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Proto-Protestantism, also called pre-Protestantism, refers to individuals and movements that propagated ideas similar to
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
before 1517, which historians usually regard as the starting year for the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
era. The relationship between medieval sects and Protestantism is an issue that has been debated by historians.
Overview
Before
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
and
John Calvin, some men tried to reform
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. The main forerunners of the Protestant Reformation were
Peter Waldo
Peter Waldo (; c. 1140 – c. 1205; also ''Valdo'', ''Valdes'', ''Waldes''; , ) was the leader of the Waldensians, a Christian spiritual movement of the Middle Ages.
The tradition that his first name was "Peter" can only be traced back to the f ...
,
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
and
Jan Hus
Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...
. Martin Luther himself saw it important to have forerunners of his views, and thus he praised people like
Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...
,
Lorenzo Valla
Lorenzo Valla (; also Latinized as Laurentius; 14071 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator, scholar, and Catholic priest. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the ''Do ...
,
Wessel Gansfort
Wessel Harmensz Gansfort (1419 – October 4, 1489) was a theologian and early humanist of the northern Low Countries. Many variations of his last name are seen and he is sometimes incorrectly called Johan Wessel.
Gansfort has been called one of ...
and other groups as prefiguring some of his views.
Claimed to have prefigured Protestantism
According to
Edmund Hamer Broadbent in ''The Pilgrim Church'', over much of the
Christian era, many Christian
sect
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that ...
s,
cults and
movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
foreshadowed the teachings of what later became the Protestant movements.
Movements that have been argued as having similar ideas as Protestantism before the Reformation are:
*
Montanism
Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simi ...
and
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
: Montanists were a sect of ascetics that were against many developments in the early church, into which Tertullian converted. Parallels have been drawn between Montanism and modern-day movements such as
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement (including
Oneness Pentecostals
Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Jesus Only movement) is a nontrinitarian religious movement within the Protestant Christian family of churches known as Pentecostalism. It derives its distinctiv ...
) and the
Charismatic movement.
[.] Tertullian's attack on church authorities for "being more interested in their own power than listening to the Spirit" foreshadows Protestant reactions to papal claims.
*
Antidicomarians
The Antidicomarians or Antidicomarianites, also called Dimoerites, were a Christian sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century.William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity'' (Scarecrow Press, 2012 [])p. 31 Their name was i ...
: Antidicomarians refused to give Mary "special status" and denied her Perpetual virginity of Mary, perpetual virginity, their positions on Mary became the standard in many Protestant sects.
[William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity'' (Scarecrow Press, 2012 [])]
p. 31
* Aerius of Sebaste: Aerius of Sebaste is seen as a forerunner of the reformation by some Protestants,
he attacked
monasticism, denied fasting commandments and denied the
episcopal polity
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*b ...
.
*
Helvedius: Helvedius is seen by some Protestants as a forerunner of the reformation,
Helvedius opposed the doctrine of the
perpetual virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Anglic ...
and
monasticism, he was attacked by
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
.
*
Jovinian
Jovinian ( la, Iovinianus; died c. 405) was an opponent of Christian asceticism in the 4th century and was condemned as a heretic at synods convened in Rome under Pope Siricius and in Milan by Ambrose in 393, because of his anti-ascetic views. O ...
and
Jovinianism
Jovinianism refers to an anti-ascetic movement that has its origins in the 4th-century theologian Jovinian, who criticized the monastic movement and argued for the equality of marriage and celibacy. Jovinianism was criticized by Saint Augustine ...
(died c. 405): Jovinian was a 4th-century theologian who challenged the wave of ascetism in the 4th century, challenged the exaltation of virginity, denied the
perpetual virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Anglic ...
, and he believed that there is no difference between abstaining from food and enjoying it with thanksgiving. Jovinian taught a perseverance doctrine similar to John Calvin, as he taught the truly regenerate will persevere to the end.
Some also have argued Jovinian held grace oriented salvation views, similar to the Reformation. Jovinian is sometimes praised as an early forerunner of the reformation.
It has been argued that Jovinian believed in a distinction between the visible and
invisible churches, based on his statement that the Church is founded on faith, and that all in the Church are taught by God and that no "unripe" members exist within the Church and no one can enter the church "by fraud".
**
Sarmatio Sarmatio was a 4th-century monk in Milan and a disciple of Jovinian, who disputed the merits of the monastic and unmarried life. Sarmatio first met Jovinian when he travelled to Milan, where Jovinian found two monks of a similar mind, Sarmatio and B ...
