The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

VII. John XXII Digresses From Catholic Disposition of Soul at Death

Ere we close this pre-Reformation chapter, medieval Pope John XXII should surely receive parenthetical mention, not as another Conditionalist but as a pontiff who forsook the standard Roman Catholic teaching as to the whereabouts of the soul after death, thus breaking with accepted dogma. Because of this, his divergence should be noted, though this fact is not commonly known and is but rarely referred to. CFF2 35.2

To get the setting one must bear in mind that the Papal Church reached its zenith in the thirteenth century, then began to decline. In the fourteenth century France came to the fore as the dominating civil power. Many of the cardinals were now French, as were several of the popes. And Rome, seat of the Papacy for so many centuries, was for a time abandoned, the French popes taking up their residence from 1309 to 1377 at Avignon instead. Incidentally, this was the period that both Petrarch and Luther referred to as the Babylonian captivity of the church, and that was definitely influenced by the French court. CFF2 35.3

1. THE TROUBLED REIGN OF POPE JOHN XXII

Pope John XXII (1316-1334), formerly bishop of Avignon, then cardinal of Porto, was elected pope in 1316 and fixed his residence at Avignon, where he remained throughout the remainder of his life. He was the most celebrated of the Avignon popes, his reign being filled with theological and political conflicts. Attempting to perpetuate the audacious claims of Gregory VII and Innocent III, John sought to interpose his authority in the contest for the imperial crown being waged between Lewis of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria. Pope John thus touched off a violent literary feud as to the supremacy of the pope over the emperor, or vice versa. CFF2 35.4

But the papal fortunes had changed. Lewis seized the Vatican and Rome, in 1328, installed an antipope—Nicholas V, a Spiritual Franciscan—who was, however, forced to submit to John two years later. John XXII likewise had trouble in Italy, in the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. He further complicated his position by attempting to dissolve the Spirituals, whose doctrines he denounced. CFF2 36.1

Meantime Avignon and southern France were peaceful and prosperous, while Rome and central Italy were in a state of anarchy. At Avignon the pope was relatively free from political pressures, and France was then the center of European civilization. So he never went to Rome. It should be added that John XXII was long remembered for perfecting the financial system that filled the ecclesiastical offices with financiers rather than with priests. Pursuant to this policy, he accumulated for the papal coffers the enormous sum of 18 million florins of gold. CFF2 36.2

2. SOUL NOT IN PRESENCE OF GOD TILL AFTER RESURRECTION

But the crucial point is this: In his last years John XXII became involved in an acute theological dispute, by maintaining that souls do not go immediately into the presence of God (the “beatific vision,” or seeing God face to face) until after the general judgment and the resurrection of the body. That, of course, flouted the standard position of the church. CFF2 36.3

For this revolutionary position he was inevitably accused of heresy by the Dominican theologians and the University of Paris. And this divergent opinion the aged pontiff was forced to retract before his death in 1334. ⁵² Such an alien view was, of course, a revolutionary departure from the traditional Catholic view. Some authorities even aver that he held the doctrine of the sleep of the soul during the intermediate state, but that is not established. Nevertheless, he was radically out of step with orthodox Catholic teaching. Note the involvements of such a position. CFF2 36.4

3. DISCONCERTING QUESTIONS ARISE FROM DECLARATION

As stated, in the opinion of John XXII the dead—even the saints—do not enjoy the “beatific vision” of God until after the resurrection. Prof. John W. Draper tersely describes the aftermath of his revolutionary position: CFF2 37.1

“At once there was a demand among the orthodox, ‘Wharf do not the apostles, John, Peter, nay, even the blessed Virgin, stand yet in the presence of God?’ The pope directed the most learned theologians to examine the question, himself entering actively into the dispute. The University of Paris was involved. The King of France declared that his realm should not be polluted with such heretical doctrines. A single sentence explains the practical direction of the dogma, so far as the interests of the Church were concerned: ‘If the saints stand not in the presence of God, of what use is their intercession? What is the use of addressing prayers to them?’” ⁵³ CFF2 37.2

That was a disconcerting involvement, striking at a fundamental Catholic contention. It could not be tolerated. CFF2 37.3

As to the outcome, Pope John’s successor, Benedict XII, adroitly disposed of the question by stating, “It is only those saints who do not pass through Purgatory that immediately behold the Godhead.” ⁵⁴ Thus “orthodoxy” was sustained. Such was the interesting fourteenth-century defection at the very summit of the Papacy—in the Avignon pontificate itself. CFF2 37.4

Picture 3: Dante
Dante (d. 1321), Poet of Florence — Filled Hell With Spirits of Departed.
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