The
Middle Ages connect late antiquity to the modern era. Bishop Ulifilas
d. 381 invented the Gothic alphabet (Shaff V 4 page 73) as St. Cyril
would later invent the Cyrillic. Civilization would expand its range
and change its form through Christianity outgrowing Greek-Roman
classicism to become Germano-Romanic, Celtic and Slavic-Greek. Beyond
the reaches of the ancient Roman Empire and western Europe there
were other ancient civilizations existing. China, India and the
Americas had religions of various forms that hadn't encountered the
word of God through Moses or Jesus Christ. Civilization founded with
the Lord accelerated theological philosophical,technological and
social development.
Mesoamerican
civilization failed to invent the wheel except as a toy
understandably since they had no horses until the Spanish arrived.
Human sacrifice of prior ruling clans was practiced at Cohokia at St.
Louis and of captives in Aztec Mexico. While Polynesians performed
great sailing voyages and Dorset Eskimos drove dog teams across the
North American arctic littoral from Sibir to Greenland in just 200
years thy failed to develop very far scientifically The intellectual
genius of such people is applied to survival. Techcraft not
uncommonly. Toynbee pointed out that the challenges of civilizations
with arrested development are too great.
The
Chinese without the Lord failed to develop a non-imperial
egalitarianism politically as did Europe easily establishing
decentralized and centralized bureaucratic networks of not only royal
in various realms but of churchmen and women as well. Less than ideal
and variegated in violence and non-violent phases of changes the
evolution was comparable to that of any worldly kingdom in levels of
violence. Christianity dampened violence from the bottom up rather
than the top down. To learn how Europe was prior to Christian
missions one made read Tacitus to learn of German rules of trial and
penalties for clubbing someone's skull with or without breaking it
and if the victim was or wasn't a member of the tribe. More recent
studies have found that Celtic tribes sometimes ate their captives
and made exterior building ornaments of their skulls in homes as
shown in Swiss archaeological research.
G.W.F.
Hegel wrote of a thesis in his Phenomenology of Mind of
the evolution of spirit as God realizing himself through history and
of course the Universe. That
may have been an informative paradigm for the Christian scientist
Charles Darwin as well as the political philosopher Karl Marx Each
adapted Hegel's paradigm to his own thesis in interpreting
substantive history. One may choose to adapt and employ Hegel's
paradigm in a different way though to describe an omnipotent God
pre-existing history and all things that are contingent ideas for
God. God is letting man evolve through history.
The
Medieval era of the history of the Christian Church was an exciting
period of a little less than a millennium in which human society of
the west grew with the spiritual leavening of the spirit of God
bringing the nations together from a more primeval time as pagans of
the forests. In the preceding pagan era tribal associations commonly
with warrior as the basic male occupation jostled for turf.
Protracted war of Germanic tribes against Celts. Slavs to the east
met with Turkic and Mongolian tribes as a precursor to later great
conflicts of the invasions of Mongols and Turks from east to west.
Several hundred years after the fall of the western Roman Empire
Vikings would row and sail around Europe and journey on its rivers to
attack various peoples for profit. Christianity would become the
spiritual tie that drew and bound the leaders and many of the people
of the pagan world together.
The
Middle Ages became an age of discovery for mankind of his
intellectual, social and physical potential for being better in the
image of God. God is pure reason, logic and love surpassing all human
understanding. Bootstrapping any given Universe from the inclination
of His thought He donated the impetus and order of assembly of
existence for the development of human society during the middle
ages. God's modge panc (mind plans) comprising teleology is marvelous
to consider so far as one might make inferences of it.
With
the presence of the Christian Church and with its monks, priests and
Bishops nations were given spiritual reasons to interact at the
highest level of state. War and hostage taking were basic elements
of statecraft before the infusion of the Church into the social
order, yet of course with human beings the agents of socialization
that God employed the problems of sin in the state, people and
Christians continued. Development of the nations from the pagan
foundations of tribal turf instead of legal boundaries emerged. If
Kings sometimes donated land to the Church they sometimes appointed
Bishops as well (ref. Merovingian Kings).
As
the Christian Church developed an ecclesiastical structure and
evolved its method the nations too founded agencies and ideas,
doctrines and procedures of increasing sophistication. The problem in
modern third world nation start-ups of the lack of non-governmental
agencies to fill the void as catalysts for social cohesion and public
development were mitigated significantly during the middle ages by
the progressive advance of structure in and out of the church
coinciding with state advance. It is a marvelous subject to consider.
Problems with the succession of kings and right to rule
internationally were paralleled in the Avignon captivity and
subsequent simultaneous existence of three popes. While the
controversy on the right of investiture continued the issue of the
right of any pope or patriarch to act as monarch over all Christians,
and even the politics of the nations arose. While arguments over
doctrine rising to the level of heresy occurred political theories
about the political rights of man to be free from tyranny stirred.
The assertions of the right of the laity to select their own leader
of the church made at the Council of Constance supported the paradigm
of traits toward political independence from imperialism. One could
find the development of nationalism too in reactions against various
formations of political and/or ecclesiastical imperialism.
With
Phillip Shaff's list of contents of his study of Christian Church
History published in the late 19th century (following) it
is easy to comprehend the rise of complexity and structure that
implicitly occurred socially around the Christian world and beyond.
Even the Muslim world was influenced by Christian ethics. It is
challenging to imagine Muhammad arising in the absence of the
appearance of Jesus Christ the Savior or even the course of mass
social paganism through the same period without a spiritual
foundation. Francis of Assisi in personifying the work of the Lord is
a far cry different than the ethics of tossing deformed babies on the
public garbage heap or those stoking up chemical or biological
engines of holocaust. Humanity do not all follow the spiritual ethics
of the Lord and some do not know what they are.
Reading
Shaff's History of the Christian Church Vol 4 on the Middle Ages it
is possible to get a good idea about the evolution of the
ecclesiastical institution. Maybe the church had three primary roles
in that 1000 years. Missions, Doctrine/Ecclesiastical Structure and
relation of Church & state. It's complex. There were three popes
at one time. Then one is aware of the five patriarchates of the
ancient era, and one should consider the council of constance and
where the Catholic Church is today in regard to the bishops and the
election of the Pope-especially the new one from Argentina. Shaff has
a bibliography that is remarkable. A few writers actually put
together a 50 volume history of the Byzantine Empire. Complex yet
beautiful illustrating an element of God's role in developing human
social infrastructure.
