On Thu, 25 Jul 1996, Dennis D. Martin wrote:
> > This ties in with what J. B. Russell called "Reformist heretics," those
> > who started out as critics and ended up outside, sometime impelled by a
> > hostile reception. What little I have read about Peter Waldo suggests
> > that this was how the Poor of Lyons got themselves into trouble.
> > (Speaking of modern survivals, there is a Chiesa Valdensiana in Rome.)
> >
> > tom izbicki
>
> Depends what one means by "hostile." The Church effectively accepted
> Waldensian spirituality, since it was not unlike a wide variety of
> "apostolic life" movements, including the Franciscans a generation or two
> later. But the Church insisted on limits on authorized preaching, as had
> always been the case. I would not consider the insistence that the Poor
> Men of Lyons follow the same rules as everyone else a "hostile"
> reception, but others (both then and now) probably would.
this description strikes me as a bit ingenuous. Waldo was subject to alot
of hostility from the clergy both local and at the papal court, and for
more than his desire to preach -- his translation of the bible comes to
mind. telling him that he needed local permission to preach was a way for
the pope to finesse his problem, but essentially, given the hostility of
local clergy, a way of saying no. as for the approach to the
Franciscans, it was hardly as smooth or as consistent as you suggest. if
the Waldensians went from believing themselves to be the champions of
Catholicism to thinking of the Church as the whore of Babylon, it is
hardly the result of a non-hostile church.
rlandes
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