII (1878)
#[[Pope Pius X]] (1903)
#[[Pope Benedict XV]] (1914)
#[[Pope Pius XI]] (1922)
#[[Pope Pius XII]] (1939)
#[[Pope John XXIII]] (1958)
#[[Pope Paul VI]] (1963)
#[[Pope John Paul I]] (1978)
#[[Pope John Paul II]] (1978)
#[[Pope Benedict XVI]] (2007)

[[Category:Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Popes|Popes]]
[[Category:Renaissance]]

Leviticus

2012-02-11T18:59:40Z

Theodidactus:

'''Leviticus''' [Hebrew: '''ויקרא''', ''Vayikra,'' "And he [God] called," named after the first word in the Hebrew text] is the third book of the [[Old Testament]], part of the [[Pentateuch]], the most important part of the [[Bible]] in [[Judaism]]. The book is [[chiastic]]ally structured.

Many Christian and Jewish conservatives wrongly believe that [[Moses]] is the sole author of the Pentateuch and that he was inspired directly by God to write text to write the Pentateuch in the space of a month, that month being the first of the second year after the [[Hebrew]] exodus from [[Egypt]].

Most of Leviticus is filled with [[Mosaic Law|laws and codes]], many of which are ritualistically followed by [[Orthodox Judaism]]. Much of [[Christianity]], but not all, sees the law structure as being superceded by the sacrifice of [[Jesus Christ]]. Pauline teaching is that we were first under grace for salvation and the law, such as it is in Leviticus and recorded in other Old Testament books, is to show us the standard that we would have to uphold if there was no grace - a standard from which we would fall short.

There are two main sections in Leviticus:

== Summary of Leviticus 1-16 ==
Is the priestly code and many of its rules and regulations. Among these regulations:

=== Offerings: Leviticus 1-7 ===
* Burnt Offerings (Leviticus 1)
* Offerings of meat (Leviticus 2)
* Peace Offerings (Leviticus 3)
* Offerings for sin (Leviticus 4)
* Offerings for trespass (Leviticus 5)
* Instructions for Priests regarding offerings (Leviticus 6-7)

=== Sacrificial Stories 8-10 ===
* [[Aaron]] and his sons are made into priests (Leviticus 8)
* Aaron's sons "offered strange fire before the Lord" and are burnt to death for their sins by God directly. (Leviticus 9-10)

=== More Laws 11-16 ===
* Which animals are clean and which are unclean. (Leviticus 11)
* How to purify a woman rendered unclean from child birth. (Leviticus 12)
* Laws of [[leprosy]] and lepers as well as laws of mildew. (Leviticus 13-14)
* Laws regarding on the rendering clean of issues of bodily fluids from men and women and how to become clean. (Leviticus 15)
* On [[atonement]] and the description of the [[scapegoat]]. (Leviticus 16)

== Holiness Code: Leviticus 17-26 ==
{{See also|Leviticus 18}}
This is a very clear and concise expression of laws and holiness. It is not thought that Leviticus 27 is part of this concision of laws.
* Prohibition on the consumption of blood and of anything that has died naturally, also subjects idolatry and proper sacrifice of animals (Leviticus 17)
* Prohibition of incest, and of relations with the wife of a neighbor. (Leviticus 18)
* Prohibition of looking upon a woman while she is menstruating. (Leviticus 18)
* Prohibition of sacrifice of humans (Leviticus 18)
* Prohibition of [[homosexuality]] and [[bestiality]] (Leviticus 18)
* Many laws and admonitions: Keep the Sabbath, help the poor, do not steal or lie or cheat, be kind to the blind and dumb, don't be a gossip, love thy neighbor, don't let cows interbreed, don't used mixed seeds, do not wear two types of fabric at once, relations with slave women, do not eat fruit from trees for four years, no magic, no astrology, guidelines for haircuts and shaving, no tattoos, respect elders, treat strangers kindly, be fair. (All Leviticus 19)
* Punishments: All who sacrifice their children will be put to death, all who do not respect their parents will be put to death, both of those who adulterer shall be put to death, those who have relations with their fathers wife or son's wife shall be put to death, those who engage in sodomy shall be put to death, those who engage in relations with their mother in law will incur burning death upon man, wife and mother, those who engage in bestiality will be put to death along with the animal, do not look at naked or have relations with your sister, uncle's wife or brother's wife, witches and wizards should be [[stoning|stoned]]. (Leviticus 20)
* Priestly codes: Priests must marry virgins, cannot shave their heads, daughters will be burnt alive if they are "whores," no lame or dwarven or blemished or handicapped priests. (Leviticus 21)
* Holy food: No unclean man shall eat of the holy food, nor shall strangers, slaves or servants unless the priest owns them. If the Priest's daughter marries a stranger she shall not eat the holy food. Your sacrifices to the Lord may not be deformed. (Leviticus 22)
* Keep the Sabbath, make festivals and make offerings to God. Save some of your harvest for the poor. God will destroy you if you violate the Sabbath. (Leviticus 23)
* Altar of incense (Leviticus 24)
* A blasphemer is put to death. All blasphemers shall be put to death. (Leviticus 24)
* Murderers shall be put to death. Those who kill beasts shall have their own beasts killed. "Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again." (Leviticus 24)
* Laws regarding the Sabbath and the Jubilee year, and laws regarding slavery. (Leviticus 25)
* Those who follow God's commandments shall be rewarded. They shall be prosperous and blessed with good weather and respected by God. Those who dispute God's commandments will be punished. Their crops will fail and be eaten by enemies, they will be killed by enemies, their children will be eaten by wild animals, there will be pestilence, then they will eat their own children. (Leviticus 26)
* Also there is Leviticus 27. It concerns the commutation vows and sets the price for each human being. It is not a part of the Holiness code, though.

== Significant Passages ==
There are many very important passages in Leviticus:

=== Aaron and his Sons ===
* 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
* 10:2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
* 10:3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
* 10:4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.
* 10:5 So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.
* 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.

=== Important Laws of Leviticus 18 ===
* 18:10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
* 18:11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
* 18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.
* 18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
* 18:14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
* 18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
* 18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
* 18:17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
* 18:18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
* 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
* 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
* 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
* 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
* 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

=== Important Laws of Leviticus 19 ===
* 19:10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
* 19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
* 19:13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
* 19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
* 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the LORD.
* 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
* 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
* 19:19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.
* 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
* 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
* 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
* 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
* 19:35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

=== Punishments of Leviticus 20 ===
* 20:2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
* 20:9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
* 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
* 20:11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
* 20:12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
* 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
* 20:15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
* 20:16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
* 20:17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
* 20:18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
* 20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

=== Codes of Justice in Leviticus 24 ===
* 24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone * him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.
* 24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
* 24:18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.
* 24:19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
* 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
* 24:21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.

{{Old Testament Books}}

== See also ==

*[[Philosophy]]
*[[Jewish philosophy]]
*[[Leviticus (Translated)]]

[[Category:Old Testament Books| 3]]

Roman Catholic Church

2012-02-11T18:56:56Z

Theodidactus:

{{Christianity}}
The '''Roman Catholic Church''' is the one true denomination of [[Christianity]]. Roman Catholics believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, and worship the God of [[Abraham]]. The Roman Catholic Church has a single leader, the [[Pope]], who is also the [[Bishop]] of [[Rome]]. The current Pope is [[Pope Benedict XVI|Benedict XVI]]. Present day governance of the Church is divided hierarchically into Dioceses overseen by a Diocesan Bishop, who in turn oversees Diocesan priests and deacons on the level of the individual Church.

Members believe that theirs is the oldest [[Christian]] denomination in the world. It is certainly the largest, with more than 1.3 billion officially baptized adherents, or 17.4% of the world's population; over 64 million of these are in the [[United States]]. In recent years growth has been greatest in Africa and Latin America, while membership and influence have declined in Europe.

The Roman Catholic Church asserts that the Pope is the divinely-chosen successor of [[St. Peter]], believing him to be the 'rock' ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 16:18) upon whom Jesus built his Church. The Catholic Church consists of those Christians who are in full communion with the Pope, including "Uniate Catholics" in Eastern Europe who, strictly speaking, are not part of the "Roman" rite.

The Roman Catholic Church has suffered several [[schism]]s over its history. Most notable are those involving the [[Church of the East]] following the [[First Ephesian Council]], the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] churches following the [[Council of Chalcedon]], the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Church]] following the [[Great Schism]] of 1054, and the several [[Reformation]]s of the 16th century leading to the development of [[Protestantism]].

The Protestants made the most radical break. Two of the principal issues raised by Protestants were
''[[sola scriptura]],'' the doctrine that the Bible alone is the final authority for Christians (which is also a denial of the infallibility of [[Sacred Tradition]], the Pope, and the infallibility of ecumenical Church councils) and ''sola fide,'' the doctrine popularized by [[Martin Luther]] that faith alone, as opposed to faith and good works both, is sufficient for salvation.

[[Image:Cathpop.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Catholics in the world.]]

==Organization==

The Pope and the the international leadership of the Church are based in [[Vatican City]], a sovereign elective monarchy and an enclave of [[Rome]] established by the 1929 [[Lateran Treaty]].

The Catholic Church has a complex hierarchy of clergy, including (in descending order of rank):

* The [[Pope]]
*[[Cardinal]]s
*[[Archbishop]]s
*[[Bishop]]s
*[[Abbot]]s
*[[Monsignor|Monsignori]]
*[[Archpriest]]s
*[[Priest]]s
*[[Deacon]]s

The key roles are played by the Pope and the bishops, and the question of whether secular governments should play a major role in ecclesiastical appointments has been a major issue for centuries. The [[Investiture Controversy]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was over this question, as was the dispute between [[Gallicanism]] and [[ultramontanism]] in France.

==Teachings==
[[Image:JpII.jpg|right|thumb|[[Pope John Paul II]] reigned 1978-2005]]
The chief teachings of the Catholic church are set out in the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] in order to foster and promote the Profession of the Faith (first part), the Celebration of the Christian Mystery (second part), the Life in Christ (third part), and Christian Prayer (fourth part). They are:

* God’s objective existence.
* God’s interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God through direct and intercessory prayer and through the intercession of a priest ordained by Holy Orders.
* The [[Holy Trinity]] and [[christology|divinity of the person of Jesus Christ]].
* The immortality of the [[soul]] of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of Heaven or Hell.
* The resurrection of the dead.
* The historicity of the [[Gospels]].
* The divine commission of the Church and infallibility of revealed scriptural interpretation.

The Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the [[Virgin Mary]] and other saints and the dead in Purgatory are never forgotten,<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/RomanCat.html The Columbia Encyclopedia]</ref> may be addressed in prayer, and intercede with God on the behalf of the living. The very physical and spiritual body and blood of Christ are believed to be present in the Eucharist, [[Transubstantiation|the bread and wine being Jesus himself]], replacing the material of bread and wine. The principal sources for the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church are the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible), Sacred Tradition, and the Living Magisterium of the Church.

The term "Catholic" is frequently used as an adjective meaning, "pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church." [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s sometimes take exception to this use, as the defined meaning of "catholic" (the adjective) is "universal" (from the Greek ''καθολικός'', or ''katholikos'', meaning "universal"). The [[Anglican Communion]] and other Protestants also speak of themselves as part of the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/catholic</ref> The Orthodox Church understands herself to be the one universal Catholic Church and rejects the claims of Rome.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches respect for all human life. It opposes the practices of contraception, abortion,<ref>Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (1968) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html</ref> euthanasia and (in most cases) capital punishment.<ref> John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995) http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0141/_INDEX.HTM</ref> The Church is in favor of social justice and "the common good."<ref> Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (2009) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html</ref> Some Catholics take this idea further, espousing a "[[consistent life ethic]]," under which ''all'' killing is said to be unlawful. This position should logically entail [[pacifism]] and (in some cases) [[vegetarianism]], although the Catholic Church is not opposed to war under all circumstances in the manner of some "peace" churches.

The Catholic Church allows evolutionist research, but not any denial that God was the '''creator''' of all things. The only Evolutionism that Catholics are allowed to believe in is Theistic Evolution.