It
is worth including Shaff's bibliography for volume four here in order
to have the sources easy to reference.
Some
of Shaff's sources and literature for volume
4...
“They
are mostly in Latin—the official language of the Western
Church,—and in Greek,—the official language of the Eastern
Church.
(1)
For the history of missions: the letters and biographies of
missionaries.
(2)
For church polity and government: the official letters of popes,
patriarchs, and bishops. The documents of the papal court embrace (a)
Regesta (registra), the transactions of the various branches of the
papal government from a.d. 1198–1572, deposited in the Vatican
library, and difficult of access. (b) Epistolae decretales, which
constitute the basis of the Corpus juris canonici, brought to a close
in 1313. (c) The bulls (bulla, a seal or stamp of globular form,
though some derive it from boulhv, will, decree) and briefs (breve, a
short, concise summary), i.e., the official letters since the con-
clusion
of the Canon law. They are of equal authority, but the bulls differ
from the briefs by their more solemn form. The bulls are written on
parchment, and sealed with a seal of lead or gold, which is stamped
on one side with the effigies of Peter and Paul, and on the other
with the name of the reigning pope, and attached to the
instrument
by a string; while the briefs are written on paper, sealed with red
wax, and impressed with the seal of the fisherman or Peter in a boat.
(3)
For the history of Christian life: the biographies of saints, the
disciplinary canons of synods, the ascetic literature.
(4)
For worship and ceremonies: liturgies, hymns, homilies, works of
architecture sculpture, painting, poetry, music. The Gothic
cathedrals are as striking embodiments of mediaeval Christianity as
the Egyptian pyramids are of the civilization of the Pharaohs.
(5)
For theology and Christian learning: the works of the later fathers
(beginning with Gregory I.), schoolmen, mystics, and the forerunners
of the Reformation.
II.
Documentary Collections. Works of Mediaeval Writers.
(1)
For the Oriental Church.
Corpus
Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, opera Niebuhrii, Bekkeri, et al.
Bonnae, 1828–’78, 50 vols. 8vo. Contains a complete history of
the East-Roman Empire from the sixth century to its fall. The chief
writers are Zonaras, from the Creation to a.d. 1118; Nicetas, from
1118 to 1206; Gregoras, from 1204 to 1359; Laonicus, from 1298 to
1463; Ducas, from 1341 to 1462; Phrantzes, from 1401 to 1477. J. A.
Fabricius (d. 1736): Bibliotheca Graeca sive Notitia Scriptorum
veterum Graecorum, 4th ed., by G. Chr. Harless, with additions.
Hamburg, 1790–1811, 12 vols. A supplement by S. F. W. Hoffmann:
Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen.
Leipzig,
1838–’45, 3 vols. (2) For the Westem Church. Bibliotheca Maxima
Patrum. Lugduni, 1677, 27 vols. Fol. Martene (d. 1739) and Durand (d.
1773): Thesaurus Anecdotorum Novus, seu Collectio Monumentorum, etc.
Paris, 1717, 5 vols. fol. By the same: Veterum Scriptorum et
Monumentorum Collectio ampliss. Paris, 1724–’38, 9 vols. Fol. J.
A. Fabricius: Bibliotheca Latina Mediae et Infimae AEtatis. Hamb.
1734, and with supplem. 1754, 6 vols. 4to.
Abbé
Migne: Patralogiae Cursus Completus, sive Bibliotheca Universalis ...
Patrum, etc. Paris, 1844–’66. The Latin series (1844–’55) has
221 vols. (4 vols. indices); the Greek series (1857–66) has 166
vols. The Latin series, from tom. 80–217, contains the writers from
Gregory the Great to Innocent III. Reprints of older editions, and
most valuable for completeness and convenience, though lacking in
critical accuracy. Abbé Horay: Medii AEvi Bibliotheca Patristica ab
anno MCCXVI usque ad Concilii Tri- dentini Tempora. Paris, 1879 sqq.
A continuation of Migne in the same style. The first
4
vols. contain the Opera Honori III. Joan. Domin. Mansi (archbishop of
Lucca, d. 1769): Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplis- sima Collectio.
Florence and Venice 1759–1798, 31 vols. fol. The best collection
down to 1509. A new ed. (facsimile) publ. by Victor Palmé, Paris and
Berlin 1884 sqq. Earlier collections of Councils by Labbé and
Cossart (1671–72, 18 vols), Colet (with the supple- ments of Mansi,
1728–52, 29 vols. fol.), and Hardouin (1715, 12 vols. Fol.). C.
Cocquelines: Magnum Bullarium Romanum. Bullarum, Privilegiorum ac
Diplomatum Romanorum Pontificum usque ad Clementem XII. amplissima
Collectio. Rom. 1738–58.
14
Tom. fol. in 28 Partes; new ed. 1847–72, in 24 vols.
A.
A. Barberi: Magni Bullarii Rom. Continuatio a Clemente XIII ad Pium
VIII. (1758–1830). Rom. 1835–’57, 18 vols. fol. The bulls of
Gregory XVI. appeared 1857 in 1 vol. G. H. Pertz (d. 1876): Monumenta
Germaniae Historica. Hannov. 1826–1879. 24 vols. Fol. Continued by
G. Waitz.
III.
Documentary Histories.
Acta
Sanctorum Bollandistarum. Antw. Bruxellis et Tongerloae, 1643–1794;
Brux. 1845 sqq., new ed. Paris, 1863–75, in 61 vols. fol. (with
supplement). See a list of contents in the seventh volume for June or
the first volume for October; also in the second part of
Potthast,
sub “Vita,” pp. 575 sqq. This monumental work of John Bolland (a
learned Jesuit, 1596–1665), Godefr. Henschen (†1681), Dan.
Papebroch (†1714), and their associates and followers, called
Bollandists, contains biographies of all the saints of the Catholic
Church in the order of the calendar, and divided into months. They
are not critical histories, but compilations of an immense material
of facts and fiction, which illustrate the life and manners of the
ancient and mediaeval church. Potthast justly calls it a
“riesenhaftes Denkmal wissenschaftlichen Strebens.” It was
carried on with the aid of the Belgic government, which contributed
(since 1837) 6,000 francs annually. Caes. Baronius (d. 1607): Annales
ecclesiastici a Christo nato ad annum 1198. Rom. 1588–1593, 12
vols. Continued by Raynaldi (from 1198 to 1565), Laderchi (from
1566–1571), and A. Theiner (1572–1584). Best ed. by Mansi, with
the continuations of Raynaldi, and the Critica of Pagi, Lucca,
1738–’59, 35 vols. fol. text, and 3 vols. of index universalis. A
new ed. by A. Theiner (d. 1874), Bar-le-Duc, 1864 sqq. Likewise a
work of herculean industry, but to be used with critical caution, as
it contains many spurious
documents,
legends and fictions, and is written in the interest and defence of
the papacy.
