Reformation Essay
The Protestant Reformation was a series of events that happened in the 16th century in the Christian Church. Corruption overtook the Catholic Church; people saw a need to change the way it worked. People like Martin Luther and John Calvin saw the corruption and tried to stop it. They did this by challenging papal authority and questioning the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. Thus, leading to a split in the church between Catholics and various Protestant churches.
The major causes of the protestant reformation include that of political, economic, social, and religious background. The religious causes involve problems with church authority and a monk's views driven by his anger towards the church. Economic and social causes like technological advances and the ways the church was collecting revenue. Political causes such as distractions with foreign affairs, problems with marriage, challenges to authority.
Martin Luther is thought to be the one particular person who "started" the protestant reformation by nailing his "95 Theses" also known as complaints, to the door of a church in Wittenberg. The key ideas of the Reformation were a call to purify the church and belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience.
Martin Luther’s role in the Reformation was quite profound, early on he was an Augustinian monk and university lecturer in Wittenberg. It was not until after he composed his 95 Theses which stated his position on the pope’s sale of reprieves from penance, or indulgences, that he would encounter some turbulence. In 1521 he was summoned before the Diet of Worms and excommunicated, despite his hopes of speaking within the church. While sheltered by Friedrich, Luther translated the Bible into German and continued his output of vernacular pamphlets through the mass production capable because of the printing press. German peasants had become increasingly inspired by Martin Luther’s translations of the Bible. Thus, resulting in a revolt in 1524, there after Lutheranism had become the state religion throughout much of Germany, and Scandinavia.
Ulrich Zwingli who had taught similar lectures with ideas parallel to Luther is thought to be the one who began the Swiss Reformation in 1519. However, in the year 1541 John Calvin who was a French protestant spent the previous decade in exile writing about Christian Religion. He was invited to settle in Geneva and put his reformed doctrine which touched focused...
