...Renaissance, Protestant, and Roman Catholic Churches Struggle for Power During the early modern period, from the 14th to the 17th centuries, Europe went through transformations in religious, cultural, and intellectual terms. Mainly due to these changes were the competing perspectives of the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Roman Catholic Church on the nature and role of the Church within Christianity. The Renaissance originated in Italy and spread through Europe, marking a rise of classical learning, humanism, and artistic achievement. It focused on a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman texts, generating a renewed interest in secular knowledge and creativity. The Renaissance greatly influenced...
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...The Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was a noteworthy sixteenth century European development pointed first at improving the convictions and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious viewpoints were supplemented by aggressive political rulers who needed to augment their energy and control to the detriment of the Church. The Reformation finished the solidarity forced by medieval Christianity and, according to numerous students of history, showed the start of a new period. A debilitation of the old ways was at that point under path in Northern Europe, as proven by the development of flourishing new urban communities and a decided white collar class. Martin Luther disagreed with aspects of Roman Catholic religious...
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...history there are several religious reformations that shaped a majority of modern Europe. These reformations include the Protestant Reformation, the English Reformation, and the Catholic Reformation. The events that lead to these reformations during the 16th century are quite lengthy. During the 14th century, salvation outside of the church was not possible. Thus, religion played a prominent role in the daily lives of people. However, many issues began to rise amongst all things religion. In 1309, internal conflict within the Catholic Church caused for its capital to be moved from Rome to Avignon. This shift of power started a war between France and England that lasted for nearly a century. To add to the turmoil, in 1347 the Black Death took the lives of more than 25 million Europeans within four years. Due to the plague, the church saw that a second pope was needed and established one in Rome. Then again in 1409, a third pope was elected. As three popes were battling for power, ordinary Christians became confused on who to believe. By the time the church resolved its problems, simple teachings of Christ were abandoned, and people saw the need to reform (HistoryTubeTV). Also known as The Reformation, the Protestant Reformation’s main goal was to reform the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. During the 15th century, the Christian church was the most powerful institute in medieval Europe, but the debauchery within the church eventually lead to its declining...
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...Henry 8th The year is 1563, after the bloodshed of Mary’s reign, England is unified and united under the reign of Elizabeth I.1 With Protestantism taking hold, the English had truly embraced their religion, incorporating it as part of their national image. However, the High Church of England had a rough history. In the beginning it was never truly sure of its position or role in relation to Catholicism and other protestant faiths. It took nearly 40 years and 4 monarchs to solidify its stance and finalize the church doctrine. The reason for this instability was caused in part by the true nature of the schism. Unlike the reformations of the continent, the English Reformation was caused by political motives rather than differences in theology and clerical practices. It was all started off by Henry’s desire to marry Anne Boleyn, followed by the English courts desire to access the power and wealth of the church. Cementing the fact that the reformation was political, was how closely the High Church’s doctrine mimicked that of the Catholic Church. Henry had been married for 21 years to Catherine of Aragon and she had not been able to produce a male heir. Not only had they not conceived a male, they had struggled to conceive at all. ‘During their marriage, Catherine had given birth to 6 children. 2 were stillborn, 3 did not survive the first year and Mary, the only one to make it to adulthood, was frail and sickly.’2 In Henry’s mind it was integral to the continuation of the Tudor...
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...the Protestant Reformation made significant changes on Western civilization. It altered the way people worshipped God and allowed for people to establish their own belief system. The Protestant Reformation allowed for a new definition of what it means to be civilized in Europe. People discovered, and took advantage of their freedom of religion. The Reformation did in fact contribute to a more civilized society because of its development of religious diversity, and its gradual separation between church and state. One of Martin Luther’s teachings states “On the matter of religious practice, is it better to follow one’s conscience?” (Notes Packet - The Reformation Begins; Mr. Johnson) Obviously,...
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...going to volleyball practice. However, this Sunday was quite different than normal. I woke up around 7:45am to get ready and mentally prepare for an 8:30am Classic Divine Worship Service at the First Lutheran Church of Gainesville. This service was quite different from my typical evening Sunday Mass at St. Augustines Catholic Church. I have only ever attended a Catholic service and I was excited to experience a new religious service. The reason I chose a Lutheran Church was because I have always been curious about this particular religion. Some of my friends are Lutheran and I wanted to see what the church was all about. In this paper I will argue that by attending this Lutheran Service I was able to visualize different symbols, participate in different rituals and experiences, listen to the leader and members of the church, and understand the purpose of the Lutheran Church and their relation to America as a larger society....