IV.
Modern Histories of the Middle Ages.
J.
M. F. Frantin: Annales du moyen age. Dijon, 1825, 8 vols. 8vo.
F.
Rehm: Geschichte des Mittelalters. Marbg, 1821–’38, 4 vols. 8vo.
Heinrich
Leo: Geschichte des Mittelalters. Halle, 1830, 2 vols.
Charpentier:
Histoire literaire du moyen age. Par. 1833. R. Hampson: Medii aevi
Calendarium, or Dates, Charters, and Customs of the Middle Ages, with
Kalenders from the Xth to the XVth century. London, 1841, 2 vols.
8vo. Henry Hallam (d. 1859): View of the State of Europe during the
Middle Ages. London, 1818, 3d ed. 1848, Boston ed. 1864 in 3 vols. By
the same: Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the 15th, 16th,
and 17th centuries. Several ed., Engl. and Am. Boston ed. 1864 in 4
vols.; N. York, 1880, in 4 vols.
Charles
Hardwick († l859): A History of the Christian Church. Middle Age.
3d ed. by Stubbs, London, 1872. Henry Hart Milman († 1868): History
of Latin Christianity; including that of the Popes to
the
Pontificate of Nicholas V. London and N. York, 1854, 8 vols., new
ed., N. York (A. C. Armstrong & Son), 1880. Richard Chenevix
Trench (Archbishop of Dublin): Lectures on Mediaeval Church History.
London, 1877, republ. N. York, 1878.
V.
The Mediaeval Sections of the General Church Histories.
(a)
Roman Catholic: Baronius (see above), Fleury, Möhler, Alzog,
Döllinger (before 1870),
Hergenröther.
(b)
Protestant: Mosheim, Schröckh, Gieseler, Neander, Baur, Hagenbach,
Robertson. Also
Gibbon’s
Decline and Fall of the Rom. Empire (Wm. Smith’s ed.), from ch. 45
to the close.
VI.
Auxiliary.
Domin.
Du Cange (Charles du Fresne, d. 1688): Glossarium ad Scriptores
mediae et infimae Latinitatis, Paris, 1678; new ed. by Henschel, Par.
1840–’50, in 7 vols. 4 To; and again by Favre, 1883 sqq.—By the
same: Glossarium ad Scriptores medicae et infimae Graecitatis, Par.
1682, and Lugd. Batav. 1688, 2 vols. fol. These two works are the
philological keys to the knowledge of mediaeval church history. An
English ed. of the Latin glossary has been announced by John Murray,
of London: Mediaeval Latin-English Dictionary”
I
believe that Shaff's slightly modified T.O.C. may be used as a basic
outline for the essential salient features of Christian Church
history during the Middle Ages, a period from about 590 A.D. to 1500
A.D. -almost a thousand years.
History
of the Christian Church, Volume IV: The
Middle
Ages. A.D. 1049-1294 Phillip Shaff
Content
Items
“The
Middle Age. Limits and General Character
The
Nations of Medieval Christianity. The Kelt, the Teuton, and the Slav
Genius
of Mediaeval Christianity
Periods
of the Middle Age
Conversion
Of The Northern And Western Barbarians
Character
of Mediaeval Missions
Literature
The
Britons
The
Anglo-Saxons
The
Mission of Gregory and Augustin. Conversion of Kent, a.d. 595-604 29
Antagonism
of the Saxon and British Clergy
Conversion
of the Other Kingdoms of the Heptarchy
Conformity
to Row Established. Wilfrid, Theodore, Bede
The
Conversion of Ireland. St. Patrick and St. Bridget
The
Irish Church after St. Patrick
Subjection
of Ireland to English and Roman Rule
The
Conversion of Scotland. St. Ninian and St. Kentigern
St.
Columba and the Monastery of Iona
The
Culdees
Extinction
of the Keltic Church, and Triumph of Rome under King David I
Arian
Christianity among the Goths and other German Tribes
Conversion
of Clovis and the Franks
Columbanus
and the Irish Missionaries on the Continent
German
Missionaries before Boniface
Boniface,
the Apostle of Germany
The
Pupils of Boniface. Willibald, Gregory of Utrecht, Sturm of Fulda
The
Conversion of the Saxons. Charlemagne and Alcuin. The Heliand, and
the
Gospel-Harmony
Scandinavian
Heathenism
The
Christianization of Denmark. St. Ansgar
The
Christianization of Sweden
The
Christianization of Norway and Iceland
General
Survey
Christian
Missions among the Wends
Cyrillus
and Methodius, the Apostles of the Slavs. Christianization of
Moravia,
Bohemia
and Poland
The
Conversion of the Bulgarians
The
Conversion of the Magyars
The
Christianization of Russia
Mohammedanism
In Its Relation To Christianity
Literature
Statistics
and Chronological Table
Position
of Mohammedanism in Church History
The
Home, and the Antecedents of Islâm
Life
and Character of Mohammed
The
Conquests of Islâm
The
Koran, and the Bible
The
Mohammedan Religion
Mohammedan
Worship
Christian
Polemics against Mohammedanism. Note on Mormonism
The
Papal Hierarchy And The Holy Roman Empire
General
Literature on the Papacy
Chronological
Table of the Popes, Anti-Popes, and Roman Emperors from
Gregory
I. to Leo XIII
Gregory
the Great. a.d. 590-604
Gregory
and the Universal Episcopate
The
Writings of Gregory
The
Papacy from Gregory I to Gregory II a.d. 604-715
From
Gregory II to Zacharias. a.d. 715-741
Alliance
of the Papacy with the New Monarchy of the Franks. Pepin and the
Patrimony
of St. Peter. A.d. 741-755
Charles
the Great. a.d. 768-814
Founding
of the Holy Roman Empire, a.d. 800. Charlemagne and Leo II
Survey
of the History of the Holy Roman Empire
The
Papacy and the Empire from the Death of Charlemagne to Nicolas I a.d.
814-858).