: Sarmatio was a 4th century monk in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and a disciple of
Jovinian
Jovinian ( la, Iovinianus; died c. 405) was an opponent of Christian asceticism in the 4th century and was condemned as a heretic at synods convened in Rome under Pope Siricius and in Milan by Ambrose in 393, because of his anti-ascetic views. O ...
, who disputed the merits of the monastic and unmarried life.
**
Barbatianus Barbatinus was a 4th-century early Church theologian and a Jovinianist. Barbatianus disputed the merit of the unmarried life and opposed ascetism. Barbatianus along with Sarmatio met Jovinian when he travelled to Milan and found themselves to hav ...
: Barbatianus was a 4th century early Church theologian and a
Jovinianist. Barbatianus disputed the merit of the unmarried life and opposed
ascetism.
*
Vigilantius Vigilantius (fl. 400) the Christian presbyter, wrote a work, no longer extant, which opposed a number of common 5th-century practices, and which inspired one of the most violent of the polemical treatises of Jerome (died 420).''The Oxford Dictionar ...
(fl. c. 400): Vigilantus was a presbyter in Spain, he wrote against ascetism and the superstitions connected with it, Jerome criticized Vigilantius for forbidding the honor of the graves of the martyrs, rejection of
Vigil
A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...
s, opposition for virginity and being against fasting for the saints.
Vigilantius is seen as a forerunner of the reformation by some Protestants.
Some have also attempted to connect Vigilantius with the
Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
.
*
Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430): the Augustinian views of sin and grace foreshadow Protestant views, because many reformers borrowed their views about predestination, free will and grace from
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
. However Augustine of Hippo also shared theology in common with the
Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, such as
Mariology
Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology seeks to relate doctrine or dogma about Mary to other doctrines of the faith, such as those concerning Jesus and notions about redemption, intercession and grace. Chri ...
, his view of
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
and some other views. The Protestant apologist
James White has argued that Augustine did not accept the modern Roman Catholic view of
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
, however Catholic apologist
Tim Staples
Tim Staples (born July 11, 1964) is a Catholic author, apologist, and lecturer. He is the Director of Apologetics and Evangelization at Catholic Answers.
Personal life
In ''Surprised by Truth'' in a chapter entitled "The Bible Made Me Do It", ...
argued that Augustine did not deny transubstantiation.
*
Paulicians
Paulicianism (Classical Armenian: Պաւղիկեաններ, ; grc, Παυλικιανοί, "The followers of Paul"; Arab sources: ''Baylakānī'', ''al Bayāliqa'' )Nersessian, Vrej (1998). The Tondrakian Movement: Religious Movements in the ...
: Due to supposed
iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
it was asserted that the sect rejected the
Christian cross,
rites
Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...
,
sacraments, the worship, and the hierarchy of the established Church,
because of which
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...
considered them as "worthy precursors of
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
".
*
Byzantine Iconoclasm
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial a ...
: this was a movement within the Eastern Church that gained imperial support in the 8th century from
Leo III the Isaurian
Leo III the Isaurian ( gr, Λέων ὁ Ἴσαυρος, Leōn ho Isauros; la, Leo Isaurus; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741 and founder of the Isaurian dynasty. He put an e ...
(685 – 741) and some later emperors. They eliminated religious
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s, with some violence, possibly influenced by
Islam. Protestant Iconoclasts looked back to the Byzantine iconoclasts to justify their assault on religious image. Protestants in the reformation used the same Biblical and
Patristic texts used by the Byzantines in the 8th and 9th centuries, to condemn religious images.
*
Claudius of Turin
Claudius of Turin (or Claude) (''fl.'' 810–827)M. Gorman 1997, p. 279S. F. Wemple 1974, p. 222 was the Catholic bishop of Turin from 817 until his death. He was a courtier of Louis the Pious and was a writer during the Carolingian Renaissance ...
: Claudius of Turin was the Bishop of Turin; because of his
iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
, he is often seen as proto-Protestant. His commentary on the
Epistle to Galatians
The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in sou ...
shows some of his views prefigure those expressed by both the
Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
and
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
s centuries later. Claudius in his writings, maintained that faith is the only requirement for salvation, denies the supremacy of Peter, sees praying for the dead to be useless, attacked practices of the church and held the church to be fallible.
*
Gottschalk of Orbais
Gottschalk (Latin: Godescalc, Gotteschalchus) of Orbais (c. 808 – 30 October 868 AD) was a Saxon theologian, monk and poet. Gottschalk was an early advocate for the doctrine of two-fold predestination, an issue that ripped through both Italy and ...
