The French Revolution and Napoleon's status with the Church

"What happened (involving the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates General that set the French Revolution in motion?"


What happened during the meeting of the Estates General set France into complete and utter chaotic revolution. It started innocently enough. The Third Estate wished to have their votes counted per head instead of per Estate. They likewise wanted to be granted more Estate members so that their vote would be able to actually count. If not, then their votes would simply be outweighed by the other two Estates due to their having more members than the Third Estate. But when their request wasn't granted sufficiently they decided to turn it up a notch. They asked the First and Second Estate to join them in establishing a new constitution for France and they did. They (The Third Estate) declared themselves the people. They would be the people's voice. They would be the people's representative. The Third Estate had declared itself a separate assembly. They were the National Assembly for the nation.

Now, I think that I should make it clear that the Third Estate really had no legal power to do this. Henceforth, a revolution sprung itself into French life and existence. People's heads were spinning
and they wanted more. They wanted change, and they were going to get it in the form of the French Revolution.



"What was the situation of the Church in France after Napoleon came to power?"




The situation of the church in France was on a sort of balance beam after Napoleon came to power. Napoleon saw how alienated the church had become through the course of the French revolution and he knew that this was nonsense. He knew that he would have to reconcile with the Catholic church in one form or another. He reconciled by using the pope and in granting the church different freedoms. Napoleon attempted to regain the church in his favor, but he still wanted them under his thumb. He made it so that bishops would have to be nominated by him and then approved by the pope. Bishops would likewise have to appoint priests from a government approved list. Church lands were not returned, and some of the clergy were angered with these events. But, some viewed it differently. Some viewed it like this. At least the "churches" were being reopened, and at least there wasn't a schism as there had been before.

Like I said, the church in France was on a sort of balance beam. They were still under government control in many ways, but at the same time they were more free than they had previously been.

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Discussion on the Just War Theory, as well as the Later Scholastics

"Describe the main principals of just-war theory."


I think that this will be one of the easier topics for me to describe, as well as one of the easier ones for you to understand.

Just war theory is simply the theory of just war.  It is ideals and principles that make a war "just".  For instance, according to the just war theory it would be wrong to go to war with a country or state that had simply stolen a single apple.  It would likewise be wrong according to the just war theory to slaughter mercilessly all of the civilians living in the place that you are at war with once you had already won.

I hope you have a basic idea of what the just war theory is now.



"In what fundamental way did Duns Scotus and William of Ockham challenge the position of Thomas Aquinas?"


These two later scholastics were of the opinion that reason and faith simply did not go together.  They were two completely separate things in the eyes of these men.  This of course was a complete and utter challenge to the position taken by Thomas Aquinas.  Thomas Aquinas had spent a great deal of his life trying to prove that faith and reason went hand in hand.  Faith could be proven using reason according to Thomas Aquinas. This was the fundamental way that Duns Scotus and William of Ockham challenged the views of Thomas Aquinas.


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Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Moderate Reform, and Christendom

"What were the problems besetting the Church in the tenth and eleventh centuries? What was 'moderate reform'?"


The problems that the Church was facing during this time, is that instead of church officials appointing bishops, popes, etc., we see laymen (people other than church officials) appointing these people.  This results in the laymen sometimes appointing rotten individuals to church office.

Moderate reform came about when Pope Leo IX decided to put emphasis on papal authority.  He said that laymen should choose morally good candidates instead of those who would do harm.



"Describe the events that took place during the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV.  What was at stake?"



The conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV came about when the Pope decided that kings had no right at all to appoint people to church positions.  The king did not agree with this, and hence went against the Pope.  Pope Gregory ultimately removed the king from power, and eventually Henry came begging for forgiveness.  Grace was bestowed, and then the king went against the Pope all over again.  Henry was removed from authority by Pope Gregory, but Henry was powerful enough to come back and send Pope Gregory into exile.  The Pope then died while he was still exiled and it is said that these were among his last words,

                    "I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile."

What was at stake in the conflict between these two men was church authority.  Who had the jurisdiction to make church decisions, the Pope or the king?



"What was Christendom?"


Christendom was the idea of an international church society.  This is why church officials were able to enter Christian lands even without their nationality being that of the country.  Nationality was of no concern, for it was a society of the Christian religion, not a society of "who came from what place".  This was Christendom.


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