Note on the Myth of the Papess Joan 2
The
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals
Nicolas
I., April, 858-Nov. 13, 867
Hadrian
II. and John VIII a.d. 867 to 882
The
Degradation of the Papacy in the Tenth Century
The
Interference of Otho the Great
The
Second Degradation of the Papacy from Otho I to Henry III. a.d.
97-1046
Henry
III and the Synod of Sutri. Deposition of three rival Popes. a.d.
1046
The
Conflict Of The Eastern And Western Churches And Their Separation
Sources
and Literature
The
Consensus and Dissensus between the Greek and Latin Churches
The
Causes of Separation
The
Patriarch and the Pope. Photius and Nicolas
Progress
and Completion of the Schism. Cerularius 2
Fruitless
Attempts at Reunion
Morals
And Religion
Literature
General
Character of Mediaeval Morals
Clerical
Morals
Domestic
Life
Slavery
Feuds
and Private Wars. The Truce of God
The
Ordeal
The
Torture
Christian
Charity
Monasticism
Use
of Convents in the Middle Ages
St.
Benedict. St. Nilus. St. Romuald
The
Convent of Cluny
Church
Discipline
The
Penitential Books
Ecclesiastical
Punishments. Excommunication, Anathema, Interdict
Penance
and Indulgence
Church
And State
Legislation
The
Roman Law
The
Capitularies of Charlemagne
English
Legislation
Worship
And Ceremonies
The
Mass
The
Sermon
Church
Poetry. Greek Hymns and Hymnists
Latin
Hymnody. Literature
Latin
Hymns and Hymnists
The
Seven Sacraments
The
Organ and the Bell
The
Worship of Saints
The
Worship of Images. Literature. Different Theories
The
Iconoclastic War, and the Synod of 754
The
Restoration of Image-Worship by the Seventh Oecumenical Council, 787
Iconoclastic
Reaction, and Final Triumph of Image-Worship, a.d. 842
The
Caroline Books and the Frankish Church on Image-Worship
Evangelical
Reformers. Agobardus of Lyons, and Claudius of Turin
Doctrinal
Controversies
General
Survey
The
Controversy on the Procession of the Holy Spirit
The
Arguments for and against the Filioque
The
Monotheletic Controversy
The
Doctrine of Two Wills in Christ
History
of Monotheletism and Dyotheletism
The
Sixth Oecumenical Council. a.d. 680 7
The
Heresy of Honorius
Concilium
Quinisextum. a.d. 692
Reaction
of Monotheletism. The Maronites
The
Adoptionist Controversy. Literature
History
of Adoptionism 1
Doctrine
of Adoptionism 5
The
Predestinarian Controversy
Gottschalk
and Babanus Maurus
Gottschalk
and Hincmar
The
Contending Theories on Predestination, and the Victory of
Semi-Augustinianism
The
Doctrine of Scotus Erigena
The
Eucharistic Controversies. Literature
The
Two Theories of the Lord's Supper
The
Theory of Paschasius Radbertus
The
Theory of Ratramnus
The
Berengar Controversy
Berengar's
Theory of the Lord's Supper 8
Lanfranc
and the Triumph of Transubstantiation 11
Heretical
Sects
The
Paulicians
The
Euchites and other Sects in the East
The
New Manichaeans in the West 524
The
State Of Learning
Literature
Literary
Character of the Early Middle Ages
Learning
in the Eastern Church
Christian
Platonism and the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings
Prevailing
Ignorance in the Western Church
Educational
Efforts of the Church
Patronage
of Letters by Charles the Great, and Charles the Bald
Alfred
the Great, and Education in England
Biographical
Sketches Of Ecclesiastical Writers
Chronological
List of the Principal Ecclesiastical Writers from the Sixth to the
Twelfth
Century
St.
Maximus Confessor
John
of Damascus
Photius,
Patriarch of Constantinople
Simeon
Metaphrastes
Oecumenius
Theophylact
Michael Psellus
Euthymius
Zigabenus
Eustathius
of Thessalonica
Nicetas
Acominatos
Cassiodorus
St.
Gregory of Tours
St.
Isidore of Seville
The
Venerable Bede (Baeda)
Paul
the Deacon
St.
Paulinus of Aquileia
Alcuin
St.
Liudger
Theodulph
of Orleans
St.
Eigil
Amalarius
Einhard
viiSmaragdus
Jonas
of Orleans
Rabanus
Maurus
Haymo
Walahfrid
Strabo
Florus
Magister, of Lyons 3
Servatus
Lupus
Druthmar
St.
Paschasius Radbertus
Patramnus
Hincmar
of Rheims
Johannes
Scotus Erigena
Anastasius
Ratherius
of Verona
Gerbert
(Sylvester II.)
Fulbert
of Chartres
Rodulfus
Glaber. Adam of Bremen
St.
Peter Damiani
History
of the Christian Church, Volume V: The
Middle
Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 Philip Schaff
Content
items
The
Hildebrandian Popes. A.D. 1049-1073. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .
Sources
and Literature on Chapters I. and II. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hildebrand
and his Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Hildebrand
and Leo IX. 1049-1054. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Victor
II. and Stephen IX. (X.). 1055-1058. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nicolas
II. and the Cardinals. 1059-1061. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
War against Clerical Marriage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . .
Alexander
II. and the Schism of Cadalus. 1061-1073. . . . . . . . . .
Gregory
Vii, 1073-1085. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hildebrand
elected Pope. His Views on the Situation. . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Gregorian Theocracy. .
Gregory
VII. as a Moral Reformer. Simony and Clerical Marriage. . . .
The
Enforcement of Sacerdotal Celibacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
War over Investiture. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gregory
VII. and Henry IV. . . . .
Canossa.
1077. . . . . . .
Renewal
of the Conflict. Two Kings and Two Popes. .
Death
of Gregory VII. . . .
The
Papacy From The Death Of Gregory Vii. To The Concordat Of Worms.
A.D
1085-1122. . .
Victor
III. and Urban II. 1086-1099. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Pascal
II. and Henry V. 1099-1118. . . . . . . . .
The
Concordat of Worms. 1122. . . . . . . . .
The
Conflict of the Hierarchy in England. William the Conqueror and
Lanfranc.
. . . . . . . . . .
William
Rufus and Anselm. . . . . . .
Anselm
and Henry I. . . . .
The
Papacy From The Concordat Of Worms To Innocent Iii. A.D.
1122-1198.
. . . . . .
Innocent
II., 1130-1143, and Eugene III., 1145-1153. . .
Arnold
of Brescia. . . . . . . . . .
The
Popes and the Hohenstaufen. . . . . .