: Gottschalk was a 9th-century
Saxon theologian who was condemned for heresy, due to his teachings on
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
and that Christ's redemption was only for the elect. The grace views of Gottschalk mirror the Protestant
sola fide
''Justificatio sola fide'' (or simply ''sola fide''), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, fr ...
doctrine.
*
Ratramnus
Ratramnus (died ) a Frankish monk of the monastery of Corbie, near Amiens in northern France, was a Carolingian theologian known best for his writings on the Eucharist and predestination. His Eucharistic treatise, ''De corpore et sanguine Domini ...
: Ratramus was a theologian who died in 868. Ratramus believed that the Eucharist is merely symbolic, thus rejecting the real presence of the Eucharist. Ratramnus also believed in single
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
. The writings of Ratramus influenced Protestant theologians and contributed to the later
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
*
Tondrakians
Tondrakians ( hy, Թոնդրակեաններ) were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered on the district of Tondrak, north of Lake Van ...
: Tondrakians criticized the
Armenian church
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
as rigidly structured, materialistic, they had their own priests, stressed free will and they pressed for reforms.
*
Ælfric of Eynsham
Ælfric of Eynsham ( ang, Ælfrīc; la, Alfricus, Elphricus; ) was an English abbot and a student of Æthelwold of Winchester, and a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres ...
: Protestants have appealed to Ælfric of Eynsham as evidence for the English church not believing transubstantiation, because of his book: ''Sermo de sacrificio in die pascae'' where he defines the Eucharist.
*
Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours (died 6 January 1088), in Latin Berengarius Turonensis, was an 11th-century French Christian theologian and archdeacon of Angers, a scholar whose leadership of the cathedral school at Chartres set an example of intellectual in ...
: Berengar of Tours (c.1005-1088), was a forerunner of the reformation. Berengar of Tours argued against
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
, saying that it is against logic and the Bible, and taught that the body and blood were not "
real
Real may refer to:
Currencies
* Brazilian real (R$)
* Central American Republic real
* Mexican real
* Portuguese real
* Spanish real
* Spanish colonial real
Music Albums
* ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000)
* ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...
" in the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
.
*
Albigenses
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
: the Albigenses were a religious group, that first appeared around the first half of the 11th century. Despite holding to
dualist
Dualism most commonly refers to:
* Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another
** ...
ideas, the Albigenses wanted to return to a purer form of Christianity and used the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
as their main authority. The Albigenses also held anti clerical tendencies, denied the idea of a purgatory, the crucifix, invocation of the saints, prayers for the dead, and transubstantiation.
The later
Protestant reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
had flourished in areas which were previously Cathar and Waldensian strongholds. The inclusion of the Cathars or Albigenses as a Protestant forerunner has been a matter of controversy, some people in the past attempting to justify the Albigenses as Protestants have even argued against them being dualist, however without much evidence.
*
Bosnian Church
The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква Босанска) was a Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent of and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodo ...
: Also called ''Krstjani,'' they denied the power of the Pope and were excommunicated by both the eastern and western churches. Some have claimed that the Bosnian church is an early pre-reformist church.
*
Pataria: The Pataria were an 11th-century group in northern Italy, that was against corruption in the church.
*
Tanchelm
Tanchelm (approx. 1070 - Antwerp, 1115), also known as Tanchelm of Antwerp, Tanchelijn, Tanquelin or Tanchelin, was an itinerant preacher critical of the established Roman Catholic church, active in the Low Countries around the beginning of the 12 ...
: Tanchelm was a 12th-century preacher who rejected the structure of the Catholic church.
*
Peter Abelard: Peter Abelard was a Frenchman in around the year 1100, he sought to include human reason as one of the ways to understand the meaning of scripture, instead of believing everything the church declares without question. He was condemned as a heretic, and his books were burned. Novelist and Abelard scholar George Moore referred to Abelard as the "first
protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
" prior to
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
.
*
Peter of Bruys
Peter of Bruys (also known as Pierre De Bruys or Peter de Bruis; ''fl.'' 1117 – c.1131) was a medieval French religious teacher. He was called a heresiarch (leader of a heretical movement) by the Roman Catholic Church because he opposed in ...
: was a French reformer who fought against the Catholic church, he rejected
infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions.
Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...
and religious images.
*
Henry of Lausanne Henry of Lausanne (variously known as of Bruys, of Cluny, of Toulouse, of Le Mans and as the Deacon, sometimes referred to as Henry the Monk or Henry the Petrobrusian) was a French heresiarch of the first half of the 12th century. His preaching beg ...
: Henry of Lausanne preached in France and his followers were called Henricans, Henry condemned Catholic clergy for their wealth.
*
Arnold of Brescia: Arnold of Brescia attacked the Catholic bishops for their wealth, he was hanged in 1155.
*
Joachimites
The Joachimites, also known as Joachites, a millenarian group, arose from the Franciscans in the thirteenth century. They based their ideas on the prior works of Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135 – 1202), though rejecting the Church of their day more st ...
: Joachimite interpretations prefigured developments in Protestant
hermeneutics
Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate ...
.
*
Waldensians
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
: Waldensians were a 12th-century movement often viewed as a precursor to the Reformation. The Waldensians did not baptize infants and they rejected the use of
indulgences
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...
; the Waldensians also denied
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
. The Waldensians wanted to follow Jesus in poverty and simplicity. The Waldensians later joined the
Protestant reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
.
The Waldensian movement was started by
Peter Waldo
Peter Waldo (; c. 1140 – c. 1205; also ''Valdo'', ''Valdes'', ''Waldes''; , ) was the leader of the Waldensians, a Christian spiritual movement of the Middle Ages.
The tradition that his first name was "Peter" can only be traced back to the f ...
, they contested the institution of the papacy and the wealth of the church, however they still took part in the sacraments of the Catholic church.
*
Fraticelli: the Fraticelli or Spiritual Franciscans were an extreme group of the
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
in the 12th century. The Fraticelli influenced later Protestant
mystics.
*
King John: During the reformation, king John was seen as a hero and as proto-Protestant martyr who suffered excommunication for his defiance of the Pope. King John was praised by
John Foxe and
John Bale
John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...
.
*
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
: Some early Protestant writers, such as
John Foxe and
John Bale
John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...
tried to argue that Dante opposed
papal supremacy and claimed him as a Protestant forerunner, this is because of his work "
Monarchia
''Monarchia'', often called ''De Monarchia'' (, ; "(On) Monarchy"), is a Latin treatise on secular and religious power by Dante Alighieri, who wrote it between 1312 and 1313. With this text, the poet intervened in one of the most controversial s ...
", where he attacked temporal powers claimed by the pope. Another reason why some interpreted Dante as a proto-Protestant was due to his advocacy of the use of
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
writing, and in his work ''Inferno'' the
Archbishop Ruggieri was imprisoned, which was quoted for
anticlericalism
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
. Despite many writers claiming Dante as a proto-Protestant, his religious views still aligned with Catholicism, such as
purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
.
*
Marsilius of Padua
Marsilius of Padua (Italian: ''Marsilio'' or ''Marsiglio da Padova''; born ''Marsilio dei Mainardini'' or ''Marsilio Mainardini''; c. 1270 – c. 1342) was an Italian scholar, trained in medicine, who practiced a variety of professions. He ...
: Marsilius (born in 1270ad) is sometimes called a forerunner of the reformation. Marsilius believed that the only source of truth for a Christian are the scriptures, and he rejected the ultimate authority of the church. Marsilius believed that obedience to papal decrees is not necessary for salvation, and he believed the Papal system to be of human arrangement and not divine. The beliefs of Marsilius were largely in agreement with the Protestant reformers.
*
William of Ockham
William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vil ...
: Ockhamite philosophy influenced Luther and Protestant philosophy. Luther conveyed the ethnical philosophy of Ockham into Protestantism. Ockham's stress on scripture anticipates Protestant views and some see him as a proto-Protestant.
*
Thomas Bradwardine: Thomas was an English man and a teacher at Oxford. Bradwardine believed in the doctrine of
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
, Thomas died in 1349.
*
Gregory of Rimini
Gregory of Rimini (c. 1300 – November 1358), also called Gregorius de Arimino or Ariminensis, was one of the great scholastic philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages. He was the first scholastic writer to unite the Oxonian and Parisia ...
: Gregory of Rimini (1300 – November 1358) was an Italian theologian; his teachings influenced later Protestant Reformers. Rimini believed in the human inability to lead a moral life without divine grace, and in
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
.
*
Friends of God
The Friends of God (German: Gottesfreunde; or gotesvriunde) was a medieval mystical group of both ecclesiastical and lay persons within the Catholic Church (though it nearly became a separate sect) and a center of German mysticism. It was founde ...
