During the early sixteenth century the Church began to experience loss of respect and many challenges due to the corruption within the church. Many began to think the church was dying. This would cause the reformation. Throughout the age of reformation, the political and social spheres of Europe were also significantly affected, as well as the religious movement, through Martin Luther, the printing press, and the opinions of the people.
The Protestant Reformation broke out in Germany in the beginning of 1517. The Church and the Pope began to lose power and authority and people began to question the teachings and ways of the Catholic Church. Ideas of new religions, such as Protestant, Lutheran, and Calvinists, started to spread throughout Europe. The Church was corrupt and started to lose followers. These problems led to people speaking out against the Church and it became a revolution of political and religious debates. During the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation began due to the use of the printing press to spread new religious ideas, the corruption of the clergy, and the Church’s practice of the sale of indulgences.
During this period the Renaissance Popes failed to fulfill the churches spiritual needs, and they were often involved in worldly concerns such as Pope Julius II who was a “warrior pope” leading armies into battle. Christians were disgusted, they viewed the Pope as their spiritual leader, someone to lead them spiritually not into battle with the enemy. The church failed as many of the church officials were ignorant of their spiritual duties and more concerned with accumulating more wealth, and the use of their position within the church offices to their advantage to further advance their careers and fortunes. (Duiker, World History, 421) While the spiritual leaders of the church were failing their responsibilities many of the people were looking for some sort of meaningful religious expression and most importantly salvation after death. Many of these people sought salvation through the veneration of relics (bones and objects associated with saints), many of these relics were attached to indulgences, which was a form veneration. Indulgences were said to reduce a person’s time in purgatory after death from punishment due to sin by nearly two million years. Johann Tetzel was a monk who was great selling of indulgences with the slogan “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs” meaning that as soon as someone pays, and the coin is in the money box the person or their loved ones would be saved from purgatory. This led to a lowly monk named Martin Luther who lectured the Bible to take action on behalf of the people, he was very upset with the selling of indulgences because he believed salvation was not obtained through good works but by grace and faith alone, (Justification by faith). This became the main doctrine for the Protestant Reformation. Deeply angered Martin Luther wrote indictments of the abuses
Since the fall of the Roman empire, the Catholic church had a reputation for being stable. This gave people a sense of security and made them believe that whatever the Catholic church did, was what God wanted done. Then, in 1378 the Catholic church had three popes, because its rulers were so despite for power, that neither one of them refused to give up the papacy. This greed slowly trickled down to every level of the Catholic church. The Catholic church became increasingly less reliable, and in the minds of many, the church was getting away from teaching the true message of Jesus. This began to change in 1517 when Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, starting “The Protestant Reformation”. Martin
The Protestant Reformation took place from 1517 to 1648. The Protestant Reformation had followed Martin Luther’s philosophy that human beings were sinful by nature. The Protestant Reformation was put into the act because people were tired on how the church used their power. The people that were to donate money toward the church were the ones whose sins were forgiven and had a “definite” key to heaven. One very influential religious leader includes John Calvin, who was a protestant reformer. He was a huge follower of Luther’s teaching and agreed with Luther’s views on sin and salvation thus believing that if you are to sin you mean it and that you are to only be forgiven if you are truly apologetic. John Calvin also believed in the concept of
Martin Luther’s reasons for challenging the Catholic church changed after he translated the New Testament. Before the New Testament was translated (document A), Martin Luther had a very respectful tone displayed through his writing. In document A, Luther was bothered by the practice of indulgences, but continued in his letter to say that he was not blaming anyone. 18 years later in Document B, Luther had translated the New testament and realized that the Pope was misinterpreting the scriptures. He was then very disrespectful through his words and blamed the Pope for taking people’s money and by so believing that the person who paid for the indulgence was saved.
This investigation seeks to identify the qualities and characteristics of Martin Luther, which are truly indicative of The Protestant Reformation in Europe. The body of the investigation describes the significant events in the life of Martin Luther, that impacted the era. The specific characteristics that he exhibited will be identified, examined and analyzed.
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation, started in the early 16th century. It was a revolution that took place in the church, but was mainly based around politics. The most important people during the process of the Reformation were Martin Luther, Henry VIII and John Calvin. Formed from the Protestant Reformation was Protestantism, just one of the three major branches of Christianity. The main argument of Luther, Henry, and Calvin was to redistribute the power to the princes and the priests.
The introduction of Martin Luther and John Calvin in the 16th century brought with it the beginning of the Reformation. The Catholic Church’s response to the Reformation demonstrated the Church’s reaction to Renaissance overall. The Catholic Church needed to draw away all the negativity with a Counter Reformation. To differentiate itself and condemn the principles of Protestantism, Pope Paul III created a council known as the Council of Trent. Also, the Jesuits combined the ideas of traditional monastic discipline with a dedication to teach and preach. For the Catholic Church to remain strong, many changes were needed.
The Reformation was a time in Europe in the 1500s in which people questioned the beliefs of the Catholic Church. There were many changes made by the catholic church. The people that were responsible were Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII. The Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe was primarily the result of three men and their disagreements with the Catholic Church; Martin Luther, John Calvin, and King Henry VIII forever changed the religious landscape of Europe.
Many different countries and cultures have stereotypes and ideas about countries and cultures different than theirs. It is recorded that, historically, Spaniards said that Calvinism in the Netherlands,which they denounced as heresy, fostered capitalism. In 1517 Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, a document attacking the Catholic church for selling
Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses.They were 95 things that he didn 't like about the church.He wrote them in 1517.He was a monk but was encouraged to study law.The first theses he wrote was "When your lord and master, Jesus Christ said, Repent, He called for the entire life of believers to be one repentance.Martin believed in confession was a way of salvation turning to the Bible.
The Protestant Reformation took place in the 16th century in Europe. This reformation was led by reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. Martin Luther and John Calvin disputed the Church’s views and what they defined Christianity as. Not only did this reformation lead to changes in religious and spiritual life but it also led to consequences for politics and society. The Protestant Reformation caused outbreak in war, which showed the demand for reform to take place.
When making decisions regarding who to choose as our next elected officials, one of the first qualities we scrutinize is their judgment, using our own judgment to do so. However, in a nonsecular society in which judgment of a religious authority is essentially the judgment of a divine power, there is significantly less room for scrutiny. The authority of any figure with political power stems from the judgment of the community over which it rules. For instance, if the community believes in the absolute authority of God, then the judgment of God is what gives the judgment of the church or any religious leader authority.
There are many reasons why the Reformation occurred and what the main causes were. Many priests were illiterate and did not teach the same values to people that were contained in the Bible. Indulgences were widely disputed because some religious figures deemed them arbitrary and to others it seemed ridiculous that you could pay money and be absolved of sin. Additionally, many people became more skeptical of the church after several popes turned out to be incorrect on matters of faith. Unquestionably, the most prevalent causes of the Reformation were indulgences, the changing values of the Renaissance, and, above all, corruption within the church.