Adrian
IV. and Frederick Barbarossa. . . .
Alexander
III. in Conflict with Barbarossa. . . . .
The
Peace of Venice. 1177. . . . . .
Thomas
Becket and Henry II of England. . .
The
Archbishop and the King. . . .
The
Martyrdom of Thomas Becket. Dec. 29, 1170. . . .
The
Effects of Becket's Murder. . . . .
Innocent
Iii. And His Age. A.D. 1198-1216. . . . . .
Literature.
. .
Innocent's
Training and Election. . . .
Innocent's
Theory of the Papacy. . . . . .
Innocent
and the German Empire. . . .
Innocent
and King John of England. . . . .
Innocent
and Magna Charta. . . . .
The
Fourth Lateran Council, 1215. . . .
The
Papacy From The Death Of Innocent Iii. To Boniface Viii.
1216-1294.
. . . . . .
The
Papal Conflict with Frederick II Begun. . . . . .
Gregory
IX. and Frederick II. 1227-1241. . . . .
The
First Council of Lyons and the Close of Frederick's Career.
1241-1250.
. .
The
Last of the Hohenstaufen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Empire and Papacy at Peace. 1271-1294. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Crusades. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
on the Crusades as a Whole. . .
Character
and Causes of the Crusades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Call to the Crusades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
First Crusade and the Capture of Jerusalem. . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 1099-1187. . .
The
Fall of Edessa and the Second Crusade. . . . . . . .
The
Third Crusade. 1189-1192. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Children's Crusades. . .. . . .
The
Fourth Crusade and the Capture of Constantinople. 1200-1204. . .
Frederick
II. and the Fifth Crusade . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St.
Louis and the Last Crusades 1248, 1270.
The
Last Stronghold of the Crusaders in Palestine. .
Effects
of the Crusades. . . . . . . .
The
Military Orders. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Monastic Orders. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Revival of Monasticism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Monasticism
and the Papacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Monks of Cluny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Cistercians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St.
Bernard of Clairvaux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Augustinians, Carthusians, Carmelites, and other Orders.
Monastic
Prophets. .. . . . . . . . . . .
The
Mendicant Orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Franciscan
Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St.
Francis d'Assisi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Franciscans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St.
Dominic and the Dominicans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Missions.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
and General Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Missions
in Northeastern Germany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Missions
among the Mohammedans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Missions
among the Mongols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Jews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Heresy
And Its Suppression. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
for the Entire Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Mediaeval Dissenters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Cathari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peter
de Bruys and Other Independent Leaders. . . . . . . . . .
The
Amaurians and Other Isolated Sects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Beguines and Beghards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Waldenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Crusades against the Albigenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Inquisition. Its Origin and Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Inquisition. Its Mode of Procedure and Penalties
.
. . . . . .
Universities
And Cathedrals. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Schools.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Books
and Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
The
Universities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
University of Bologna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
The
University of Paris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Oxford
and Cambridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Cathedrals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Scholastic
And Mystic Theology. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
and General Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sources
and Development of Scholasticism.
Realism
and Nominalism. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Anselm
of Canterbury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peter
Abaelard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Abaelard's
Teachings and Theology. . . . . .
Younger
Contemporaries of Abaelard. . . . .
Peter
the Lombard and the Summists. . . . .
Mysticism.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
St.
Bernard as a Mystic. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hugo
and Richard of St. Victor. . . . . . . . . .
Scholasticism
At Its Height. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alexander
of Hales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Albertus
Magnus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thomas
Aquinas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bonaventura.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Duns
Scotus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roger
Bacon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Sacramental System. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
Literature
on the Sacraments. . . . . . . . . . .
The
Seven Sacraments. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Baptism
and Confirmation. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Eucharist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eucharistic
Practice and Superstition. . . . .
Penance
and Indulgences. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Penance
and Indulgences. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Extreme
Unction, Ordination, and Marriage.
Sin
and Grace. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
The
Future State. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
Pope
And Clergy. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
The
Canon Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Papal Supremacy in Church and State.
The
Pope and the Curia. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bishops.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Lower Clergy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Councils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Church
and Clergy in England. . . . . . . . . .
Two
English Bishops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Popular
Worship And Superstition. . . . . . . .
The
Worship of Mary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Worship of Relics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Sermon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hymns
and Sacred Poetry. . . . . . . . .
The
Religious Drama. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Flagellants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Demonology
and the Dark Arts. . . . . .
The
Age passing Judgment upon Itself
History
of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The
Middle
Ages. A.D. 1049-1294- Phillip Shaff
Content
Items
The
Decline Of The Papacy And The Avignon Exile.
. . . . . . .
Sources
and Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pope
Boniface VIII. 1294-1303. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Boniface
VIII. and Philip the Fair of France. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literary
Attacks against the Papacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Transfer of the Papacy to Avignon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Pontificate of John XXII 1316-1334. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Papal Office Assailed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Financial Policy of the Avignon Popes. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Later Avignon Popes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Re-establishment of the Papacy in Rome. 1377. . . . . .
The
Papal Schism And The Reformatory Councils. 1378-1449
Sources
and Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Schism Begun. 1378. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Further
Progress of the Schism. 1378-1409. . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Council of Pisa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
The
Council of Constance. 1414-1418. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
council of Basel. 1431-1449. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Council of Ferrara-Florence. 1438-1445. . . . . . . . . . . .
Leaders
Of Catholic Thought. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ockam
and the Decay of Scholasticism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Catherine
of Siena, the Saint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peter
d'Ailly, Ecclesiastical Statesman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John
Gerson, Theologian and Church Leader. . . . . . . . . . .
Nicolas
of Clamanges, the Moralist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nicolas
of Cusa, Scholar and Churchman. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Popular
Preachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
German Mystics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sources and Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
New Mysticism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Meister
Eckart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John
Tauler of Strassburg. . . . . . . . . . .
Henry
Suso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Friends of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John
of Ruysbroeck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gerrit
de Groote and the Brothers of the Common Life. . . . . .
The
Imitation of Christ. Thomas à Kempis. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
German Theology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
English
Mystics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
Reformers
Before The Reformation. . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sources
and Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Church in England in the Fourteenth Century. . . . . . . . .
