AQA A-LEVEL (7042)HIS2D – Religious Conflict and the Church in England,

c1529–1570________________________________________________________________

SECTION 1 The Church in c15295 Key Religious Beliefs

Why the devil did they paint Doom onto Church walls?

Source: A late-fifteenth century illustration of the Great Chain of Being, which conveyed the contemporary idea of God punishing those who rebelled against their ruler (treason)

or who questioned the teachings of the Church (heresy). It emphasised that those in authority held their power for the good of those below them and, and subject to those

above them.

What Does 'Catholic' Mean?

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the world's largest religious denominations, with 1.2 billion believers worldwide. This number makes it only slightly smaller than Islam (1.4 billion) and larger than any other religious group on the planet. From its spiritual center in Vatican City, the world's smallest independent country and the only country surrounded completely by a city (Rome), the leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope, guides the spiritual lives of entire nations.

By definition, the word catholic means 'universal,' and from the earliest days following the Church's founding, it has pressed to be the universal faith of humanity. Often, this has caused conflicts with other religions that wish to be the universal faith, both within and outside of the Christian tradition.

Catholic liturgy and hierarchy

Catholics have a number of specific beliefs that set them apart from other Christians. Unlike later Protestant traditions, especially Evangelical ones, the Catholic Church is highly liturgical, meaning they practice ceremonial worship. As a result, recitation is vital to the Catholic worship service, or mass. The Catholic Church has a strict hierarchy, or ranking according to authority, from parish priests to bishops and archbishops to the Pope himself. Catholics also hold the Virgin Mary, the biblical figure who gave birth to Jesus, in high regard, giving her the title 'Mother of God.' Catholics also believe in transubstantiation, which holds that the elements of the Eucharist, namely the bread and wine, become the actual body and blood of Christ at the moment of consecration by a priest.

The Seven Sacraments

What's a sacrament? Christians regard a sacrament as an outward sign of an inward grace or as an enacted truth. But that's probably not much more helpful...Here's another definition: A sacrament is an an action made holy or special because of its believed ability to demonstrate a religious truth, or a truth about God.Think about it like this... if someone says "I love you" and you

believe them, that's great. If they say "I love you", and put their arms round you and give you a great big hug, you get the truth of what they're saying in a different and more powerful way. A hug is an outward sign of the love they have inside.

Crucial to the Catholic faith are the Seven Sacraments, or rituals, that are believed to have been instituted by Christ. As a general rule, a Catholic can aspire to receive six of the seven sacraments, as members of the clergy are not permitted to marry.

1. Baptism is the first sacrament administered to someone, and it is symbolic of the individual being reborn in belief in Christ. It is often performed a few days after birth, at the ‘font’, but it is also open to adults who were not previously baptised. Fonts are often placed at or near the entrance to a church to remind believers of their baptism as they enter the church.

2. Confirmation is performed some time after baptism, but it can be performed immediately afterwards (for infants in danger of death, for example). The act is a validation of the belief of the individual in the tenets of the Church, taking place at the ‘age of reason’. While a baptised person is already a member of the Church, reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. The Confirmation ceremony may take place at Mass or outside of Mass, and the presiding bishop wears red vestments to symbolize the red tongues of fire seen hovering over the heads of the apostles at Pentecost. In the Modern Church, a person wishing to be confirmed comes forward with his or her ‘sponsor’, who may or may not be one of the godparents chosen for Baptism.

3. The Eucharist, often called ‘communion’ in other Christian traditions, refers to the act of consuming bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus. Catholicism mandates belief in transubstantiation (the miracle where the bread and wine transforms into the Body and Blood of Christ). Christians don't say that they 'do' or 'carry out' the Eucharist (or ‘Mass’); they celebrate it. It is the most important sacrament for Roman Catholics.

4. Penance, more commonly known as ‘confession’, is the requirement that Catholics confess their sins to a priest. Important to note is the fact that priests offer absolution, or forgiveness, often in the form of prayer. A priest hears confession from the ‘penitent’ in a ‘confessional’, Confessionals sometimes form part of the architectural scheme of the church, but more usually, confessionals are cabinets that are movable pieces of furniture.

5. Extreme Unction, also known as Anointing of the Sick, is performed on those individuals facing imminent death. In addition to offering a last chance for confession, Extreme Unction offers the dying hope for entry into heaven. The sacrament is administered by a priest, who uses olive oil or another pure plant oil to anoint the patient's forehead and perhaps other parts of the body while reciting certain prayers.

6. Marriage is more than a contract within Catholicism. Instead, it is a representation of Christ's relationship with the Church and is considered accordingly holy. The catechism* of the Roman Catholic Church states that ‘The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble: God himself has determined it 'what therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder'.

7. Holy Orders are only open to those individuals who do not enter into marriage (because Roman Catholic clergymen are celibate) and refers primarily to the priests and bishops who administer the Church. Those who enter into a Holy Order are required to undergo considerable study. They are then ‘ordained’ in a sacramental ritual. ‘Ordination’ therefore refers to the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies.

* A ‘catechism’ (from Ancient Greek: κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments used in rhw religious teaching of children and adult converts. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals – often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorised

Heaven, Hell and PurgatoryPeople in the sixteenth century believed they were born with original sin, as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Every time they disobeyed God’s laws or committed one of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony or sloth) they acquired more time that would be spent in purgatory, where they would be judged before going to heaven. In purgatory, their soul would suffer for a suitable time before being pure enough to be sent to Heaven. The amount of time spent in purgatory correlated directly to the amount of sin a person had committed in their lifetime, and those who had committed enough sin (e.g., by committing heresy) would be sent straight to hell.Catholics believed that their priest played a vital role in helping them reduce the time their souls spent in purgatory, through…

Delivery of the Seven Sacraments (including the very important Mass – or Eucharist):

Interpreting the Bible (the Bible – until 1538 – was in Latin).

In addition to the role of the priesthood, it was believed that salvation could be achieved by doing ‘good works’, including:

Aside from taking joining one of the monastic orders of the time and becoming a monk or a nun, the other main way of reducing one’s time in purgatory was more controversial – it was through purchasing an indulgence. Martin Luther, the German Monk who helped to usher in the Protestant Reformation, was very critical of this practice.

Luther became increasingly angry about the clergy selling 'indulgences’ – cancellation from punishments for sin, either for someone still living or for one who had died and was believed to be in purgatory. On 31 October 1517, he published his '95 Theses', attacking papal abuses and the sale of indulgences.

Luther had come to believe that Christians are saved through faith and not through their own efforts. This turned him against many of the major teachings of the Catholic Church. In 1519 -1520, he wrote a series of pamphlets developing his ideas – e.g. 'On the Freedom of a Christian Man’.

Thanks to the printing press, Luther's '95 Theses' and his other writings spread quickly through Europe.

Key Question: Why the devil did they paint Doom onto church walls? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________