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Christianity

The Renaissance was a time of significant change in Christian thought and practice. Christian theology* and philosophy evolved in response to the spread of humanism* and the reexamination of religious texts. When the period began, the Roman Catholic Church had hopes of reuniting with the Orthodox churches of the east, which had broken away from Rome centuries earlier. Instead, new divisions arose within the Catholic Church, which led to the Protestant Reformation*.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Catholic Church had a long-standing tradition of religious scholarship. Early Christian writers such as St. AUGUSTINE (354–430) and Boethius (ca. 480–524) had explored the relationship between Christianity and the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. Writers and preachers of the Middle Ages, such as Dante Alighieri and St. Francis of Assisi, had also raised ideas and concerns that became central to Renaissance thought. However, during the Renaissance many Christians took a fresh look at traditional religious beliefs. Scholars began to read the Bible and other basic Christian writings in their original languages. At the same time, reformers were reconsidering the traditions and institutions of the church.

Biblical Studies. Humanist scholars in the Renaissance were fascinated by classical* culture. Many of them tried to recover ancient texts in their original languages, including copies of the New Testament—the second part of the Christian Bible—in the original Greek. For hundreds of years the Catholic Church had used a Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate. But study of the Greek original revealed many errors and mistranslations in the Vulgate. Scholars began to reexamine the Bible and to question the church's interpretation of certain passages. Some even learned to read Hebrew, which few Christians knew at the time. This enabled them to study the text of the Old Testament in its original language.

Division and Calls for Reform. During the Renaissance, divisions threatened the Catholic Church. It was not the first time. In 1054 differences in beliefs had caused a schism—a formal split—between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches in the east. Another schism occurred in the 1300s. In 1309 the papacy* had moved from Rome to Avignon, France, where it remained for decades. In 1377 a second pope was elected in Rome, and for the next 40 years popes in both cities struggled for control of the church. The split ended in 1417 when a church council deposed* the sitting popes and elected a new one who was accepted as the legitimate leader.

However, concern about widespread abuses within the church continued, leading to calls for reform. Practices such as the sale of church offices and the immoral behavior of clergy members worried many Christians. In the late 1300s and early 1400s, reform movements developed, led by individuals such as John Wycliffe in England and Jan Hus in Prague. The followers of Hus eventually broke away from the church altogether.

During the 1400s church leaders held a series of councils to address issues such as reform of the Catholic Church and the split between east and west. These efforts enjoyed some short-lived successes. The Roman Catholic Church reached a temporary agreement with the Hussites in 1433, but it did not last. In 1439 the Council of Florence produced a plan to reunite the Catholic and Orthodox churches. However, many Orthodox churches rejected it, and these two branches of Christianity remained separate.

The movement for reform continued. In the Netherlands, the humanist scholar Desiderius ERASMUS wrote a number of works deeply critical of church practices. Erasmus used biting satire* to portray corruption among members of the clergy, from monks to the pope. He and other scholars also urged Christians to read the Bible for themselves, rather than depending on the church's interpretation of Scripture. Many of them believed that better translations of the Bible were the key to reform. In 1516 Erasmus contributed to this movement by producing a version of the New Testament in Greek.

Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Eventually some religious reformers, such as Martin LUTHER and John CALVIN, broke away from the Catholic Church altogether. Luther believed that the pope had abused his power and that many Catholic beliefs and practices were flawed. He rejected the authority of the pope and declared that salvation came through faith in God and a proper understanding of the Bible.

To help promote his cause, Luther prepared a new translation of the New Testament in German in 1522. This version translated key passages in new ways. Although some editions of the Bible in vernacular* languages had been available before the 1500s, new translations such as Luther's proved to be a great aid to the cause of the Protestant reformers. Protestant scholars also published commentaries on the Bible and spread their ideas through persuasive preaching.

Many critics of the church felt that Luther had gone too far. His break with the Catholic Church triggered a reaction within the church known as the Counter-Reformation. This movement aimed to restore order and authority in the church and to combat the spread of Protestantism. Catholic officials banned the works of writers whom they considered too critical of the church. However, these efforts did not succeed in preventing Protestant beliefs from spreading.

