DOUBLE PREDESTINATION
by Giuseppe Monno Double predestination is a central doctrine in the theological thought of John Calvin and, more broadly, in Calvinism. It holds that God, from all eternity, has predestined some human beings to salvation and others to eternal damnation, independently of their works or their response to grace. According to this view, God would […]
Oliver Cromwell in Irish History
Msgr. M. Francis Mannion No figure has been more hated by the Irish people than Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the fanatical and puritanical Lord Protector of England, who in 1649 led a most vicious genocidal assault on Ireland. His campaign was intended to wipe out the Catholic religion and consolidate English rule in Ireland. In particular, […]
Oliver Cromwell
Morrill, J. S. Cromwell, Oliver (1599–1658), lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, was born 25 April 1599 in Huntingdon, fifteen miles (24 km) north-west of Cambridge, England, the eldest son of Robert Cromwell, younger son of a knight, and his wife Elizabeth Steward. His two brothers died in their infancy, but all seven of […]
Ulrich Zwingli
(Also, Huldreich) Founder of the Reformation in Switzerland, born at Wildhaus in Switzerland, 1 January, 1484; died 11 October, 1531. Zwingli came from a prominent family of the middle classes, and was the third of eight sons. His father Ulrich was a district official of the little town of Wildhaus, and a cousin of his mother, […]
Thomas Wolsey
Cardinal, Archbishop of York, b. at Ipswitch, the usually accepted date, 1471, being probably three or four years too early; d. at Leicester Abbey, 29 November 1530. His father, Robert Wulcy (or Wolsey), was a man of substance, owning property in Ipswich, but it is not known that he was a butcher as commonly reported. […]
Thomas Cranmer
CRANMER, THOMAS, 1489-1556, English churchman under Henry VIII; archbishop of Canterbury. A lecturer at Jesus College, Cambridge, he is said to have come to the attention of the king in 1529 by suggesting that Henry might further his efforts to achieve a divorce from Katharine of Aragón by collecting opinions in his favor from the […]
St. Thomas More
Link to More’s “Utopia” Saint, knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, born in London, 7 February, 1477-78; executed at Tower Hill, 6 July 1535. He was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, barrister and later judge, by his first wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Graunger. While still a child Thomas was sent […]
St. John Fisher
Cardinal, Bishop of Rochester, and martyr; born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, 1459 (?1469); died 22 June 1535. John was the eldest son of Robert Fisher, merchant of Beverley, and Agnes his wife. His early education was probably received in the school attached to the collegiate church in his native town, whence in 1484 he removed […]
Martin Luther
Leader of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century in Germany; born at Eisleben, 10 November 1483; died at Eisleben, 18 February 1546. His father, Hans, was a miner, a rugged, stern, irascible character. In the opinion of many of his biographers, it was an expression of uncontrolled rage, an evident congenital inheritance transmitted […]
Martin Bucer
(Also called BUTZER.) One of the leaders in the South German Reformation movement, b. 11 November 1491, at Schlettstadt, Alsace; d. 28 February 1551, at Cambridge, England. He received his early education at the Latin School of his native place, where at the age of fifteen (1506) he also entered the Order of St. Dominic. […]