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Effect of reformation on roman catholic church and europe
Reformation and its political influence
The protestant reformation a political
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The leaders of the Reformation, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I all had similar ideas that the Catholic Church’s rule was strict and did not meet their needs in a political or spiritual realm. Their success in breaking away from the church and influencing others came at a time when the church was exerting its power in both the religious and state arena. The leaders of the Reformation were successful due to the shift in attitudes toward the church regarding spiritual salvation and political movement. Starting with Martin Luther, a German scholar and friar, first took issue with how Pope Leo X monetized repentance through the use of indulgence, meaning, if you helped pay for construction projects, God will forgive you and you will not have to repent for your sins (McKay, 2015, 441). This practice was in stark contrast to Luther, who felt a persons’ faith in scripture would dictate salvation, not the hierarchy of the church. In an act of protest, Luther nails his 95 Theses to the Church door not expecting much of a reaction given the language, however, as Rush (ND) points out, given the holiday and number people church officials who read his protest, his ideas spread opening his thoughts to debate (The Protestant Reformation, 13). …show more content…
Zwingli’s ideas were accepted by the few, however his form of religion was quickly stopped when he took up arms against the church and was thoroughly
Social changes after the Reformation progressed and the power occurred. The local rulers and nobles collected after the clergy began to lose authority. Peasants revolted and resentful, the actions were condemned by Luther. The freedom the attempt from oppression and even death for some reason. The Reformation seemed to calm the peasants opportunity to challenge their place in the structure classes. One of the effects was when the lessening influence the Catholic Church and the rulers wanted to be less involved in matters of states. Clearly in England as Henry VIII break from papal authority and
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Martin Luther greatly influenced people’s views on the church as well as the state. Without their thoughts and writings the Protestant Revolution wouldn’t have had the same impact, if it had any impact at all. The ideas from these scholars influenced people to break away from the Catholic Church, revolt against leadership, and create new religions such as Lutheranism. These actions changed the course of history and religion
Social and economic stresses of The Protestant Reformation age were just among few of the things that impacted the ordinary population of Europe. The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, and cultural disorder that divided Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the ordinary population. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. In 1555 The Peace of Augsburg allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany; and in 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. The key ideas of the Reformation, a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. However, Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience.
Religion and opinions are both products of humans. Our intelligence gifts us with the freedom of thought and capability to apply it to our views on deep life questions. Intelligence provides us the right to believe in any sort of God, afterlife, or way of living. Brad Gregory describes the Protestant Reformation’s effects on the present society’s Christian qualities in a book he wrote titled “The Unintended Reformation.”1 (After my awareness of the outcome of the western history of the Protestant Reformation, I gained an opinion on today’s religious views that do not completely agree with Gregory’s valuation.) The Protestant Reformation was vital to the progress in the knowledge about the Christian faith.
Martin Luther is the creator of the 95 Theses which was a major document in the Reformation. The 95 Theses “protest against the sale of indulgences and clerical abuses.” Indulgences state that one can pay for the sins they committed, and also for the sins that will be committed in the future. Even though the 95 Theses rejects indulgence it states that you may be renewed through Christ and you can be baptized to do so. Luther argued that the Christians were being wronged and being tricked into thes...
The Protestant Reformation was a period of time (1500-1700) where there became a change in Western Christendom. This reformation was caused by the resentment from the people because the Catholic Church abusing their powers for political and economic advances. In this time the church was selling pardons for sin and indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in purgatory and save the dead from damnation. The reformation was when people became more aware with the back hand dealings with the church and men like Martin Luther and John Calvin created their own churches to what they believed was not corrupt unlike the church. Unfortunately there many consequences as far at the Roman Catholic church attempting to bring people back to the church,
A reformation is often defined as the action of change for improvement. The Protestant Reformation is a movement that began in 1517, which split the unity of the Western Church; and later established Protestantism. The three main factors that impacted the reformation were political, sociological and theological. Martin Luther and John Calvin, two protestant Reformers who reformed Catholicism, strived to define salvation and impact the church as a whole. How do Martin Luther’s reforms compare to John Calvin’s through their struggle to define salvation, how people viewed them, and how the church was affected as a whole? Martin Luther and John Calvin both had a huge impact on the reformation and were both regarded with great respect; however, Martin Luther’s strive for salvation and the reformation of the church was more successful than Calvin’s.
The practice of selling indulgences became under attack from a monk named Martin Luther in the early 1500’s. Indulgences were used as a means by many church officials to add to their wealth and prestige. By buying an indulgence, one was released for all sin and acceptance into Heaven guaranteed. Luther argued that no one needed to buy admission into Heaven. He believed that people could obtain salvation thru their faith and actions alone. The authority of the Pope was also challenged by Luther believing that religious matters needed to be resolved through the words of the Bible and not an individual’s decision. All of this was set down in Luther’s 95 Thesis that he posted on the Church door in Wittenberg, Germany ("The Reformation Video").
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Thesis statement: Martin Luther was responsible for the break-up of the Catholic Church Martin Luther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search. From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices.
Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. (History.com Staff, 2009) Martin Luther was one of the most influential and controversial figures in the reformative movement. His actions fractured the Roman Catholic Church into new sects of Christianity and set in motion a reform within the Church. (Biography.com Editors) Additionally, today, John Calvin rests with distinct accreditation as the highest influential figurehead in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. Henry VIII served as the connection between the Church of England and Rome and abandoning of the catholic doctrine would never been allowed. However, when it came to his son, Edward VI, obeying papal authority wasn’t his strongest quality, which led to the establishing Protestantism for England. Unsuccessful in her efforts, Mary fought for the reestablishment of Catholicism. To this day, English Church remains both Catholic and
They failed in their main goal and lead to wide destruction of unorthodoxy in the following decades, mostly initiated by the Investigation creations. The catholic church changed mainly lead by Martin Luther, In the 16th Century, which ended in the Act of Authority being passed in England, excellently making the King the head of the Church of England. The Pope was removed, and the Catholic Reformation was initiated.
The Catholic Church’s corruption during the late Middle Ages further enabled church reforms due to the ever-increasing view of the loss of credibility within the church by both the laity and clergy. Thus implementing the ideas of reform. Martin Luther is considered the father of the reformation where he instigated the challenging for the church, papal authority, and changed how the people were allowed to worship. Carlstadt and Zwingli, much like Luther, practiced Evangelical traditions, however, they expanded further than Luther in regards to doctrine and practice. John Calvin on the other hand challenged some of the Evangelical and Reformed Traditions by various religious changes politically and socially. Lindberg examines the Evangelical
Though there was no driving force like Luther, Zwingli or Calvin during the English Reformation, it succeeded because certain people strived for political power and not exactly for religious freedom. People like Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII brought the Reformation in England much success, however their reasons were based on self-gain and desire for political power.