| Author | John Milton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
Publication date | 1673 |
| Publication place | England |
| Media type |
Of True Religion, Heresy, Schism, Toleration; and what best means may be used against the Growth of Popery is an Anti-Catholic polemical tract by John Milton, first published in London in 1673. The tract addresses Milton's own problems with the doctrines, practices, and ceremonies associated with the Pope or the papal system of the Roman Catholic Church and, with what Milton called, the implicit faith of its members. The anti-Catholic ideas in Milton's writing are in direct response to the tolerant stance of King Charles II of England toward the Roman Catholic Church. Pro-Catholic sentiments had not been popular in England since the reign of the Roman Catholic queen Mary I of England.
Milton accuses the Roman Catholic Church of blatantly changing scripture and of blindly leading gullible members astray. He argues that the Catholic Church's reliance on popery is false religion and uses that as evidence of heresy within the institution. Milton begins his argument with the claim that "the increase of popery is at this day no small trouble and offence to the greatest part of the nation." [1] Milton continues his argument by juxtaposing the supposed errors of the Catholic Church with his own definition of "true religion." He maintains that true religion "is the true worship and service of God, learnt and believed from the word of God only." [1] Milton also suggests that members of the Roman Catholic Church live by a system of implicit faith. He proposes a solution to the problem, stating that two principles of true religion would "cut off many debates and contentions, schisms, and persecutions" [1] between Christians.
In his tract, John Milton frequently cited Biblical passages as evidence against the Catholic Church. Milton quoted from the books of Deuteronomy (Deut. 4:2) and Revelation (Rev. 22:18,19) and argued that the two main principles of true religion were (1) the word of God only, and (2) "that faith ought not to be an implicit faith, that is to believe, though as the church believes, against or without express authority of scripture." [1]
Milton wrote his pamphlet in 1673, one year before his death. With his greatest works behind him, Milton could focus on his current state and the condition of his country. He had studied the consequences of the state-run Church of England [2] and believed in the separation of church and state.
Milton was a witness of the unpopularity of King Charles II's tolerance of Catholics. Charles II had promulgated the declaration of indulgence (which had suspended the penalties for Catholicism and nonconformity) in March 1672, but had been forced to rescind it in March 1673. "Milton's tract is tolerant of the sectarians, who ‘may have some errors, but are not heretics’, but mounts a strong attack on Roman Catholicism, which he denounces as politically dangerous and theologically idolatrous." [2] Because his views seemed to contradict even mainstream ideas such as trinitarianism, it did not receive much attention during his lifetime. However, they would later influence future parliamentary issues like the Popery Act 1698. His writings later became wildly popular to the future revolutionary movements in France and America. [2]
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| Poetry | ||
| Antiprelatical tracts | ||
| Divorce tracts | ||
| Political tracts | ||
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| Individual sonnets | ||
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| Related | ||
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου 'on the whole, according to the whole, in general', and is a combination of the Greek words κατά 'about' and ὅλος 'whole'. The first known use of "Catholic" was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans. In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages.
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasize the Catholic heritage and identity of the Church of England and various churches within the Anglican Communion. Anglo-Catholics are primarily concerned with restoring the liturgical and devotional expression of the Christian faith in the life of the Anglican Church.
The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all organised churches of their day corrupt and preferred to wait for God's revelation. Many of them subsequently joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Religious tolerance or religioustoleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". Historically, most incidents and writings pertaining to toleration involve the status of minority and dissenting viewpoints in relation to a dominant state religion. However, religion is also sociological, and the practice of toleration has always had a political aspect as well.
Via media is a Latin phrase meaning "the middle road" or the "way between two extremes".
A Letter Concerning Toleration (Epistola de tolerantia) by John Locke was originally published in 1689. Its initial publication was in Latin, and it was immediately translated into other languages. Locke's work appeared amidst a fear that Catholicism might be taking over England, and responds to the problem of religion and government by proposing religious toleration as the answer. This "letter" is addressed to an anonymous "Honored Sir": this was actually Locke's close friend Philipp van Limborch, who published it without Locke's knowledge.
The infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit preserves the Christian Church from errors that would contradict its essential doctrines. It is related to, but not the same as, indefectibility, that is, "she remains and will remain the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world." The doctrine of infallibility is premised on the authority Jesus granted to the apostles to "bind and loose" and in particular the promises to Peter in regard to papal infallibility.
The rule of faith is the name given to the ultimate authority in Christian belief or fundamental hermeneutic (interpretive) standard. It was used by Early Christian writers such as Tertullian. The phrase is sometimes used for early creeds.
Catholicity is a concept of pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as catholic in accordance with the Four Marks of the Church, as expressed in the Nicene Creed formulated at the First Council of Constantinople in 381: "[I believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church." The English adjective catholic is derived from the Ancient Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general", "universal". Thus, "catholic" means that in the Church the wholeness of the Christian faith, full and complete, all-embracing, and with nothing lacking, is proclaimed to all people without excluding any part of the faith or any class or group of people. An early definition for what is "catholic" was summarized in what is known as the Vincentian Canon in the 5th century Commonitory: "what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all."
Branch theory is an ecclesiological proposition that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church includes various different Christian denominations whether in formal communion or not. The theory is often incorporated in the Protestant notion of an invisible Christian Church structure binding them together.
Anglican doctrine is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicanism.
A schism is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, such as the Great East–West Schism or the Western Schism. It is also used of a split within a non-religious organization or movement or, more broadly, of a separation between two or more people, be it brothers, friends, lovers, etc.
Heresy in Christianity denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches.
Protestantism is the largest religious demographic in the United Kingdom.
A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding". The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
The Church's Magisterium asserts that it exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging Catholics to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England was forced by its monarchs and elites to break away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe.
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
The expression "one true church" refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular visible Christian institutional church—what is commonly called a denomination. This view is maintained by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, the Churches of Christ, and the Lutheran churches, as well as certain Baptists. Each of them maintains that their own specific institutional church (denomination) exclusively represents the one and only original church. The claim to the title of the "one true church" relates to the first of the Four Marks of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed: "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church". As such, it also relates to claims of both catholicity and apostolic succession: asserting inheritance of the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority and responsibility that Jesus Christ gave to the apostles.
Catholic–Protestant relations refers to the social, political and theological relations and dialogue between Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians.