Throughout Western Civilization we have examined reforms in government, society, and philosophy, but one factor that did not rise to prominence until the Western world was well developed was religion. In ancient times, religion was correlated a lot with morality, ethics and virtues, aspects that could also be linked to the philosophical teachings of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. In Greek culture, gods were an enormous part of their society as well as with the Roman gods, however, they were not seen as pleasant. It was not until Christianity began to take off that people began to truly wonder about “Who is God?” and “What is the church?”. The three most well-known debates surfaced from the Renaissance, or the age of rebirth, the Reformation, …show more content…
( Section 1: The Middle Ages and the Age of Renaissance). The Renaissance was a time period that took former knowledge, ideas and thoughts and challenged them through means of education, art and philosophy. Taking effect mostly in Italy, this era was full of new thoughts, interests and scientific discoveries, however, none of this new found knowledge focused heavily on the church. “As humanists, Renaissance scholars tended to be more secular, meaning they focused on the daily life of the world rather than on theology and the church. They were interested in a broad range of knowledge rather than focus on spiritual or religious concerns” ( Section 1: The Middle Ages and the Age of Renaissance). Because the Renaissance was not completely centered around theology, a lot of their principles regarding the church were made up on their own or studied through means of art, literature and/or philosophy. The Renaissance did address some issues with the church but rather raise objections to God, Enlightenment thinkers challenged the Roman Catholic church’s authority. These thinkers were firm believers in corporate church and reading …show more content…
Nonetheless, the Reformation did make people inquire, “How is a person saved?” ("Section 10: The Reformation and the Renaissance”). Enlightenment thinkers most like would have rationalized this answers and the Catholic Church most likely would turn to the Catholic Church for interpretation. The Reformation, much like the Renaissance believed in individualism and asking its people to look within themselves to find answers. Erasmus and Luther did both believe in humans being self reliant, but they did always agree. A big difference between the Reformation and the Renaissance would be that “humanists, believed that people were essentially neutral moral agents filled with as much potential for good as evil. Luther believed humans were morally evil creatures of habit, predisposed to act sinfully because of their fallen nature”(Section 9: Humanist Critics). Even though these two time periods had a lot of similarities, the varying views on human nature is what set apart the Reformation and the Renaissance era. Reformationists understand salvation to be obtained through faith and not moral character like the Renaissance thinkers believed it to be. Because of people like Luther who believed human nature was inherently evil, the need to answer “Who is God?” and “What is the church?” were more prevalent as Luther stated that the Bible was the answer
The Renaissance was a distinct period in time that was separated from the Middle Ages and began a new era. The writers and thinkers of the fifteenth sixteenth centuries believed that they took part in a completely different era than the Middle Ages. They believed that they were part of a more modern and current era known as the Renaissance. These people considered the Renaissance to be a new beginning of the Middle Ages (Document 1). During the Renaissance, religion was seen from a new perspective.
The Renaissance was a time of change and prosperity. The decision was made depending on the difference of two eras. Unlike the Renaissance, the Middle Ages were a thousand years of ignorance and superstition. The Renaissance men were leaders in an era of rebirth and learning looked to the Ancient Greeks and Romans for models of advance. Many historians felt that the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were one era. The debate centers around whether the Renaissance was a unique age or a continuation of the Middle Ages.
The Reformation was a really important era in history and it came right after the Renaissance. The Renaissance was seen as a period where it was a time of religion, and art flourished. The Renaissance and the Reformation can be compared and contrasted because the Renaissance was a time of rebirth, and so was the Reformation, however the rebirth brought forth different ideas. Since during the Renaissance there was such a bond between religion and government it triggered the rebellion of many people within the countries. During the Renaissance when questions were raised that went against what the Church thought, The Catholic church pushed the idea that salvation could only be found in the church. However, a Christian monk from Eisleben in the Holy Roman Empire(Martin Luther, CCEL) named Martin Luther interpreted a bible passage stating "just shall live by his faith" to mean that faith alone would save their souls he began to challenge the church. This started the Reformation.
