{"id":22718,"date":"2017-02-22T01:34:38","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T05:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=22718"},"modified":"2017-02-21T22:56:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T02:56:36","slug":"medieval-christians-know-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2017\/02\/medieval-christians-know-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Medieval Christians Know Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_3470\"<\/a>
St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Recently I was made aware of an online church history curriculu<\/a>m. \u00a0At first glance, it seemed promising (at least from my perspective as a medievalist). It dedicated two weeks to the Medieval Church (five if you include the three weeks of Reformation), and it began the lesson for the High Middle Age<\/a>s with this disclaimer: \u201cCommon belief is that the Middle Ages was a truly horrible time period with no redeeming qualities. But the more we examine [we] realize just how rich some of the theology was, and how important many of the people and events are during this time period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, I thought, not too bad. From my experience growing up in a Southern Baptist church and serving as a pastor\u2019s wife for 20 years in both Baptist and non-denominational churches, I have found most average believers perceive the medieval church as disconnected from their modern faith. \u00a0Although they are comfortable tracing the roots of Protestantism to the first and second century church, they mostly regard everything that happened between 500 and 1517 as a deviation from scripture; heresy, if not outright apostasy.<\/p>\n

Given such attitudes, I was pleased to see a curriculum dedicating some time to understanding medieval Christianity. So I downloaded it and read it.<\/p>\n

Overall, I am still pleased that the curriculum discusses medieval history.<\/p>\n

But I also am concerned.<\/p>\n

I am concerned about how the curriculum characterizes medieval faith\u2013especially as I suspect the curriculum reflects broader contemporary attitudes.<\/p>\n

Now, before I continue, I feel I should emphasize my personal beliefs. I do not agree with medieval Christian theology. I believe I am saved by the grace of Jesus, and I identify (despite some of my life in a non-denominational church) most closely with Baptist beliefs (including a Congregational church governance model).<\/p>\n

\"DSC00765\"<\/a>
Monument tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica. The relief shows Henry IV kneeling before Pope Gregory VII.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So what are my concerns about the curriculum?<\/p>\n

I am concerned, although not terribly surprised, by how much it focuses on political and intellectual history and ignores the role of women and ordinary people. One example of this occurs in the discussion of the 11th century Investiture Controversy. Despite spending a lot of time discussing this struggle between church and state, the curriculum includes no discussion of the Countess\u00a0Matilda of Tuscany<\/a>, a figure just as important in the medieval controversy as the two (more famous) men involved, Pope Gregory VII and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.<\/p>\n

But what I am mostly concerned about is the section \u201cWere People Getting Saved During the Middle Ages?\u201d The curriculum paints a very dark picture of medieval salvation. It states that \u201cwe have to accept that at some point, somewhere there were redeemed believers in Christ. Just because we don\u2019t have clear evidence for large numbers of Christians doesn\u2019t mean, for example, there potentially weren\u2019t scattered monks and nuns here and there with a right understanding and living out of the Gospel.\u201d The ultimate lesson we should learn from medieval Christianity, suggests the curriculum, is that the lack of numerous \u201credeemed believers\u201d \u201creminds us what happens when people are illiterate of our Bibles\u2014we drift from knowing what constitutes acceptance with God\u2014repentance from sin, faith in the sacrifice that Christ performed on our behalf, the bodily resurrection, and living a new and holy life that reflects and is the proof of a true conversion.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was hard for me to read. The curriculum seems to be suggesting that\u00a0for ONE THOUSAND YEARS there is so little evidence of \u201credeemed believers\u201d we must just trust God that they existed. Let me say that again. For one thousand years there is so little evidence of \u201credeemed believers\u201d we must just trust God that they existed.<\/p>\n

As the initial shock of this suggestion faded away, I realized something important. I realized how poor a job medieval historians have done in teaching\u00a0modern Christians about medieval Christianity. I include myself in this criticism. So this post is the beginning of a series in which I hope to help bridge the gap between our modern faith and our medieval Christian heritage.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the assumption that most medieval people would not have known \u201cwhat constitutes acceptance with God.\u201d The church history lesson explains what constitutes this acceptance (which presumably modern Christians understand): repentance from sin, faith in Christ\u2019s sacrifice and resurrection, and living as a new creation.<\/p>\n

Keeping these three criteria in mind for \u201cwhat constitutes acceptance with God\u201d, I want you to consider the following two examples.<\/p>\n

The first is from a late medieval text from the Diocese of Cortona (central Italy) on \u201cHow to Behave in Church\u201d. Listen to the text, which I am picking up in the middle (translation by Daniel Bornstein in Miri Rubin\u2019s Medieval Christianity in Practice<\/a><\/em>):<\/p>\n