== History ==

===Early Church===

The original Christian community was founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Apostles. The Roman Catholic Church considers itself to be the sole and uninterrupted continuation of the first-century Church. St. [[Paul|Paul the Apostle]] was the most prolific contributor to the [[New Testament]] and the most notable of the Early Christian missionaries. Christians were subjected to persecution, first under [[Nero]] in A.D. 64 and again, more severely, under the emperors [[Domitian]], [[Marcus Aurelius]],[[Decius]], and [[Diocletian]], in the second and third centuries.

After almost 300 years of persecution against the Church failed to stop the growth of Christianity, the Emperor [[Constantine I]] had a religious experience and, by the [[Edict of Milan]] issued in the early fourth century, legalized Christianity. Going to war with the co-Emperor of the east [[Lucinius]] over his continued persecution of Christians, Constantine won and became sole Emperor. The age of persecution was over.
[[Image:Christians.jpg|thumb|450px]]

===Barbarians converted===

Until the early fourth century AD Christianity enjoyed a mixed reception in the Roman Empire, and Christians were frequently subject to persecution. After its legalization, the Christian Church became increasingly powerful in the Roman Empire, although [[Arianism]] remained strong. In 380 AD, [[Theodosius I]] established the Church as the official religion of the Roman Empire and proscribed the former pagan practices. There was a brief [[pagan]] revival in the West under the usurper [[Eugenius]], but that was brought to an end with his death. While the Empire continued to decline, Christianity continued to grow both among those directly under the Empire and among the barbarians, until the time that Rome was sacked by [[Alaric]] in 410. Alaric was an Arian Christian.

After the collapse of the Western Empire, the Roman Church became the most powerful political and religious force in Latin-speaking Europe, and by the 8th century it had achieved near total religious dominance.

Aggressive missionary activities accomplished the conversion of most of the pagan tribes in Europe by the year 1000 AD. The last pagan country in Europe to be converted was [[Lithuania]], in 1387.

=== Great Schism ===

Numerous disputes between the eastern and western churches became more pronounced from the ninth century onwards. The Church experienced the [[Great Schism]] in 1054 that divided it into a Western (Latin) branch, which has been called the Catholic Church, and an Eastern branch, which has become known as the [[Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Church]]. Both traced their roots to the time of Jesus, but the Eastern Orthodox Church rejected the claims of the Pope to universal jurisdiction.

The Schism's causes were not purely religious. Cultural and geographic elements also played a role. Later attempts at reconciliation occurred, such as at the [[Council of Basel]], but the two churches remain separate to this day.

=== Late Middle Ages ===

The Crusades, a series of religious wars instigated by the Church against the Muslims and other groups in the Holy Land, began in 1092 and continued until the end of the 13th century. Despite the focus on regaining the Holy Land from Muslim control, the Crusaders also massacred Jews and sacked the Christian city of Constantinople.

During this time period, the [[Inquisition]]s started and would continue through the time of the Protestant Reformation and beyond. The medieval inquisition focused on rooting out [[Cathars]], while the later inquisitions, such as the [[Spanish Inquisition]], focused on people who were believed to be secretly practicing [[Judaism]] or [[Islam]] following the [[Alhambra Decree|legally mandated]] conversion to Christianity of all Jews and Muslims remaining in Spain.

===Reformation and Counter-Reformation===

In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] began the [[Protestant Reformation]] with a public protest against the sale of [[indulgences]]. It grew into a movement that covered a wider variety of issues. Eventually, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] rejected the notions of saintly intercession, the authority of the Pope, and any sacraments other than [[Baptism]] and [[Communion]]. This movement eventually led to a Catholic revival (the "Counter-Reformation") and a series of religious wars in [[Europe]]. The Protestant-Catholic split became one of the dominant themes in European and American events until recent times.

===1815 to 1914===

====Conservatism====

After 1800 the Papacy became the center of conservatism in Europe in reaction against the radicalism of the French Revolution. Pius VII (1800-23) was stripped of powers by [[Napoleon]] but made a striking comeback after Napoleon's fall in 1815. His unusually able Secretary of State Cardinal Consalvi won the restoration to the Pope of most of the territories in Italy which Napoleon had seized. He reinvigorated numerous monastic orders and helped create new societies for men and women, especially those engaged in teaching and missionary work. Most important was the restoration of the Jesuits in 1814. They grew more numerous and even more influential in the 19th century.

The Papacy recognized that throughout Europe millions of peasants and poor folk were devoted to the saints and traditions of the Church; the Popes responded energetically by promoting various Marian devotions (such as the rosary). Rome had fallen into disrepair, and Pius VII began the restoration of the city's artistic glories, an enterprise that continues in the 21st century. <ref> Kelly (1999); Duffy (2006); Latourette (1958) vol 1. </ref>

====Ultramontane vs Gallican====

The "ultramontane" tendency in the Church centralized more power and authority in the Papacy. It was opposed by the "[[Gallican]]" tendency, especially in France, to give national churches more control over their affairs. The ultramontine forces generally won out, especially with the promulgation of [[Papal Infallibility]] at the First Vatican Council in 1870. The ultramontane forces cited the old doctrines of [[Robert Bellarmine]] (1542-1621) and [[Francisco de Suárez]] (1548-1617) to bolster the papal claim to absolute power in spiritual matters.

Gallicanism in France was damaged by the rise of ultramontanism in the 1850s and the devotional revolution that shifted piety to devotions sponsored by Rome. Gallicanism was officially suppressed by the First Vatican Council in 1870, which established the paramount authority of the pope as a matter of dogma. However informal manifestations of Gallicanism continue in some countries, especially China. In Canada, the Irish clergy fought for ultramontanism against the French clergy, who were Gallican. The [[Catholicism in Ireland|Irish]] won out with the support of the Vatican.

After Vatican II, 1962-65, the controversy among Catholics over papal authority and infallibility largely ended, though some significant degree of opposition to it remains,<ref>such as by historian Garry Wills, author of ''Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit'' (Sophia Institute Press, 2003), and liberal theologian Hans Kung, author of ''Infallible?: An inquiry'' (1970)</ref><ref>David Carlin, ''The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America'',‎ appendix 2</ref><ref>[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3543/vatican.htm Raymond Taouk, ''What are Catholics to think of Vatican II?'']</ref>

This dissent is mainly manifested in disagreement with Roman Catholic teaching on birth control and abortion.<ref>[http://www.christianethicstoday.com/Issue/014/Infallibility%20in%20Ethical%20Perspective%20By%20John%20M.%20Swomley_014_26_.htm John M. Swomley, ''Infallibility in Ethical Perspective Christian Ethics Today], Issue 014 Volume 4 No 1 February 1996</ref> <ref>56% of U.S. Catholics said that the pope is not infallible "when he teaches on matters of morals, such as birth control and abortion"; 80% of Catholics believed it is possible to disagree with the pope on official positions on morality and still be a good Catholic. Time/CNN nationwide poll of 1,000 adults, conducted by Yankelovich Partners, Sept. 27-28, 1995</ref>

====Facing Modernity====

Nineteenth century urbanization brought millions of peasants from the villages to industrial cities where church facilities were few. The Church escaped irrelevance by using the same means as emerging nation-states: promoting a homogeneous culture aided especially by universal use of Latin; authorizing new rites and folk devotions, especially those focused on Mary and other favored saints; promoting pilgrimages to holy sites; encouraging clergy to endorse and lead regional nationalist movements that focused on historic languages and cultures; creating many new teaching orders and schools; supporting intellectuals and publishing houses; cultivating an image of theological, canonical, and moral superiority; and establishing more administrative and doctrinal centralization (in Rome). Of special importance was the missionary activity, based especially in Germany, that was in competition with Protestant missions in China, India, Africa and other non-Christian lands. The Jesuits proved highly adept at promoting the Papal cause.

The resurgence of Papal leadership caused internal dissent among some Catholic intellectuals, such as the historian [[Lord Acton]] in Britain and the theologian Ignaz von Döllinger in Germany, who opposed the declaration of the dogma of papal infallibility. This caused further schisms, with breakaway groups centering on the Archbishop of [[Utrecht]] to form the [[Old Catholic Church]].

=====Syllabus of Errors=====

The [[Syllabus of Errors]] of Pope [[Pius IX]] in 1864 rejected the liberal doctrines of the modern world.<ref> see text at [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9syll.htm]</ref> It denounced pantheism, naturalism, nationalism, indifferentism, socialism, communism, freemasonry, theological rationalism, [[separation of church and state]], and removal of [[public school]]s from Church control. The Pope claimed for the Catholic Church total control over science and culture. Liberals viewed this as a declaration of war by the Church on modern civilization. Opponents stressed the Papacy had become intolerant and medieval and largely political in nature.<ref> Latourette (1958) vol 1 ch. 6</ref>

====Facing Liberalism====

In Germany in the 1840s the ultramontane movement used mass meetings and pilgrimages to combat the growth of liberalism and modernism. However, the anti-clerical press attacked these mass meetings, and in response a large number of Catholic newspapers emerged in Germany starting in the 1840s. To ensure their own survival, these newspapers championed a liberal idea--[[Freedom of the press|press freedom]]. In addition, local clubs were established to mobilize the Catholic working class. These clubs tried to end discrimination against ordinary Catholics by advocating other liberal concepts--freedom of religion and freedom of thought--and by entering the electoral process.

With the unification of Germany in 1870, the new nation faced the problems of consolidation, one of which was secularization. The laws dealing with secularization opened a political battle between Chancellor Bismark and the Catholics, which struggle is called the "[[Kulturkampf]]." The Catholics organized their own political parties and protected their interests by voting as a bloc into the 1930s, when the Nazis closed down all other parties.

====Freemasons====

Freemasonry is a secret society that was, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, politically active in numerous countries. The Catholic Church opposed Freemasonry and forbade its members to belong to Masonic lodges. This was partially because Masons were often aligned with popular uprisings that had the objective of replacing traditional monarchs and class privilege with national independence and voting rights. A large number of the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence had been Freemasons, for example.

The Papacy coordinated attacks against Masonry in countries such as Brazil, where the religious question in the 1870s centered on Masonry and the struggle between regalist and ultramontane forces. One method of Catholic action was to found Catholic universities. Ignace Bourget, second bishop of Montreal, Canada, founded Laval University, saying that the university would be the principal instrument for "wresting the elite from the clutches of liberalism." At the time, political Liberalism was closely associated with national liberation and democracy.

====Women====

A spiritual revolution took place in the 19th century, moving individuals to a renewed interest in personal piety. There was a new emphasis on the role of Mary and a greatly increased involvement of women in the life of the Church. The number of sisters and nuns increased from 20,000 to 400,000 between 1815 and 1914.

Camp (1990) traced the treatment of women by the Church. In the late 19th century, the papacy began to revise its public teachings about the proper role of women in the Church and society. From Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) to Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), papal social pronouncements revealed an evolution in attitudes from the view that women are passive subordinates to men in all spheres of life to the current teaching that lay and clerical women are equal but complementary partners with men in religious, political, economic, and social endeavors. Nevertheless, the papacy has remained firm in the conviction that ordination is for men only.

====Arts====

[[Image:Cerro_de_Angeles.jpg|right|thumb|230px|Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.]]
The arts provided a refuge from modernity in the form of a nostalgic aesthetic. Church architecture saw the revival of the medieval [[Gothic]] style. Romantic literature, for example by Chateaubriand, helped inspire a Catholic revival. In music, Catholic churchgoers were likely to be exposed to an officially sponsored revival of ''a cappella'' singing in the manner of Palestrina. The rapid development of symphonic and operatic forms affected sacred music, resulting in many masses, requiems, and te deums for large orchestra and chorus, sometimes even composed by skeptics such as Berlioz and Verdi.

====Politics====

In politics, as democracy and popular government spread, religious motivations moved people into one party or the other. In Catholic countries such as France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, sharp confrontations emerged between clericals and anti-clericals; in countries with mixed Catholic and Protestant populations such as Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain and the U.S., political splits occurred along confessional lines. In the U.S. the great majority of the Catholics became [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. In Germany the Catholics formed their own Center party to fight off attacks from the Protestants, as during the [[Kulturkampf]].

The British attempt to impose Protestantism on Ireland not only fueled the Catholic revival there but also contributed to its spread via emigration to the U.S. and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and England itself, all of which increased the Catholic population. The Irish often took control of the Church in each of these countries. The Poles, having lost their nation state in the 1790s, turned to an intense religiosity that preserved national identity and which they carried with them to industrial centers in the U.S. and Germany. In the U.S., some Poles, frustrated with the Irish control of the Church, founded the [[Polish National Catholic Church]].