The church’s robust grip on religious expression shattered as medieval society transitioned into a period known as the Reformation. Characterized by the rejection of common ideology, the Reformation sparked religious curiosity. Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther offered interpretations of the Bible in direct opposition to the Catholic Church’s teachings, forcing Europeans to examine and formulate their own beliefs. This style of thinking was foreign to European society because up to this point in history Europeans were passive absorbers of Catholic Church ideology. Hence, it was natural that an era considered the Age of Enlightenment followed the period of rejection and questioning known as the Reformation. The Age of Enlightenment did not merely confine itself to religious expression, but spread throughout natural and social science. Thus, the Age of Enlightenment marked the beginning of academic and religious philosophy and allowed great minds to think free from restriction and condemnation of established institution. As the perception of natural
The older traditions were quickly losing the positive view from the public and with the new generation encouraging different ideas to help the common man instead of mistreating them. The renaissance era was more for helping the people as demonstrated in the document, Politics Drawn from Very Words of Holy Scripture, Jacques-BenigeBossuet. Talks about how the higher archy of men and women are treated like gods and make themselves out to be untouchable by anyone. This idea of was blown out of proportion and mistreated the common people and also lost the good moral values that they claimed they had. The renaissance era questioned the biblical teachings and beliefs and thought more into the idea of if there is a God why would he allow this type of ruling. As the medieval beliefs were shrinking the renaissance era was growing more and more with it’s campaign to treat everyone in a kind and fair
Reformation was a major European movement initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of
The Renaissance Era, could be described as the era of rebirth many would see it as the era of creativity. Many findings and inventions were developed within art, science, politics, religion, and humanism. The Renaissance period began in Italy, during the mid-fourteenth through the mid-seventeenth century to begin the rebirth of a new world. (p.65, Major) The Renaissance period broadcasted different philosophies, theories, and innovators as a way to advance the mind state and environment of civilization.
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,
The Reformation occurred all over Western Europe. It was mostly set in Germany where various parts of corruption in the Church happened. Martin Luther started the process of the Reformation, he was German so he understood how the Catholic Church took advantage and didn't think this was fair. The Catholic Reformation took place between 1450-1650 which was the biggest revolution in Germany, although the understanding of Luther's actions weren't taken notice of until he put the 95 Theses on the Church's door. Luther felt that Bishops and Priests didn't understand the bible correctly. Luther wanted the Reformation to help fix this by helping the uneducated and powerless. Some of the movement of this was
The reformation is generally associated with the publication of Martin Luther ninety five theses. It was his way to show the protest against the “business” made on religious people: the Holy Roman Empire was earning money on selling people indulgences. Martin Luther got the support of German princes, who were on the same side, but with different motives (they wanted to get autonomy). Luther was the great part of reformation, his influence was immediate, and people listened to him. One of the immediate effects of reformation can be observed in the development of that times writers. For example, Francois Rabelais satirized church, writing about their “business” in humorous way. The other writers, like Erasmus wrote more specifically about the pappy and their role in the lives of ordinary Christians. The major short term of reformation was about the informational acknowledgement, Luther told people the truth about the papacy and their actions, and the reaction of people was immediate: the loss of respect to church, papacy. These results were really strong, because people felt that, all the dogmas...
The renaissance is a time period filled with world changing events. Science, writing, and humanism changed people’s perspective on everything then, and even had an effect to the way we look at things now. During the renaissance many theories and discoveries about science were made. People became more literate during this time period as well. There were a group of people called humanists and they questioned things that people don’t usually question today and few to none questioned during the renaissance.
The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.
The Renaissance period started in Italy and took place between the 1400’s and the 1600’s. In French, the term Renaissance means rebirth, which is an accurate way to describe that period since it was then that many people chose to break away from the stagnation, incertitude, and extreme hardships that occurred during the Middle Ages and plagued most of Europe. The Renaissance period is noted for being a time when the population sought educational reform which increased literacy and many were able to master more than one skill set. This led to an intellectual, economic, and artistic revolution that transformed several European nations such as Italy, France, Spain, and several others. During this time, there were several developments within the Catholic Church, such as scandals and controversy.
The Renaissance, also known as the Middle Ages, is very historic because of the wealth and power that it held. Through economic and political aspects, it flourished into the ripe environment that it is known of today. Although the culture
Although saying this, the Reformation was not just on a Protestant level, it spread and soon became, not just a popular topic for discussion, but a wide-ranged divided religious change that affected every inch of society. This meant that people wanted their own version of change and reform, this lead to a variety of different reforms within this movement. The main bodies that evo... ... middle of paper ... ... the Reformation was ont really just a good thing, I think that it went a bit over the top with the violence, and the destruction of religious imagery by Puritans.