Did the Reformation Begin the Day After the Nicaean Council?
LOLLARDS AND OTHER PROTO-PROTESTANTS WHO DEFIED THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: We all generally believe that the Reformation officially began with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517, but did you know that Luther’s reforms were conceived MUCH earlier, like just after (and even before) Constantine’s Nicaean Council of 325 AD?
The Main Concepts of the Reformation: The Twelve Conclusions of Lollards, 1382: The English Lollards were not the first to try to reform the Catholic Church, but they did enumerate twelve “conclusions” that exemplify previous attempts at reform. Briefly, Lollardy grew out of the first English translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible, led by Oxford’s John Wycliffe in 1382. While doing the translation, Wycliffe came across many inconsistencies between Biblical text and Catholic Church practices (these inconsistencies may have been hidden by the fact that lay people were generally not allowed to read or interpret the Bible). Wycliffe and others inspired the Lollard movement, which along with early books such as “Piers Plowman” and “The Canterbury Tales”, helped launch the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381. Here are the 12 Conclusions of Lollards:
First Conclusion: State of the Church: The English Church had become too involved in temporal power, following the bad example of the Church of Rome.
Second Conclusion: The Priesthood: The ceremonies for priesthood were too elaborate and not in keeping with scriptural basis.
Third Conclusion: Clerical Celibacy: Celibacy of Priests and Monks was encouraging sodomy. In Christianity, Clerical celibacy is specific to the Western Catholic Church, and was first ordained in the Council of Elvira in 305 AD. It is believed that it was conceived partly because the Romans feared priests would convey property to heirs and achieve dynastic power. St. Peter was married, and prior to the 4th Century, clerical celibacy was not a requirement. Despite the Council of Elvira, many priests and bishops continued to be married and have children in the following centuries, a kind of double-standard.
Fourth Conclusion: Transubstantiation: This asserts that treating communion bread as turning into the actual flesh of Christ is a form of idolatry.
Fifth Conclusion: Exorcisms and Hallowings: Alleges that priestly exorcisms and hallowings of items and people are acts of shamanism and not of Christian theology.
Sixth Conclusion: Clerics in Political Offices: This was a complaint against Simony, the bestowing of clerical offices upon those in Civic government (a conflict of interest that didn’t best serve the church’s constituencies). Simony was expressly forbidden by the 305 Council of Elvira (and later Councils), yet often violated in later years.
Seventh Conclusion: Prayers for the Dead: A complaint against the selling of indulgences (essentially, the practice of buying a deceased ancestor’s way into heaven). Indulgences began in Nicaean times as a way to reduce penance, and continue to this day. They got out of control during the Middle Ages, and an early attempt to control them was the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. The selling of indulgences became the most obvious sign of church corruption, and became a kind of joke (as related in the “The Pardoner” in “The Canterbury Tales”)
Eighth Conclusion: Pilgrimages: This asserts that pilgrimages, crucifixes, images, and the veneration of relics, represent idolatry, and that the money used for these items would be better used for helping the poor. A movement against the veneration of church icons, called Iconoclasm, was begun in the Byzantine Empire in the 8th Century.
Ninth Conclusion: Confession: This states that Confession is blasphemous since only God has the power to forgive and that priests giving forgiveness conditionally would be cruel and uncharitable.
Tenth Conclusion: War, Battle, and Crusades: Lollards felt that Christians should abstain from battle, since Christ taught us to love and forgive our enemies. The practice of Christian pacifism dates back at least to Justin Martyr in 165 AD.
Eleventh Conclusion: Female Vows of Continence and Abortion: Similar to the Third Conclusion, this complains that nuns claiming celibacy are prone to getting secretly pregnant and seeking abortions, and should alternatively get married.
Twelfth Conclusion: Arts and Crafts: Alleges that the multitude of crafts used by the church encourages waste and distraction. This is related to claims of non-scriptural materialism and icon worship in Conclusion 8.
