Seventeenth Century

Evangelization, Protestant Reformation, Eastern Orthodox, Enlightenment

            Evangelization of America and Asia: The evangelization of America and Asia continues from the previous century with many converts and saints from America, India, Japan, China, Morocco…

            The Protestant Reformation continues: England begins to establish colonies in North America, many with the purpose of spreading Christianity or establishing more Biblical Christian governments -- 1605- Baptists, John Smith  in England; Jamestown begins in 1607, Pilgrims land in 1620; 1620- Episcopalians: S. Seabury (Henry VIII);  Massachusetts Bay Colony established by Puritans in 1630; 1654- Quakers: Fox. In France, the Protestant Huguenots rebel against King Louis XIII. In central Europe, the Thirty Years' War brings destruction as Protestants and Catholics vie for power.

            The Eastern-Orthodox: The Eastern Orthodox council of Jerusalem in 1672.  Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem adopted the term ‘transubstantiation,’ and he came very near to endorsing purgatory. The Confession explicitly lists Wisdom, Judith, Tobit, The History of the Dragon, Susanna, Maccabees, and Sirach as “genuine parts of Scripture.”

 
            "Enlightenment" writers question Christianity and seek to base knowledge on human reason--Leibnitz, Hobbes, and Descartes. Galileo Galilei was forced by the Inquisition to abjure Copernicus' theories in 1663. New scientific studies often pursued by men seeking to learn the ways of their Creator - Johann Kepler, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle. Isaac Newton: His works contain more theological words than his scientific ones. Newton’s description of the universe in mechanistic terms was widely accepted by Deists. But Newton himself believed the Bible to be the word of God. Newton has been described as an Arian, since he did not believe in the Son’s co-eternity with the Father.

SAINTS

St. Louis de Montfort: promoted total consecration to Jesus through Mary. "
St. Vincent de Paul: founded the Daughters of Charity
St. Jeanne de Chantal: With St. Francis de Sales founded the Visitation Order.
St. John Baptist de La Salle: Founded the Christian Brothers
St. Louise de Marillac: founded the Sisters of Charity
St. Francis Ferdinand de Capillas:  proto-martyr of the Martyrs of China
St. John del Prado: Saint in Morocco
St. John Wall: one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. 
St. Isaac Jogues: captured by the Mohawks; one of the North American Martyrs

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: After a vision, promotes devotion to the Sacred Heart. .
St. Anthony Gonzalez: martyred with companions in Okinawa
Blessed James Carvalho: Martyred in Japan with 60 companions
Blesed. Andrew Tokuan:  martyred with many others in Nagasaki, Japan 
St. Francis Ferdinand de Capillas: one of the 141 Martyrs of China
Blessed. Kateri Tekakwitha, native American
 

HERESIES

Baptists: 1605 - John Smith  in England. In America, they are called "Baptists" because of their doctrine concerning "Baptism": Called an "ordinance", they reject "infant baptism", consider only baptism by immersion as valid, to persons who can decide to receive it, and can feel the personal experience of being "born again".
Roger Williams founded the first Baptist church in Providence in 1639. It comprises the largest of all American Protestant denominations.

Rosicrucians: 1610 - Traces its roots to the Egypt before Christ... and all the groups claim to be founded by "Christian Rosenkreutz" who is a character of the "Fama Fraternitatis" novel written by the German Lutheran Johann V. Andreae in 1610... but he never existed! Rosicrucianism is the religion "by correspondence" and of lies, claiming to be "dedicated to the investigation, study, and practice of natural and spiritual laws", anchored in "Egypt", with many occult and Hindu practices, and the basic beliefs of pantheism and reincarnation, with some Masonic rituals.

Episcopalians: 1620- S. Seabury (Henry VIII), founded  in the American colonies, is part of the Anglican Communion, regards the Archbishop of Canterbury as the "First among Equals"

Quakers, Society of Friends: 1654- George Fox, a shoemaker, in England. He believed every man to have an "inner light" which was his only guide. They are called "Quakers", because in the first days of enthusiasm they "trembled" in their assemblies, but they resent that name... their organization is not called a church but the "Society of Friends". In their "meetings", there is no pulpit nor songs, they just sit down and wait in silence for the Spirit to move them.

Universalists: Samuel Gorton, a New England mystic, who aired his views as early as 1636. The belief did not receive definite organization, however until 1750, when James Relly organized a Universalist church in London. They deny the divinity of Christ; believe in the universal salvation of all; deny the Sacraments; free-will; good works, and the doctrine of the Trinity.

Jansenists: Jansenism was probably the single most divisive issue within the Roman Catholic church between the Protestant Reformation and the French Revolution.
 Founded by Cornelius Jansenius, Holland, Bishop of Ypres. He lived and died a member of the Catholic Church, but it was from his writings, published after his death, that Jansenism took its rise. Predestination was accepted in an extreme form and was so essential to Jansenism that its adherents were even referred to as Calvinists by their opponents. It came into conflict with the church for its predestination doctrines and for its discouragement of frequent communion for the faithful. Jansenism took root in France, especially among the clergy.