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...emerged differences over time. One difference relates to the Pope. The Roman Catholics, the Pope is reliable, he can contradict lower ranking church leaders. Mary shared Greek Orthodox believes a ‘highest bishop’, known as the ‘first among equals’. The bishop is not infallible and doesn’t have ultimate authority over the churches. The second difference that we discovered between the two religions is related to the language difference during the times. In Roman Catholic churches, Masses are delivered...
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...Several indivudals in human history have made a permanent impact on our world. One of those individuals was Martin Luther. Luthers actions created a schism in one of the strongest unifications in the world, and the products of this schism are still around today and represent the imortance of his actions. Martin Luther was an extremely seminal figure in regards to all things to do with Western History. He was a German professor of theology and a monk, and after rejecting several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, began the Protestant Reformation. His writings are held almost completely accountable for fractionalizing the Catholic Church. On October 31st, 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop rejecting the sale of indulgences,...
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...Protestant & Catholic Reformation On October 31st 1517, Martin Luther started the beginning of the Protestant Revolution by posting his 95 theses at Wittenberg’s castle. These 95 theses argued on the power and efficacy of indulgences and explained the fundamentals of justification by faith. Thus opened the eyes of the people who had begun to question centuries of Catholic beliefs. Luther and his supporters believed that the Church had been corrupted by power and wealth and therefore it needed to change for the better, however, the Church held strong to their own beliefs. With the constant attacks from the Protestants they fought back in what is known as the Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Reformation. The goal of both reformations was to change the same basic cores of the Church that had been lost. The Protestant Revolution depicts the church as ruled in a totalitarian and authoritarian way by corrupt popes. They viewed the selling of indulgences, which had been initially given to people who went on the crusades, as a commercial exploitation to raise funds for non-religious purposes. The Catholic Church on the other hand, viewed this practice as a way of salvation for the community of Christian believers. Most of the funds raised by the selling of indulgences were used to build St. Peter’s Church. Luther’s followers and other Protestants believed that this was not a religious cause but a way to please the pope’s desire to show his superiority. Luther’s belief...
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...during the Reformation In this woodblock from 1568, the printer at left is removing a page from the press while the one at right inks the text-blocks Propaganda during the Reformation, helped by the spread of the printing press throughout Europe, and in particular within Germany, caused new ideas, thoughts, and doctrine to be made available to the public in ways that had never been seen before the sixteenth century. The printing press was invented in approximately 1450 and quickly spread to other major cities around Europe; by the time the Reformation was underway in 1517 there were printing centers in over 200 of the major European cities.[1] These centers became the primary producers of Reformation works by the Protestants, and in some cases anti-Reformation works put forth by the Roman Catholics. Printed texts and pamphlets There were a number of different methods of propaganda used during the Reformation including pamphlets/leaflets, texts, letters and translations of the Bible/New Testament. Pamphlets or leaflets were one of the most common forms of propaganda during the reformation period. Pamphlets usually consisted of approximately eight to sixteen pages and were relatively small and easy to conceal from the authorities, thus making them very useful to reformers whose ideas were not accepted by the Roman Catholic authorities. The majority of these pamphlets promoted the Reformation and the Protestant ideas; however pamphlets were also used by Roman Catholic propagandists...
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...PAPER 1 (PROTESTANT REFORMATION) DOUGLAS HOLLOWAY STUDENT ID# 23766838 CHHI 302_DO5_201340 FALL 2013 DR. KEITH GOAD LIBERTY UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 05, 2013 As a result of increased corruption in the Catholic Church, a significant number of priests in the 16th century tried to transform Christianity back to its previous Biblical basis and simplicity. Initially, priests channeled much of their efforts in reforming the church, but they discovered that it was very challenging, and the only viable solution was to split completely from the Catholic Church. There were four movements as a result of the reformation events. They include the Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed Tradition (Calvin), and the Anabaptists. Key figures in the Protestants or protesters included John Knox, John Calvin, Zwingli, and Martin Luther. More doctrinal distinctions became obvious, and the previously integrated Christianity split into numerous warring groups. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of individuals were murdered as a result of Christian religion. In the current world, Protestants and Catholics in the spirit of ecumenism regard themselves as “brothers in Christ”. Martin Luther was in charge of Lutheranism and Anglicanism, Ulrich Zwingli for Reformed Churches, and Anabaptist and John Calvin broke with the beliefs of the Lutherans. The prominent figures in the reformed movement are discussed in details in this paper. Martin Luther (1843-1546) Martin Luther, a German reformer...
