Summary of Justo L. González's The Story of Christianity: Volume 2

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 As the fifteenth century came to a close, it was clear that the church needed reform. The Great Schism had weakened the papacy, and many people were not happy with the corrupt leadership in Rome.

#2 The church seemed to be in need of reform, as many priests and monastics were corrupt, and the laity were unable to trust a sacrament administered by a member of the clergy who seemed to have no sense of the enormity of sin.

#3 The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the formative period for most of the literary languages of Western Europe. Nationalism, which had begun to develop centuries earlier, found expression in these languages.

#4 The Inquisition was a church court that was used to investigate and punish those who were considered heretics. It was under the authority of Ferdinand and Isabella, and their names have become famous for the zeal with which they persecuted Jews.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669355519

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Insights on Justo L. Gonzalez's The Story of Christianity Volume 2

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

As the fifteenth century came to a close, it was clear that the church needed reform. The Great Schism had weakened the papacy, and many people were not happy with the corrupt leadership in Rome.

#2

The church seemed to be in need of reform, as many priests and monastics were corrupt, and the laity were unable to trust a sacrament administered by a member of the clergy who seemed to have no sense of the enormity of sin.

#3

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the formative period for most of the literary languages of Western Europe. Nationalism, which had begun to develop centuries earlier, found expression in these languages.

#4

The Inquisition was a church court that was used to investigate and punish those who were considered heretics. It was under the authority of Ferdinand and Isabella, and their names have become famous for the zeal with which they persecuted Jews.

#5

The Spanish Inquisition was a religious extremist institution that used torture to force conversions and punish nonbelievers. It was used as a tool by the Catholic Reformation to prevent the spread of Protestantism.

#6

The Reformation was a period of great change in the church, and many advocates of reform were convinced that the greatest ill of the church was the obscurantism of the Dark Ages. They hoped that the furtherance of scholarship and education would produce the needed reformation.

#7

Erasmus was a humanist who studied classical literature. He published the Enchiridion militis Christiani—Dagger, which was a handbook for the Christian soldier. He used military metaphors to explain what he saw as the Christian life.

#8

Erasmus was a reformer who sought to reform the church’s practices and customs. He believed that the true Christian life is one of inwardness, and that outward means, such as the sacraments, are important but should not be discarded.

#9

The Protestant Reformation began when Erasmus was ignored. It was a radical shift in Christianity, and it was no longer a matter of reforming customs or clarifying some aspects of Christian theology, but rather of radically shifting some of the fundamental premises of traditional Christianity.

#10

Martin Luther was a man who was uncouth and even rude in his manner. He was sincere in his faith, and he was willing to express it vulgarly. He was not the type of disciple who, having put a hand to the plow, looks back.

#11

Luther’s impact was due to circumstances that he did not create, and of which he was only dimly aware. The invention of the movable type printing press gave his writings a widespread audience they otherwise would not have had.

#12

Luther was born in 1483. His parents were extremely strict, and he had a difficult childhood. He joined the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt in 1505, and was convinced that he had made a wise decision. He felt happy and at peace with God.

#13

Luther’s search for salvation was similar to that of many other Christians at the time. He sought to overcome his sins through the church, but he soon realized that his sin went far beyond what he could confess. If God was like his father and teachers, who had beaten him, how could he love such a God.

#14

Luther’s great discovery was the gospel, which was the revelation of the righteousness of God. But it was precisely the justice of God that Luther found unbearable. How could such a message be good news.

#15

Luther’s discovery was that the justice of God does not refer to the punishment of sinners, but rather that the righteousness of God is given to those who live by faith.

#16

Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were a series of essays he wrote criticizing the sale of indulgences and the theological presuppositions behind it. They created a huge stir, but little interest beyond the university itself.

#17

The sale of indulgences was a major controversy that sparked the Protestant Reformation. It was authorized by Pope Leo X, and involved the economic and political ambitions of the powerful house of Hohenzollern, which aspired to hegemony in Germany.

#18

Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were a response to the exploitation of Germany by foreign interests. He attacked the sale of indulgences, which were supposed to free people from purgatory, and pointed out that the pope was actually exploiting the poor.

#19

The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is often said to be the date of Luther’s theses, published on October 31, 1517. The theses were sent to Rome, and the pope asked the Augustinian Order to deal with the matter. Luther was called to the order’s next chapter meeting, in Heidelberg.

#20

The pope, fearing the power of Charles and Francis, chose Frederick the Wise of Saxony as his candidate for emperor. Frederick protected Luther until he was properly tried and convicted, at which point the pope sought better relations with him and his protector, Maximilian.

#21

Luther’s teachings began to spread throughout Germany, and many universities began to debate his ideas. While not always as dramatic, similar events took place all over Germany.

#22

The Leipzig Debate was the final nail in the coffin for Luther and the reform movement he had started. The bull issued by Pope Leo X, which ordered the burning of all Luther’s books, took almost two years to reach him. He burned it publicly, along with other