Status Updates From Nacimiento y desarrollo de ...

Still struggling through this. It really requires reading in one piece not bits at a time.

I'm only now learning the important things about Thomas Hooker.

With the the Dunning-Kruger effect in mind, I must acknowledge the following: this book assumes a more advanced knowledge of European history than I have. It consists of numerous quotes from people I've never heard of, strung together with sweeping generalizations by the author. Reading the book makes me feel smart but, unless I am very careful, I am actually not learning much of anything.

So. Being careful.

I am rather dim-witted but I think Kamen is biased in favor of Catholics. Anyway, learned one can support toleration for two very different reasons: (1) (religious) principle or (2) political expediency.

I looked up the Council of Trent and learned lots of things. Trent is in Italy (or what is today Italy, anyway), for one thing. The Mass had to be said in Latin (the language Jesus spoke, I suppose :) ), laity didn't get the cup during communion, and the official Bible was the Latin Vulgate--none of this translating directly from the oldest manuscripts directly into the target language.

I've owned this book for almost fifty years and have read it several times. (The pages are loose and I rubber-band the book when I'm not reading it.) It's clearer this time because of all the other books I've read. I love this sixteenth century quote about heretics: "If you are wroth with him, it would appear that you are wroth not so much with him as with God, who has not furnished him with a better judgment."

Lutheranism and Calvinism really were just minor tweaks to Roman Catholicism and they were all united in loathing genuinely radical Christian movements such as the Anabaptists.

The early Protestant reformers all (except Anabaptists) believed in combining church and state to rule the population and all were extremely intolerant of each other. Their beliefs were very similar to Roman Catholicism only with each of them in charge rather than the Pope.

Luther's reformation was basically a conservative movement. Interesting point.

Second time reading this book. I'm slowly gaining an understanding of the topic as I read more and more books on it. Kamen points out that--before Constantine--Christianity believed in total separation of church and state. He is sure that's what Jesus meant my "render unto Caesar...".