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...The Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was the 16th century religious and political revolution that disintegrated the Catholic Church. This reformation would define Europe in the modern era. Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII contested the Church’s power and its faculty to divide Christian religion. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther published his “95 Theses” which led to start the Protestant Reformation, in which it stated Luther’s terms of his protest against the Catholic Church. Martin Luther argued that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation; therefore, there was no need for lavish cathedrals and offerings that the Catholic Church was accustomed to. Also, he was opposed to the practice of the church collecting indulgences in order to shorten ones stay in purgatory. These indulgences were said to pave the way to heaven for any sinner. In Martin Luther’s 95 Theses the mentions the following: “Those who believe that, through letters of pardon, they are made sure of their own salvation will be eternally dammed along with their teacher”. After the Church’s unsuccessful rebuttal, they ended up excommunicating Luther in 1521. Luther went on to translating the bible into vernacular German, which up to this point was only in Latin and only available to priests who were they only ones who read and interpreted the bible to the masses. Luther’s translation was not word for word but rather sense for sense, which would help ordinary people, read the bible...
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...If the Reformation had never happened, if Martin Luther had never nailed his 95 theses to the door in Wittenberg, if Calvinism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism had never been created what would our world be like today ? This is an interesting alternate reality that we will never know. The reformation was not the work of a single rebel deciding the Church had gone too far. It was not a single act of the Church going too far. It was a culmination that had been building for centuries of the laity’s festering anger and doubt at the clergy’s unbridled depravity. The Church needed reform because the Church was corrupt, immoral and politically driven. The corruption of the Catholic Church was present on every level of the organization in every possible from. The corruption of the Church was very apparent in the sexual activities of the clergy and the rampant nepotism present in the Vatican. The Pope that truly exemplifies both of these common and widespread activities. This Pope had three children with Vanozza dei Cattanai and...
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...HIST 3335 The European Reformation Research Essay Submitted by: Terra Fillmore (201470549) Submitted to: Dr. David Clemis Bissett School of Business Mount Royal University April 12, 2013 The beginning of the 16th century marked a time in which the Roman Catholic Church controlled a large portion of the political, social, and religious influence in Europe. During this century individuals within the Church were looking towards a more pure and simple Christian lifestyle, but in doing so would have to work against the Church. England, in comparison to the rest of Europe, was more so isolated and distant and while Protestantism grew in the European society it took a far different shape in England. This was because England retained much of the principles and the practices of Catholicism. In addition, whilst the Reformation that took place in Europe was brought on by religious differences and ideals, its basis in England was one of personal and political change. The Reformation in England was centuries in the making and resulted from many merging forces. It was in the 1530’s that the statutes of Henry VIII began to collate an official break from the papal authority of Rome. The 16th century proved to be a boisterous period in the history of England. The uncertainty associated with the stability and religious beliefs of the government were crucial factors in the unclear identity of England until the 1600's. As is often the case with defining periods in history, timing...
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...Age of Conquest or Age of Exploration: Taking place around the early 15th century, Europeans began to seek new lands and resources. Began to venture out into the Western world to claim new lands and colonize. The Europeans exploring the west were mainly the Spanish, Portuguese, English and the French. The Age of Conquest would be referring to the Europeans taking over native inhabitants of the new world by a hostile method and implementing their new ways of life. It also brought slavery to the people, harsh working conditions, religion and exploiting them in any possible way. As for the Age of Exploration referred to the royal crowns back home sending out conquistadors and travelers to discover new lands, routes, trading posts, resources and map out the world. * Upon arriving to the new world, the Europeans began to kill off any resistance to their campaign. Attacked the natives, destroyed their lands, began to farm for natural resources, and enslaved some of the indigenous people. * Europeans believed by law and their given rights that their Gods had permitted them to take over and exploit any new cultures they encountered. * The Spanish Reconquista of 1492 made it so that it justified Christianity by exiling all of the Jews and Muslims. Therefore Christianity had to be spread, making it “alright” to overpower others and take over. * Christopher Columbus is sent out in 1492 to the Americas. The exploration lead to them colonizing, which later leads to the...
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