The Fragmentation of Western Christendom

Chapter 24: The Transformation of Europe

The Fragmentation of Western Christendom

An Internet Guided Tour

Earlier in the course we saw the fragmentation of Christianity in the 11th century schism, in which the Greek-based Eastern Orthodoxy of the Byzantine Empire broke irretrievably from Latin-based Roman Catholicism. Chapter 24 deals with another major fragmentation – this time within Western Europe’s Catholic Church: the Reformation. It began with a man named Martin Luther.

Go to http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/LUTHER.HTM and answer the following:

1. Who or what is responsible for the content on this website/page?

2. Do you think this material is credible (i.e., can you reasonably assume the information is accurate and not just made up by someone with a questionable agenda)? Why?

Now read the material on the site:

3. Who was Martin Luther, and what is he credited with doing? When did this take place?

4. How does this website characterize Martin Luther the man?

5. What are indulgences, and what did Martin Luther do about them?

6. What are “good works,” and how did Martin Luther feel about them?

7. How did authorities respond to his criticisms of the Church? Provide names and actions.

8. What does this site have to say about “liberty” and the role played by Martin Luther in the European Enlightenment?

Another major figure in the fragmentation of Western Christendom was John Calvin. Go to http://wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/CALVIN.HTM and answer the following:

9. Who was John Calvin, and how did he “change the face of Protestantism?”

10. Describe Geneva in the 16th century and its role in making Calvinism the dominant branch of Protestant reform from then onward.

11. Explain Calvin’s central theological tenet, predestination.

Now go to http://www.coe.uga.edu/~rhill/workethic/hist.htm and answer the following:

12. Who is Roger B. Hill, author of this site’s document “History of Work Ethic?” What does he do for a living, and where? Is the information on this site, therefore, credible?

13. Has the notion that “hard work is good for the soul” always been a commonly held belief? In a paragraph containing at least two specific examples each from the classical period and medieval period, explain why or why not.

14. Explain how attitudes toward work changed with Luther and Calvin.

15. In a nutshell, what is the thesis behind Max Weber’s views of the Protestant Work Ethic?