Exam 15: The Catholic Reformation

According to the author, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) did not start as a religious order interested in education, but education quickly became its hallmark. Do you think that this move was a corruption from the vision of Ignatius or aligned with it? Explain.

Given that there were reform initiatives before the Reformation, do you think the Reformation was necessary for Western Christianity's authenticity? Would your answer change if reforms were more vigorously employed in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries?

Why did the author say that the term Counter-Reformation is really a misnomer?

What do you think were the most positive and negative outcomes of the Council of Trent for Roman Catholic doctrine and the church as an institution, as well as for the Catholic Church's relationship with other Christian denominations?

Trent's understanding of justification differed from that of the reformers in that:

Czar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) saw himself as protector of the church.

Review the lengthy quote on justification from the Council of Trent. Do you think that it principally aligns or departs from that of the Protestants? Regarding any divergences from the Protestants, do you think that Trent's position more intellectually cogent than that of Luther or Calvin? Why or why not?

Trent agreed with the reformers that justification came only from God's grace.

Czar Alexis orchestrated the greatest repression of Orthodoxy in its history prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. .

The author believes that the term Counter-Reformation is a misnomer.