The Renaissance encouraged people throughout Europe to think about things in new ways, resulting in new ideas and the emergence of critics. People began to express their critiques, particularly within the Christian church, and were determined to make the changes they believed were necessary. Two people who rose to prominence during this time were Martin Luther and John Calvin. Both these thinkers had an immense impact on Europe as a whole, because their views and practices, advocating change, attracted many followers. Their new ideas and understandings of the Christian church resulted in Lutheranism and Calvinism, which proved that many people valued and appreciated their ideas. The legacy and accomplishments of these two men proved that at …show more content…
He swore an oath that if he survived the storm, he would leave behind his studies in law and commit himself to a monastic life. While Luther was learning more about his spiritual self, his religious uncertainties and sense of impiety began to torture him. Despite the church’s offering of confession and penance, Luther did not feel that these alone could grant him God’s forgiveness. He gradually became uneasy about many of the church’s ideas and began to have major conflicts with the institution as a …show more content…
Both Lutheranism and Calvinism represent their leaders’ success in addressing issues within the Catholic Church during the sixteenth century. The two leaders were also responsible for the conflicts that spread throughout Europe after their ideas took hold. Martin Luther established his leadership primarily in northern Germany (Hunt 440), whereas John Calvin began his reforms in Geneva. From then on, the peoples of Western Europe began to debate about which religious leaders’ beliefs should be followed in their region. The expression of new ideas, supported during the Renaissance, allowed Luther and Calvin to challenge one of the most central and powerful parts of life: the church which later resulted in major conflicts throughout Europe as a
In these Thesis’ Luther basically criticized the church’s wrongful practices and exposed the church’s corruption in order to bring about change in the church. Luther is quoted in Document 3 from his 95 thesis’ “Christian’s should be taught that he who gives to a poor man, or lends to a needy man, does better if he bought pardons.” Luther believed that actions, such as helping others did way more toward saving a person’s soul than buying a pardon did. He saw through the idea that one could by their way into heaven. He brought about new ideas such as God’s grace is the only way into heaven, not buying indulgences, or simply participating in church activities. His ideas eventually spread out all over Europe and his followers formed a group calling themselves Lutherans. This eventually became a protestant denomination, where Luther preached ideas, and his version of christianity. Also other reformist such as John Calvin had their own ideas, like predestination, and that everyone was full of sin until they were saved by christ. “We must resist the lust of the flesh, which, unless kept in order, overflows without measure.” (Document 6) Calvin believed that everyone was filled with this sinful “lust” that could not be kept in order without the power of christ. Calvin also started a sect of christianity nicknamed Calvinist after their leader. Both Luther and Calvin inspired others such as George Fox, who created quakerism, and Ulrich Zwingli who started anabaptism. Overall a huge force that drove the Protestant Reformation was reformers such as Martin Luther and John
As a result, Luther burned the letter and other papal documents. Then in 1521, Luther was asked to attend the Diet of Worms, where he would recant what he had written. Once again, he refused. He was strong to his beliefs. Unlike Henry VIII, Luther was not selfish in reforming the Church. For instance, the peasants were one of Luther’s major supporters. They had a list of demands that Luther would try to resolve. He initially backed them up but in 1525 when they turned to violence in a revolt, he exhorted the nobles to slaughter them. Luther could have had all of those supporters who admired him, but instead, he had them slaughtered. Although he could have had the support, he believed violence was not the answer. No matter how many supporters he could have has, his beliefs were always put first. Overall, Martin Luther wanted to reform the Church to create a more simple Christian life as it was in the
People started to see the logic in his words and they started to break away from the Catholic church and in the process starting the protestant reformation. In his theses Luther believed that Faith not good deeds could save a person. People were convinced when they were told that if they pay so much money that their loved ones would be able to get out of purgatory and make it to heaven. Indulgences such as this was one of the major things that made Martin Luther so angry and adamant of writing his 95 theses because he wanted to see a change in the Catholic
Luther’s Church would later be called Lutheran and opposed the authority of the Roman Church. This brings up the meaning behind Luther’s sermon in 1512. Luther’s anger and bias enraged him so much that nothing that the Roman Church did was good and the Roman Church needed to be destroyed. This is a far cry from a controversy on indulgences. Luther’s intent is seen clearly in his sermon when he says, “You say your Psalter, you pray your rosary, , you pray all kinds of other prayers, and say a lot of words; you say Mass, you kneel before the alter, you read confessions, you go mumbling and maundering; and all the while you think you are free from sin.” (Discovering,
Calvin's theology was similar to Luther's in many respects, but there were enough fundamental differences to result in a separate church. Probably the best known aspect of Calvinist theology regards predestination, which Calvin interpreted strictly; while there's some debate over the differences on this point between Luther and Calvin, there's no doubt that it became a distinguishing point among the followers of each. More significant were the differences in the relationship between church and state, with Calvin placing much more authority with the clergy and Luther placing the greater emphasis for church regulation with the prince. By the time Calvin was influential, the Protestants had already failed to reconcile doctrinal differences at Marburg in 1529, so the formation of Calvinist churches was just one more wrinkle in the Protestant revolution. Renaissance, “rebirth”, the period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in Classical scholarship and
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.