===20th century===

====Vatican II====

[[File:John-23.jpg|right|thumb|270px|[[Pope John XXIII]] reigned 1958-63]]

The "Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican" (termed [[Vatican II]]), was called by [[Pope John XXIII]] and was in session from 1962 to 1965. It dramatically modernized and transformed church policies, with major changes to official theology and liturgy. Liturgical changes included the introduction of Mass in local languages instead of Latin. Theologically, the council deemphasized the centrality of Mary while also adding a new emphasis on individual and personal holiness. These were ideas previously associated with Protestantism and had, in some cases, been features in the opposition to the Catholic Church since the time of the Protestant Reformation. The Council asserted the Church's support for [[freedom of religion]], declared that the Jews were not guilty of [[deicide]], and recognized the possibility of salvation for Jews, Muslims, and Protestants.

Reactions among Catholics to Vatican II fall into three camps. "Liberal" Catholics, drawing on the established Catholic belief in the "journeying" nature of the Church, see Vatican II and the new period that it marked in Catholic history as representing a significant advancement in man's understanding of the Gospels, which in turn justifies changes in Catholic belief and practice. "Conservative" Catholics (including the most recent popes) hold that the decrees of the Council, properly understood, are wholly in line with the historic Catholic faith, and that they should not be used as an excuse for unwarranted innovations. "Traditional" (or "[[Traditionalist Catholicism|traditionalist]]") Catholics regard the teachings of Vatican II as problematic, or even as heretical. Some of these Catholics created new churches which use the old liturgies.

===21st Century===

Current issues facing the Catholic Church include:

* The effect of liberal legislation on Catholic hospitals (such as funding for abortion)
* The aftermath of a series of sexual abuse scandals. In the early 2000s, it was found that bishops were privately settling cases of molestation of minors by priests, occurring primarily between the 1940s and 1980s.
* Increasing atheism and secularism in Europe
* The challenge of Islam

== See also ==

*[[Cafeteria Catholic]]
*[[Catholic views on creationism‎]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Vatican City]]

==External links==
[[Image:Virgen.jpg|right|thumb|Virgin Mary and Child]]

*[http://www.Vatican.va The Vatican]
*A digital version of [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''].
*[http://www.cua.edu/ The Catholic University of America] Washington, D. C.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm St. Paul] Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church] Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church web site.
*[http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com/index.html Al Pellegrino Cattolico] Italian web site.

==Further reading==
* Bokenkotter, Thomas. ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Catholic-Church/dp/0385516134/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241119912&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Brown, Peter. ''The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity 200-1000 AD'' (2002), 640pp
* Chadwick, Owen. ''A History of the Popes, 1830-1914.'' (1998), 616pp; a standard recent history. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=12355195 online edition],
* Holland, Joe. ''Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age 1740-1958.'' Paulist Press, 2003. 404 pp.
* Kung, Hans. ''The Catholic Church: A Short History'' (2003), by a leading Catholic scholar [http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Church-History-Library-Chronicles/dp/0812967623/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241119912&sr=8-15 excerpt and text search]
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'' 5 Vol'' (1958), a detailed history of Christianity 1800-1950 by a Protestant scholar. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101463833 vol 1 online edition]
* O'Toole, James M. ''The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America'' (2008) [http://books.google.com/books?id=BFlBzSAVW6kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Faithful+intitle:A+intitle:History+intitle:of+intitle:Catholics+intitle:in+intitle:America&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0 excerpt and text search]

===Reference===
* ''New Catholic 'Encyclopedia'' (1967), complete coverage of all topics by Catholic scholars
* ''Catholic Encyclopedia,'' (1913) [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ online edition] complete coverage by Catholic scholars; the articles were written about 100 years ago
* Coppa, Frank J., ed. ''Great Popes through History: An Encyclopedia.'' (2002). 600 pp.
* Kelly, J.N.D. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Popes'' (1988). 349pp; scholarly short biographies; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=54850171 online edition]

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Catholic Church| ]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Christian Denominations]]

Martin Luther

2012-02-11T18:56:07Z

Theodidactus:

[[Image:Luther-Cranach.jpg|right|225px]]
'''Martin Luther''' (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was one of the most important leaders in [[Christian]] and [[Germany|German]] history. An Augustinian monk, priest, and professor of theology, he unintentionally launched the [[Protestantism|Protestant Reformation]] and founded the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Church]].
{{Christianity}}
Luther was the first to break [[Roman Catholic]] unity on a large scale. He was justly excommunicated for the [[95 Theses]] he had written in 1517 as a direct challenge to Church practice. Furthermore, he had the backing of several German princes who resented the Italian domination of the Church.

A heretical writer of tracts and hymns, Luther reshaped German religious culture by rejecting clerical celibacy and creating a new liturgy that emphasized congregational singing. His very popular hymns and his translation of the Bible into German helped to shape the German language.

To [[Catholics]], Luther has always been a lying scumbag who ruined everything, and grossly misunderstood the [[Bible]] and the true nature of the Catholic Church,

Luther's image changed over the centuries. Calvinists challenged his theology while Catholics systematically reviled his personality well into the 20th century (they were right). Lutherans saw him as an authoritative interpreter of the Word and as a hero of the German people, transcending religion.<ref>Robert Kolb, ''Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher, and Hero: Images of the Reformer, 1520-1620'' (1999)</ref>

==Biography==

Luther was born on Nov. 10, 1483 in the central German town of Eisleben in Thuringia. His father, Hans Luther, originally a peasant, learned mining skills, and became a businessman who owned several small foundries; his mother, Margarethe, came from an educated urban professional family. Luther was brought up strictly according to tradition; he entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, took a master of arts degree in 1505 and studied law in preparation for the legal career his father planned for him. Erfurt was the center of [[humanism]], and Luther was well educated by leading scholars there in [[Aristotle]] and the Latin classics.

Young Luther was tormented by the contemporary picture of man's destiny. Germany was at that time obsessed by a cult of death, which had arisen after the [[Black Death]] more than a century before; however, not even death was as appalling to Luther as the final judgment and the prospect of everlasting damnation. In July 1505, a thunderstorm overtook him. Struck to the ground by a bolt of lightning, he cried in terror to his father's patron saint, "St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk." Two weeks later he entered the strict Augustinian order.<ref>Albrecht Beutel, "Luther's Life," in McKim, ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther'' (2003) p. 3-19; Mullett, ''Martin Luther'' (2004), ch. 1, quote p. 27 </ref>

=== Monastic years ===

Luther took his final vows and in May 1507 was ordained a priest. He was assigned to the town of Wittenberg, Saxony the next year as an instructor in logic and physics at the new University of Wittenberg. Luther spent nearly his entire life in Wittenberg. He was favored and protected by the government, thanks to the influence of his friend, the court chaplain Georg Spalatin (1484-1545). He learned Greek and Hebrew and carried out an extensive study of the Bible, as well as standard theological treatises by Scholastic thinkers Peter Lombard (c.1100-60), John Duns Scotus (c.1265-1308), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Pierre d' Ailly (1350-1420) and William of Occam (1288-1347). His chief influence was St. [[Augustine]] (354-430), the reputed founder of his order.

In 1510-11 he went to Rome on official business for five months, the first and only time he left Germany. He later spoke of seeing Rome's corruption. In 1511 he did not yet share the views of Renaissance Germany's anti-papal and anti-Italian movement, of which he later became leader.<ref>Mullett, ''Luther'' p 46</ref>

In October 1512, Luther received a doctorate of theology from the University of Wittenberg, and soon afterwards he assumed a Bible-studies professorship there, endowed by his Augustinian order. Lecture notes exist for courses he taught, including ''Psalms'' (1513-1515 and 1519), ''Romans'' (1515-1516), ''Galatians'' (1516-1517), and ''Hebrews'' (1517-1518). During this time Luther rose within his order to the office of district vicar, later even overseeing the administration of Augustianian monasteries in Saxony. He was also preaching regularly in the parish church.

=== Wittenberg ===

Luther's fears continued to plague him. Repeated bouts of depression may have arisen partly from physical causes having to do with Luther's savagely ascetic lifestyle, which was self-imposed against the advice of his confessor. Of this experience, Luther wrote, "I vexed myself with fasts and prayers beyond what was common...if I could have got to heaven by fasting, I should have merited that twenty years ago.... I afflicted myself almost to death."<ref>Mullett, ''Luther'' p 44</ref>

In reaction to this attempt to justify himself through sacrifice, he was led instead to a belief that nothing in the power of man is good enough to constitute a claim upon God. He had utilized all avenues within the Church's penitential system so that the sins which he could not expunge or eradicate might yet be forgiven, only to discover that he could not confess all of his sins. Some sins were forgotten and others not recognized, for man does not see that he is a sinner until confronted by the accusing finger of God.

Luther later told of how religious experiences led him to two important theological discoveries: in 1514, a realization of the evangelical purpose of the Gospel, and in 1518 (possibly earlier) a replacement of scholastic theology with what he called the "theology of the cross."

In writing lectures on ''Psalms, Romans, and Galatians'' from 1513 to 1516, Luther came to the conclusion, fundamental to Protestant theology, that man depends for his salvation on the sheer grace of God, made available through the sacrificial death of Christ. Christ is not primarily the terrible judge who condemns sinners, but the redeemer upon the cross. Man has only to believe and to accept in trust what God has done in order to be forgiven, even though sin is never entirely taken away. This was to become the central doctrine of Luther's creed: the doctrine of [[Sola fide|justification by faith alone]].

The critical point at which Luther's position diverged from that of the Catholic Church was in his absolute denial of man's ability to do anything whatsoever toward his own salvation. The Catholic Church taught that, through grace, man is given by God the ability to fulfill His commandments and to earn God's favor by doing so. Since man is free to reject this grace, if he accepts it instead and performs good works, his deeds are meritorious. But Luther held that when good deeds are performed with an eye to reward, they are damnable sins.

===About indulgences===

Luther's actual breach with the Church was occasioned by the Church's use of ''indulgences'', or remissions by the Church of punishment time in Purgatory (a penalty for certain sins). [[Indulgences]] did not help souls sent to hell.<ref>For the Catholic position see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm W.H. Kent, "Indulgences" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)]</ref>Invented in the 11th century, indulgences at first only remitted penalties imposed by the pope on earth, but by the 1480s the pope claimed an extension to penalties imposed by God in Purgatory. Some popes undertook not only to remit penalties but also to forgive sins. In return for such benefits the recipients made cash contributions in accordance with their financial ability. The underlying theory of the entire transaction was that Christ and the saints had by their good works earned more credits than were needful for their own salvation and had stored up a treasury of merits from which the pope could make transfers to others. The transfer was often accompanied by a certificate similar to a bank note.

The privilege of dispensing the particular indulgences which drew Luther's ire was granted by Pope Leo X to Albrecht, archbishop of Mainz. The public thought money was going to Rome to build St. Peter's Church; in reality, half the money went to Albrecht so that he could repay the loan that had enabled him to purchase from Rome a second archbishopric. The proclamation of the indulgence was entrusted to Johann Tetzel, a Dominican monk with considerable experience in the field. The indulgence was declared, in an accompanying document, to confer the forgiveness of sin, and there was the further statement that those who secured indulgences for relatives in Purgatory need not themselves be contrite. Tetzel assured his hearers that:<ref>A. D. Dickens, ''Reformation and Society in Sixteenth-Century Europe'' (1966) p 61-2. </ref>

<blockquote style="font-style: italic">As soon as the coin in the coffer rings 
The Soul from purgatory springs.</blockquote>

==Break with Rome==

===95 Theses (1517)===

On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed [[the 95 Theses]] or issues to the door of the ''Schlosskirche'' (Castle Church) in Wittenberg. This act, unremarkable in itself, is considered to be the start of the
[[Protestant Reformation]]. The 95 Theses were complaints on the subject of indulgences intended to spark public debate,<ref>For the e-text see [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html English translation]; and [http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lyman/english233/sg-95ths.htm Lyman Baker, "Study Guide for the ...Ninety-five Theses"] </ref> a common procedure among theologians at that time.