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

At the beginning of the Renaissance, the Christian church had two main branches: the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches. These two churches had originally been one. The separation between them began in 330, when the emperor Constantine established a new capital at Byzantium (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). In his honor, the city was renamed CONSTANTINOPLE. The new capital became a major center of Christianity.

In the 500s Constantinople became one of five cities recognized as sees, seats of religious authority. The others were Rome, Alexandria (in Egypt), Antioch (Turkey), and Jerusalem (in present-day Israel). Each see was headed by a bishop with the title patriarch. Over time the clergy in Constantinople came to challenge the leadership of the pope, whom they called the patriarch of Rome. This conflict, as well as certain differences in theology, ultimately led to a schism—a formal split—in the church. In 1054 the eastern sees broke away from the Catholic Church and developed into the Orthodox churches. However, they continued to share many basic beliefs with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church in Constantinople. After the split with Rome, the patriarch of Constantinople became recognized as the leader of the Orthodox churches. However, throughout the Middle Ages the Orthodox leadership faced a series of problems. Invasions by Islamic forces into the Byzantine Empire* threatened the survival of many eastern churches. In addition, Orthodox churches in Alexandria and Ethiopia broke away from Constantinople's control after Arabs occupied those areas.

In the mid-1200s the church in Constantinople experienced a revival. Although some internal struggles remained, the patriarchs of Constantinople reestablished control over the Orthodox churches. The main issues facing the Orthodox leadership were the movement to reunite with the Catholic Church and the threat of further Muslim invasion. Plans to reunite with Rome collapsed when the patriarchs of the major eastern churches in Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch rejected the settlement at the Council of Florence. Then, in 1453, the Muslim threat became a reality when Turkish invaders from the OTTOMAN EMPIRE captured Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest the Orthodox churches declined in size and authority. Members of the clergy could carry out religious duties only with the approval of the local Ottoman leader. The Ottomans influenced the selection of the patriarch in Constantinople and kept tight control over the church. Many Orthodox Christians fled to the west, bringing with them the Greek language and classical Greek culture. They helped promote the revival of classical scholarship that shaped Renaissance thinking.

Other Orthodox Churches. Five years before the Ottoman conquest, a council of Russian bishops had elected a bishop of Moscow without the approval of the patriarch of Constantinople. This move established an independent Russian Orthodox Church. In 1589 Russia also established its own patriarchate, which lasted for about 100 years. Other territories, such as Bulgaria and Serbia, tried to do the same. Such attempts weakened the power of the patriarchs in Constantinople, who were already grappling with the problems of leading a church spread over a vast region with many different languages.

The cultural traditions of Russia and eastern Europe led the Orthodox churches in these areas to grow apart from the church in Constantinople in their beliefs. These eastern European churches emphasized the mystery of religious ritual, whereas the leadership in Constantinople tended to focus on theology and moral philosophy.

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Christian thinkers in western Europe debated various issues of theology throughout the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Renaissance ideas affected Christian theology by promoting a new critical spirit and a better understanding of the ancient languages of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. As scholars applied these ideas to traditional beliefs and writings, many became Protestants and broke with Rome. But the new critical ideas also profoundly shaped the beliefs of faithful Catholics.

Scholasticism. By the 1200s Christian theology had become amazingly varied. Disputes about the authority of the pope and matters of faith were widespread. Medieval* Christian thought owed much to St. Thomas Aquinas, who saw theology as a "sacred science" and argued that to understand Scripture one must apply human reason. He based his idea of reason on the teachings of the Greek philosopher ARISTOTLE. This approach to Scripture was called Scholasticism.

Religious thinkers of the Renaissance criticized Scholasticism for its reliance on formal rules and definitions. Critics such as Erasmus claimed that following the example and teaching of Christ was more important than arguing about the fine points of theology. Protestants also attacked Scholasticism because many of its doctrines, such as the freedom of the human will in relation to God, conflicted with theirs. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church responded to these criticisms by defending the views of Scholastic thinkers on certain key points in Catholic thought.