Martin Luther’s view on indulgences appears in many of his writings including Luther’s 95 Theses and The Statement of Grievances. Martin Luther believes that the Papacy should not have a role in collecting taxes, indulgences, or any ways of drawing income from the German nation. On number twenty-three in the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther states “The brotherhoods, and for that matter, indulgences, letters of indulgences, and everything of that kind, should be snuffed out and brought to an end”. Martin Luther wants the German nation to get rid of indulgences since the indulgence sellings can harm the integrity of the church. Indulgences were not new to the German nation during the 16th century. Indulgences have been around for three centuries prior to 1520 even before Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation was published. With indulgences, the German nation pays for their sins to be forgiven. The church makes most of its profits from the public by selling these indulgences. In Carter Lindberg’s The European Reformation, Carter Lindberg states “An indulgence, then, drew on the treasure of the church to pay off the debt of the penitent sinner who would otherwise be obligated to pay off the penance by works of satisfaction either in life or in purgatory”. For example, in
He made a massive impact on the Catholic Church because he changed so many things during his time so that everyone would be treated fairly and evenly. One of Luther's main roles was that he was the leader of the Lutheran's. The Lutherans were the type of people who supported Luther and his ideas and followed him with what his teachings were about. A lot of these people were protestants because once Luther spoke up to the Catholic Church they all saw that they were being taken advantage of. Luther's beliefs were based on 'Faith + Good works = Heaven'. This was one of the many things that protestants believed would be the reason why they would be sent to Heaven. Luther felt that the Catholic Church weren't interpreting the bible correctly which is why Martin made the 95 Theses. The 95 Theses contained offence on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by the church in 1517. When Luther refused to take back his offence, Pope Leo X outlined a statement about the Church's doctrine on indulgences and wanted Luther's ideas to be condemned of. By the time that Luther brought more and more attention to himself he had the support of many German society's. Pope Leo X gave Luther 60 days to recant or he would face excommunication. As many of Luther's books were being burned Luther published an open letter to Pope Leo X announcing that he will still be continuing about his opinion on false doctrine and corruption in the
with his 95 Theses. A strict father who most likely did not accept “no” as an
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").
...igion. The more pragmatic people believe the results of the reformation to be the result of natural process of changes in the paradigm of late medieval thinking. The politics also understood the number of advantages, which the reformation gave them, including the shifting of power, which was earlier associated with church. The education was also influenced by the reformation. As a result of the reformation, people in the whole world got a chance to understand the religion in their own way, and to read the bible, without the church interference. Different branches of Protestantism appeared, and continue to appear even nowadays. The results of Protestant Reformation they were really noticeable in 16th century, not only due to the reformation itself, but also due to many factors, associated with the period of renaissance, and these results are noticeable even nowadays.
The selling of indulgence troubled Luther, he thought people were ignorant to believe that they didn’t have to repent after they bought an
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. If you examined both the renaissance and the reformation there were many differences and similarities from both. One of the main contrasts was that the reformation was all about the way to reform the church, and the renaissance had a much more secular view. Some of the similarities were that they both were about accepting new ideas whether artistic or religious, and they both had leaders who were corrupt. There were many changes that came about during these times and I believe that our world today would be completely different without them.
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
The Reformation provoked changes in religion from the Christian church in the early 18th century. Martin Brecht defines the Reformation as the world-historical event which was “triggered and substantially shaped by the monk and professor Martin Luther. His religious struggle over a gracious God, his existence between God and the Devil, led to a schism within Western Christendom and to the emergence of Protestant churches” (Brecht). Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. How were Martin Luther and Jean Calvin different and how were they similar in their quest to reform the church?