The Short-Term and Long-Term Causes of the Protestant Reformation

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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 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... ... middle of paper ... ...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.

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