Joanne Paul: evaluation

Transcript context

…In a funny way, they’re Catholics still. They’re still Catholics, absolutely. Any attempt to change, reform, criticize the church is very much from within. Thomas More was a huge critic of the church, huge critic of the church, as was Erasmus, to the point where when Luther starts publishing his criticisms of the church, people think they’re actually coming from Erasmus. They think Erasmus and Luther are the same person because Erasmus had articulated such harsh criticisms of the church. There was no question in the minds of most of these reformers that change had to happen inside the church. There was no other option than that. That’s part of what More was so concerned about in the Reformation, was this idea of a fragmenting. He was interested in the unity of the church, the community of the church. The idea that that the church might fragment was terrifying to him and indeed for many in the period. It wasn’t something that you decided to pick up or not. You were a Catholic. Say, when he’s executed, are people upset or they’re just like, “Whatever. Next”?…

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