Here are two of Luther's most important Theses:

*Thesis 82: ''Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.''<ref>Luther wrote the theses in Latin. This one read, ''Scilicet. Cur Papa non evacuat purgatorium propter sanctissimam charitatem et summam animarum necessitatem ut causam omnium iustissimam, Si infinitas animas redimit propter pecuniam funestissimam ad structuram Basilice ut causam levissimam?''</ref>

*Thesis 86: ''Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?''<ref>The Latin read, ''Item. Cur Papa, cuius opes hodie sunt opulentissimis Crassis crassiores, non de suis pecuniis magis quam pauperum fidelium struit unam tantummodo Basilicam sancti Petri?''</ref>

===Papal reaction to the 95 Theses===

The 95 Theses hurled Luther into the middle of controversy, leading to his excommunication by the pope in 1520 and to the Diet of Worms in 1521 which declared him an outlaw in the Holy Roman Empire. Luther's role changed from that of a would-be reformer of the Catholic Church to a declared foe of that institution, as it refused to heed his call to bring its beliefs and practice into line with the doctrines he had been uncovering in his study of the Bible. He was thus the only one of the prominent Protestant Reformers not to break voluntarily with the Church.

Luther sharply attacked any linkage between the raising of money and the remission either of sins or penalties. He denied the jurisdiction of the pope over Purgatory, noting that if the pope could release souls, he should let them all out without collecting a penny. Many colleagues agreed with Luther thus far. But he went on to deny the fundamental theory of the treasury of the accumulated merits of the saints; he attacked not just the abuse of the indulgences but the core idea.

Luther sent a copy of the 95 Theses to Archbishop Albrecht, asking him to stop the indulgences. Printed copies in Latin and German began to circulate widely, and many clerics agreed with Luther. The alarmed archbishop forwarded the document to Pope Leo X (1475–1521, pope 1513–21). Leo was a Medici, the son of [[Lorenzo the Magnificent]]; he was an aristocrat of dilettantish learning and a worldly patron of expensive arts and architecture (especially St. Peter's church) that had to be paid for. He had no interest in correcting the abuses of indulgence vending. Now, Leo again endorsed the claims of the indulgence-vendors and affirmed that souls were immediately released.

Luther retorted that the pope was wrong – a nearly heretical statement. The pope summoned Luther to Rome, but Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, stepped in and insisted that his subject must have a fair hearing on German soil. The centuries-old German distrust of an Italian papacy was thus the first factor which gave Luther protection. German nobles did not like the flow of money to Rome, and in aid of cutting this off, they backed Luther.

A compromise was arranged: instead of going to Rome, Luther would appear at a hearing before Cardinal Cajetan, a Dominican, at Augsburg in 1518.<ref>The Dominican order was a great rival of the Augustinians, and theologians took sides with Cajetan or Luther accordingly. MacCulloch (2005), p. 125-6</ref> The Cardinal confronted Luther with the papal pronouncement, or bull, of Clement VI in 1343, which contained the doctrine of the accumulated treasury of the merits of the saints. Luther rejected this bull, thereby impugning not only the authority of a particular pope but also of the canon law generally. He refused to recant his argument that the efficacy of a sacrament depended on the faith of the recipient. Cajetan branded Luther a heretic. The pope wanted to have Luther brought to Rome by force, but such an undertaking was now politically impossible.<ref>Mullett, (2004) p. 82-3; Smith, ''Life and Letters'' (1911), 48-54; for the Catholic viewpoint see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145c.htm John R. Volz, "Tommaso de Vio Gaetani Cajetan," ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' vol 3 (1908)]</ref>

===''Exsurge Domine''===

[[Pope Leo X]] spent his time on the beauty flourishing during the [[Renaissance]] and was a patron of the great artist [[Raphael]]. Some historians feel that if the pope had responded more seriously to the challenge of Luther, then the subsequent schism in Germany would not have occurred. Others argue that a Reformation was inevitable and that many leaders were emerging.

In 1520, Pope Leo X announced the papal bull [[Exsurge Domine]], which required Luther to withdraw 41 of his 95 Theses or be [[excommunicated]]. Luther refused and was then excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

===Luther counterattacks===

Luther was free to publicize his position widely, so everyone now recognized Luther as a defiant German spokesman against the Church headquartered in Italy. He wrote a powerful series of pamphlets that rallied political and intellectual support.

* ''Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation'' called upon the rulers, including the emperor, to reform the Church. Luther demanded that the papacy be restored to the poverty and simplicity of the days of St. Peter, and that the finances and vast real estate holdings of the Church should be handled by national churches, not the pope. He also demanded the abolition of clerical celibacy, which the Germans had opposed when it had been brought in by Gregory VII in the 11th century.

* ''On The Babylonian Captivity of the Church'', written in Latin and directed at priests, was even more challenging. Luther attacked the sacramental character of the Church and thereby undercut many of its claims to power. The Church recognized seven sacraments, Luther only two (baptism and the Lord's Supper, both explicitly authorized by Christ). He argued that the Catholic Mass was not the true Lord's Supper, not being a repetition of the sacrifice of Christ, and that the wine as well as the bread should be given to the laity as well as the clergy. Church doctrine held that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ; only the outward appearances, or "accidents," of bread and wine remain. This doctrine was called ''[[transubstantiation]],'' and was based on the philosophy of [[Aristotle]], with whom Luther took much difference. Luther offered his own doctrine of "Real Presence," that after consecration the body and blood of Christ are present "in, with, and under" the form of the bread and wine. The priest causes no miracle, because Christ is everywhere present and at all times; instead, he opens the eyes of believers to Christ where he is, because God's presence and Christ's presence, though universal, are not universally obvious. When this tract appeared, [[Erasmus]], the eminent humanist in Amsterdam, declared the breach between Luther and the Church was now irreparable.<ref>Kyle A. Pasewark, "The Body in Ecstasy: Love, Difference, and the Social Organism in Luther's Theory of the Lord's Supper," ''The Journal of Religion'' Vol. 77, No. 4 (Oct., 1997), pp. 511-540 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199710%2977%3A4%3C511%3ATBIELD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q in JSTOR]</ref>

* ''Freedom of the Christian Man'' went further, promulgating the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Luther declared the Christian to be free from all priestcraft; the priest is merely one who, out of the body of the universal priests, has been "regularly called" to perform a particular office.

===Diet of Worms (1521)===

The papal bull reached Luther on October 10, 1520. giving him 60 days to recant. Luther's reply was the tract ''Against the Execrable Bull of Antichrist''. After 60 days, he burned the bull in public. Formal excommunication followed.

It was then up to the German imperial authorities to take any legal action against Luther. The 21-year-old Holy Roman Emperor, [[Charles V King of Spain|Charles V]], ordered him to stand trial before an assembly (a "Diet") of estates of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] that met in the Imperial Free City of Worms (now part of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany). The emperor, an orthodox Catholic, issued the summons to Luther, who arrived after a triumphal tour across Germany. Luther admitted he wrote the pamphlets and explained on April 18:

<blockquote style="font-style: italic">Unless I am convicted by Scripture or by right reason (for I trust neither in popes nor in councils, for they have often erred and contradicted themselves) -- unless I am thus convinced, I am bound by the texts of the Bible; my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I neither can nor will recant anything, since it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience is neither. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.<ref>Luther may have added the famous line "Here I stand" later; Smith, ''Life and Letters'' pp. 118, 453</ref></blockquote>

The verdict on May 25, 1521 (the "Edict of Worms") was "guilty." Luther was declared an outlaw who could not be legally housed or fed, but could be legally killed. The lines of the Reformation were now hardened.

Luther had already left the trial before the verdict was rendered, having been warned of the possibility of meeting a fate similar to that of [[John Huss]], the fifteenth century reformer. Luther hid at Wartburg Castle at Eisenach under the protection of Frederick. Luther took the pseudonym ''Junker Jörg'' (Sir George), grew a wide beard and dressed like a knight while there.

==The Reformation==

===The Wartburg (1521-22)===

While he was in hiding, the Reformation accelerated, stimulated by Luther's tracts and organized by his friends in Wittenberg, especially [[Philipp Melanchthon]] and the more radical Andreas Karlstadt. The liturgy was altered, with Luther's approval. Wine was once again administered to the laity in Communion. Monks and nuns left the cloister and got married, and Luther concluded that they were right to do so. Luther's translation of the New Testament appeared in 1522; his translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew appeared in 1534.

As iconoclasts and other radical elements began to cause disorder in Wittenberg, Luther returned to restore order. The emperor wanted to arrest him but had to worry first about several serious wars.

===Confronting radicals===

Peasants, long smarting under social inequalities, revolted in 1524-26 in Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia using his name and that of Thomas Münzer (1490-1525). At first Luther tried to mediate; in his ''Admonition to Peace,'' he blamed the unrest on the rulers who persecuted the gospel and mistreated their subjects. Many of the peasants' demands were just, he said, and for the sake of peace, the rulers should accommodate them.

On the other hand, Luther warned the peasants they were blaspheming Christ by quoting the gospel to justify their secular demands. He told them bluntly that the gospel taught obedience to secular authorities and the humble suffering of injustice. As rebellion spread Luther was appalled and denounced the rebellion. In May 1525, he wrote against the "Robbing and Murdering Horde of Peasants," urging the princes to "smite, strangle, and stab [the peasants], secretly or openly, for nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will strike you and a whole land with you." He later criticized the merciless ruling classes, who killed some 100,000+ peasants (as well as Münzer) in order to crush the insurrection.

In the later part of his life, Luther was frequently ill, which caused his writings to become increasingly angry and short-tempered. His reading of the Bible revealed from the beginning there had been a perpetual struggle between the true and false church; what happened to the original church of the prophets and apostles could certainly happen to the Lutheran church as well. Luther concluded the papacy was the Antichrist and that his Protestant opponents were "false brethren," like those who had plagued the true prophets and apostles. The Turks, who threatened Europe from the east, were a clear sign of the end times: they were Gog and the little horn in the Book of Daniel.<ref>Edwards, ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983)</ref>

===Spreading the word===

For his last 25 years Luther was primarily the professor, the preacher, and writer.<ref>Edwards, ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983)</ref> He taught at the University of Wittenberg, where some 16,000 students were enrolled, 1520-60, most of whom became enthusiastic proponents of Luther's "New Theology."

The Reformation was a triumph of literacy and of the new [[printing press]]. From 1517 onward religious pamphlets flooded Germany and much of Europe. By 1530 over 10,000 publications are known, with a total of ten million copies. Luther strengthened his attacks on Rome by depicting the struggle between "good" and "bad" churches. From there, it became clear that print could be used for propaganda toward other agendas just as easily as in the Reformation; reformist writers used pre-Reformation styles, clichés, and stereotypes and changed items as needed for their own purposes.<ref>Mark U. Edwards, Jr., ''Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther'' (1994)</ref>

Illustrations in the newly translated Bible and in many tracts popularized Luther's ideas. [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (1472-1553), the great painter patronized by the electors of Wittenberg, was a close friend of Luther and illustrated Luther's theology. He dramatized Luther's views on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments (what Luther called "Law and Gospel"), while remaining mindful of Luther's careful distinctions about proper and improper uses of visual imagery.<ref>Christoph Weimer, "Luther and Cranach on Justification in Word and Image." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2004 18(4): 387-405. Issn: 0024-7499 </ref>

===Catechisms===

Especially effective were Luther's ''Small Catechism'', for use of parents teaching their children, and ''Larger Catechism,'' for pastors.<ref>See texts at [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-hymn English translation]</ref> Using the German vernacular they expressed the Apostles' Creed in simpler, more personal, Trinitarian language. The catechisms depict the idea of the Trinity not as a complex doctrine requiring a background in Greek philosophy to understand properly, but as one being filling three different roles: the Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Spirit sanctifies. Salvation originates with the Father and draws the believer to the Father. Luther's treatment of the Apostles' Creed is presented in the context of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) and the Lord's Prayer, which together form the basis of Lutheran catechesis.<ref>Charles P. Arand, "Luther on the Creed." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2006 20(1): 1-25. Issn: 0024-7499; James Arne Nestingen, "Luther's Catechisms" ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.'' Ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand. (1996) </ref>

===Hymns===

Luther was a prolific hymn writer; one of his most famous hymns is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."<ref>For a short collection see [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-hymn online hymns] </ref> Luther opened the way for a unity of high art and folk music through the singing of German-language hymns in worship, the school, the home, and the public arena.<ref>Christopher Boyd Brown, ''Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation.'' (2005) </ref>

Luther's 1524 creedal hymn "We All Believe in One True God" is a three-stanza confession of faith prefiguring Luther's 1529 three-part explanation of the Apostles' Creed in the ''Small Catechism.'' Luther's hymn, adapted and expanded from an earlier German creedal hymn, gained widespread use in vernacular Lutheran liturgies as early as 1525. Sixteenth-century Lutheran hymnals also included ''Wir Glauben All'' among the catechetical hymns.

