Protestant Reformation Dbq

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

John Calvin, a Genevan, modified Martin Luther’s ideas of the Reformation to create the faith of Calvinism, and later wrote the Latin tome Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.

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

John Calvin was a theologist and a pastor. He was born in France in the early 1500s. Calvin heard about Martin Luther and liked they way Martin Luther thought about religion. Calvin wrote a book called Institutes of the Christian Religion which described his ideas. He was very leading to Protestants, but when he attempted to go back to his hometown they locked him in a jail for a couple of months because he talked about Lutheranism. He didn’t realize it then, but later on he becomes a person who inspired many.

In the Reformation era, two groups dictated the war of differing religions, Calvinism and the Catholic Church. Both had different interpretations of God as they maintained loyal members. The Catholic Church and Protestant denominations were enemies. John Calvin created the Protestant religion named Calvinism. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it eventually became one of the largest Christian religion outside Roman Catholic. Its founder John Calvin used Geneva to spread his message. The Catholic Church experienced several issues in the 1500s. In 1517, Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” and the subsequent formation of the religion Lutheranism posed a threat to the Church. As a result, the Catholic Church took several measures to ensure loyalty from its

The reformation was a religious renewal in Europe in the sixteenth century that was led by Martin Luther. Luther saw problems within the Catholic Church and wanted to fix those specific problems, not necessarily change the entire religion (Beeke). John Calvin grew up during this era and continued the reformation, but he went about it in a different way than that of Martin Luther. In his eyes it was necessary to start from scratch, which is exactly what he did, and that’s how Calvinism came about.

Calvinism represents the second wave of the Protestant Reformation by John Calvin. Calvinism is one of the Reformed movements influenced by John Calvin that developed arresting new teachings on authority and liberty, duties and rights, and church and state that have an enduring influence on Protestant lands. Calvin’s original teachings were periodically challenged by major crises in the West- the French Wars of Religion, The Dutch Revolt, The English Revolution, and the American Revolution. The most popular idea was Predestination Doctrine which means everything that happens is fated by God and the idea that all of mankind is already assigned to either Heaven or Hell at birth. There is nothing man can do that would change or destiny since it was at the hands of all-powerful God. The Presbyterian Church was the biggest group

church during the 16th century and was initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of

John Calvin was a major Contributor as a reformer in Geneva. The Protestants were scattered heavily throughout Europe, and were considered leaders of the Reformation. Calvin’s work in the writing of the Institutes would arouse many throughout Europe the opportunity to present their faith and views as a church and enabled the Protestants to have a voice. Calvin’s strength as a reformer was his brilliance to organize the Ecclesiastical Ordinances within the church that would bring structure among the elders.

The 16th century was an exciting time of economic and political growth and exploration. The Renaissance, which sparked Humanism, prompted intellectual growth, which stimulated critical questions on topics such as the church fathers, and scripture that gave a completely new approach to looking at the Bible. The birth of the European Reformation (or Protestantism) is often marked by Martin Luther’s posting of The Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517 protesting the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences. Luther’s initial intent was not to separate and divide the Holy Mother Church, but to reform ill practices and corruption. However, his good intention grew into a great schism in the Church as doctrinal and canonical differences were

In 1517, German friar Martin Luther declared that the only source of God’s words was the Bible. By doing that, he denounced the authority of the pope and priests. This started the “Protestant Reformation”

Matters concerning religion today were not like they were in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Before Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis starting the Protestant reformation, there was only the religion of Catholicism. The Protestant reformation, brought on by the northern renaissance, gave us diverse religions such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anabaptist, and many others. Although the spread of these new religions pleased the people of the country, the ruling authorities and catholic dignitaries were not. They found every way to make life for the reformed difficult. Over the centuries toleration grew for some countries but never came to others. Views on religious toleration changed from the sixteenth to eighteenth century in Europe, countries like Great Britain became more tolerant while countries like France grew more intolerant.

Europe in the sixteenth century was dominated socially, politically and economically by the Catholic Church. As the church gained more power and wealth they began to stray from the book and its clergy became corrupt. The church began taking advantage of their follower’s faith for monetary gain. Some individuals were outraged and called for the church to reform. The most vocal person on this issue was Martin Luther. He attempted to convince the church to reorganize. When they did not, he began the Protestant Reformation. The conflict that occurred between the religions took a toll on the public who were already destitute due to economic recessions and population decline. As society tried to make sense of all the turmoil, they shifted the responsibility of it from the church onto the devil. The rise in the active hunting and persecution of witches was in direct response to the social, economical, and political turmoil during the Protestant Reformation.

During the 16th century there were many new events occurring. Two of those being the Protestant Reformation and late Renaissance movements. Both of these movements changed many aspects of society. The Reformation changed the way the Roman Catholic Church function. On the other hand, the Renaissance changed many artistic ideals. In this case art can be architecture, portraits, drawings etc. This said many people must’ve been involved in these two movements.

Martin Luther, a monk and professor with the university at Wittenberg, is the legendary figure of the Protestant Reformation. This Reformation was a movement began in 1517 as Luther nailed his infamous ninety-five theses to the door of Castle Church. These theses that were meant to spark debate among his students circulated among an increasingly questioning population and kindled church and religious renewal across Europe. Other reformers, such as Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, and John Hus also took issue with the church and papacy and helped to begin the process of change.