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To view a screen capture presentation on this article, click here To listen to an audio presentation on this article, click here Serious and Intelligent Born of Italian nobility in the city of Ferrara in 1452, Savonarola was described as a serious and intelligent boy who, at an early age, gravitated to the writings of some of the most learned men in history. He received instruction in philosophy, logic and medicine from his father and grandfather. From studying the writings of Plato and Dante, he came to develop a deep spiritual hunger. The pictorial illustrations of hell in Dante’s Inferno tormented him. The Centre of the Renaissance In 1475, he decided to become a monk and joined the Dominicans. After an intense time of study, he was sent to the city of Florence. In the 15th Century, the centre of the Renaissance was Florence, Italy. From this centre of science and art, masters such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael produced exquisite and timeless art.
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To listen to the audio of the presentation, click here Reformation in Scotland As the books of Martin Luther and Tyndale's translation of the New Testament entered Scotland, they were received with great interest. Students at St. Andrews University began to take their faith seriously. Patrick Hamilton, a student at St. Andrews, wrote a book that was condemned as heretical. He fled to Germany, met with Luther and soon returned to Scotland. Hamilton began preaching the Protestant Faith with great boldness. The Betrayal of Patrick Hamilton By an act of Parliament, 17 July 1525, the importation of Luther's books into Scotland was prohibited. In 1528, the Archbishop of St. Andrews summoned Hamilton for "a debate." However, he had no intention of debating Hamilton; it was a trap. Before any of his friends could come to Hamilton’s defence, a church court hurriedly found him guilty of "heresy". Martyrdom While most heresy trials took weeks, Hamilton's was rushed through in less than 12 hours. It took 6 long, excruciatingly painful hours for Hamilton to die by burning at the stake. Patrick Hamilton was Scotland's first Protestant martyr. He was just 24 years old. His death inspired widespread interest in the Reformation, and an intensified opposition to Catholicism. Hamilton's last words were: "How long, O Lord shall darkness cover this realm? How long will you suffer this tyranny of men? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
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To view a video of this presentation, click here To listen to the audio of the presentation, click here The Reformation movement launched by Wycliffe and his Lollards in England was intensely opposed and fiercely persecuted by the Roman church. The Reformation movement was largely driven underground in the British Isles. But Wycliffe’s teachings spread to Bohemia where they resulted in a dynamic revival. The two nations of England and Bohemia were linked in 1383 by the marriage of Anne of Bohemia to King Richard II of England. Prague students went to Oxford and English students went to Prague. Preparation for Reformation Scripture translations from the persecuted Waldensian refugees had begun entering Bohemia in the 13th Century. When Anne of Bohemia married King Richard II she sent copies of Wycliffe’s writings back to her homeland. Queen Anne’s love for the Bible was shared by many of her countrymen. Soon, Conrad Stickna was preaching the Gospel in the open air to large crowds. Matthew of Janov travelled throughout Bohemia preaching against the abuses of the church. His followers were imprisoned and burned at the stake. John Milic, Archdeacon of the cathedral in Prague, preached fearlessly against the abuses of the church and wrote “Anti-Christ Has Come” over a cardinal’s doorway. He was imprisoned. Our articles, How the Reformation Changed the World and Here I Stand received many responses from around the world, mostly very positive. However, there were also some friends who responded in surprise that we could have so positively quoted from Martin Luther, because from what they had heard, he was anti-Semitic and responsible for terrible atrocities against the Jews. Character Assassination I was even directed towards websites that are dedicated to depicting Luther as an "anti-Semite" who "laid the foundations for the holocaust!" Luther Was Friend and Advocate for Jews The accusation that Martin Luther was an anti-Semite, responsible for massacres, reveals an ignorance of history. Luther was pro-Christ and he was zealous in evangelism. For decades he lovingly and patiently reached out to the Jewish people in his arewith the Gospel. In 1523, Luther accused Catholics of being unfair to Jews in treating them "as if they were dogs". Luther was outraged and declared that such mistreatment made it even more difficult for Jews to convert to Christ. Albrecht Dürer was the oldest son and third of 18 children born to a goldsmith in Nuremberg, Germany. His father, Albrecht Dürer, the elder, worked hard in his precious metals business, but faced severe trials and suffered the loss of many of his children. Only three of his 18 children survived to adulthood. Yet Mr. Dürer was an honest man who trusted in God and handled his trials with courage and faith. His son, Albrecht wrote: “My father lived an honorable Christian life. He was a man patient of spirit, mild and peaceable to all, and very thankful toward God… He was a man of few words and a God fearing man… This man, my dear father, was very careful of his children to bring them up to love and honour God.”
In 1513, 22 year old King Henry VIII waged a crusade in Europe on behalf of Pope Julius II, who had promised Henry recognition as a “most Christian King” if he would “utterly exterminate the King of France.” In 1521, Henry authored a book, “The Seven Sacraments” attacking Martin Luther and defending Catholicism’s view of the Sacraments. For this, the Pope gave Henry the title “Defender of The Faith.”
Henry was a Renaissance man, he was fluent in Latin, French and Spanish, an accomplished musician, theologian and Humanist scholar. Yet, despite Henry’s strong loyalties to the Pope, expressed in both blood and ink, Henry did much to open England to the Reformation. It was not so much that Henry embraced the Protestant faith, as much as he came to reject the authority of the Pope over English affairs. Henry was determined to have a male heir to the throne, to protect England from going through the kind of devastating civil war that his father had come to power through (The War of the Roses). Henry ended up going through 6 wives, 2 of whom lost their heads as a result of losing his favour. Queen Mary is remembered as the ruler who failed to return England to the Catholic Church. As Foxe’s of Martyrs (Acts and Monuments) recorded, not the hundreds of prominent executions carried out under Blood Mary, nor the cruelties, torment, torture and oppression were sufficient to crush the Protestant Reformation in England. In fact, the end result of Mary’s attempts to return England to Catholicism were rather to convince the vast majority of Englishmen in their resolution and determination never to again succumb to such tyranny, superstition, intolerance or error ever again. By trying to exterminate the Reformation, Bloody Mary only succeeded in entrenching it. |
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