The Reformation was a period of great religious upheaval throughout Europe. Dissatisfaction with the liturgy and theology of the Roman Catholic Church led to movements which sought to reform the aspects of the Church which were perceived to be wrong. Particular issues of contention between the reformers and the Catholic Church included the selling of indulgences, the use of Latin versus the use of the vernacular, the idea of the seven sacraments, and the concept of transubstantiation within the celebration of the Eucharist. The latter particularly caused a great deal of debate, even between the reformers. Two of the most prominent reformers, Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli, had vastly different opinions on the transformation of the bread …show more content…
For the Roman Church, the sacrifice of the Eucharist involved an elaborate ritual, which was linked to the theology of transubstantiation. The theology of transubstantiation was defined by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 as the belief that at the point of consecration, the physical and spiritual nature of the bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Of the two reformers, Luther’s beliefs are more consistent with those of the Catholic church, whereas Zwingli’s view was far more polarised. Luther argued for the idea of consubstantiation; this being where the bread and wine retain their physical nature whilst simultaneously becoming the substance of Christ’s body and blood, rather than a complete transformation into the body and blood of Christ. Where Luther disagreed more strongly with the Catholic was that he wished for the Eucharist to resemble a meal, an idea drawn from the early church. He also wanted all who were present to be allowed to be given both the bread and wine. As well as this, he believed that Christ’s words of institution were central to the celebration of the Eucharist. In contrast to this, Zwingli argued that the ‘is’ used in Christ 's words of institution, “This is My Body”, was metaphorical rather that literal. He suggested the idea of ‘memorialism’, …show more content…
As Oettinger suggests, Luther’s opinions “on the relationship between music and morality and on the power of song were to shape a popular movement that swept Germany during his lifetime and afterwards.” It seems that for Luther, music was very much central to the dissemination of his ideas about the Eucharist to the people of Germany and beyond. A year prior to the publication of Geystliches, he had written about his desire to have an increased number of songs written in the vernacular for use in the Mass. He called for German poets to begin composing evangelical hymns for use in the
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.
Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
... to stick with things that are solely in the Bible. However, what Martin Luther realized that Zwingli didn’t was that you can have songs that express a theme or convey an idea in the Bible using different words and music. Martin Luther realized that, and this new way of thinking led to much of the church music we have today.
The Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. It was important because it divided the continent between catholics and protestants. New ideas were introduced and was the subject of tension between catholics and protestant for the next centuries. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg his 95 theses, inviting debate on matters of practice and doctrine. Luther's action was not as yet a revolt against the church but a movement for reform within. It was, however, much more than an objection to the money-grabbing and secular policies of the
What information from this week’s articles might be helpful as you think through this case?
While numerous theological issues had been brewing for some time, the Reformation was officially began in 1517 by a man named Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a professor of biblical theology who had several issues with the Catholic Church. His complaints or disputes with the Catholic Church are known as his 95 Theses. In his 95 Theses, Martin Luther argued that God offers salvation through faith alone and that religious authority comes from the Bible alone which posed a challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church. After sparking the Reformation, Martin Luther made it his goal to incorporate the church congregation in the praise and worship part of church service. A detrimental and vital aspect of Christianity, Martin Luther believed this needed to be done. Along with his followers, Martin Luther made continuous...
After translating The Bible into German, Martin Luther paved the way for Lutheranism. Luther believed that one must not repent their sins by payment or indulgences. He believed we simply needed to have faith in Christ and that salvation came from God. Luther also believed that priests should not be celibate. His beliefs also rejected the ideas of purgatory. Lastly, Lutheranism did not view transubstantiation in the same way as with Catholicism. Though Lutheranism maintained the closest in practices of the Catholic Church, it was their abuses of those sacraments that swayed Luther to reform. His initial intention was not to d...
The Eucharist is an important sacrament found among many denominations of Christianity. A sacrament is a religious rite; sacramental practices vary throughout Christianity. Catholicism recognizes the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, ordination, and matrimony. The Eucharist is a source of endless debate for the Christian faith; its history is complex and has evolved over the centuries. The Roman Catholic Church’s perspective on this religious ritual differs significantly from other offshoots of Christianity.
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
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
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
By this, he meant that the Catholic Church had put so much emphasis on the bible as a central religious authority and imposed it on people to follow its teachings. The other central belief of the Martin Luther document was that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. This particularly sparked the Protestant Reformation. The ideology of the Catholic Church that faith and not deeds would mean salvation for the believers was widely denounced and most people were of the opinion that both were the way to salvation. Although these two ideologies about the Catholic Church had been advanced before, Martin Luther wrote and presented them at a moment in history that was right for the religious reformation. Due to this documents by Martin Luther, the Catholic Church would soon be divided with Protestants leaving to form another denominational faith. The Protestants were often guided by the Protestantism that was shaped by Luther’s ideas on the issue of believe and the way to salvation that stipulated that good deeds and faith were the factors that influenced salvation (Denis 28). His writings changed the course
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.
...ion in our country as we know it is greatly due to this rise of people who could no longer stand by while the church bargained with them for an imaginary passage to heaven. The Catholic Church has since reformed and condemned the selling of indulgences and has even attempted to repair its rivalry with the Lutheran Church, evidence that the effects of the Reformation are long reaching and continue to be revealed even today.