: Friends of God or were a 14th-century Christian group in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, some of the leaders of the movement were executed for their criticism of the
Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, the movement foreshadowed the Protestant reformation. The movement was a democratic lay movement that stressed piety, devotion and holiness.
*
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
: Many Scholars have regarded Petrarch as a proto-Protestant who challenged the Pope's dogma.
*
Strigolniki
The Strigolniki (singular Strigólnik– in Russian) were followers of a Russian religious sect in the middle of the 14th and first half of the 15th century, established in Pskov and later in Novgorod and Tver.
The origins of the name remain uncl ...
: Striginolki were a 14th-century movement in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
that were against monasteries, the upper clergy and they perhaps were
Iconoclastic
Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...
. There is some debate if the Strigolniki were similar to Protestantism or more "heretical".
*
Lollardy
Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholi ...
: Lollardy was a 14th-century movement that stressed the importance of scripture, denied
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
and rejected the system of the
papacy
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. The movement was started by
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
. Lollard doctrine anticipated those found in the Protestant Reformation.
*
Hussites
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Huss ...
: Hussites were a 15th-century group in Bohemia, founded by Jan Hus, who was influenced by the writings of
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
. Jan Hus attacked indulgences and believed the scriptures to be the only authority for every man.
**
Taborites
The Taborites ( cs, Táborité, cs, singular Táborita), known by their enemies as the Picards, were a faction within the Hussite movement in the medieval Lands of the Bohemian Crown.
Although most of the Taborites were of rural origin, the ...
: Taborites were a faction of the Hussite movement, they denied transubstantiation, veneration of saints, prayers for the dead, indulgences, confession to clergy and renounced oaths.
**
Utraquists
Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds") or Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', mug, borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', shell, husk; Czech: kališníci) was a belief amongst Hussites, a reformist Christi ...
: Ultraquists insisted on
communion under two kinds, apostolic poverty, "free preching of the gospel" and the use of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
in scripture reading.
*
Lorenzo Valla
Lorenzo Valla (; also Latinized as Laurentius; 14071 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator, scholar, and Catholic priest. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the ''Do ...
: Lorenzo Valla broke loose from an infallible church tradition and thus some call him a Protestant forerunner and prefigured some teachings of the reformation. Luther himself praised Lorenzo Valla.
*
Johannes von Goch
Johannes von Goch (properly Johann Pupper) ( – 1475) was a German Augustinian monk, thought by some to be a precursor of the Reformation, because of his views on scripture, justification and monasticism.
Biography
He was born at Goch in the Rh ...
: Goch asserted that the bible is the supreme authority on doctrine, perhaps taught that faith alone is enough for salvation and questioned monasticism.
*
Johann Ruchrat von Wesel
Johann Ruchrat von Wesel (died 1481) was a German Scholastic theologian. He objected to the system of indulgences, and has been called a "reformer before the Reformation".
He was born at Oberwesel early in the 15th century. He appears to have be ...
: Johann attacked indulgences and rejected priesty celibacy and papal authority; he believed in predestination and in the
church invisibile, and believed that the Scriptures are the only trustworthy authority.
*
John of Wessel: John of Wessel attacked indulgences, rejected the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
doctrine of transubstantiation, Wessel believed that the pope and councils can err and layed stress on the faith of the recipient of the sacraments.
While some Catholics have claimed that the identification of John of Wessel with Protestantism "exaggerates the similarities".
*
Johannes Geiler von Kaysersverg: Born in 1445, Johannes was concerned for moral reform in
Strasbourg, and preached about God's justice. His reforms laid groundwork for the later Protestant reform in Strasbourg.
*
Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...
was an Italian preacher and reformer, he was born in 1452 and died in 1498. Historians believe that Girolamo Savonarola influenced
Luther
Luther may refer to:
People
* Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement
* Luther (give ...
, and possibly also
John Calvin. Despite having many beliefs that align with Roman Catholicism, Savonarola believed in divine grace, such as Protestants do. Savonarola declared, that good works are not a cause of predestination but result of predestination.
His followers were called the
Piagnoni
The Piagnoni were a group of Christians who followed the teachings of Girolamo Savonarola. The later Piagnoni remained in the Catholic Church and kept a mixture with the teachings of Catholic dogma and the teachings of Girolamo Savonarola. The nam ...
. Savonarola never abandoned the dogmas of the Roman Catholic church, however his protests against papal corruption, reliance on the bible as the main guide link Savonarola with the reformation. Although some dispute the inclusion of Girolamo Savonarola as a proto-Protestant.
