The Importance Of The Protestant Reformation

At the beginning of the 11th century, the predominant faith in Western Europe is the Catholic one, and the Church in those territories follows, in theory, the same Canon Law and has the Pope at its head as the deciding voice in religious disputes. The Church was the main unifying factor between territories that had evolved in very different ways, had different power structures in place and spoke different languages.

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

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

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 Peace of Augsburg was a huge part of Western Christendom, and it allowed the Lutheran church to be recognized as its own, separate church body. It legalized Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany. The Peace of Augsburg only solved the conflict on a state level, and not on a theological

time being in the church gave you power over politics and daily life. Because of this people

The church had an organized, elaborate hierarchy with the pope as head. The head of the hierarchy in the church was the pope. The pope was the supreme power of the church and his followers. The pope was a representative of God. “The pope also had the power to influence the king and its advisors,” (mnsu.edu). Each church had its own hierarchy within. Next in line of power is the Bishop, he is the leader of the church. Bishops were usually very wealthy and dressed very nice. The bishop had its own duties to fulfill, for example he had the power to adjust the taxes, and also had the power to annul marriages. Next in line of power is the Parish Priest. The Parish Priest was the Priest of the church; he would say Mass, which was done in front of the church. He also had the duty of collecting taxes for the church. Also the Priests were usually the only ones who could read and write in the village (thinkquest). “Many

Next, McMinn (2007) acknowledges the Christian Theology perspective on confession. According to the author (2007), there are two kinds of relations to confession and Christian Theology, which are confession and the sacrament of penance and confession and Scripture. McMinn (2007) points out that the Christian church has constantly been engrossed in confession, but the way of confession has altered during the past two millennia (p 221). According to the author (2007), numerous Spiritual leaders, such as Saint Augustine and Saint Patrick writing of their confessions of faith and sin have severed as a partial foundation for scholasticism, which is a crusade that attempted to examine faith academically (211-212). As scholasticism grew thought out time it birth the doctrine and sacrament

This confession says that the Bible is sufficient and the only source of knowledge and faith. While nature shows God, it is not enough for man to be able to believe. God shows Himself at times to bring humanity to Himself. God uses the Bible in order to do this. The Bible consists of the Old and New Testament and cannot be added to. Any other book is incomparable with Scripture and cannot be held as the same authority. Only the Holy Spirt and God’s word can convict us. The Bible is sufficient for life, however, there are some areas that are not explicitly addressed. Believers must use principles and the Holy Spirit within them to determine what is right. Believers must use the Scripture to interpret itself.

The church relationship was equal to the lord relationship with the peasants. The church often moderated between nobility and peasants. With the introduction of the church, nobles and vassals were willing to give away their possessions to the church in exchange for that their soul to be 'saved'. The church's message was strong and convinced many people to forego the feudal way of life and turn to the church. As a result, the church grew more and more powerful.

Also there was the 2% of the Church's people that ruled with their minds and had ways to control the ones around them. Manipulation of faith and believes played a large role in

In surveying the theological plain of Christianity regarding the atoning work of Christ, one is made aware of the scope of theories ascribed to it. Many of these theories can be attributed to heresy and rightly denied with a simple cursory look within the pages of Scripture. However, where such ideas can be dismissed, there remain two viewpoints readily opposed to one another in the extent of the atonement which dominates the landscape beyond any national border. Because of these two opposing ideologies, one must take a step back in order to reassert the groundwork in laying the foundation which leads to said viewpoints. Doing so would help in obtaining a correct understanding to be able to bring forth more clarity to a sometimes cloudy debate. As such, the need or necessity of the atonement must be addressed in asking why Christ had to die for man 's sin. The answer to this will in turn lend itself in determining the nature of the atonement, which looks at what Christ accomplished on the cross that makes salvation possible. The summation of these will direct the course to what the extent of the atonement asserts, perhaps the major crux or delineation within the Protestant church. Indeed, "[t]here are few doctrines which have received such a wide and variegated interpretation as the extent of the atonement," to the point that it "becomes so burdened with abstruse terminology that it can be utterly unintelligible, even to those who ostensibly promulgate its virtues."

This allowed for the better understanding of individuals in society, to a certain extent. The Church also was able to take up the role of checking the state to ensure that it was not allowed to too harsh or aggressive to the people.

The book of Concord, or “Concordia”, lays out the beliefs and theology of the Lutheran Church. It was officially put together as of 1580, or late 16th century in order to put a stop to religious controversy after the death of Martin Luther in 1546. This book was written by a group of theologians led by Jakob Andreae and Martin Chemnitz. This book was intended to grasp all of the prefaced doctrines and beliefs and to put together the Lutheran Church as we know it today. It opens with a preface, and then goes into three past creeds that establish what a Christian is, then followed by the Ausburg Confession, Which is the literal written out beliefs of The Lutheran Church.

I was not raised Lutheran, but I have always had a passion for Lutheran confessions from the time I entered a Lutheran seminary. I had many experiences this summer leading a service and leading the confessional liturgy. Through my readings and dialogue I explored the Lutheran confessional texts included in the Book of Concord as a witness to the gospel and guidance for faith and life. From their contents, especially the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Catechisms, I was able to define and describe the main themes of Lutheran theology and spirituality. The Lutheran confessions gave me a strong foundation and learning about their history, context, and content will give me an appreciation of the historical foundations of Lutheran theology as well as perspectives for critical reflection on the role of the Confessions in today’s ecumenical context. Furthermore being able to read and reflect on the Lutheran Confessions and then being able to actually lead a service and read the confessional liturgy while engaging and learning them was monumental in my education as well as growth in tis area.