Gosh, doesn’t it seem that these twelve conclusions are just as obvious and reasonable today as they were in 1395? Well actually, these views had been around since well before the Lollards, possibly even back to (and before) the First Council of Nicaea. Here are some other proto-Protestant influences:
The Romanization of Early Christianity: One might say that “Protestant” forces were at work even before the First Nicaean Council of 325 AD. Certainly, early Christianity had not firmly established rules for the priesthood and celibacy, and indulgences had yet to be invented. In the Roman tradition, “rules” were established, many of them positive (like the banning of animal sacrifice), while the First Nicaean Council established the “Nicene Creed”, which affirms the Trinity and other basic concepts (which most Christians follow to the present day). Pagan worshippers readily converted to Christianity, as it offered a better form of social acceptance, and “eternal life”. The Romans were aware of the Simony problem, and apparently made early attempts at avoidance. Certain Gnostic gospels were scrubbed, with some elitist overtones (see Dan Brown for further details). The Romans would appear to be fond of images, statues, and relics, so a possible Roman “icon-ization” may have occurred (hinting at a melding of Roman religious practices with Christian). Certainly, much of the humble, peaceful, and charitable elements of early Christianity seem to have been Romanized for a wealthier and grander audience. This seems to have created an immediate backlash among contemporaries realizing the contrast with Biblical scripture, though these voices were surely suppressed until the Middle Ages. (Ehrman,2023)
Iconoclasts: The First Iconoclasm took place between 726 and 787 in the Byzantine Empire, and was begun by a ban on religious images decreed by Byzantine Emperor Leo III. The second Iconoclasm was between 814 and 852, and each event was a response to the Ten Commandment creed against the worship of false images. There was also some impetus taken from the rise of Islam, which also forbade false images. At the time, the cojoined Carolingian Western Catholic Church was not opposed to religious images, so an uncomfortable schism between Eastern and Western churches began developing. As a result of iconoclasm, many church images were destroyed.
Berengar of Tours (1005–1088)-Argued against Transubstantiation, saying that it was against logic and Biblical teachings.
Sexually Active Popes: I’m not sure if this qualifies as a failure-of, or a protest-against “priest celibacy” (the Third Conclusion of Lollards), but here is a partial list of known participants:
Waldensians: This was a movement begun in Lyon, France by leader Peter Waldo in 1173. The Waldensians preached the virtues of poverty, and objected to simony, icon worship, war, and religious pilgrimages. They are thus seen as “proto-Protestants”. Nevertheless, they were branded as heretics and largely destroyed by 1215, though the Waldensian Church exists presently.
William of Ockham (1285–1347)-A methodical and logical interpreter of scripture and large influence on Martin Luther. The originator of the “Occam’s Razor” Principle.
Lollards: As stated above, Lollardy existed in some form for most of the 15th and 16th Centuries in England. John Wycliffe was branded a heretic after his death, his bones dug up and burned by the church. Another Oxford Biblical translator, William Tyndale, was inspired by Lollard ideals in 1525, and subsequently executed as a heretic in 1536 (though the 1613 King James Bible used over 75% of his translations).
Hussites: Jan Hus was inspired by John Wycliffe, and began a protest against indulgences in Bohemia in the 1500s.
Conclusion: Though it is often said that the Reformation was generated by the church masses reading their newly-printed Gutenberg or Geneva Bibles for the first time, it probably didn’t require scriptural knowledge alone to realize that the Catholics were corrupt. Naughty priests, ridiculous indulgence selling, and wink-wink political appointments to high church offices were the giveaways. Scriptural follow-up would reveal a general theme of non-Biblical image-worship, shamanism, and neglect of the Beatitude missions of Pacifism and service to the poor. Many of these early proto-Protestants were executed for their highly rational beliefs (many of which seem common-sense, even through a modern lens).
Other Vern Scott Articles on the History of Religion:
