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THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



utterances of the pontiff have been taken as the 

 groundwork of the faith and practice of the 

 church. His pronouncements are regarded as 

 infallible when he defines a doctrine regarding 

 faith and morals to be held by the whole church. 

 The work of the church in the world is directed 

 immediately by the bishops, who receive their 

 jurisdiction from the pope. The power in- 

 herent in the Episcopal character and order is 

 received from God directly and immediately. 

 When established in a diocese by the pope, the 

 bishop, by virtue of his title, receives the power 

 of governing and of taking cognizance of all 

 spiritual causes which regard his flock, whether 

 laymen or ecclesiastics, with the exception of 

 what is specially reserved to the head of the 

 church, and he possesses and exercises these 

 prerogatives under the jurisdiction of and in 

 dependence on the pope. 



The Reformation, term universally ap- 

 plied by Protestants denoting change from Ro- 

 man Catholic to the Protestant religion, which 

 was originated in Germany by Luther, A. D.I 51 7, 

 but had been begun in England by Wyclifte, and 

 was afterwards completed by Henry VIII., who 

 assumed the title of " Head of the Church." 



Luther's conflict with the Church of Rome 

 began when he boldly attacked the doctrine 

 of indulgences.. The proclamation of indul- 

 gences was not new in Germany, nor was oppo- 

 sition to it on the part of the people and of 

 both civil and ecclesiastical authorities new. 

 The struggle was precipitated, however, when 

 Albert of Brandenburg appointed John Tetzel, 

 of Leipsic, a learned and eloquent Dominican, 

 to preach the indulgences among the people. 

 New opposition at once broke out, and Luther 

 took the lead. He drew up his objections in 

 the shape of ninety-five propositions, which 

 he fastened to the door of the Castle church at 

 Wittenberg, on All Saints' Eve (Oct. 31, 1517). 

 In these he attacked the abuse, not the doc- 

 trine, of indulgences, pronouncing anathema on 

 whosoever spoke against the truth of papal 

 indulgences. Nevertheless the propositions 

 contained the germs of his future heresy and 

 gave rise to the movement known as the Prot- 

 estant Reformation. He at once gained a 

 number of adherents, among them men of 

 influence both in church and state. A vigor- 

 ous and oftentimes exceedingly discourteous 

 controversy followed which led to Luther's 

 being summoned to Rome to defend himself. 

 At the request of the Elector Frederick, the 

 Diet of Augsburg was substituted for Rome as 

 the place of the trial, and Cardinal Cajetan, 

 papal legate, was appointed to represent the 

 pope at the Diet. Luther claimed that he had 

 said naught against the Scriptures, the doctrine 

 of the church, the decrees of popes, or reason. 



In short, made a complete retraction, and fled 

 from Augsburg angry at heart. In 1520 he 

 launched out pamphlet after pamphlet assail- 

 ing in virulent terms the whole office and dig- 

 nity of the papacy, setting out that the Bible 

 was the only source of faith. These doctrines 

 caught the hearts of the multitudes. Luther 

 appealed strongly to the spirit of nationality 

 and aggrandizement. He addressed the em- 

 peror, the nobles, and the people. He urged 

 the emperor to overthrow the power of the 

 pope, confiscate the wealth of the church, 

 abolish feasts and holidays and masses for the 

 dead. On June 15, 1520, the pope issued a 

 bull specifically condemning Luther's teach- 

 ings, and excommunicating him if he refused 

 to retract within sixty days. Luther appealed 

 from the authority of the pope to a general 

 council, and publicly burned the pope's bull 

 at Wittenberg, consigning the pope himself to 

 " fire eternal." The Diet of Worms placed 

 him under the ban of the empire as a heretic, 

 but the circumstances of the time and the oppo- 

 sition of the German States rendered the edict 

 ineffective. From these beginnings the Refor- 

 mation spread throughout the German Em- 

 pire and thence to various other countries. 



Christianity is based upon a new and 

 specific revelation in the person of Jesus Christ. 

 Its aim is to restore to mankind the lost fel- 

 lowship with God in an eternal kingdom, set 

 up here on earth, and called the Church, to be 

 brought to its full and perfect consummation 

 in the world to come. The foundation of a 

 Christian's faith and practice is ultimate, and, 

 in truth, the only appeal must be to the facts, 

 the doctrines, and the precepts of the Scriptures, 

 especially those of the New Testament. The 

 history of Christianity, then, is the record of 

 the facts pertaining to the nature and growth 

 of the Kingdom of God upon earth, in their 

 external and internal relations. This history 

 falls into three main divisions : Ancient, 

 Mediaeval, and Modern. The Ancient history 

 of Christianity is the narrative of the suprem- 

 acy won by the church over Greek culture 

 and the Roman Empire. It closes and the 

 Mediaeval history begins, with the epoch of 

 the Carlovingian dynasty. The Mediaeval com- 

 prises the victories of the church over the 

 Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonian, and Scandinavian 

 tribes in the center and north of Europe, the 

 conflicts and rupture of the eastern and western 

 branches of the church, and the contest be- 

 tween the imperial and papal powers for suprem- 

 acy. This period closes with the Reformation. 

 The Modern history recites the struggles 

 between Catholicism and Protestantism, be- 

 tween Christianity and philosophy, and the 

 growth of Protestant civilization. 



