> [[jh-hist-17|← Further Reading]] | [[history-of-the-catholic-church-toc|TOC]] | [[jh-hist-18|Next →]] # Footnotes ## Introduction [^1] Marc Bloch, *The Historian's Craft* (New York: Vintage Books, 1954), 32. [^2] Herbert Butterfield, *History and Human Relations* (New York: MacMillan, 1952). pp. 13-14. ## 1. Beginning at Jerusalem [^1] The question of the exact years in which Jesus lived is meaningless, since the designation "*A.D.*" ("*Anno Domini*" ---the year of the Lord) was established several centuries later, based on an estimate of when He was born. Thus the life of Jesus determined the dates of the calendar rather than the other way around. [^2] Unless otherwise indicated, all such New Testament terms are from the Greek. [^3] There is no warrant in the New Testament for individual discipleship outside a community of believers. [^4] The Qumran community is known primarily through the Dead Sea Scrolls, which, contrary to what was once thought, have little to do with early Christianity, although St. John the Baptist may have had connections to the community. [^5] There were two Apostles named James, who were later called James the Greater and James the Less, supposedly because of their ages. The New Testament calls one "the brother of the Lord" (Gal 1:19), but it is not clear if that refers to the author of the Letter. According to tradition, James the Greater went to Spain but later returned to Jerusalem to be martyred. ## 2. The Seed of Christians [^1] The argument has sometimes been made that the office of bishop was an innovation of the post-apostolic period. However, Ignatius wrote within two generations of the Apostles, and the argument from silence ---that, if something is not mentioned in a particular text, it did not occur ---is one of the weakest of historical arguments. As John's Gospel says, much happened in the life of Jesus (and, by extension, in the life of the Church) that was not recorded in Scripture (see Jn 21:25). ## 3. The Triumph of the Cross [^1] Jerome is an intriguing conundrum in the attempt to understand sanctity, since he was given to extreme vituperativeness in his numerous quarrels, including quarrels with St. Augustine, an illustration of the maxim that it is possible to be damned through imitating the vices of saints. ## 4. Holy Wisdom [^1] Although based on this episode, the maxim "It doesn't make an *iota*'s difference" reverses its significance. That one letter made all the difference. [^2] A statement by the Holy See in 2007 noted that Limbo had never been an official doctrine of the Church and implied that it was no longer to be considered common teaching. ## 5. Light in Darkness [^1] The term is often used polemically to refer to all of Western history from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance and to imply that the triumphant Church deliberately plunged civilization into ignorance. [^2] There are few more disputed questions from this period than the dates of St. Patrick. The traditional date 493 requires that he lived to a very great age. Some historians doubt this and place his death thirty years earlier. [^3] Mild modern superstitions, such as carrying a rabbit's foot, can often be traced back to pre-Christian practices. [^4] In premodern times, forgery was not considered as serious an offense as it later became. It was employed by people who thought that the forged document expressed a truth, even if it was not literal historical truth. [^5] There are some uncertainties about papal succession in this period, and Stephen VI is sometimes designated Stephen VII. [^6] "Good King Wenceslaus" of the Christmas carol. ## 6. Christendom [^1] *Medieval* is the adjective referring to the Middle Ages, a modern term that, dismissively, saw the period circa 500 to 1500 as having little significance of its own but as merely coming between ancient and modern times. [^2] This was a major difference between Christendom and Islam, which saw government as simply the enforcement of the teachings of the Qur'an. [^3] Partly because of disputes among his followers as to his true intentions, many legends grew up around him, as in the *Little Flowers of St. Francis*, but their historical authenticity is almost impossible to determine. The "Prayer of St. Francis" ("Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. . ."), for instance, was unknown until the twentieth century. [^4] Although little known, Waldensianism still exists and is the oldest non-Catholic Christian body in the Western