DBQ: Causes of the Protestant Reformation

The sale of indulgences was not saving any souls rather yet it was condemning them. The true way to clear away the sin is to as God for forgiveness and repent of the sin committed. Luther objected to the sale of indulgences for many reason. First of all the Pope does not have the power to relive someone from a sin, only God can. Second paying your way out of guilt does not save you in the eyes of God, true repent does. Third many crimes were being committed nonchalant due to buying indulgence. Lastly, the Pope was the making money out of selling indulgence yet not giving back to its people. Rather they

Martin Luther was one of the main people to cause the Protestant Reformation. Luther was a monk, lawyer, and professor who contributed and sparked interest in the reformation by putting his “95 Theses” on the church door. The “95 Theses” was a list of statements and judgements of the church and why Luther had concerns about it. Many people took interest in the theses for they showed valuable points on indulgences and other issues. Although Luther had many other contributions, other people helped along in the process of the reformation such as John Calvin who developed many reforms in the Protestant reformation. Those who followed many of the reforms made by Calvin were known as Calvinists and contributed a lot to the newly established Protestant religion. Therefore, an equally significant aspect of the cause of the Protestant Reformation were the crucial people that helped stand up for the

The protestant reformation was a significant turning point during the 16th century that completely revolutionized the Roman Catholic Church. The “reformation” was launched in 1517 when a German monk by the name of Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. The main ideas of this publication was that selling and buying indulgences was wrong and that the pope has no power over purgatory. These 95 revolutionary opinions formed the basis for the protestant reformation which revolutionized western civilization over the next three centuries. Although most people believe these reforms only affected religion, the reformation also impacted political life. Politics played an enormous role in the reformation due to the fact that political rulers wanted to extend their power and control using the church. Throughout the course of the protestant reformation, political authorities such as Emperor Charles V and Henry

The protestant reformation happened at the moment that it did because the Catholic Church was very a powerful force in Europe. It controlled people lives both spiritually and temporally. The church had so much power that it maintained political control over a large portion of Italy. The fact that the church held so much control over countries and governments became a point of contention among European countries such as the Holy Roman Empire, Italian city-states outside of Rome, England, France and Spain. The power of the rulers of these areas had greatly increased in the 14th century and they were eager to take the chances offered by a Reformation to weaken the grip of the Catholic Church in Europe and also to develop their own powers across the European continent. For quite some time the Catholic Church had been an institution rampant with internal struggles. Such as the Avignon Papacy from 1309 to 1377 when seven popes opted to live in Avignon, France and not reside in Rome which was and is the traditional home of the Papacy. The Pope and other high ranking church officials often lived opulent lifestyles rather than a more austere lifestyle that should befit a spiritual leader. Many church leaders and Popes maintained political powers. They led armies, waged wars and made many political decisions. Church offices were sold, and many Popes and bishops practiced nepotism to fill church offices. With all of these worldly issues for the Pope

The Protestant Reformation was a large transition in the way people understood and thought of the Catholic Church as a whole. The Catholic Church had always had a sizeable amount of power over the people and way of life. The person who truly began the whole movement was Martin Luther. He began his public move when the indulgence controversy became apparent. An indulgence is a free ticket out of purgatory, and purgatory is the place one goes directly after physical death to undergo purification. That purification will determine whether one is suitable for Heaven or not. Therefore, every person wanted an indulgence so there was no chance of them not making it into Heaven. However, these indulgences were solely to gain funds for army, church, and others. Although it was only for money, people still wanted one because they did not want to take any chances with their personal afterlife. Martin Luther was infuriated that these indulgences existed. Luther believed that forgiveness is only given to those that are truly sorry for their mistakes. Therefore, he wrote the Ninety-Five Theses. These were documents arguing and criticizing against the indulgences. He posted these documents on the Cathedral door for the Pope to read. He wrote the documents in Latin originally, but the Printing Press translated them into German for everyone to be able to read. In response to these indulgences, Martin Luther

Lutheranism developed in lieu of the Roman Catholic Church’s high use of indulgences. During the 16th century, indulgences were often used as “offering[s of] forgiveness of sins in exchange for certain payments” (Hillerbrand 7657). This often included paying sums of money to or for the Roman Catholic Church to save the soul from Purgatory. This sparked Luther’s famous 95 Theses in which he questions the use of indulgences and names some of the issues seen with the Roman Catholic Church.

