Religion

Topics and Questions for Discussion

  1. What was the worst consequence of the Babylonian Captivity? There's room for more than one choice here, but you need to be able to defend your choice.
  2. Were there any positive aspects to the Babylonian Captivity, for the Church, or for society in general?
  3. Absenteeism among the clergy is mentioned in a number of your texts. What, exactly, did this mean? Who was absent from what, and what did this mean for the common Christian?
  4. Try to list or outline the major religious activities of an ordinary Christian. What would be the principal religious events in his or her life? Or, to put it another way, at what points would the Church touch the life of an individual?
  5. What evidence can you produce of popular religious movements? In what ways were these movements critical of the papacy in particular and of the Church in general?
  6. What do you see as being the most dangerous aspect or doctrine of the ideas of John Wyclif?
  7. What are the principal doctrines of John Huss? What about these doctrines was dangerous to the Church?
  8. Was the defeat of conciliarism good for the Church, or not? This is a speculative question, but try to buttress your position with whatever evidence you can.
  9. What were the differences between a bishop, an archbishop, and a cardinal.
  10. Explain the functions and place in the Church of a vicar, a dean, a priest.
  11. What were friars? What do you see as their most important role within the Church?
  12. How did the Church respond to heresy?
  13. Define anti-clericalism and give some specific examples of the sentiment.