Renaissance Humanism: Protestant Reformation

Art, science, and religion build the fundamentals for education. The Renaissance burned with a fiery passion for new and innovative ideas. The people of Europe strayed from the bleak Medieval ages full of depression and instead, they saw light in a new beginning. In the 1400s.Not only was there a cultural change, but there was also a religious change. When the Roman Empire fell, so did the Roman Catholic Church. With the fast-moving technological growth and decreasing religious reinforcing, the idea of humanism symbolically represent the Renaissance as a whole. Humanism is the cultural stress on human nature instead of religious matters or anything supernatural. Three men who symbolized the ideals of humanism include Michelangelo, Nicolaus Copernicus,and Martin Luther. Each man questioned his worth and reconstructed himself in his own image, reflected the impacts of the Renaissance through his works, and strived to accomplish a goal like no other.

It focuses on human beings, their values, abilities, and individual worth, and human society as something valuable that could be improved. Renaissance humanism challenged the worldview of the Middle Ages. Humanism led to new attitudes towards art, philosophy, and government. P.336 - P.344 (Document D)

The Renaissance period was impacted by humanism strongly because people were now starting to realize, they weren’t just peasants that worked for a lord but they too were people that could make their own decisions. People valued their self-worth now, and they wanted to learn about reading, writing, and the

Christian humanism is an intellectual movement in Northern Europe that combined the interest in the classics of the Italian Renaissance with an interest in the sources of early Christianity. It helped pave the way to the protestant reformation by bringing the focus of old Christianity back into modern Christianity, which was a protestant ideal. Erasmus paved the way for Luther’s break with Rome and Catholicism by writing the Handbook of Christian Knight, stating his belief that Christianity should show people how to live good lives on a daily basis, not just to provide believes for them to be saved. This belief was shown also by Luther, it being his belief that a common man should be sanctioned to interpret the bible in his or her own way.

The Protestant Reformation often gets the lion’s share of attention when discussing religious reform and renewal during the Early Modern period. However, to state that the Reformation was the only significant shift in the ideology and practice of Christianity would be to greatly undersell the importance of a myriad of religious reformers that denounced the decrepit and outdated relationship between mainstream religious practice and God. For this new wave of religious reformers, the traditions of the mainstream Church (whether Protestant or Catholic) were getting in the way of godly men and women forging a personal relationship with their savior, one in which the individual is brought into the grace of God through a true lasting connection

Much is made of the three “solas” of the Reformation: “Scripture alone,” “Grace alone” and “Faith alone.” I am not convinced even when taken together these three were enough to fuel a movement that has lasted almost half a millennium.

Religion is the most important aspect of many people’s lives, serving as a roadmap to live virtuously while promising eternal life and salvation. In his work On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther writes on what it means to truly be Christian and how to achieve salvation. Luther discusses many aspects of Christian faith, including the difference between the inner person and outer man, the effect of works on salvation, the marriage with Jesus as a result of faith, how individuals should act towards others, and the important notion of Christian liberty that arises because of one’s faith. Luther’s ideas were highly controversial at the time as many of them opposed the thinking of the Catholic Church, one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

The Renaissance began in Italy during the 1300s in which a of rebirth of the arts, economy, science, and culture of Europe occurred. Before this time, during the Middle Ages, war and disease precluded advances in art and literature and the powerful influence of the Catholic church limited significant advances in science and philosophy. The Renaissance took influence from classical Greek and Rome and expressed and expanded upon many of the ideas of that time. Art became more realistic and focused on the human figure as humanistic ideals became more prevalent, and subjects shifted from chiefly religious scenes to scenes of daily life, of classical mythology, portraits, sculptures, and many more. The economy flourished as a wealthy merchant

Religion is the most important aspect of many people’s lives, serving as a roadmap to live a virtuous life while promising eternal life and salvation. In his work On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther writes on what it means to truly be Christian and how to achieve salvation. Luther discusses many aspects of Christian faith, including the difference between the inner man and outer man, the effect of works on salvation, the marriage with Jesus as a result of faith, how individuals should act towards others, and the important notion of Christian liberty that arises because of one’s faith. Luther’s ideas were highly controversial at the time as many of them opposed the thinking of the Catholic Church, one of the most powerful institutions in the world. The Catholic Church adamantly disagrees with many of the ideas expressed by Luther, including the value that works, the church, and humility has in salvation.

The late Middle Ages were a time of creative fragmentation and new synthesis. The Renaissance, which take place between 1300 and 1700, was a time for education and experimentation. The fifteenth century saw an unprecedented demand for quality education and art and scholarly renaissance. Italian and northern humanists recovered classical knowledge and languages that set education reforms and cultural changes in motion that spread throughout Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Modern historians have always debated on how we should classify the events of our history; they naturally want to be as authentic and actuate as possible when they rely information to us. However, when it comes to something as complicated and intricate as European history, it becomes troublesome to simply label a part of history without it bearing resemblance to another. As to the concern of the relation between the Protestant Reformation and Renaissance, they both encompass apparent elements of individualism and religious reasoning. In spite of this, both these events can be separately indentified as different based on the change they incited on the whole of Western Civilization and of who was actually effected during their time.

The Renaissance was a crucial time in the history of humanism, such as having a lot of deaths in the 14th through 16th century due to the Black Death. A plague of infectious bacteria that spread rapidly with fatal force. Although humans moved on from the Black Death it had a huge impact on Humanism. Humanism are ethical lives that want or are capable of adding positive aspects to humanity. The Renaissance also expressed humanism by the works of “Romeo and Juliet”, “The history of the true cross” and the temple “Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio”.

Religion in Europe was starting to become not so literal, but more of a personal connection with God, instead of a strict public connection. The start of the Renaissance, commoners or nobility was not focused on taking over the family business, but focusing on other career options of interest. The ideas and the development of Humanism were established during the Renaissance through the idea of religion being more personal. Humanism is the practice that emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world (Gardner and Kleiner 418). Humanism came from the Greeks and Romans interest in the World and the human being. Greek and Roman literature and philosophies were being read again during the beginning of the 15th century. From reading Greek and Roman philosophies, humanism was developed and artwork was reflecting this new trend of individuality. Artist in the 15th century started to claim their artwork and signing their work due to the idea of human fulfillment in the natural world.

What is Humanism? Why is Humanism often considered the foundation for the Italian Renaissance? Why did Humanism take root in Italy? Why did Humanism drastically change the literature being produced in Italy? These are the key questions to consider when attempting to understand why Humanism a spark to a flame for many in fourteenth century Italy. For Humanism not only brought the Renaissance to Italy, but created a whole new form of documentation, which has persevered throughout time.

Humanism describes the emphasis that was revived in the Renaissance when the Liberal Arts were used to distinguish man from beasts. Through letters--or scholarship--was sought a rebirth of spirit and spiritual freedom and justification of the claim to rational autonomy. In essence, the Renaissance was a revival of the capacities and powers of the ancients.