Luther's 1538 hymnic version of the Lord's Prayer, "Vater Unser in Himmelreich" (Our Father who art in Heaven), corresponds exactly to Luther's explanation of the prayer in the ''Small Catechism,'' with one stanza for each of the seven prayer petitions, plus opening and closing stanzas. The hymn functioned both as a liturgical setting of the Lord's Prayer and as a means of examining candidates on specific catechism questions. <ref>Robin A. Leaver, "Luther's Catechism Hymns." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1998 12(1): 79-88, 89-98. </ref>

Luther wrote "Aus Tiefer Not Schrei ich zu Dir" (From depths of woe I cry to you) in 1523 as a hymnic version of Psalm 130 and sent it as a sample to encourage evangelical colleagues to write psalm-hymns for use in German worship. <ref>Robin A. Leaver, "Luther's Catechism Hymns: 5. Baptism." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1998 12(2): 160-169, 170-180. </ref>

Luther's 1540 hymn "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan Kam" (To Jordan came the Christ our Lord) reflects the structure and substance of his questions and answers concerning baptism in the ''Small Catechism.'' Preachers and composers of the 18th century, including J. S. Bach, used this rich hymn as a subject for their own work.

==New theology==

===The Eucharist===

The divine Word, rather than ubiquity and the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, is the center of Luther's eucharistic theology. The hierarchy runs along this course: from the Word at the center of the Sacrament, to the benefit of the Sacrament in the Word of forgiveness, to the comfort given and received when the Sacrament is rightly used, to the fruit of communion in the Word of love. The hierarchy is the Word on which power, benefit, comfort, and communion are dependent; the presence is less important than the Word. Since the Word is incarnational in Jesus Christ, the issue was the very nature of the Word itself.<ref>Thomas J. Davis, "'The Truth of the Divine Words': Luther's Sermons on the Eucharist, 1521-28, and the Structure of Eucharistic Meaning." ''Sixteenth Century Journal'' 1999 30(2): 323-342. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2544707 in Jstor]; Thomas Osborne, "Faith, Philosophy, and the Nominalist Background to Luther's Defense of the Real Presence," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), pp. 63-82 [ http://www.jstor.org/stable/3654258 in JSTOR]</ref>

==Translations==

In his [[Luther Bible]], Luther translated Romans 3:28 by adding an extra German word for "alone" (alleine or alleyn) after the phrase: "justified by faith".<ref>He wrote in German, "So halten wir nun dafür, daß der Mensch gerecht werde ohne des Gesetzes Werke, alleyn durch den Glauben."</ref> Luther believed that the meaning is that man is justified by faith and only faith. The Catholic Church taught that man is justified by faith, good works and confession to the Church authorities.

Luther also considered removing [[Hebrews]], [[James]], [[Jude]], and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] from the canon, arguing that they contradicted the rest of Scripture.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/antilegomena.html "Luther's Antilegomena"]</ref>

The printing press enabled Luther's translation to be printed for the public in September 1522. The Christian world would never be the same again.<ref>The [[Gutenberg Bible]], which put the [[Latin Vulgate]] in book format, had been printed long before--in 1455--but only in a very small edition.</ref>

===Marriage===

In 1525 Luther married Katharina von Bora (1499-1552), a noblewoman who had been placed in a Cistercian cloister at an early age, where she received an unusually strong education. Luther had helped her escape her cloister two years before their marriage, along with other nuns; husbands had been found for the rest of the group, but Katharina had held out for Luther.

Her intelligence and strong will challenged traditional gender roles and allowed Luther to exemplify his beliefs; their marriage reinforced his position against monastic celibacy. In addition to raising four children, she managed Luther's cloister and expanded his estate. However, despite being the sole heir in Luther's will, Katharina received nothing after his death.<ref>Martin Treu, "Katharina von Bora, the Woman at Luther's Side." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1999 13(2): 157-178. </ref>

In "The estate of marriage" (1522) Luther removed marriage as a Christian sacrament but elevated its position in German society by advocating it as preferable to celibacy. This change was consistent with his teachings that lay people were in no way inferior to the clergy. Luther spoke of marriage as a temporal institution instituted by God in which both sexes should be treated with respect and the duties of child-rearing should be joyfully accepted. He loosened the restrictions on marriage, including allowing marriage between Christians and non-Christians, and allowed divorce in situations involving adultery, although he called on Christians to forgive.<ref>Scott Hendrix, "Luther on Marriage." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2000 14(3): 335-350. </ref>

In Luther's later years, his health, precarious even as a monk, gradually declined. He suffered from constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, dizziness, ringing in his ears, an ulcer on his leg, kidney stones, heart problems, and bouts of depression (battles with the Devil, he called them). Nevertheless he kept on writing to the end, with 360 published works from 1516 to 1530, and another 184 before his death in 1546.

==Wars==

Charles V tried to stop the spread of [[Lutheranism]]. In 1531, the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Protestant princes, was formed to defend the Protestant states against possible Catholic attack. In 1544, Charles sent armies against the German princes, but the [[Peace of Augsburg]] in 1555 ultimately gave each German prince the right to choose the religion for his state by a principle called ''[[cuius regio, eius religio]]'' (whose region, his religion). Most of the southern German princes chose Catholicism, the northern princes Lutheranism.

==Jews==

Luther thought that the reason the Jews had not converted to Christianity was that they could not abide the Church of Rome. He therefore grew very hostile toward Jews who refused to convert to reformed
Christianity, saying they were a rejected people suffering God's wrath for rejecting the true Messiah and should be expelled from Germany.<ref>Most Lutherans ignored these angry polemics against Jews and stressed instead his earlier favorable views. Johannes Wallmann, "The Reception of Luther's Writings on the Jews from the Reformation to the End of the 19th Century." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1987 1(1): 72-97.</ref>

In 1543 he published a tract entitled ''On the Jews and Their Lies'', in which he called for the burning of [[synagogue]]s and Jewish schools, the destruction of their prayer books, the demolition of their homes, and the confiscation of their money and property.<ref>[http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/documents/luther-jews.htm Text of Luther's ''On the Jews and Their Lies]</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Luther_on_Jews.html The Jewish Virtual Library]</ref>

Historians debate the impact Luther's writings may have had on German thought leading into the [[Nazi]] [[Holocaust]] of World War II. Luther harshly criticized many peoples in addition to Jews; a pamphlet of his in 1545, the year before he died, was entitled "Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil." It is also recorded that at a round table discussion he said he believed in burning witches. Some of Luther’s writings seem quite vulgar by today's standards, but much of it was also in response to vulgar accusations against his religious views.

==Legacy==

After his death a furious theological battle raged over control of Luther's legacy. On the one hand were the "Syncretists" or "Philippists" (named after [[Philipp Melanchthon]]) based at the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, who sought a compromise with the [[Calvinism|Calvinists]] over disputed issues such as free will and the Eucharist.<ref>Randall C. Zachman, ''The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin'' (1993)</ref> The other camp were "Gnesio-Lutherans" ("true Lutherans"), centered at Magdenburg, who denounced the first camp for suggesting good works were necessary for salvation. The upshot was the emergence of "confessionalism", an inward-directed search for the "true" Luther that ended up with [[Lutheran Orthodoxy|a highly orthodox theology]] that seemed frozen in place until the [[Pietists]] emerged in the 18th century. While this battle continued, Calvinists made major gains and dominated Protestant thought outside Northern Europe. <ref>Robert Kolb, ''Luther's Heirs Define His Legacy: Studies on Lutheran Confessionalization'' (1996)</ref>

Lutheranism has over 70 million adherents today. Its influence in secularized Europe has faded, but many Christians, even Catholics, have sung Luther's famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Moreover, hundreds of millions of Protestants worldwide agree with Luther that justification is by faith alone. They
belong to Protestant congregations that came into being because of Luther's stand.

==Quotes==

Quotes attributed to Luther<ref>[http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29874.Martin_Luther Quotes by Martin Luther from GoodReads]</ref><ref>[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther.html Martin Luther Quotes from BrainyQuote]</ref> include:

*You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.

*Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.

*My conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

*We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.

*If he have faith, the believer cannot be restrained. He betrays himself. He breaks out. He confesses and teaches this gospel to the people at the risk of life itself.

*I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

*To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.

*Peace if possible, truth at all costs.

*You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

*I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.

*Where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.

*I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.

*If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old.

*For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant.<ref>Luther's Tabletalk No.1877</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Five solas]]
*[[Lutheranism]]
*[[Philipp Melanchthon]], his close associate

==Further Reading==
* [[James Atkinson|Atkinson, James]]. ''Martin Luther: Prophet to the Church Catholic'', (2nd ed. 2004) ISBN 0-8028-1260-0
* Bainton, Roland H. ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'' (1978; reprinted 2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Here-Stand-Hendrickson-Classic-Biographies/dp/1598563335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Bayer, Oswald. ''Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luthers-Theology-Contemporary-Interpretation/dp/0802827993/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774932&sr=1-17 excerpt and text search]
* Beard, Charles. ''Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany Until the Close of the Diet of Worms'' (1896) 468 pages; [http://books.google.com/books?id=YlzNSeh7YgMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:reformation&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=Zs6dR-SmO4KAsgP_-rSYCg#PRA1-PR4,M1 complete text online] ''this Charles Beard is not the American historian''
* Brecht, Martin. ''Martin Luther''. (3 vols. 1985–93), the most complete and intensive study; by a leading German scholar
* Brown, Christopher Boyd. ''Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation.'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Singing-Gospel-Lutheran-Reformation-Historical/dp/0674017056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201182361&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Dickens, A. G. ''Martin Luther and the Reformation'' (1969), basic introduction
* Edwards, Jr., Mark U. ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983).
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09438b.htm Ganss, Henry G. "Martin Luther," in ''Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) vol 9], a thorough but hostile short biography from a Catholic perspective.
* Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.'' ([[OUP]] 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-encyclopedia-Reformation/dp/0195103645/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201162350&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Junghans, Helmar. ''Martin Luther: Exploring His Life and Times, 1483–1546.'' (book plus CD ROM) (1998)
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.l.iii.html Köstlin, Julius. "Martin Luther," ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,'' (1911) 8:69-79], short older biography by leading German scholar
* MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey of the entire movement; [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* McKim, Donald K., ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther'' (2003), 320pp; 18 essays by scholars; [http://www.questia.com/read/107287993 online edition at [[Questia]]]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Martin-Companions-Religion/dp/0521016738/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200877139&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Mullett, Michael A. ''Martin Luther'' (2004) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108648744 online edition]
* Nestingen, James A. ''Martin Luther: A Life'' (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Life-James-Nestingen/dp/0800697146/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Ranke, Leopold von. ''History of the Reformation in Germany'' (1905) 792 pp; by Germany's foremost scholar [http://books.google.com/books?id=KPdBAAAAIAAJ&dq=intitle:history+intitle:reformation&lr=lang_en&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=GsaVR5S0OIXy6gK5z9CeBw complete text online free]
* Ritter, Gerhard. ''Luther, His Life and Work'' (1963)[http://www.questia.com/library/book/luther-his-life-and-work-by-gerhard-ritter-john-riches.jsp online edition]
* Schwiebert, Ernest G. ''Luther and His Times: The Reformation from a New Perspective'' (1950), 914pp, stresses the role of universities
* Smith, Preserved. ''The Life and Letters of Martin Luther.'' (1911) [http://books.google.com/books?id=bngAAAAAMAAJ&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Life+intitle:and+intitle:Letters+intitle:of+intitle:Martin+intitle:Luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&ei=DO-TR86lGKeGtgPWkuxG complete edition online free]
* James Swan, ''Martin Luther: Topical Master Index'' [http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2005/12/martin-luther-topical-master-index-for.html Protestant apologetical responses to issues regarding Luther]

===Primary sources===
* Luther, Martin. ''Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings,'' edited by John Dillenberger (1958) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Selections-His-Writings/dp/0385098766/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200876332&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Luther, Martin. ''Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings'' (with CD-ROM), edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Timothy F. Lull, and William R. Russell (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luthers-Theological-Writings-CD-ROM/dp/0800636805/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200876332&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Luther, Martin. '' The Letters of Martin Luther'' (1908) [http://books.google.com/books?id=k5T8vh2PUPkC&dq=inauthor:martin+inauthor:luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=dcOVR6LyE4r87QLvyK3SCg full text online free]
* Luther, Martin. ''Conversations with Luther...Table Talk'' (1915) [http://books.google.com/books?id=uxkRAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA61&dq=inauthor:martin+inauthor:luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=dcOVR6LyE4r87QLvyK3SCg#PPR3,M1 full text online free]
* Luther, Martin. ''Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther'' ed. by Captain Henry Bell, and Henry Morley (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Selections-Table-Martin-Luther-Press/dp/1406567884/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]

==External links==
* [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html Project Wittenberg], extensive online collection of primary sources by Luther and his colleagues
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luther, Martin}}

[[Category:Reformation]]
[[Category:German History]]
[[Category:Protestantism|*]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[category:Theologians]]
[[Category:Lutherans]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[category:Religion and Politics]]

Martin Luther

2012-02-11T18:55:01Z

Theodidactus:

[[Image:Luther-Cranach.jpg|right|225px]]
'''Martin Luther''' (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was one of the most important leaders in [[Christian]] and [[Germany|German]] history. An Augustinian monk, priest, and professor of theology, he unintentionally launched the [[Protestantism|Protestant Reformation]] and founded the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Church]].
{{Christianity}}
Luther was the first to break [[Roman Catholic]] unity on a large scale. He was excommunicated for the [[95 Theses]] he had written in 1517 as a direct challenge to Church practice. Furthermore, he had the backing of several German princes who resented the Italian domination of the Church.

A heretical writer of tracts and hymns, Luther reshaped German religious culture by rejecting clerical celibacy and creating a new liturgy that emphasized congregational singing. His very popular hymns and his translation of the Bible into German helped to shape the German language.

To [[Catholics]], Luther has always been a lying scumbag who ruined everything, and grossly misunderstood the [[Bible]] and the true nature of the Catholic Church,

Luther's image changed over the centuries. Calvinists challenged his theology while Catholics systematically reviled his personality well into the 20th century (they were right). Lutherans saw him as an authoritative interpreter of the Word and as a hero of the German people, transcending religion.<ref>Robert Kolb, ''Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher, and Hero: Images of the Reformer, 1520-1620'' (1999)</ref>

==Biography==

Luther was born on Nov. 10, 1483 in the central German town of Eisleben in Thuringia. His father, Hans Luther, originally a peasant, learned mining skills, and became a businessman who owned several small foundries; his mother, Margarethe, came from an educated urban professional family. Luther was brought up strictly according to tradition; he entered the University of Erfurt in 1501, took a master of arts degree in 1505 and studied law in preparation for the legal career his father planned for him. Erfurt was the center of [[humanism]], and Luther was well educated by leading scholars there in [[Aristotle]] and the Latin classics.

Young Luther was tormented by the contemporary picture of man's destiny. Germany was at that time obsessed by a cult of death, which had arisen after the [[Black Death]] more than a century before; however, not even death was as appalling to Luther as the final judgment and the prospect of everlasting damnation. In July 1505, a thunderstorm overtook him. Struck to the ground by a bolt of lightning, he cried in terror to his father's patron saint, "St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk." Two weeks later he entered the strict Augustinian order.<ref>Albrecht Beutel, "Luther's Life," in McKim, ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther'' (2003) p. 3-19; Mullett, ''Martin Luther'' (2004), ch. 1, quote p. 27 </ref>

=== Monastic years ===

Luther took his final vows and in May 1507 was ordained a priest. He was assigned to the town of Wittenberg, Saxony the next year as an instructor in logic and physics at the new University of Wittenberg. Luther spent nearly his entire life in Wittenberg. He was favored and protected by the government, thanks to the influence of his friend, the court chaplain Georg Spalatin (1484-1545). He learned Greek and Hebrew and carried out an extensive study of the Bible, as well as standard theological treatises by Scholastic thinkers Peter Lombard (c.1100-60), John Duns Scotus (c.1265-1308), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Pierre d' Ailly (1350-1420) and William of Occam (1288-1347). His chief influence was St. [[Augustine]] (354-430), the reputed founder of his order.

In 1510-11 he went to Rome on official business for five months, the first and only time he left Germany. He later spoke of seeing Rome's corruption. In 1511 he did not yet share the views of Renaissance Germany's anti-papal and anti-Italian movement, of which he later became leader.<ref>Mullett, ''Luther'' p 46</ref>

In October 1512, Luther received a doctorate of theology from the University of Wittenberg, and soon afterwards he assumed a Bible-studies professorship there, endowed by his Augustinian order. Lecture notes exist for courses he taught, including ''Psalms'' (1513-1515 and 1519), ''Romans'' (1515-1516), ''Galatians'' (1516-1517), and ''Hebrews'' (1517-1518). During this time Luther rose within his order to the office of district vicar, later even overseeing the administration of Augustianian monasteries in Saxony. He was also preaching regularly in the parish church.

=== Wittenberg ===

Luther's fears continued to plague him. Repeated bouts of depression may have arisen partly from physical causes having to do with Luther's savagely ascetic lifestyle, which was self-imposed against the advice of his confessor. Of this experience, Luther wrote, "I vexed myself with fasts and prayers beyond what was common...if I could have got to heaven by fasting, I should have merited that twenty years ago.... I afflicted myself almost to death."<ref>Mullett, ''Luther'' p 44</ref>

In reaction to this attempt to justify himself through sacrifice, he was led instead to a belief that nothing in the power of man is good enough to constitute a claim upon God. He had utilized all avenues within the Church's penitential system so that the sins which he could not expunge or eradicate might yet be forgiven, only to discover that he could not confess all of his sins. Some sins were forgotten and others not recognized, for man does not see that he is a sinner until confronted by the accusing finger of God.

Luther later told of how religious experiences led him to two important theological discoveries: in 1514, a realization of the evangelical purpose of the Gospel, and in 1518 (possibly earlier) a replacement of scholastic theology with what he called the "theology of the cross."

In writing lectures on ''Psalms, Romans, and Galatians'' from 1513 to 1516, Luther came to the conclusion, fundamental to Protestant theology, that man depends for his salvation on the sheer grace of God, made available through the sacrificial death of Christ. Christ is not primarily the terrible judge who condemns sinners, but the redeemer upon the cross. Man has only to believe and to accept in trust what God has done in order to be forgiven, even though sin is never entirely taken away. This was to become the central doctrine of Luther's creed: the doctrine of [[Sola fide|justification by faith alone]].

The critical point at which Luther's position diverged from that of the Catholic Church was in his absolute denial of man's ability to do anything whatsoever toward his own salvation. The Catholic Church taught that, through grace, man is given by God the ability to fulfill His commandments and to earn God's favor by doing so. Since man is free to reject this grace, if he accepts it instead and performs good works, his deeds are meritorious. But Luther held that when good deeds are performed with an eye to reward, they are damnable sins.

===About indulgences===

Luther's actual breach with the Church was occasioned by the Church's use of ''indulgences'', or remissions by the Church of punishment time in Purgatory (a penalty for certain sins). [[Indulgences]] did not help souls sent to hell.<ref>For the Catholic position see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm W.H. Kent, "Indulgences" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)]</ref>Invented in the 11th century, indulgences at first only remitted penalties imposed by the pope on earth, but by the 1480s the pope claimed an extension to penalties imposed by God in Purgatory. Some popes undertook not only to remit penalties but also to forgive sins. In return for such benefits the recipients made cash contributions in accordance with their financial ability. The underlying theory of the entire transaction was that Christ and the saints had by their good works earned more credits than were needful for their own salvation and had stored up a treasury of merits from which the pope could make transfers to others. The transfer was often accompanied by a certificate similar to a bank note.

The privilege of dispensing the particular indulgences which drew Luther's ire was granted by Pope Leo X to Albrecht, archbishop of Mainz. The public thought money was going to Rome to build St. Peter's Church; in reality, half the money went to Albrecht so that he could repay the loan that had enabled him to purchase from Rome a second archbishopric. The proclamation of the indulgence was entrusted to Johann Tetzel, a Dominican monk with considerable experience in the field. The indulgence was declared, in an accompanying document, to confer the forgiveness of sin, and there was the further statement that those who secured indulgences for relatives in Purgatory need not themselves be contrite. Tetzel assured his hearers that:<ref>A. D. Dickens, ''Reformation and Society in Sixteenth-Century Europe'' (1966) p 61-2. </ref>

<blockquote style="font-style: italic">As soon as the coin in the coffer rings 
The Soul from purgatory springs.</blockquote>

==Break with Rome==

===95 Theses (1517)===

On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed [[the 95 Theses]] or issues to the door of the ''Schlosskirche'' (Castle Church) in Wittenberg. This act, unremarkable in itself, is considered to be the start of the
[[Protestant Reformation]]. The 95 Theses were complaints on the subject of indulgences intended to spark public debate,<ref>For the e-text see [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html English translation]; and [http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lyman/english233/sg-95ths.htm Lyman Baker, "Study Guide for the ...Ninety-five Theses"] </ref> a common procedure among theologians at that time.

Here are two of Luther's most important Theses:

*Thesis 82: ''Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial.''<ref>Luther wrote the theses in Latin. This one read, ''Scilicet. Cur Papa non evacuat purgatorium propter sanctissimam charitatem et summam animarum necessitatem ut causam omnium iustissimam, Si infinitas animas redimit propter pecuniam funestissimam ad structuram Basilice ut causam levissimam?''</ref>

*Thesis 86: ''Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?''<ref>The Latin read, ''Item. Cur Papa, cuius opes hodie sunt opulentissimis Crassis crassiores, non de suis pecuniis magis quam pauperum fidelium struit unam tantummodo Basilicam sancti Petri?''</ref>

===Papal reaction to the 95 Theses===

The 95 Theses hurled Luther into the middle of controversy, leading to his excommunication by the pope in 1520 and to the Diet of Worms in 1521 which declared him an outlaw in the Holy Roman Empire. Luther's role changed from that of a would-be reformer of the Catholic Church to a declared foe of that institution, as it refused to heed his call to bring its beliefs and practice into line with the doctrines he had been uncovering in his study of the Bible. He was thus the only one of the prominent Protestant Reformers not to break voluntarily with the Church.

Luther sharply attacked any linkage between the raising of money and the remission either of sins or penalties. He denied the jurisdiction of the pope over Purgatory, noting that if the pope could release souls, he should let them all out without collecting a penny. Many colleagues agreed with Luther thus far. But he went on to deny the fundamental theory of the treasury of the accumulated merits of the saints; he attacked not just the abuse of the indulgences but the core idea.

Luther sent a copy of the 95 Theses to Archbishop Albrecht, asking him to stop the indulgences. Printed copies in Latin and German began to circulate widely, and many clerics agreed with Luther. The alarmed archbishop forwarded the document to Pope Leo X (1475–1521, pope 1513–21). Leo was a Medici, the son of [[Lorenzo the Magnificent]]; he was an aristocrat of dilettantish learning and a worldly patron of expensive arts and architecture (especially St. Peter's church) that had to be paid for. He had no interest in correcting the abuses of indulgence vending. Now, Leo again endorsed the claims of the indulgence-vendors and affirmed that souls were immediately released.

Luther retorted that the pope was wrong – a nearly heretical statement. The pope summoned Luther to Rome, but Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, stepped in and insisted that his subject must have a fair hearing on German soil. The centuries-old German distrust of an Italian papacy was thus the first factor which gave Luther protection. German nobles did not like the flow of money to Rome, and in aid of cutting this off, they backed Luther.