Other Influences. During the Renaissance, the Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians who fled to the west made a major contribution to the rediscovery of classical scholarship. They brought with them not only knowledge of Greek, but also the writings of Greek philosophers and early church fathers, many of whose works had been lost to the west. The invention of the printing press around 1455 made it possible to publish copies of these works for wide distribution.

One of the ancient writers whose work was rediscovered during the Renaissance was the Greek philosopher PLATO. Renaissance scholars such as George Gemistus (ca. 1355–1452) and Marsilio FICINO (1433–1499) noted the influence of Plato's philosophy on the early church fathers. According to these scholars, theologians should study Plato's works, rather than those of Aristotle, in order to understand the ideas of early Christian writers.

Another important aspect of Renaissance theology was an interest in mysticism, the belief in a direct personal union with the divine. Mystics focused less on theological ideas than on understanding the significance of figures and events in the history of Israel and the life of Christ. They sought spiritual knowledge through experience and through interpretations of symbols. One example of a mystical belief system was the Jewish Kabbalah. According to this system, Biblical symbols, such as the letters in the Hebrew name of God, held deep meaning. Some Renaissance philosophers studied the Kabbalah for keys to understanding certain Christian beliefs.

Lasting Influence. The ideas of the Renaissance had a lasting influence on the history of Christianity. Some scholars have argued that the modern trend of secularization, in which the church plays a less important role in society, began during the Renaissance. They claim that the critical spirit of humanism encouraged people to think for themselves and to challenge authority—including the authority of the church. These scholars portray the Christian church as a force for tradition that worked against the Renaissance spirit of free inquiry.

However, if the church sometimes resisted the new ideas of the Renaissance, it was also influenced by them. Since the 1500s, many Protestant thinkers have drawn on Renaissance ideas, urging people to read the Bible with a critical eye and not to rely on church teachings. Renaissance ideas also inspired many later developments in the Roman Catholic Church. For example, in the 1960s the Second Vatican Council made many changes that promoted greater openness within the church, encouraged laypeople* to participate more in worship, and stressed the importance of freedom of conscience. In short, it is clear that the ideas of the Renaissance had a major impact on the development of modern Christianity.

(See also Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation; Classical Scholarship; Clergy; Councils; Greek Émigrés; Nicholas of Cusa; Popes and Papacy; Protestant Reformation; Religious Orders; Religious Thought; Trent, Council of.)

* theology

study of the nature of God and of religion

* humanism

Renaissance cultural movement promoting the study of the humanities (the languages, literature, and history of ancient Greece and Rome) as a guide to living

* Protestant Reformation

religious movement that began in the 1500s as a protest against certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually led to the establishment of a variety of Protestant churches

* classical

in the tradition of ancient Greece and Rome

See color plate 10, vol. 2

* papacy

office and authority of the pope

* depose

to remove from high office, often by force

* satire

literary or artistic work ridiculing human wickedness and foolishness

See color plate 11, vol. 2

* vernacular

native language or dialect of a region or country

* Byzantine Empire

Eastern Christian Empire based in Constantinople (A.D. 476–1453)

Ancient Hebrew Wisdom

German scholar Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) was a Christian pioneer in the study of Hebrew. He believed that ancient Hebrew religious writings contained a hidden treasury of wisdom revealed by God to sages of old. He claimed that if Christian scholars understood these books, they would discover that the Jewish and Christian faiths were compatible. In 1510 Reuchlin persuaded Emperor Maximilan I against a plan to seize and destroy Jewish religious texts, claiming that such an act would harm biblical scholarship. Critics responded by claiming that wealthy Jews must have bribed him.

* medieval

referring to the Middle Ages, a period that began around A.D. 400 and ended around 1400 in Italy and 1500 in the rest of Europe

* laypeople

those who are not members of the clergy