The "Dark Ages" were not all Dark Part One

 Many leftist are not the only ones that say the Middle Ages were dark times. This is a common claim many by many Evangelical Baptist Christians. They will speak of how awful the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages was. They will often refer to cruelty in Medieval torture, violent Crusades, suspicious inqusitions, and how the gospel was suppossedly lost for at least a thousand years. These same Evangelicals see the Protestant Reformation as a Restoration movement that restored the preaching of the gospel and the Christian Church from corruption. Worst of all, they see their beliefs as akin to that of the Protestant Reformers. 

Not only are the claims about the Middle Ages being the "Dark Ages," historically wrong, but these claims by many Evangelicals about the Middle Ages are often contrary to what the Protestant Reformers actually taught! 

I know where Evangelicals are coming from-because I once embraced much of their ignorance. Years ago, I learned about the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation through largely self study. More and more, I saw just how ignorant the historical claims about the Middle Ages are by many Baptist that school themselves better in their sermons than in their historical or literary knowledge, of which they are often strongly lacking. I have known few Baptist Evangelicals my whole life that knew much about history before America's own. 

Martin Luther critisized The Crusades movement in his On War Against the Turk. However, elsewhere, Luther spoke of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, whom he admired, as being the greatest proclaimer of the gospel despite Bernard supporting the Crusades. Yes, Luther became critical of the Crusades in his later life, but Luther never had the idea that all those in the Crusades were somehow devoid of the true gospel in their understanding. Even Luther then, did not believe the common Fudamentalist view of the Middle Ages being a time in which none are saved. 

In a past post titled Protestant and the Crusades, I explained that The Voice of the Martyrs by John Foxe was generally critical of the Crusades though it praised Richard the Lionheart of England. 

The point is not here on whether or not the Crusades were morally just wars or not but that the common claims made by many Baptist Evangelicals are historically ignorant. This continues to be an issue for many of them that need to be exposed to the fact that planet earth does not revolve just around the land of Tennessee or the "Bible belt". 

Further, many of the actions of the Middle Ages critisized by Baptist happenned only appeated in the second half of the Medieval era. The Crusades, the abuse if Indulgancs, the Inquesitions, the witholding of the communion chalice from the lay people and the abuse of multiple popes were all facttors to the Middle Ages mostly all known after 1000 A. D. . In other words, even if all the claims made by Baptist were true, that would still not illigimtize much of the Medieval Church before 1000 A. D. , which they ignorantly often also condemn. To make matters worse, they again show their historical ignorance by grouping the Middle Ages all together rather than understanding it as a period of history including other eras such ad the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages.

Some Baptist and Evangelicals claim there church existed underground and was supprssed by the Catholic Church, though they have never had sufficient evidence for this. Many of the past groups Baptist claim as pre-Baptist include the Lollards. However, while the Lollards often didn't infant baptize, many of them did believe in Purgatory. In other words, their views tended to not fully fit the views of present day Baptist. 

Baptist will sometimes excuse past church movements that didn't entirely reflect their current theology by saying that these groups were coming out of the Catholic Church therefore they didn't know any better. Centuries later, many Lutherans still hold their beliefs not because of their claim to tradition or because they are just now coming out of the Catholic Church but because of their belief Sola Scriptura. The Protestant Reformers often examined their beliefs in light of Scripture. The Baptist often claim that the Lutherans and other Reformed groups didn't go far enough, and should examine their teachings in light of Scripture. Baptist John Macarthur said in a debate with Presbyterian R. C. Sproul on infant baptism that the reformation has not went far enough. Those that make this latter claim often say Protestants still hold teachings not taught in Scripture but traditions passed down by the Roman Catholic Church. It often reflects the Evangelical attitude towards Creeds and Councils, that nothing should be used as authoratative but Holy Scripture. All the while that they say this they quote men not found in Scripture that reflect their theology and they used hymnals or praise ans worship songs that are not found in Scripture. On the contrary, the Puritans didn't even celebrate Christmas or Easter due to the lack of Biblical teaching towards these holidays in their view, yet many Baptist continue to practice them. If one also wants to get technical about it, only the Psalms, not the hymns are found in Holy Writ. to be used for singing to God yet many Evanfelucals hold traditions all their own. John Macarthur may think he is truly reformed from the Catholic Church but charismatic Christians or non-Trinitarians can just as easily point to him holding traditions passed down by Rome, whether taught in Scripture or not, and insist he is to close to Roman Catholicism. 

The Puritans were pretty consistent. Many of them didn't even celebrate drama or have theatre as these things were not taught in Scripture. But many of the modern day Baptist enjoy traditions all their own that are not taught in Scripture despite often criticising Roman Catholics and Protestants for this. 

Some will justify non-Biblical things like hymnal books or praise and worship songs by insisting they don't teach doctrine. Really? Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty teaches all the Biblical doctrine one pretty well ever has to know! The line and song are Biblical, but the point is simply that the hymns are not taught directly in Scripture.The Baptist that critisize the Rosary for its lack of evidence in Scripture use traditions all their own! This includes their love of Santa Claus at Christmas time (whom the Puritans did nor celebrate btw), and their historic preaching against alchohol and dancing all the while avoiding condemnation of gluttony. 

I am sure there are Baptist out there who don't fit all the defintions I just gave. Heck, there are people born with two heads! As rare as is the coming of the Eclipse is to find a Baptist that has actually read books on the Middle Ages. They read books about America and Beth Moore and John Macarthur Bible studies, but when pressed to historical fact they usually fall short of any knowledge about Saint Augustine's theology or any badic facts of the Middle Ages besides what their sunday school teacher or pastor has demonized to them. 

Returning to topic, even the Protestants that saw The Catholic Church as the whore of Babylon once saw her as the church that gave them the Holy Scriptures. Luther credited the Catholic Church for giving them them the Bible. I would be curious to see if many Evangelicals would say the same. 

To those that say the gospel was lost in the Midfle Ages, Saint Augustine sometimes taught a justification that comes across just as faith while elsewhere teaching it of faith and works. Saint Bernard and William of Ockham taught justification by faith. 

For those that say the Bible did not exist in the hands of laypeople for a thoysand years, it also didn't exist in its entirety in the hands of all church clergy. Before the fifteenth century, most theologians only had fragments and nanuscripts of the Bible rather than a printed text. Fortunately, the printing press changed that and gradually the Bible became widely printed over the following centuries. Even if one takes the critical view of the Catholic Church by insisting it withheld the Bible from laypeople, it would be more honest to make this claim only from when the prininting press was invented and on, not an entire thousand years also before it as there had no been no printing press to make the Bible easily assebible to all! 

The claims of mamy Baprist are far fetched from the mainline Protestantism of the Reformation Era. Most Protestants wanted to reform the Catholic Church rather than leave it. Also, I have never found a single Protestant Reformer to teach the gospel was lost or none were saved etc. during the Medieval Era. John Calvin quoted Saint Augustine in his writings more than any other theologian. Even Thomas Aquinas had some respect frpm the Protestant Reformers despite being critisized for his view in Transubstantation. 

The early Protestants were not out to make a new church. In fact, they agreed in some ways more with the Medieval theologians before the Reformation more than did the Council of Trent. Trent came to put Scripture and Tradition as equals where as previous theologians had seen Scripture as the highest authority, a view embraced by the Protestants. Catholic memes across the internet critisize Luther as a fat guy that wanted to start his iwn church though they ignore the reality that Luther did all he could to reform the Roman Church before being excominicated. Only then, did Luther and his followers break ways with Rome as his own views towards the Roman Church grafually hardened. It was the Anabaptist that believed Christianity had disappeared before the Reformation and was sudenly now restored. 

Finally, we will look more at this in the following weeks. The Middle Ages gave us some of the greatest works of art and architecture and literature the world gas ever known. Petrarch, a Catholic, was the one that called the Middle Ages "The Dark Ages," and he called that because of the kack of knowledge about the golden literature and philosophy of the ancient world. Petrarch did not mean it in the sense of the Middle Ages being an era or eras with no legitimate church or gospel. Evangelicals need to study more on the Middle Ages before they making such demonizing claims of the past, especially those of the Fundamentalist Baptist traditions. 

R. C Sproul once said that when the Catholic Church anathamized Sola Fide that ir ceasrd to be a legitimate church. Agree or disagree with Sproul, he held a closer view to the early Protestants that the Refornation was a Reformation not a Restoration.  

 

So were The Middle Ages "The Dark Ages". If by dark ine means the many plagues and wars that went on for a thousand years, they may have a point! But for those that the say the gospel was lost during the Middle Ages, they are holding historical revisionism similar to the Mornons abd Jehovah Witness. 

We have a lot on this topic still to cover! Hopefully, the Covid 19 will end soon and things will get better! Blessings! 

Further Spurces: Reformation Thoughts by Alister Mcgrath, Christianity's Dangerous Heresy by Alister Mcgrath, Positively Medieval: The Dynamic Heroic Church of the Middle Ages by Jamie Blosser.