John
Wyclif. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wyclif's
Teachings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wyclif
and the Scriptures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Lollards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John
Huss of Bohemia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Huss
at Constance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jerome
of Prag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Hussites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
The
Last Popes Of The Middle Ages. 1447-152.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
and General Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nicolas
V. 1447-1455. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Aeneas
Sylvius de' Piccolomini, Pius I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paul
II. 1464-1471. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sixtus
IV. 1471-1484. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Innocent
VIII. 1484-1492. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pope
Alexander VI--Borgia. 1492-1503. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Julius
II., the Warrior-Pope. 1503-1513. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leo
X. 1513-1521. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
Heresy
And Witchcraft. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heretical
and Unchurchly Movements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Witchcraft
and its Punishment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Spanish Inquisition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
The
Renaissance. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literature
of the Renaissance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Intellectual Awakening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dante,
Petrarca, Boccaccio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Progress and Patrons of Classical Studies in the 15th Century.
Greek
Teachers and Italian Humanists.
The
Artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Revival of Paganism. . . . . . . . . .
Humanism
in Germany. . . . . . . . . . . .
Reuchlin
and Erasmus. . . . . . . . . . . .
Humanism
in France. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Humanism
in England. . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Pulpit And Popular Piety. . . .
. . . . .
Literature.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Clergy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preaching.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Doctrinal
Reformers. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Girolamo
Savonarola. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Study and Circulation of the Bible.
.
Popular
Piety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Works
of Charity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The
Sale of Indulgences” . . . . . . . .
Taxation
in Relation to Urbanization and Political Power Allocation
Taxation
levels seem to be a function of the form of a political authority and
population lifestyle. Urban and rural areas present different trends
in political form coinciding with centralization and decentralization
of political power historically. During the Roman Republic taxation
on urban centers could support public works that wealthy private
citizens would not themselves be expected to afford. With the decline
of primacy of urban centers after the fall of the Roman Empire and
the rise of the Merovingian Frankish kings of the 5th
century in much Western Europe political power became decentralized.
Merovingian kings becoming Christianized expanded into Germany
affording opportunities for evangelization and further conversion of
pagan tribes to faith in the Lord. Merovingian kings and other
conferred lands upon Bishops of the church as well as upon retainers
and allies. Over time the benefactions and division of inherited
lands among princes reduced their power. The conference of benefits
and allocation of resources are historical methods of gaining
political power or holding on to it.
A
lesson of history seems to be that a ruling authority may actually
decrease taxes upon subjects as the wealth and power of the authority
increases. If the consolidation of wealth and power becomes absolute
taxes may drop to zero as the authority directly is the owner of
everything inclusive of the subjects. Conversely in a free society
taxes may increase if a majority of a democracy views the allocation
of resources away from concentrations of wealth toward pluralism as
consistent with their principles of liberty. Yet urbanization tends
to bring a populace toward conformity and a destruction of civil
liberties found in rural social environments while political parties
experience a reductionism. Taxes again may rise or fall in relation
to the distribution of wealth. Public taxation is in effect the
allocation of resources by a ruling power.
Ironically
Karl Marx described the expropriation of the
expropriators that would exchange one form of
autocracy for another. There may be a golden mean in taxation and
liberty such that a rural society has minimal taxes required to
support the few public works required. With few homeless and landless
citizens and most able to meet their own needs taxes would be low as
the democratic society would have no need. Alternately urban
societies are not at all self sufficient and require mass importation
of resources and allocation of wealth with farm to market roads
importing supplies. Taxation is substantial if there is not to be
concentration of wealth and commonality of poverty. Public debt
increase to support the public sector may occur in order to forestall
the experience of poverty for the masses in an urban society during a
period of excess concentration of wealth.
Globalization
today is a form of treason against nationalism when advocated by
politicians. In the private sector global trading is alright yet
excess unconcern for the national well-being may bring about the
demise of the well-being of the nation. In this period of the
concentration of wealth with globalization of business there is a
protracted post-Reagan movement toward low taxes or even the same tax
on the rich as the poor in order to stimulate the concentration of
wealth. One would expect that as wealth is concentrated and the power
of national democracy given the orcheotomy of globalization that
taxation on the rich would drop to nil as they own everything as
Plutocrats.
Christian
Foundation of Reformation and Renaissance
Christianity
was important in founding the modern humanist movement. The discovery
of the complete texts of Aristotle introduced in the west through
Spain thought also continuing from Byzantine-Greek sources stimulated
the Aristotelian method of logic. That was applied to Christian
thought in the scholastic movement of the 12th
century. Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologica with an
Aristotelian method of proofs and arguments against culminating in a
syllogistic conclusion or summae. A reaction against that approach by
Petrarch and others whom preferred a neo-Platonic and Augustinian
approach as being more relevant and central to human concern on Earth
in their relationship to God.
The
politics of late dark ages Europe in relation to the church and the
relation of the church to the pope is fascinating reading. Going
through ‘A History of the Christian Church’ by Williston Walker,
Richard A. Norris, David W. Lotz and Robert T. Handy that was put
together over a time period of about a century I learned many new
insights regarding the complexity of the movements of people and
nations between the 11th
and 15th
centuries.
Of
course there was a papal tax on subjects in far-flung states of
Europe as well as a schism between the eastern and western branches
of the church during part of the era. Two Patriarchs of the five
patriarchs of the Nicene period still existed as powerful
individuals. It was not to be a reunified church again until the
Turks were about to take Constantinople when the East sought military
help that never arrived, yet that is another story.
In
the west the papacy for various reasons became divided into three.
That is three post existed simultaneously and all were fired or
resigned under pressure of a general council of Bishops from all over
early in the 1430s. The bishops organized themselves into nations of
five groups eventually to make voting simpler thought they were from
more countries than that. Not only was the church in need of reform,
it required one leader subject to the general council instead of a
monarch levying taxes. For much of European history during the dark
ages a co-evolution of political and national formation occurred
along a trialectical (ref. C.S. Pierce)helix with the church. Germany
or the Holy Roman Empire didn’t fare to well during this period ass
the new pope appointed by the council of Constance became too
powerful again-the plague had hit Europe. Other matters concerned the
locals. Germans had to pay high taxes to the pope.
If
the reformation was in part a tax revolt during an era when the Roman
pontiff tended toward corruption as one prince among five Italian
principalities contesting for land and power in a time when the
prestige and power of the papacy declined (the Borgia popes were
siring children and Pope Julius II was leading his army in battle),
the pre-formation and renaissance were developing while vernacular
translation of every useful document of antiquity including the Bible
was proceeding.
