Council of Trent

[Dover]

Saw this rare book on the Council of Trent on ebay (wish I knew a religious scholar and could afford to give this for a Christmas gift). It seems timely as a study in how our current religions are challenged both by the emergence of "spirituality" in all its influences and forms among the new-agers as well as by science......a critical time in the evolution of our religious history which challenged the very powerful status quo. It is interesting that when many established institutions are faced with the challenges of significant change, the fear that is generated often initially leads to a further crystalizing of the dogma.

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
The Council of Trent, the 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, was held at Trent in northern Italy between 1545 and 1563. It marked a major turning point in the efforts of the Catholic church to respond to the challenge of the Protestant Reformation and formed a key part of the Counter-Reformation. The need for such a council had long been perceived by certain church leaders, but initial attempts to organize it were opposed by Francis I of France, who feared it would strengthen Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and by the popes themselves, who feared a revival of Conciliarism. The council eventually met during three separate periods (1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63) under the leadership of three different popes (Paul III, Julius III, Pius IV). All of its decrees were formally confirmed by Pope Pius IV in 1564.

In the area of religious doctrine, the council refused any concessions to the Protestants and, in the process, crystallized and codified Catholic dogma far more than ever before. It directly opposed Protestantism by reaffirming the existence of seven sacraments, transubstantiation, purgatory, the necessity of the priesthood, and justification by works as well as by faith. Clerical celibacy and monasticism were maintained, and decrees were issued in favor of the efficacy of relics, indulgences, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints. Tradition was declared coequal to Scripture as a source of spiritual knowledge, and the sole right of the church to interpret the Bible was asserted.

At the same time, the council took steps to reform many of the major abuses within the church that had partly incited the Reformation: decrees were issued requiring episcopal residence and a limitation on the plurality of benefices, and movements were instigated to reform certain monastic orders and to provide for the education of the clergy through the creation of a seminary in every diocese.

Attendance at the council was often relatively meager, and it was dominated by Italian and Spanish prelates. Several European monarchs kept their distance from the council's decrees, only partially enforcing them or, in the case of the French kings, never officially accepting them at all. The Council of Trent helped, however, to catalyze a movement within the Catholic clergy and laity for widespread religious renewal and reform, a movement that yielded substantial results in the 17th century.

http://www.forerunner.com/chalcedon/X0020_15._Council_of_Trent.html



1577 COUNCIL of TRENT in BLIND STAMPED Pigskin binding.

Fine version of the canons and decretals of the council of Trent (1545-1563), which brought in the counter-Reformation. The work of the Council had a profound effect on the intellectual community in empowering the inquisition with new censorship privileges as typified by the Papal Index of Forbidden Books, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2201&item=6936411660&rd=1

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

1. they re- wrote parts of the Bible there

Tell me if I'm wrong ,
but from what I hear,the Counil of Trent made damn sure that all references to Re-incarnation were omitted as well as references toAstrology.
Prior to the Counil of Trent, I think Christianity involved more mysticism and occult ceremonies--
anyone else know anything about this?

[Dover]

3. Hmmmm......

I'm no scholar but found this site on the History of Western Mysticism.

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/mys/whoswho.htm

And I came across this interesting rare book as well which is a
Lutheran mystic text. Unfortunately I don't have any Latin or foreign language skills.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29223&item=3762786011&rd=1

[TexasProgresive]

4. If they rewrote the Bible at Trent then

Luther, Zwingle(sp), Calvin and King James' scholors all did too without consulting one another. This rewrite would have to be much older then Trent.

[JVS]

6. The council of Trent is where the RCC created the cannonical Bible

You know how the Catholic bible has several more Old Testament books that are not found in English-made Protestant translations of the Bible? Trent is where those books were raised to the level of binding scripture. Previously these books had been considered worthy of reading but not authoritative in the manner of the gospels and epistles. Saint Jerome even made this point when translating the scriptures into his famous Vulgate.

One of the charming side effects of this decision is that they accused the reformers of picking scripture selectively and ignoring scripture even though Luther's translation of the Bible included the books and the reformers had the same take on them as St. Jerome.

[tommcintyre]

2. I think the roots of fundamentalism began here.

"the sole right of the church to interpret the Bible was asserted." I believe both the Bible (the word of God) and Pope were declared infallible at this time. If so, the roots of fundamentalism (literal interpretation of the Bible) can be traced to this time. In fact, much of the Bible is a "rewrite" of old Greek stories (trials of Hercules, etc.) It was originally not intended to be taken literally (or so seriously). It was a teaching tool, with updated moral stories to teach the ignorant masses. Also, it has been proven, both by modern scholars and computer technology (analyzing writing style), that significant parts of the Bible had multiple authors. For example, the book of John (possible most important since Jesus speaks) appears to have had four different authors and was a "cut and paste" job with some sections pasted in apparently to fill the space.

This is pretty amazing when you think that people 55% of Americans think God created humans just the way they are (NYT/CBS poll)- no doubt primarily based on the Bible version of creation. But it is pretty ironic that these same people mostly just voted for an ignorant chimp. ;~}

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1014216

[TexasProgresive]

5. Infaliblity of the pope did not come up at Trent

It was in the first Vatican council in the 19th century-and only 2 infalible papal statements have ever been made.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Spirituality and Science

aren't incompatible. Haz. Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan wrote papers about this, and Neil Douglas-Klotz has written some very thought provoking books showing how the ancient religious texts are also compatible with scientific thought (he is a religious scholar, and does his own translation of the original texts; it is interesting to read his notes about how much of the texts were mistranslated or not translated at all to make the King James version of the Bible).