Protestant Reformation And The Catholic Church Essay

“The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that have defined the continent in today's modern era.”(History.com/2009) Many historians have argued that the beinging of the reformation goes back to 1517 when Martin Luther wrote 95 Theses. Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1583-1648, right around the time of the Treaty of Westphalia. The key ideas of the Reformation were to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. However, Luther and multiple other men contributed on a large scale that widely affected the Reformation. “Martin Luther who was a monk and professor in Germany when he composed his 95 Theses, in which he protested the popes sale of indugences were corrupting church members faith”(Biography.com/2013). With the aid of the printing

Since Protestantism was not only a religion but a way of life, and since priests and other clergy members were no longer as necessary in religion, in many countries the state and the church began to fuse, and formed a single, all powerful rule. As a result, many Protestant

During the 16th century, Protestantism emerged as a new sect of Christianity. This process was not calm or peaceful in the slightest. Protestant leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin fiercely attacked and denied traditional Catholic beliefs, causing much controversy and debate upon religion. Many regions of Europe as a whole were converted to Protestantism, and many more Protestants emerged in areas where Catholicism remained the state religion. The Catholic faith became less and less appealing to people as the abuses of the clergy were now publicly addressed by reformers and a new, personal approach to religion was offered in Protestantism. In addition, rulers favored Protestantism as a state religion because it meant that no power

The catholics think that the pope is the substitute of Christ. The Protestants believe that any human is infallible and that only Christ is the head of the church. Also, the Protestants believe that the Bible is the special revelation from God to the humankind, which tells us what is necessary for our salvation. The Protestants reformation was the 16th century religious, political, intellectual, and cultural trouble that splintered catholic Europe, setting I place the structures and believes that would define the continent in the modern era. http://christianityinview.com/protestant/timeline.html

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the church was promptly losing respect due to the corruption and simony within the church. However when Johann Tetzel began to sell indulgences, many felt that the church had reached rock bottom. Due to this sale of indulgences, Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses which sparked a religious reformation movement that spread throughout Europe. During the reformation, religious, political, and social aspects were associated with the changes in the church, significantly affecting Europe.

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

The Protestant Reformation was a pivotal time of European history that occurred during the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation was comprised of people called “reformers” that challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice (“The Reformation”). The Protestant Reformation was revolutionary due to the fact that the reformers preached against everything the Catholic Church had been teaching. Some famous reformers are John Calvin and Martin Luther. However, Martin Luther-- to some--- is named the most successful and influential reformer of the 16th century. Martin Luther was tremendously effective and influential due to how resourceful he was, and his teachings spread across Europe swiftly.

To begin, the Protestant Reformation began in reaction to the Catholic Church’s rather corrupt practices. Prior to the Reformation, the only major Christian denomination in Western Europe at the time was Catholicism, headed by the Pope in Rome. Through many acts of violence such as the formation of the Spanish Inquisition and the slaughter of the Cathars, amongst others, Europe’s Monarchs had wiped out and suppressed any form of religious competition. With the Catholic Church holding a tight stranglehold over Europe, Catholicism was the only option. This allowed

Individuals and groups of a society can promote change of the status quo. Many people took action and spoke out against issues within society during the Reformation. The Reformation was a movement in the 16th century where people called out the Roman Catholic Church on its unjust teachings. These people include John Wycliffe, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Martin Luther. The Church did not approve of this criticism and aimed to eliminate those who defied the Church.

In 1527, King Henry VIII of England filed for divorce from his wife, Catherine. As insignificant as this event may seem, it actually marked the beginning of a religious and political reform from the corrupted Roman Catholic Church: the English Reformation. The English Reformation wasn’t the only movement that led to the separation from the Catholic Church, though. The Protestant Reformation, starting only ten years before the English Reformation did, first recognized the corruption of the Catholic Church. The English Reformation noticed the corruptions of the Catholic Church, but was more focused on creating new political and religious authority. Both of these reformations relate to one another greatly, but are still considered to be individual movements. Papal authority was stripped during these reformations, and all of Europe lived differently afterwards. While Catholicism still existed after the reformations and is still practiced today, many new religions exist today as an effect of the reformations. The political power that the Church held diminished and was replaced by the English state. Both the Protestant Reformation and English Reformation impacted the political power and religion of the Catholic Church and all of Europe. Without these movements, Christian religion would not be what it is today.

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 Catholics and Protestants were once together, therefore they are very similar but they do have a few differences. The Protestants believed that church services and the bible should be taught in a way that is legible to their people. Unlike the Protestants, the Catholics believe that it should be taught in its original form, even if they cannot understand the language. Church services with the Catholics remained in Latin, as it has in the last 1000 years (Alchin 2). The Catholics believed that their priest were special people. They believed that without their priest they could not connect with God. In a Catholic church the priest holds all of the power, not only was it impossible to

By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not

The Protestant Reformation and European expansion have both left political, social and economic impacts throughout history. The Protestant Reformation which was started in the 1500’s, by a Catholic man named Martin Luther caused political instability and fragmented the Holy Roman Empire. It economically caused the church to go bankrupt and socially allowed for the rise of individualism among the people; Luther gave the people of Europe the long needed reason to break free of the church. The Protestant Reformation and the need for new converts lead to the rise of European expansion. European expansion into the west resulted in a political increase of power for Europe, the social increase in slavery, disease and racism, as well as the

The intent of this paper is to evaluate the distinct character and quality of the expressions of the Protestant Reformation. This paper will discuss Lutheran Reformation, The Anabaptist, and The English Puritans as well as the Catholic Reformation also known as the Counter Reformation. It is the hope that after the reader has had the opportunity to view each of the characteristics and the expressions of each of the reformation the reader will have a better understanding of each and will be able to articulate the differences of each.