Walker
or Lotz wrote in the text mentioned above that the source of studia
humanitatis was Petrarch. Interestingly Marsilio Ficino appointed by
Cosimo de ‘Medici to lead the new Platonic Academy developed a
‘Platonic theology’ combining Christianity and neo-Platonism. I
discovered that sympathetic concurrence for myself after reading the
Enneads of Plotinus. Augustine was also a reader of neo-Platonism
before becoming fully Christian.
Giovanni
Pico della Mirandola, author of an ‘Oration on the Dignity of Man’
was also a member of the Platonic academy. Evidently many of the
founders of the humanist renaissance were actually defending
Christianity or renormalizing nit in relation to the Aristotelian
school of scholasticism. Of course in recent decades many American
scholars have taken the opposite viewpoint arguing that
Aristotelianism and scholasticism- even Christianity were in
opposition to an entirely secular renaissance providing a stimulus to
science. Maybe Roger Bacon was considered a necromancer in his time
for being a little eccentric in his experiments yet that was just the
average upper-crust Brit for ya.
Science
developed contemporaneously with the rest of the liberal arts or
studia humanitatis though one might find some differences in the
school curriculum of the first Universities of Europe in Paris and
Oxford etc. that did have some Aristotelian subjects. That over time
would split off from the applied secular sort of learning. Scientists
have argued about the abstract reasoning of Aristotle’s method
versus the applied hands-on approach of experimenters. One might
point that out to the string and brane theorists who seem to have
purely theoretical, almost Aristotelian math-based approaches to
creating new scientific knowledge.
Shaff
regards Dons Scotus (d. 1308) as the last of the scholastics. Shaff
wrote that the scholastics had exhausted theological questions in the
abstract. He wrote that Roger Bacon showed that many wanted to
consider matters 'more realm and capable of proof' in contrast to
'abstruse metaphysical questions.'
Modern
post-Darwinian secularism has itself returned to an abstruse abstract
metaphysics in the field of cosmology having approached theoretical
limits of observation. A 13.7 billion year old Universe that appears
to be accelerating with unknown or dark energy pushing space-time and
matter apart is the paradigm in which membrane theory advanced from
Superstring and M-Theory developed with abstract mathematical
paradigms by Witten and others to theorize fundamental structures of
physics. Like the unextended pre-dimensional One of the neo-Platonist
Plotinus singularity is an essential paradigm of observational
physics and of the Universe's logical origin of Einstein's General
Theory of Relativity applied to the mass of the Universe.
Contemporary cosmology posits all material structures as phenomenal
entanglements of energy in a steady state. Broken pieces of energy
from a coherent energy field transcending yet containing matter the
atoms and strings are regarded as having 'decohered'. They have
broken symmetry. Concepts not too different from Plotinus' paradigm
of broken forms described in the Enneads. Even so the examination of
abstract, abstruse topics continues with the same fascination for
physicists as purely theological speculations had for the
scholastics.
If
modern physics reaches toward understanding the Universe before the
Big Bang or inflaton sometimes using models that require no
singularity or that are eternally recurrent such as vast space-time
sheets colliding and stimulating a new round of energized expansion
until running down with entropy and time to be attracted to one
another again for another collision, pulse and rebound, other
consider like Bishop Berkeley the Universe as a holograph that simply
appears to the human mind experience because human beings are immerse
within the field of being themselves. These theories though useful if
they were to confirm belief in the creation by God o9f the Universe
would yet require a certain faith of completeness within a paradigm
that is implicitly uncertain. Uncertainty itself permits change and
temporality. Only God is omniscient.
I
wanted to quote on a couple of points about William of Okham that
remain philosophically interesting...
Vol
6 page 105 quote “A characteristic feature
of the scholasticism of Durandus and Ockam is the sharper distinction they
made between reason and revelation. Following Duns Scotus, they
declared that doctrines peculiar
to revealed theology are not susceptible of proof by pure reason. The
body of dogmatic truth,
as accepted by the Church, they did not question.
A
second characteristic is the absence of originality. They elaborated
what they received.
The
Schoolmen of former periods had exhausted the list of theological
questions and discussed them
from every standpoint.
The
third characteristic is the revival and ascendency of nominalism, the
principle Roscellinus advocated
more than two hundred years before. The Nominalists were also called
Terminists, because
they represent words as terms which do not necessarily have ideas and
realities to correspond to
them. A universal is simply a symbol or term for a number of things
or for that which is common to
a number of things.”- end
quote
Poor
historical method applied to contemporary politics can lead to
judgments based on faulty logic. Synthetic reason and the desire to
exercise power leads to rash use of power and failure to have a
better informed judgment of justice.
In
Shaff's Volume 6 he considers “THE MIDDLE AGES. THE DECLINE OF THE
PAPACY AND THE PREPARATION FOR MODERN CHRISTIANITY. FROM BONIFACE
VIII. TO MARTIN LUTHER. a.d. 1294-1517”. The decline of Papal
infallibility develops over time, and that appears naturally enough
with a preceding period with as many as three popes at once not all
of whom could be right in all things, and of general councils reining
in the power of Popes. One wonders if the doctrine of infallibility
wasn't something of a function correlating to actual political and
ecclesiastical power of a particular Pope. Joseph Stalin too was
infallible in his own special way to the citizens of Soviet Russia,
or at least dissenters had to be quiet about Stalin's errors lest
they be taken to visit Beria's basement for a bullet.
Another
cause for papal infallibility may have been pragmatist; one
authorized and decisive opinion could stifle a babble of confusion.
At some point within a productive cacophony of diverse opinion on
theological issue a resolution and conclusion may have been
desirable. Res judicata, stare decisis-the Pope after listening to
council of cardinals and other wise ministers has reached a verdict,
in fact an infallible opinion. Of course it didn't work that way, and
for most of church history there was competition for not only the
role of sole, primary oracle but for leadership itself such as the
Emperor or Patriarch of the East, councils and so forth. The Lord is
right and true, yet every human errs. God's grace supervenes and
brings history to the predetermined course overcoming human tendency
toward failure.
One
may consider the problem of infallibility and power not only
endemically a problem for the papacy but as cause for schisms between
the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox as well as the
Protestant west. What ought to be a universal Christian Church
evolved within and without western civilization concurrently
developing methods for resolving pluralism of opinions on politics,
theology and political investiture on an ad hoc basis often with
conflict and occasionally with the perennial temporal solution of
violence. Methods of resolving doctrinal differences and theories
about the proper allocation of power may be illustrated with the
metaphor of a non-self-correcting computer program without tolerance
for sectarian subroutines and without intrinsic parallel program
management.
Because
of human infallibility it is useful to regard select doctrinal
differences that rise to become emergent sectarian divergence as
subroutines within the greater catholic concept of a universal
church. I of course mean catholic itself in a non-sectarian way here
rather than in reference to Roman Catholicism. I would think the
primary thing that ought to be excluded from doctrinal inclusion is
acceptance of sin. The experience of the middle ages and the doctrine
of infallibility held in regard to the attrition of heretics with the
Inquisition ought to lead Christians toward a better understanding of
the organization challenges in keeping a Universal Christian
community together in spite of significant doctrinal differences.
Obama
administration efforts to consolidate every last bit of formerly
Russian Ukrainian land after the cold war for the benefit of the west
presents a kind of reverse chirility image to that of Trotsky’s
international communist imperial tendency that were repressed by
Stalin and re-emerged with Nikita Khrushchev. That is one atheist,
leftist administration pursuing globalism follows another. What can
the Russians think of that?
It
was the Christian moral guidance of the Reagan administration that
had the charisma and desire to rid the world of nuclear weapons that
coincided with the rise of Andropov’s protégé Mikhail Gorbachev
to power in the final years of the Soviet Union that was an element
of Christian grace enabling a peaceful transition to a post-Soviet
Russia. Western leftist would of course attribute that entirely to
President Gorbachev and deny that President Reagan’s appeal to
President Gorbachev to ‘tear down this wall’
or conventional weapons build up had anything to do with it. The
transition should have been one of subsequent non-exploitation of
Russia. Traditional Russian lands such as the eastern Ukraine ought
to have remained with Russia. Lands liberated from the Nazis yet not
Russian should go independent. That was fairly simply and a premise
that George Keenan would have agreed with.
The
atheist, globalist movement toward a dehumanized, despiritualized
west and a Ukraine given over to Chinese corporate farming (they
signed a ten billion dollar farming deal) is a paradox. Russia would
be flanked by the Chinese infrastructure and perhaps have the Crimea
become another Panama Canal Zone run by the Chinese. The Chinese
Communist party did not throw in the towel and trust the kindness of
foes, the Soviet Union did and Russia is being made to suffer for
that evident mistake in regard to the Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea.
One
of the Russian’s major areas of food production is being usurped
lost and its food and physical security threatened by globalists of
insatiable greed seeking to devour in the name of atheist, scientific
development wherein human beings have no God-given inalienable
rights. Instead humanity would be managed as bits of flesh-
phenomenalities under the supervision of concentrated wealth and
Mengeles of advanced scientific inclination toward ethics of personal
egoist utilitarianism. Science is not endangered, humanity is.
Science will be around learning and inventing things forever unless
its technological progeny extirpate all human life on Earth, the
ecosphere or both.
Pope
Adrian I-the only British pope, sent Henry II of Britain the ring of
investiture of Ireland and asked that nation tp be subdued and
brought over to the Roman Church though it had been the heart of the
Celtic Catholic Church for centuries. Pope Adrian I ordered a tax
upon every Irish home of one penny-a lot of money in the 12th
century.
Quoting
Shaff on the topic from V. 4 page 56...
quote-“This
papal-Irish bull is not found in the Bullarium Romanum, the editors
of which were ashamed of it, and is denounced by some Irish Romanists
as a monstrous and outrageous forgery, but it is given by, Matthew
Paris (1155), was confirmed by Pope Alexander III. in a letter to
Henry II. (a. d.1172), published in Ireland in 1175, printed in
Baronius, Annales, ad a. d.1159, who took his copy from a Codex
Vaticanus and is acknowledged as undoubtedly genuine by Dr. Lanigan,
the Roman Catholic historian of Ireland (IV. 64), and other
authorities; comp. Killen I. 211 sqq. It is as follows: “Adrian,
Bishop, Servant of the servants of God, to his dearest son in Christ,
the illustrious King of England, greeting and apostolic benediction.
“ Full laudably, and profitably has your magnificence conceived the
design of propagating your glorious renown on earth, and of
completing your reward of eternal happiness in heaven, whilst as a
Catholic prince you are intent on enlarging the borders of the Church,
teaching the truth of the Christian faith to the ignorant and rude,
extirpating the nurseries of iniquity from the field of the Lord, and
for the more convenient execution of this purpose, requiring the
counsel and favor of the Apostolic See. In which the maturer your
deliberation and the greater the discretion of your procedure, by, so
much the happier, we trust, will be your progress, with the
assistance of the Lord; because whatever has its origin in ardent
faith and in love of religion always has a prosperous end and issue.
“There is indeed no doubt but that Ireland and all the islands on
which Christ the Sun of Righteousness has shone, and which have
received the doctrines of the Christian faith, belong to the
jurisdiction of St. Peter and of the holy Roman Church, as your
Excellency also acknowledges. And therefore we are the more
solicitous to propagate a faithful plantation among them, and a seed
pleasing to the Lord, as we have the secret conviction of conscience
that a very, rigorous account must be rendered of them. “ You then,
most dear son in Christ, have signified to us your desire to enter into
the island of Ireland that you may reduce the people to obedience to
laws, and extirpate the nurseries of vice, and that you are willing
to pay from each house a yearly pension of one penny to St. Peter,
and that you will preserve the rights of the churches of this land
whole and inviolate. We, therefore, with that grace and acceptance
suited to your pious and laudable design, and favorably assenting to
your petition, hold it good and acceptable that, for extending the
borders of the church, restraining the progress of vice, for the
correction of manners, the planting of virtue, and the increase of
the Christian religion, you enter that island, and execute therein
whatever shall pertain to the honor of God and welfare of the land;
and that the people of that land receive you
honorably, and reverence you as their lord—the rights of their
churches still remaining sacred and inviolate, and saving to St.
Peter the annual pension of one penny from every house. “If then
you are resolved to carry the design you have conceived into
effectual execution, study to train that nation to virtuous manners,
and labor by
yourself and others whom you shall judge meet for this work, in
faith, word, and life, that the church may be there adorned; that the
religion of the Christian faith may be planted and grow up, and that
all things pertaining to the honor of God and the salvation of souls
be so ordered that you may be entitled to the fulness of eternal
reward in God, and obtain a glorious renown on throughout all
ages.”-end
quote
That
is a very sophisticated international letter yet one wherein two
powerful nationals work together to takeover another country. The
Irish Celtic Church was phased out over time, yet the infrastructures
of communication are remarkable for the practical effects not only in
Ireland, Britain and Italy.
