Chapter 6: God is still working among the Corruption

Two chapters ago, the author wrote, “When I read about the Middle Ages, I sometimes wonder was anyone really a Christian?” (p44) Then again, last chapter, “many Christians dismiss medieval Christianity as empty and corrupt.” This week I ate lunch with a terribly well-educated atheist who railed against Christian hypocrisy and inconsistency all the way from Constantine to modern times.
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Despite all the bad that was going on in the world and in the Christian church, God was still visibly at work. The author presents in Chapter 6 a dozen or so examples of Christians who worked as servant leaders during this time period leading up to the Reformation.

• Duke William, (Mat 19:20-24) unlike some of his contemporaries, Duke William of Aquitaine founded Cluny monastery (provided the land) but didn’t want to leverage it for political gain. William freed his hunting dogs (a sign of nobility) and gave his hunting land to the monks.
• John Damascus (Rom 5:1) was the Eastern Church’s greatest thinker. It was Damascus that resolved the conflict between the iconodules and the iconoclasts at the Second council of Nicaea (look back to p50). John was betrayed to the Muslims by an iconoclast Eastern emperor, had his hand cut off and spent the rest of his life weaving and selling baskets.
• Cyril and Methodius (Romans 8:28, 35-39) were missionaries to Moravia (Czech) who created an alphabet in order to translate the Bible into the common language of the Slavic peoples. Their mission was a miserable failure in the short-run, but eventually God transformed their failure into success as much of southeast Europe and Russia ended up writing and reading in Cyrillic.
• St. Bernard of Clairvaux (John 3:16) led 30 men to join the foundering order of Cistercian monks (The White Robes). Bernard had perhaps the greatest influence on our modern idea of Christ. St Bernard’s emphasis on love of God transformed the popular image of Christ from strict judge to loving infant and crucified martyr.
• Hildegard of Bingen (Phil 4:8) was talented at everything – musician, mystic, artist, author, preacher, and prophet. As abbess of the convent at Bingen she wrote about her visions and about mystic Christianity. Denounced by the Pope when she was 80, she was vindicated by the church after her death.
• Waldo the mendicant (2Tim 1:7-8) founded a group of mendicants called the Poor Folk of Lyons who were the predecessors to the Protestants. They wouldn’t stop preaching despite orders from the Pope, excommunication, being murdered by Crusaders, and even facing the Inquisition.
• St. Francis of Assisi (Mat 10:7-14) stripped to his underwear in front of the bishop, renouncing his wealth to live a life of service to Christ. The Franciscans are the “Brown Robes.” Claire defied a Pope with a hunger strike until he submitted and allowed her to start the female version of the Franciscans – the Poor Claires.
• Anselm (Job 38:4-5) was Archbishop of Canterbury and defied King William II, spending 1/3 of his career in exile. His scholarship and compassion made him famous. Consider p67 ¶1, “I do not try to understand You so that I can trust You, I trust You so I can understand You.”
• St. Thomas of Aquinas (Psalm 136:4-8) applied the classic philosophies of Aristotle to Christianity, showing that logic and the natural world point toward the Creator. He is considered the Western church’s greatest thinker, “The Blessed Doctor (teacher) of the Church.”

The author’s activity for the day: Find two truths illustrated by each of these saints that we can learn from today.
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“Look around in your church, your school, your job. Somewhere Christ is calling someone (you) to join in God’s work.” (p68) Pray, “God, how are you at work here?” and then get ready to join in! (p152)
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Next week: Chapter 7 – The wheels fall off and people begin thinking about Reformation.