Only three months after his posting of the 95 Theses, all of Europe was able to get a hold of a copy of it (“About Martin…”). Many people, once aware of the situation, became upset with the Church and began to protest against the Catholic Church (“The Spanish Massacre…”). All of this is essentially what led to the Protestant Reformation, which had its basis in the 95 Theses and Luther’s teachings, led by many radical protestors. (Staff).

Martin Luther wrote the Power and efficacy of indulgences .Know as the 95 theses. Martin Luther came up with the 95 theses in Germany in Wittenberg. These 95 theses show what the church was doing wrong in his time this change the course of the catholic church. See the church would take and fool the good christian people by take and stealing their money. Like if the person was having a bad day they would come to the church and the pope are monks would tell them they could feel mary, or anybody from the bible bones are some fake holy relic or they told them they could drop money in a pot and when it hit the bottom there person they to wanted to go to heaven went .

Indulgences are forgiveness of sin but you have to pay for them. Martin Luther a monk became fed up with the selling of indulgences. He made the 95 these and put them on the churches door step. The 95 theses was discussing topic the Luther had make up to show the church. The 95 theses late became the foundation of the Protestant Reformation.

In 1517, Martin Luther wrote the famous 95 Theses in order to show his concern for how indulgences and other rituals were handled in the Catholic Church, while still respecting his ecclesiastical superiors. In no way was his purpose to create a manifesto or cause a reformation as large as he did, but when we look back now, we see the 95 Theses as the ideas that changed how the world views the church. Being a Protestant myself, I agree with many of Luther’s opinions. I believe the two most important concepts that Luther focuses on are how humans truly receive salvation, and the limits of the spiritual power of the papacy, both of which can be seen in countless verses in the Holy Bible.

Indulgences is the idea that in order to exit purgatory for yourself or your loved ones, you must pay money to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholics also believed that to enter into heaven instead of purgatory, it was based on your life’s good works. Martin Luther questioned that ideology, Luther believed purgatory was created by the Catholic Church to create revenue, rather than purgatory being an actual place. During this time, he began to believe that through faith and faith alone one could achieve righteousness, and then they complete good works, which is the most essential part of Lutheranism. Martin Luther asked Pope Leo of the Roman Catholic Church “Of what benefit to you are the good works which you do not need for keeping your body under control?”

Protestantism began as a movement in 1517 AD, when Martin Luther - a German Professor of theology - posted his “Ninety Five Theses” on the walls of the “All Saints’” castle in Wittenberg, Germany. This great work brought awareness to the doctrinal faults - such as the dealing of indulgences - and corrupt practices of religious leaders from the Roman Catholic Church, and gave reason for a reform of the establishment. The content of the “Ninety Five Theses” - which addressed three main ideas, including: “selling indulgences to finance the building of St. Peter's is wrong”, “the pope has no power over Purgatory”, and “buying indulgences gives people a false sense of security and endangers their salvation” - was heavily contradicted and rejected by the church at that time. Furthermore, Martin Luther translated the Bible into German for the first time in history, and spread the work all across Europe. This placed the bible into the hands of a large majority of Christians, who were able to interpret the text without the need of religious figures. Although Martin Luther, began the Protestant movement and branch of religion, other important figures such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli also greatly contributed to the

During the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, religion was beginning to be reevaluated. Anxiety and confusion erupted out of the Protestant Reformation because Catholicism was being questioned by a myriad of people. This led to an increase in religious violence, events like the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre and the Thirty Years' War being prime examples of how new religions created tensions in Europe. These tensions created a need for a scapegoat, as the negative aspects of the Reformation could not be associated with the pioneers of the movement. Due to a heightened sense of divine power and new ideas about witchcraft, people, mainly women, were targeted and persecuted as witches.

Throughout the Middle Ages, many argued that the church had become too wealthy and powerful. Christian humanists of the 1400s and 1500s urged social, political, and religious church reforms throughout Europe. These various changes to the church became known as the Protestant Reformation. However, with the many changes being brought to the church, some of the members of the upper class pushed back and started the Counter-Reformation. These opposing ideas created conflicts in Germany as well as other countries in Europe. The German Peasants’ War of 1525 was caused by the oppression of the peasants by nobles and the upper class. This is best represented through grievances expressed by the lay people, fear expressed by the gentry, and the report of events from all citizens.

The early church had all the power over everything in most of Europe. It was the wealthiest thing in all the land and with that came other big concepts. The church had power over the people, over other people’s money and even other people’s lives. However, during the time period of 1300 to 1789 the church's power declined by a significant amount. A number of things happened that decreased the church's power during the time period of 1300 to 1789, but the Protestant reformation and the Scientific Revolution had weakened the role of the church the most.