A compromise was arranged: instead of going to Rome, Luther would appear at a hearing before Cardinal Cajetan, a Dominican, at Augsburg in 1518.<ref>The Dominican order was a great rival of the Augustinians, and theologians took sides with Cajetan or Luther accordingly. MacCulloch (2005), p. 125-6</ref> The Cardinal confronted Luther with the papal pronouncement, or bull, of Clement VI in 1343, which contained the doctrine of the accumulated treasury of the merits of the saints. Luther rejected this bull, thereby impugning not only the authority of a particular pope but also of the canon law generally. He refused to recant his argument that the efficacy of a sacrament depended on the faith of the recipient. Cajetan branded Luther a heretic. The pope wanted to have Luther brought to Rome by force, but such an undertaking was now politically impossible.<ref>Mullett, (2004) p. 82-3; Smith, ''Life and Letters'' (1911), 48-54; for the Catholic viewpoint see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145c.htm John R. Volz, "Tommaso de Vio Gaetani Cajetan," ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' vol 3 (1908)]</ref>

===''Exsurge Domine''===

[[Pope Leo X]] spent his time on the beauty flourishing during the [[Renaissance]] and was a patron of the great artist [[Raphael]]. Some historians feel that if the pope had responded more seriously to the challenge of Luther, then the subsequent schism in Germany would not have occurred. Others argue that a Reformation was inevitable and that many leaders were emerging.

In 1520, Pope Leo X announced the papal bull [[Exsurge Domine]], which required Luther to withdraw 41 of his 95 Theses or be [[excommunicated]]. Luther refused and was then excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

===Luther counterattacks===

Luther was free to publicize his position widely, so everyone now recognized Luther as a defiant German spokesman against the Church headquartered in Italy. He wrote a powerful series of pamphlets that rallied political and intellectual support.

* ''Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation'' called upon the rulers, including the emperor, to reform the Church. Luther demanded that the papacy be restored to the poverty and simplicity of the days of St. Peter, and that the finances and vast real estate holdings of the Church should be handled by national churches, not the pope. He also demanded the abolition of clerical celibacy, which the Germans had opposed when it had been brought in by Gregory VII in the 11th century.

* ''On The Babylonian Captivity of the Church'', written in Latin and directed at priests, was even more challenging. Luther attacked the sacramental character of the Church and thereby undercut many of its claims to power. The Church recognized seven sacraments, Luther only two (baptism and the Lord's Supper, both explicitly authorized by Christ). He argued that the Catholic Mass was not the true Lord's Supper, not being a repetition of the sacrifice of Christ, and that the wine as well as the bread should be given to the laity as well as the clergy. Church doctrine held that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ; only the outward appearances, or "accidents," of bread and wine remain. This doctrine was called ''[[transubstantiation]],'' and was based on the philosophy of [[Aristotle]], with whom Luther took much difference. Luther offered his own doctrine of "Real Presence," that after consecration the body and blood of Christ are present "in, with, and under" the form of the bread and wine. The priest causes no miracle, because Christ is everywhere present and at all times; instead, he opens the eyes of believers to Christ where he is, because God's presence and Christ's presence, though universal, are not universally obvious. When this tract appeared, [[Erasmus]], the eminent humanist in Amsterdam, declared the breach between Luther and the Church was now irreparable.<ref>Kyle A. Pasewark, "The Body in Ecstasy: Love, Difference, and the Social Organism in Luther's Theory of the Lord's Supper," ''The Journal of Religion'' Vol. 77, No. 4 (Oct., 1997), pp. 511-540 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199710%2977%3A4%3C511%3ATBIELD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q in JSTOR]</ref>

* ''Freedom of the Christian Man'' went further, promulgating the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Luther declared the Christian to be free from all priestcraft; the priest is merely one who, out of the body of the universal priests, has been "regularly called" to perform a particular office.

===Diet of Worms (1521)===

The papal bull reached Luther on October 10, 1520. giving him 60 days to recant. Luther's reply was the tract ''Against the Execrable Bull of Antichrist''. After 60 days, he burned the bull in public. Formal excommunication followed.

It was then up to the German imperial authorities to take any legal action against Luther. The 21-year-old Holy Roman Emperor, [[Charles V King of Spain|Charles V]], ordered him to stand trial before an assembly (a "Diet") of estates of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] that met in the Imperial Free City of Worms (now part of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany). The emperor, an orthodox Catholic, issued the summons to Luther, who arrived after a triumphal tour across Germany. Luther admitted he wrote the pamphlets and explained on April 18:

<blockquote style="font-style: italic">Unless I am convicted by Scripture or by right reason (for I trust neither in popes nor in councils, for they have often erred and contradicted themselves) -- unless I am thus convinced, I am bound by the texts of the Bible; my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I neither can nor will recant anything, since it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience is neither. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.<ref>Luther may have added the famous line "Here I stand" later; Smith, ''Life and Letters'' pp. 118, 453</ref></blockquote>

The verdict on May 25, 1521 (the "Edict of Worms") was "guilty." Luther was declared an outlaw who could not be legally housed or fed, but could be legally killed. The lines of the Reformation were now hardened.

Luther had already left the trial before the verdict was rendered, having been warned of the possibility of meeting a fate similar to that of [[John Huss]], the fifteenth century reformer. Luther hid at Wartburg Castle at Eisenach under the protection of Frederick. Luther took the pseudonym ''Junker Jörg'' (Sir George), grew a wide beard and dressed like a knight while there.

==The Reformation==

===The Wartburg (1521-22)===

While he was in hiding, the Reformation accelerated, stimulated by Luther's tracts and organized by his friends in Wittenberg, especially [[Philipp Melanchthon]] and the more radical Andreas Karlstadt. The liturgy was altered, with Luther's approval. Wine was once again administered to the laity in Communion. Monks and nuns left the cloister and got married, and Luther concluded that they were right to do so. Luther's translation of the New Testament appeared in 1522; his translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew appeared in 1534.

As iconoclasts and other radical elements began to cause disorder in Wittenberg, Luther returned to restore order. The emperor wanted to arrest him but had to worry first about several serious wars.

===Confronting radicals===

Peasants, long smarting under social inequalities, revolted in 1524-26 in Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia using his name and that of Thomas Münzer (1490-1525). At first Luther tried to mediate; in his ''Admonition to Peace,'' he blamed the unrest on the rulers who persecuted the gospel and mistreated their subjects. Many of the peasants' demands were just, he said, and for the sake of peace, the rulers should accommodate them.

On the other hand, Luther warned the peasants they were blaspheming Christ by quoting the gospel to justify their secular demands. He told them bluntly that the gospel taught obedience to secular authorities and the humble suffering of injustice. As rebellion spread Luther was appalled and denounced the rebellion. In May 1525, he wrote against the "Robbing and Murdering Horde of Peasants," urging the princes to "smite, strangle, and stab [the peasants], secretly or openly, for nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will strike you and a whole land with you." He later criticized the merciless ruling classes, who killed some 100,000+ peasants (as well as Münzer) in order to crush the insurrection.

In the later part of his life, Luther was frequently ill, which caused his writings to become increasingly angry and short-tempered. His reading of the Bible revealed from the beginning there had been a perpetual struggle between the true and false church; what happened to the original church of the prophets and apostles could certainly happen to the Lutheran church as well. Luther concluded the papacy was the Antichrist and that his Protestant opponents were "false brethren," like those who had plagued the true prophets and apostles. The Turks, who threatened Europe from the east, were a clear sign of the end times: they were Gog and the little horn in the Book of Daniel.<ref>Edwards, ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983)</ref>

===Spreading the word===

For his last 25 years Luther was primarily the professor, the preacher, and writer.<ref>Edwards, ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983)</ref> He taught at the University of Wittenberg, where some 16,000 students were enrolled, 1520-60, most of whom became enthusiastic proponents of Luther's "New Theology."

The Reformation was a triumph of literacy and of the new [[printing press]]. From 1517 onward religious pamphlets flooded Germany and much of Europe. By 1530 over 10,000 publications are known, with a total of ten million copies. Luther strengthened his attacks on Rome by depicting the struggle between "good" and "bad" churches. From there, it became clear that print could be used for propaganda toward other agendas just as easily as in the Reformation; reformist writers used pre-Reformation styles, clichés, and stereotypes and changed items as needed for their own purposes.<ref>Mark U. Edwards, Jr., ''Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther'' (1994)</ref>

Illustrations in the newly translated Bible and in many tracts popularized Luther's ideas. [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (1472-1553), the great painter patronized by the electors of Wittenberg, was a close friend of Luther and illustrated Luther's theology. He dramatized Luther's views on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments (what Luther called "Law and Gospel"), while remaining mindful of Luther's careful distinctions about proper and improper uses of visual imagery.<ref>Christoph Weimer, "Luther and Cranach on Justification in Word and Image." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2004 18(4): 387-405. Issn: 0024-7499 </ref>

===Catechisms===

Especially effective were Luther's ''Small Catechism'', for use of parents teaching their children, and ''Larger Catechism,'' for pastors.<ref>See texts at [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-hymn English translation]</ref> Using the German vernacular they expressed the Apostles' Creed in simpler, more personal, Trinitarian language. The catechisms depict the idea of the Trinity not as a complex doctrine requiring a background in Greek philosophy to understand properly, but as one being filling three different roles: the Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Spirit sanctifies. Salvation originates with the Father and draws the believer to the Father. Luther's treatment of the Apostles' Creed is presented in the context of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) and the Lord's Prayer, which together form the basis of Lutheran catechesis.<ref>Charles P. Arand, "Luther on the Creed." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2006 20(1): 1-25. Issn: 0024-7499; James Arne Nestingen, "Luther's Catechisms" ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.'' Ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand. (1996) </ref>

===Hymns===

Luther was a prolific hymn writer; one of his most famous hymns is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."<ref>For a short collection see [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-hymn online hymns] </ref> Luther opened the way for a unity of high art and folk music through the singing of German-language hymns in worship, the school, the home, and the public arena.<ref>Christopher Boyd Brown, ''Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation.'' (2005) </ref>

Luther's 1524 creedal hymn "We All Believe in One True God" is a three-stanza confession of faith prefiguring Luther's 1529 three-part explanation of the Apostles' Creed in the ''Small Catechism.'' Luther's hymn, adapted and expanded from an earlier German creedal hymn, gained widespread use in vernacular Lutheran liturgies as early as 1525. Sixteenth-century Lutheran hymnals also included ''Wir Glauben All'' among the catechetical hymns.

Luther's 1538 hymnic version of the Lord's Prayer, "Vater Unser in Himmelreich" (Our Father who art in Heaven), corresponds exactly to Luther's explanation of the prayer in the ''Small Catechism,'' with one stanza for each of the seven prayer petitions, plus opening and closing stanzas. The hymn functioned both as a liturgical setting of the Lord's Prayer and as a means of examining candidates on specific catechism questions. <ref>Robin A. Leaver, "Luther's Catechism Hymns." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1998 12(1): 79-88, 89-98. </ref>

Luther wrote "Aus Tiefer Not Schrei ich zu Dir" (From depths of woe I cry to you) in 1523 as a hymnic version of Psalm 130 and sent it as a sample to encourage evangelical colleagues to write psalm-hymns for use in German worship. <ref>Robin A. Leaver, "Luther's Catechism Hymns: 5. Baptism." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1998 12(2): 160-169, 170-180. </ref>

Luther's 1540 hymn "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan Kam" (To Jordan came the Christ our Lord) reflects the structure and substance of his questions and answers concerning baptism in the ''Small Catechism.'' Preachers and composers of the 18th century, including J. S. Bach, used this rich hymn as a subject for their own work.