\u201cThen say that sweet song the angels sang when Christ was born to the Virgin Mary, that is: \u2018Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good will among men\u2019 [Lk 2:14]. And then you should fervently praise and bless the name of the Savior, and pray him that he may send peace from heaven to earth and maintain our hearts in his holy love and fear. Next the epistle is read, and this is like a messenger who brings us the news that the Lord will soon come. Then you should say: \u2018Lord God, you have sent to tell us that you shall come to us. I pray you that in your charity you might make me, an unworthy sinner, see with devotion your holy coming and desired presence.\u2019 When [the priest] says the gospel, which is the true messenger who cannot lie, stand up straight and sign yourself [with the cross] on the forehead, mouth, and chest, and remain with your head somewhat bowed. You should devoutly hear and understand what the gospel says because these are the words that our Lord said with his own mouth, that teach how we should lead our lives if we want to be in the mansion of so great a Lord. And with great reverence pray God that he may make you understand well and put into practice even better all that which he commands. Then he says the Credo, which contains all the articles of faith. And you should say it with him with complete devotion and reverence, and pray God that he may keep you in his holy faith, hope, and charity\u2026..[Then when the Eucharist is celebrated] you should say: \u2018O most holy blood, which redeemed us sinners by that holy fluid, make me drunk with the love and fear of our most holy lord Jesus Christ, me and every creature that believes in you.\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

The second text is from a Lenten sermon in a fifteenth-century sermon collection in England, John Mirk\u2019s Festial<\/em><\/a>. The focus of the sermon is on helping ordinary medieval people prepare themselves for Easter: \u201cWherfore this time of Lent is ordained only to succor and to cleanse your conscience of\u2026.sin\u2026so that you may with a clean conscience receive, on Easter-day, the clean body of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d For those ashamed to confess their sins, it contains this story of encouragement. Listen to the words preached by the sermon:<\/p>\n

\u201cI read of a woman who had done a horrible sin, and knew she should confess it, but she was too ashamed to tell it to a priest. Then, one night, as she lay and thought of her shame, Christ came to her and said: \u2018My daughter, why have you not confessed that sin?\u2019 Then said she: \u2018Lord, for I am so ashamed.\u2019 Then Christ said to her: \u2018Show me your hand\u2019; and then he put her hand into his side, up to the elbow, and said: \u2018What do you feel?\u2019 And she, shaking with fear, said: \u2018Lord, I feel your heart.\u2019 Then said he: \u2018Be you no more ashamed to show me your heart than I am to suffer you to feel my heart.\u2019 Then this woman rose up, and with a candle saw her hand covered in blood and tried to wash it away; but she could not wash it clean until the next day when she went to a priest and confessed. As soon as she was shriven, her hand became white as the other; and so she had the forgiveness of God and the bliss of Heaven.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I fully recognize that the Baptists I worshiped with this week (along with many other evangelical protestants) would strongly object to the emphasis on auricular confession, the sacraments of penance and Eucharist, clerical authority, and perhaps even the liturgical procedures described in these texts.<\/p>\n

Yet these texts also show clear familiarity with what the church history curriculum suggests \u201cconstitutes acceptance with God.\u201d Medieval people knew that their sin made them unacceptable before God, and they knew they had to confess and repent from that sin for salvation (indeed, one could argue that they grasped even better than we do how much sin separates us from God). The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was the focal point of medieval worship, and as both texts show, medieval people knew that their salvation depended on believing what Christ did for us\u2014\u201cO most holy blood, which redeemed us sinners by that holy fluid, make me drunk with the love and fear of our most holy lord Jesus Christ, me and every creature that believes in you.\u201d <\/em>Indeed, the story of the sinful woman shows the direct connection medieval people had with Jesus. Yes, the woman did have to confess her sin to a priest, but it was Jesus who personally came to her and brought her to that confession and hence her salvation (hmmmm? sort of like Jesus knocking on the door of your heart? followed by repeating the sinner\u2019s prayer? hmmm\u2026.). Finally, medieval people understood that true salvation led to transformation. The woman\u2019s bloody hand (representative of her sinful life) was literally transformed when she believed and acted on the words of Jesus. The Bible conveyed God\u2019s word, \u201cthe true messenger which does not lie,\u201d and medieval people understood they should know, believe, and follow the teachings of the Bible. As the first text states, \u201cYou should devoutly hear and understand what the gospel says because these are the words that our Lord said with his own mouth, that teach how we should lead our lives if we want to be in the mansion of so great a Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Medieval Christianity was different than modern Protestantism. It was even different from modern Catholicism. But that doesn\u2019t mean medieval people didn\u2019t know Jesus too.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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