world. [^5] The film *The Lion in Winter* is a fictionalized account of their relationship. [^6] It was to this divergence that Pope Benedict XVI referred in his controversial remarks about Islam at Regensburg, Germany, in 2007. ## 7. East and West [^1] The disagreement turned in part on the Greek words of the angel, which could mean "grace" in the supernatural sense but also "favor" as bestowed by a superior, supernatural grace being precisely such favor bestowed by God. [^2] While returning home, Richard was taken prisoner in Austria by a prince he had offended and was held for ransom, an incident that helped give rise to the Robin Hood legends, in which Richard's brother John is responsible for Richard's captivity. ## 8. Decline and Rebirth [^1] The incident is a caution against the attractive assumption that holiness alone is sufficient for a good shepherd. [^2] Present-day legends of the Templars, as in the book and film *The Da Vinci Code*, are completely fanciful. The Masonic Order, claiming direct descent from the Templars, calls its youth branch the Order of DeMolay. [^3] This remains the clearest case in the history of the Church of a possibly heretical pope. However, John expounded his error only in a sermon, not in a formal dogmatic statement. [^4] That the Avignon and Pisan popes after 1378 were considered invalid by the Church is indicated by the fact that some of their names and numbers were later used by other popes, notably by John XXIII (1958-1963). [^5] Since Gregory XII appears on the official list of popes, his approval was necessary to make Constance a valid council. [^6] The fact that the circumstances of Ockham's death are unknown is unusual for a man of his prominence. Probably he perished in the Black Death and was quickly buried. [^7] Husites still exist as a non-Catholic body a century older than Lutheranism. Their principal modern embodiment is called the Moravian Brethren. [^8] Some of those condemned may have actually believed themselves to have magical powers. However, the claim of present-day "wiccans" to be continuing an ancient cult is wholly fanciful. [^9] In England, which had no Inquisition, witchcraft was a crime in civil law, and witches were hanged rather than burned. [^10] She was canonized in 1920. Her sanctity is problematical insofar as she acted merely as a French patriot, but her canonization was based on her heroic virtue. [^11] The title of a modern novel by Thomas Wolfe, made into a film. ## 9. Reform and Counter-reform [^1] The pawn shop symbol of three gold balls was originally the symbol of the Medici banking house. [^2] Reputedly, the word *cappuccino* ---a drink of coffee and whipped cream ---comes from the brown of the Capuchin robes and the white of their beards. [^3] Ignatius at this period of his life has sometimes been compared to the fictional character Don Quixote created half a century later, a heroic but somewhat pathetic figure who struggled to live according to ideals of chivalry that were no longer viable. [^4] Evangelicals is a name given to those who developed a theology and a spirituality closely based on the New Testament. [^5] The Confession has been used as the possible basis of agreement between modern Catholics and Lutherans. [^6] More's story is widely known in part from the play and film *A Man for All Seasons*, which portrays him heroically but also gives an erroneous impression of his motives. He did not die for the supremacy of the individual conscience but for what he considered obedience to the will of God. [^7] The site of Benedict XVI's controversial 2007 speech about Islam, possibly chosen because of its historic ecumenical connection. [^8] The modern claim that Tradition merely means the Church's interpretation of Scripture is not borne out by the actual words of Trent, nor does such a theory account for such venerable doctrines as the Assumption of Mary. [^9] As with the early Christological councils, the decrees of Trent on justification and some other issues were forged through a certain amount of compromise and therefore resulted in some deliberate ambiguities, a fact overlooked by those who think the Second Vatican Council was unique in that regard. [^10] After the death of Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, some of her previously unpublished writings revealed that she had undergone that experience for many years. Far from indicating weakness of faith, it was further evidence of her great sanctity. ## 10. Reason and Revolution [^1] The Gordon Riots, named after the nobleman who incited them, are the subject of Charles Dickens' novel *Barnaby Rudge*. [^2] The great question, which remains unanswered after almost four centuries, is whether a "pluralistic" society of multiple creeds eventually fosters an indifference to all creeds. [^3] The term *cult* is officially used for private devotions and does not necessarily have pejorative connotations. [^4] There are many instances in the history of the Church of individuals who were held in suspicion, and even sometimes condemned, but were later canonized, based on the assumption that what is from God would eventually prove itself. [^5] *Abbé* means literally "abbot", hence "father", and in France was used for priests in general. [^6] In modern times, the term *Jansenist* has sometimes been misused to denigrate any strict sense of moral and religious obligation, including things that are in no way deviant or heretical. [^7] The subject of a film by that name. [^8] The subjects of the novella *The Song at the Scaffold* by Gertrud von le Fort and the modern opera *The Dialogues of the Carmelites* by Francois Poulenc. ## 11. Modernity [^1] Pius IX, *Syllabus of Errors*, 80, www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9syll.htm. [^2] Known as "Don Bosco"; *Don* ("lord") was a priestly title in Italy. [^3] Her blood sister, who was a nun in the same convent, was an avid photographer, so that Thérèse is the first saint of whom numerous pictures exist, some of them unposed informal scenes. [^4] The modern New Age movement is simply the latest manifestation of this kind of Romanticism. [^5] The term *anti-Semitism* is inaccurate, in that many Semites in the Near East are not Jews and are even antagonistic to Jews. [^6] Over time, the Church has rarely condemned lay people for heresy, regarding false teaching as especially pernicious when espoused by priests, who have a duty to instruct the faithful in sound doctrine. [^7] See the Graham Greene novel *The Power and the Glory* and the movie, *For Greater Glory* (June 2012). [^8] After the war, he became a professor at the Jesuit St. Louis University in the United States. [^9] It is difficult to judge how many were in fact guilty, although the prosecutions were designed primarily for propaganda purposes. The fact that allegations of this kind were used against the Church by hostile regimes perhaps caused the Vatican to discount more credible claims later. ## 12. To the Ends of the Earth [^1] The episode is highly fictionalized in the film *The Mission*. [^2] The persecution is the subject of the searing novel *The Silence* by the Japanese Christian Paul Endo. [^3] The word *propaganda* only later came to have its negative connotation of partisan falsehood. Literally, it meant merely the dissemination or encouragement of certain ideas. ## 13. The New Nations [^1] The novel and film *Black Robe* is a fictionalized account of the story. [^2] The subject of the poem *Evangeline*, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. [^3] His life is fictionalized in the classic novel *Death Comes for the Archbishop*, by Willa Cather. [^4] The novel and film *The Last Hurrah*, by Edwin O'Connor, dramatizes the complexity of the historical reality, including the ambivalence of the Catholic hierarchy. [^5] The film *Fighting Father Dunne* was about Peter Dunne (d. 1939) of St. Louis, who employed similar methods on a smaller scale. [^6] The film *Knute Rockne of Notre Dame* ---about the legendary coach who was a late convert from Lutheranism ---captures that spirit. ## 14. Joy and Hope, Grief and Anguish [^1] Walter B. Abbot, S.J. (ed.), *The Documents of Vatican II* (New York: Guild Press, 1966), 704-5. [^2] Such ambiguity has been characteristic of many councils. Nicaea by no means settled the question of Christ's divinity, and Trent left unresolved the relationship of grace and free will. [^3] At first, proponents of *aggiornamento* denied any connection with Modernism, but in time, some acknowledged it candidly. [^4] The validity of Anglican orders is complicated by the fact that many Anglican clergy can trace their orders back to Eastern Orthodox bishops, the validity of whose orders the Catholic Church recognizes. [^5] The claim that the Protestant observers helped shape the conciliar decrees, such as that on the liturgy, is untrue. --- ![[bibliography#^biblio-hch]] > [[jh-hist-17|← Further Reading]] | [[history-of-the-catholic-church-toc|TOC]] | [[jh-hist-18|Next →]]