The Conciliar Movement
The main accomplishment of the Council of Constance was the superiority of the state over the church. The world of Henry VIII was born at the Council of Constance. When the Reformation came, some of the countries of Europe had gained exactly what France had gained with the pragmatic sanctions. They had concordats from the Vatican giving them freedom to control the church within their realms. It was only those countries where this freedom to control the church by the state did not exist that the Reformation took place, because only there were the rulers interested in breaking the power of the Vatican.
- R. J. Rushdoony
The main accomplishment of the Council of Constance was the superiority of the state over the church. The world of Henry VIII was born at the Council of Constance. When the Reformation came, some of the countries of Europe had gained exactly what France had gained with the pragmatic sanctions. They had concordats from the Vatican giving them freedom to control the church within their realms. It was only those countries where this freedom to control the church by the state did not exist that the Reformation took place, because only there were the rulers interested in breaking the power of the Vatican.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.