*
Pico della Mirandola: Pico della Mirandola published 900 theses against Rome, where he argued that "this is my body" must be seen symbolically and that no images should be adored. Pico was also an admirer of Girolamo Savonarola.
*
Johann Reuchlin
Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and Italy and France. Most of Reuchlin' ...
: Johann Reuchlin was a scholar, who got his master's decree in 1477, and later went through other studies.
When the reformation had begun, he never left the Catholic church but was suspected of leaning towards reformation ideas.
Later his grandnephew,
Melanchthon joined the Protestant reformation.
*
Johannes von Staupitz: Johannes was born in 1460 and served as
Luther's superior in the
Augustinian order
Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
, Staupitz stressed the doctrine of
unconditional election.
*
Faber Stapulensis: Faber was a forerunner of Luther in France, and anticipated the doctrine of justification by faith. Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples wrote commentaries on the bible which influenced Martin Luther.
*
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
: Erasmus was born only 20 years before Luther in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Despite Erasmus not supporting many radical reforms that Luther brought forward, Erasmus was still sympathetic towards some of Luther's beliefs and prefigured some of his ideas, most notably that everyone should be able to read the bible in their own languages. Erasmus sometimes defended Luther when he was in trouble, yet did not defend all of his teachings as he felt that the doctrine of ''sola fide'' was too divisive. Erasmus' contemporaries charged him with "laying the egg that Luther hatched".
Baptist opinion
Baptist successionism postulates an unbroken lineage of churches which have held beliefs similar to those of current Baptists. Groups often included in this lineage include the
Montanists,
Novationists,
Donatists,
Paulicians
Paulicianism (Classical Armenian: Պաւղիկեաններ, ; grc, Παυλικιανοί, "The followers of Paul"; Arab sources: ''Baylakānī'', ''al Bayāliqa'' )Nersessian, Vrej (1998). The Tondrakian Movement: Religious Movements in the ...
,
Albigenses
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
,
Waldenses
The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation.
Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" i ...
,
Petrobrusians Petrobrusians were a 12th century sect that rejected infant baptism, Catholic mass, veneration of the cross and prayers for the dead. Petrobrusians are sometimes identified as a precursor to the reformation.
Teachings
In the system of Peter of ...
,
Arnoldists
Arnoldists were a Proto-Protestant Christian movement in the 12th century, named after Arnold of Brescia, an advocate of ecclesiastical reform who criticized the great wealth and possessions of the Roman Catholic Church, while preaching against in ...
,
Henricians Henry of Lausanne (variously known as of Bruys, of Cluny, of Toulouse, of Le Mans and as the Deacon, sometimes referred to as Henry the Monk or Henry the Petrobrusian) was a French heresiarch of the first half of the 12th century. His preaching bega ...
,
Hussites
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Huss ...
(partly),
Lollards
Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...
(partly) and
Anabaptists
Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
. Baptist successionism proposes that groups such as
Bogomils
Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...
or Paulicians were Baptist in doctrine instead of Gnostic.
See also
*
Augustinian Calvinism
Augustinian Calvinism is a term used to emphasize the origin of John Calvin's theology within Augustine of Hippo's theology over a thousand years earlier. By his own admission, John Calvin's theology was deeply influenced by Augustine of Hippo, ...
*
Comparison of Catharism and Protestantism
*
History of Protestantism
*
Landmarkism
Landmarkism is a type of Baptist ecclesiology developed in the American South in the mid-19th century. It is committed to a strong version of the perpetuity theory of Baptist origins, attributing an unbroken continuity and unique legitimacy to ...
*
Preachership
*
The Trail of Blood
''The Trail of Blood'' is a 1931 book by American Southern Baptist minister James Milton Carroll, comprising a collection of five lectures he gave on the history of Baptist churches, which he presented as a succession from the first Christ ...
*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
*
Proto-orthodox Christianity
The term proto-orthodox Christianity or proto-orthodoxy is often erroneously thought to have been coined by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, who borrowed it from Bentley Layton (a major scholar of Gnosticism and Coptologist at Yale), and des ...
References
Further reading
*
* Stephen D. Bows: ''Reform before the Reformation : Vincenzo Querini and the religious Renaissance in Italy'', Leiden
t al.
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
2002.
* Walter Rügert: ''John Wyclif, Jan Hus, Martin Luther: Wegbereiter der Reformation'' Konstanz, 2017.
*
E. H. Broadbent: ''The Pilgrim Church'', Pickering & Inglis, 1937.
{{Beliefs condemned by the Catholic Church
Christian radicalism
History of Protestantism
Schisms in Christianity