==New theology==

===The Eucharist===

The divine Word, rather than ubiquity and the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, is the center of Luther's eucharistic theology. The hierarchy runs along this course: from the Word at the center of the Sacrament, to the benefit of the Sacrament in the Word of forgiveness, to the comfort given and received when the Sacrament is rightly used, to the fruit of communion in the Word of love. The hierarchy is the Word on which power, benefit, comfort, and communion are dependent; the presence is less important than the Word. Since the Word is incarnational in Jesus Christ, the issue was the very nature of the Word itself.<ref>Thomas J. Davis, "'The Truth of the Divine Words': Luther's Sermons on the Eucharist, 1521-28, and the Structure of Eucharistic Meaning." ''Sixteenth Century Journal'' 1999 30(2): 323-342. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2544707 in Jstor]; Thomas Osborne, "Faith, Philosophy, and the Nominalist Background to Luther's Defense of the Real Presence," ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), pp. 63-82 [ http://www.jstor.org/stable/3654258 in JSTOR]</ref>

==Translations==

In his [[Luther Bible]], Luther translated Romans 3:28 by adding an extra German word for "alone" (alleine or alleyn) after the phrase: "justified by faith".<ref>He wrote in German, "So halten wir nun dafür, daß der Mensch gerecht werde ohne des Gesetzes Werke, alleyn durch den Glauben."</ref> Luther believed that the meaning is that man is justified by faith and only faith. The Catholic Church taught that man is justified by faith, good works and confession to the Church authorities.

Luther also considered removing [[Hebrews]], [[James]], [[Jude]], and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] from the canon, arguing that they contradicted the rest of Scripture.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/antilegomena.html "Luther's Antilegomena"]</ref>

The printing press enabled Luther's translation to be printed for the public in September 1522. The Christian world would never be the same again.<ref>The [[Gutenberg Bible]], which put the [[Latin Vulgate]] in book format, had been printed long before--in 1455--but only in a very small edition.</ref>

===Marriage===

In 1525 Luther married Katharina von Bora (1499-1552), a noblewoman who had been placed in a Cistercian cloister at an early age, where she received an unusually strong education. Luther had helped her escape her cloister two years before their marriage, along with other nuns; husbands had been found for the rest of the group, but Katharina had held out for Luther.

Her intelligence and strong will challenged traditional gender roles and allowed Luther to exemplify his beliefs; their marriage reinforced his position against monastic celibacy. In addition to raising four children, she managed Luther's cloister and expanded his estate. However, despite being the sole heir in Luther's will, Katharina received nothing after his death.<ref>Martin Treu, "Katharina von Bora, the Woman at Luther's Side." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1999 13(2): 157-178. </ref>

In "The estate of marriage" (1522) Luther removed marriage as a Christian sacrament but elevated its position in German society by advocating it as preferable to celibacy. This change was consistent with his teachings that lay people were in no way inferior to the clergy. Luther spoke of marriage as a temporal institution instituted by God in which both sexes should be treated with respect and the duties of child-rearing should be joyfully accepted. He loosened the restrictions on marriage, including allowing marriage between Christians and non-Christians, and allowed divorce in situations involving adultery, although he called on Christians to forgive.<ref>Scott Hendrix, "Luther on Marriage." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 2000 14(3): 335-350. </ref>

In Luther's later years, his health, precarious even as a monk, gradually declined. He suffered from constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, dizziness, ringing in his ears, an ulcer on his leg, kidney stones, heart problems, and bouts of depression (battles with the Devil, he called them). Nevertheless he kept on writing to the end, with 360 published works from 1516 to 1530, and another 184 before his death in 1546.

==Wars==

Charles V tried to stop the spread of [[Lutheranism]]. In 1531, the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Protestant princes, was formed to defend the Protestant states against possible Catholic attack. In 1544, Charles sent armies against the German princes, but the [[Peace of Augsburg]] in 1555 ultimately gave each German prince the right to choose the religion for his state by a principle called ''[[cuius regio, eius religio]]'' (whose region, his religion). Most of the southern German princes chose Catholicism, the northern princes Lutheranism.

==Jews==

Luther thought that the reason the Jews had not converted to Christianity was that they could not abide the Church of Rome. He therefore grew very hostile toward Jews who refused to convert to reformed
Christianity, saying they were a rejected people suffering God's wrath for rejecting the true Messiah and should be expelled from Germany.<ref>Most Lutherans ignored these angry polemics against Jews and stressed instead his earlier favorable views. Johannes Wallmann, "The Reception of Luther's Writings on the Jews from the Reformation to the End of the 19th Century." ''Lutheran Quarterly'' 1987 1(1): 72-97.</ref>

In 1543 he published a tract entitled ''On the Jews and Their Lies'', in which he called for the burning of [[synagogue]]s and Jewish schools, the destruction of their prayer books, the demolition of their homes, and the confiscation of their money and property.<ref>[http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/documents/luther-jews.htm Text of Luther's ''On the Jews and Their Lies]</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Luther_on_Jews.html The Jewish Virtual Library]</ref>

Historians debate the impact Luther's writings may have had on German thought leading into the [[Nazi]] [[Holocaust]] of World War II. Luther harshly criticized many peoples in addition to Jews; a pamphlet of his in 1545, the year before he died, was entitled "Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil." It is also recorded that at a round table discussion he said he believed in burning witches. Some of Luther’s writings seem quite vulgar by today's standards, but much of it was also in response to vulgar accusations against his religious views.

==Legacy==

After his death a furious theological battle raged over control of Luther's legacy. On the one hand were the "Syncretists" or "Philippists" (named after [[Philipp Melanchthon]]) based at the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, who sought a compromise with the [[Calvinism|Calvinists]] over disputed issues such as free will and the Eucharist.<ref>Randall C. Zachman, ''The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin'' (1993)</ref> The other camp were "Gnesio-Lutherans" ("true Lutherans"), centered at Magdenburg, who denounced the first camp for suggesting good works were necessary for salvation. The upshot was the emergence of "confessionalism", an inward-directed search for the "true" Luther that ended up with [[Lutheran Orthodoxy|a highly orthodox theology]] that seemed frozen in place until the [[Pietists]] emerged in the 18th century. While this battle continued, Calvinists made major gains and dominated Protestant thought outside Northern Europe. <ref>Robert Kolb, ''Luther's Heirs Define His Legacy: Studies on Lutheran Confessionalization'' (1996)</ref>

Lutheranism has over 70 million adherents today. Its influence in secularized Europe has faded, but many Christians, even Catholics, have sung Luther's famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Moreover, hundreds of millions of Protestants worldwide agree with Luther that justification is by faith alone. They
belong to Protestant congregations that came into being because of Luther's stand.

==Quotes==

Quotes attributed to Luther<ref>[http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29874.Martin_Luther Quotes by Martin Luther from GoodReads]</ref><ref>[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther.html Martin Luther Quotes from BrainyQuote]</ref> include:

*You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.

*Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.

*My conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

*We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.

*If he have faith, the believer cannot be restrained. He betrays himself. He breaks out. He confesses and teaches this gospel to the people at the risk of life itself.

*I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

*To gather with God's people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.

*Peace if possible, truth at all costs.

*You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

*I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.

*Where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.

*I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.

*If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old.

*For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant.<ref>Luther's Tabletalk No.1877</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Five solas]]
*[[Lutheranism]]
*[[Philipp Melanchthon]], his close associate

==Further Reading==
* [[James Atkinson|Atkinson, James]]. ''Martin Luther: Prophet to the Church Catholic'', (2nd ed. 2004) ISBN 0-8028-1260-0
* Bainton, Roland H. ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'' (1978; reprinted 2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Here-Stand-Hendrickson-Classic-Biographies/dp/1598563335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Bayer, Oswald. ''Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luthers-Theology-Contemporary-Interpretation/dp/0802827993/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774932&sr=1-17 excerpt and text search]
* Beard, Charles. ''Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany Until the Close of the Diet of Worms'' (1896) 468 pages; [http://books.google.com/books?id=YlzNSeh7YgMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:reformation&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=Zs6dR-SmO4KAsgP_-rSYCg#PRA1-PR4,M1 complete text online] ''this Charles Beard is not the American historian''
* Brecht, Martin. ''Martin Luther''. (3 vols. 1985–93), the most complete and intensive study; by a leading German scholar
* Brown, Christopher Boyd. ''Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation.'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Singing-Gospel-Lutheran-Reformation-Historical/dp/0674017056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201182361&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Dickens, A. G. ''Martin Luther and the Reformation'' (1969), basic introduction
* Edwards, Jr., Mark U. ''Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-46'' (1983).
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09438b.htm Ganss, Henry G. "Martin Luther," in ''Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) vol 9], a thorough but hostile short biography from a Catholic perspective.
* Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.'' ([[OUP]] 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-encyclopedia-Reformation/dp/0195103645/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201162350&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Junghans, Helmar. ''Martin Luther: Exploring His Life and Times, 1483–1546.'' (book plus CD ROM) (1998)
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.l.iii.html Köstlin, Julius. "Martin Luther," ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,'' (1911) 8:69-79], short older biography by leading German scholar
* MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey of the entire movement; [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* McKim, Donald K., ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther'' (2003), 320pp; 18 essays by scholars; [http://www.questia.com/read/107287993 online edition at [[Questia]]]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Martin-Companions-Religion/dp/0521016738/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200877139&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Mullett, Michael A. ''Martin Luther'' (2004) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108648744 online edition]
* Nestingen, James A. ''Martin Luther: A Life'' (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Life-James-Nestingen/dp/0800697146/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Ranke, Leopold von. ''History of the Reformation in Germany'' (1905) 792 pp; by Germany's foremost scholar [http://books.google.com/books?id=KPdBAAAAIAAJ&dq=intitle:history+intitle:reformation&lr=lang_en&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=GsaVR5S0OIXy6gK5z9CeBw complete text online free]
* Ritter, Gerhard. ''Luther, His Life and Work'' (1963)[http://www.questia.com/library/book/luther-his-life-and-work-by-gerhard-ritter-john-riches.jsp online edition]
* Schwiebert, Ernest G. ''Luther and His Times: The Reformation from a New Perspective'' (1950), 914pp, stresses the role of universities
* Smith, Preserved. ''The Life and Letters of Martin Luther.'' (1911) [http://books.google.com/books?id=bngAAAAAMAAJ&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Life+intitle:and+intitle:Letters+intitle:of+intitle:Martin+intitle:Luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&ei=DO-TR86lGKeGtgPWkuxG complete edition online free]
* James Swan, ''Martin Luther: Topical Master Index'' [http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2005/12/martin-luther-topical-master-index-for.html Protestant apologetical responses to issues regarding Luther]

===Primary sources===
* Luther, Martin. ''Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings,'' edited by John Dillenberger (1958) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Selections-His-Writings/dp/0385098766/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200876332&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Luther, Martin. ''Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings'' (with CD-ROM), edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Timothy F. Lull, and William R. Russell (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luthers-Theological-Writings-CD-ROM/dp/0800636805/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200876332&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Luther, Martin. '' The Letters of Martin Luther'' (1908) [http://books.google.com/books?id=k5T8vh2PUPkC&dq=inauthor:martin+inauthor:luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=dcOVR6LyE4r87QLvyK3SCg full text online free]
* Luther, Martin. ''Conversations with Luther...Table Talk'' (1915) [http://books.google.com/books?id=uxkRAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA61&dq=inauthor:martin+inauthor:luther&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1&ei=dcOVR6LyE4r87QLvyK3SCg#PPR3,M1 full text online free]
* Luther, Martin. ''Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther'' ed. by Captain Henry Bell, and Henry Morley (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Selections-Table-Martin-Luther-Press/dp/1406567884/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255774764&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]

==External links==
* [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html Project Wittenberg], extensive online collection of primary sources by Luther and his colleagues
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luther, Martin}}

[[Category:Reformation]]
[[Category:German History]]
[[Category:Protestantism|*]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[category:Theologians]]
[[Category:Lutherans]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[category:Religion and Politics]]

Idolatry

2012-02-11T18:52:48Z

Theodidactus:

'''Idolatry''' is the worship of idols. It is prohibited in the first commandment of the [[Decalogue]]. Modern [[catholicism]] is considered to be a form of idolatry.

Idolatry is considered by the Jewish and Christian [[faith|faiths]] to be gravely sinful. Early Jews and Christians accepted [[martyrdom]] rather than comply with orders to commit idolatry.

Muslims consider statues of religious figures to be a form of idolatry, and do not refer to themselves as Muhammadans for the same reason, as they feel that this term implies that they worship Muhammad.<ref>Schimmel, Annemarie. ''Islam: An Introduction''. State University of New York Press, 1992.</ref>

Most religions that make use of idols do not actually worship the image itself. Far more often they are regarded as focus points for worship or as a likeness of the god. Only rarely is the image itself considered to be the god. They can also be used to convey or focus on a particular aspect of a many-faceted deity, and this usage is common in Hinduism.

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[category:Paganism]]