36. Христианские общества и секты на Западе после реформации

Having separated Western Christians from the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformation did not satisfy their religious needs. Therefore, immediately after the formation of Protestantism, many sects arise from among it: they all express dissatisfaction with the reform and try to make up for it, but far from the Orthodox Church they fall into more and more contradictions and inconsistencies and are fragmented ad infinitum. These sects arise in two directions: some try to satisfy the demands of reason, others the demands of religious feeling. Of the sects of a rationalistic nature, the most notable is the Socinian sect: it represents, as it were, an intermediate step from reformism to pure rationalism. Even during the lifetime of Luther and Calvin, a society of so-called Unitarians was formed, who rejected the fundamental dogmas of Christianity: the trinity of Persons of the Divinity and the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of these, the most famous is the Spanish physician Michael Servetus, who, after various adventures, was finally, in 1553, at the request of Calvin, imprisoned and burned as a blasphemer. Other freethinkers were subjected to similar executions. But these cruel measures did not stop the spread of the destructive heresy. In the second half of the 16th century, two Socins (uncle and nephew) developed a certain system of Unitarian doctrine and united the Unitarians into one society. The main points of the teaching of the Unitarians, or Socians, are the following: 1) The only source of religious knowledge is the Holy Scripture, but in it nothing beyond reason should be accepted. 2) The Mystery of the Trinity, as exceeding reason, is rejected: God is one, Jesus Christ is a simple man, only endowed with divine power to accomplish our salvation and elevated to the degree of divine greatness as a reward for perfect obedience to the will of God; The Holy Spirit is only the power of God. 3) There is no original sin, but only a hereditary inclination towards evil, which is not imputed to sin. 4) Redemption consists only in the fact that Jesus Christ, by teaching and life, showed us the path to virtue. 5) The death of Christ is not a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, but has the meaning that Jesus Christ sealed with it the truth of His teaching and accomplished a great feat, for which he was rewarded with elevation to divine dignity. 6) The sacraments are simple rites, venerable in their antiquity. Of the sects with a mystical and at the same time rationalistic direction, the most remarkable is the sect of the Anabaptists, or re-baptists. At the beginning of Luther's Reformation, many of the people, and especially university students, were inflamed with wild fanaticism against the entire external order of the Roman Catholic Church: they interrupted services, destroyed altars, and threw away icons. At the same time, so-called prophets appeared in Zwickau, who boasted that they received revelations from God Himself, and a certain Thomas Münzer began to preach a new gospel to the people. The prophets of Zwickaus came to preach in Wittenberg and especially advocated against the baptism of children, demanding a new baptism in the spirit. Luther hurried from the Wartburg, where he was hidden from his enemies by Frederick of Saxony, and for a whole week, day after day, he preached against madmen. The Zwickaus left Wittenberg, but the ferment of minds did not stop: it penetrated among the peasants and caused a brutal peasant war (1524–1526). After much unrest, a certain Simon Mennon, a Catholic priest who renounced the Church in 1536, gave a certain creed to the sect of re-baptists. At its core, it was Reformed and differed from it by denying the baptism of children, therefore those baptized in infancy were re-baptized again. Anabaptists, or Mennonites, according to their dreams, constitute the only Church of chosen holy people on earth. In addition, Mennon forbade his followers from entering military and civil service and any use of an oath. Of the sects with a mystical direction, the most famous is the sect of Quakers (from English, “trembling”). The founder of this sect in 1647 was George Fox, and it was spread and organized by William Penn, who gave his name to one of the states of the North American Republic, where, as a result of persecution, Fox's followers withdrew from England. During the fierce struggle between Catholics and reformers, who cursed each other, George Fox, naturally thoughtful and dreamy, came to the idea that there is no truth in any religion and a person must draw it in his heart, by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Quakers rejected all symbolic and liturgical church books, as well as all ritual actions, and left only the Bible. On Sunday, Quakers enter quietly into a simple hall, deliberately devoid of any decoration, wearing hats (so as not to show any respect to the place of meeting), and sit on simple benches - men on one side, women on the other, in deep silence and calm silence they delve into the reading of the Bible and wait for inspiration from above. Whoever finds inspiration (and this is, according to the Quakers, such revival or beating of the heart that there is no longer the strength to be calm and remain silent), he (mostly the same persons) either prays or preaches. The one who begins the prayer kneels down, and all the others stand up (the men take off their hats) and quietly listen to the prayer, then sit down again. During the sermon, one speaker stands up and takes off his hat, while the others listen to her while sitting. Sometimes several people preach, one after another, men and women. Sometimes there are neither praying nor preaching: then, after a certain time, everyone gets up and an ordinary conversation begins. The Quakers, in addition to this, declared themselves to be a rejection of public and any other oath and an aversion to war. At the Vatican Council, convened by Pope Pius IX in Rome in 1870, the dogma of papal infallibility in matters of faith was proclaimed. This new dogma led many of the Catholic believers into extreme confusion, and some of the enlightened theologians made a clear protest both against this new dogma and against the council itself, denying its significance as Ecumenical and universally binding, which the pope and his Jesuit associates had assigned to it. The movement was led by the famous professor of church history at the University of Munich, Ignatius Döllinger. In September 1871, the first congress of those dissatisfied with Vatican dogma took place in Munich, and the formation of an independent community on the principles of the Ancient Catholic Church, as it was before its separation from the Orthodox East, began. Therefore, this community was called Old Catholic. At the congress of Old Catholics in Cologne in the fall of 1872, to which learned theologians of the Orthodox Church (from Greece and Russia) and various Protestant communities (German, Anglican and American) were invited, a plan was developed for the organization of the Old Catholic community, the first bishop was elected - the Breslau professor Reinkens, who accepted consecration from the bishop of the Utrecht Church, which had been independent of Rome for about two centuries, and the city of Bonn was appointed cathedral city. This old Catholic community was joined by opponents of the new Vatican dogma and other teachings that arose in the Catholic Church upon its separation from the union with the Orthodox Ecumenical Church, from Holland, Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy. Currently, all Old Catholics who have a proper organization number over 100 thousand. The question of uniting the Old Catholic community with the Orthodox Church has been raised several times, which is so desirable for the Old Catholics to strengthen their community among the adherents of the pope who surround them and are hostile to them, but the teaching of the Old Catholics and, in general, the direction of this new community among Catholicism have not yet been sufficiently clarified. The Old Catholics themselves would like to return and return us to the so-called undivided Church of the first nine centuries, but the Orthodox Church remains united and exists to this day in complete harmony with the Ancient Church. In the dogma of the Old Catholics, the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts in the sacrament of the Eucharist is not entirely clear and firm. Old Catholics excluded the word “and the Son” from the Creed as illegally included in the Symbol, but they allow the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son as a theological opinion. Claiming that in the sacrament of communion bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord, they do not agree to accept the words “transubstantiation,” which clearly and firmly expresses faith in this sacramental transformation. However, attempts to unite the Old Catholics with the Orthodox Church continue, not without hope of success. You might be interested in: