...The Reformation The Reformation was describing the changes of religion in England. Roman Catholicism was the primary religion, but during this time Protestants decided to challenge the Church's authority. The Church had been challenged before, but they were able to quickly put their challengers aside. It wasn’t until Martin Luther discriminated against the Church that a real problem was created. Luther discriminated against the church by calling the Pope and all the clergy servants of Satan. He preached that the Catholics had no right to interpret the Bible. He believed that if it could not be found in the Bible, then people had the freedom to do what they wanted. He taught that people were saved by their faith, not by their good deeds. The...
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...Witch Craze in Europe Between 1520 and 1650, the Reformation had a huge impact on European countries and the way the people perceived religion. Due to increasing disagreements within the community and the Catholic Church, there became a need for the Church to reform; this Reformation became a catalyst for the witch-hunt by increasing society’s fear of the devil and social anxiety. These witch-hunts mainly targeted women, seeing as they were considered to be midwives and healers, they became legally more vulnerable to these hunts. It can be seen that witchcraft was the embodiment of a fear of instability, so in countries where the Catholic Church had much more stability, there are evidently less witch-hunts. The witch-hunts died out as the religious situation across Europe settled down and stabilized. Beginning in the early fourteenth century until about 1650, early modern Europeans were in the process of a religious reformation. The Reformation heightened awareness of evil within European culture and caused more harm than good to society. As fears arose, new beliefs emerged and in an attempt to understand these fears, people began to look for other ways to combat this new presence evil. Ironically, the very means people sought to protect themselves was what increased the paranoia of witchcraft leading to the death of many. By combining the reformation within the church and the already rooted ideas of witch craft and magic, Europeans soon began to use witch hunts as...
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...The English Reformation has a history of its own; a series of numerous events that brought about a reshaping of the Church, a paradigm shift in peoples understanding of ministry, as well as some other critical theological beliefs. And so it is also widely considered as the turning point for Christianity in England because it brought along reformed ideas, thoughts and ways of doing things, not only in the church, but also in England. A new dawn had come. The English Reformation is also remembered for the political ambitions and struggles which juxtaposed side by side with the theological and spiritual issues of the time. There were hot debate, burnings at the stake, organized coups, charges of treason and heresy and divorces which polluted the air. The history of the English Reformation certainly does not make for bedtime stories, nevertheless it is what it is and Christianity in England consequently took a dramatic turn of events. When we think of the Anglican Communion we think of the Book of Common Prayer and when turn the pages we can do nothing else but think of the scholar, priest and revolutionist who created it, Thomas Cranmer. Out of the smoke of the reformation arose the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556). Cranmer, amongst many is one of the iconic figures who helped influence Christian church history, and is often referred to as the ‘Architect of Church of England.’ In particular, Cranmer’s most noted contribution came to the surface during the...
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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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...when he pinned his 95 Theses to the wall of a church. What would follow is the formation of sects within Christianity that continue to shape the modern world. While this conflict is known as the “Protestant Reformation,” it quickly became a revolution due to its violent and surprisingly, political and economic nature. Similarly, a century later, The French Revolution sought to overthrow the nation’s head: the king. By analyzing these conflicts through a sociological lens, these social movements can be compared and contrasted....
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...The Protestant Reformation was one of the most dramatic changes in the religious era that occurred in the Catholic Church. The Reformation showed the decline of the Catholic Church and the rise of questioning authority, leading to the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution showed a rise in observations, resulting in models that represented the universe and the decline of the authority of the Catholic Church. This all would soon lead into a new era of obtaining knowledge known as the Enlightment, the Age of Reason. The most dominant religion during the fifteen century was Roman Catholicism. The clergy were the only ones who had the power to say if a person could make it to heaven or not, and anyone who opposed them was severely...
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...As it was stated in Luther and the Protestant Reformation: Crash Course World History, Martin Luther was a key player that shaped the reformation. The reform of the church was something that is known as a paradigm shift. A paradigm shift is a revolution of thoughts and ideas that displace the norms that had existed previously (Williams, 1.3). Before the reformation, Roman Catholicism was the single most common religion of its time. (Protestant Reformation: Crash Course World History, Martin Luther). During this time, the church itself stressed two things that would give a person righteousness. The first being human effect and the second was God’s grace ( A History of Western Society, pg. 388). Martin Luther believed that salvation and righteousness...
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...role in the spread of the religious Reformation. In Sixteenth-century Europe, the beginning of a religious Reformation started to spread, greatly aided by leaders who had political reasons to help new religions grow or were too busy to stop the spread of the Reformation. The Reformation swept across Europe primarily because those in authority had political reasons to adopt Protestantism or to ignore the its spread. Princes and rulers of German territorial states supported Luther because they wanted to weaken their...
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...its landscape and structures. Countless wars have been fought. Revolutions have been made. However, within Europe’s 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...
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...Social and Political Consequences of the Protestant Reformation The Catholic Church had become increasingly corrupt due to the selling of indulgences, clerical ignorance, pluralism and absenteeism. In desperate need of improvement and restructuring, a man named Martin Luther began a religious reformation. Luther was opposed to the selling of indulgences, believed the key to salvation was by faith alone and that the scriptures of the bible held all authority. The ideals of Martin Luther, radically different from those of the Roman Catholic Church, created a religious reform disturbing politics throughout Europe and changing society. Numerous political effects occurred because of the Protestant Reformation, which consequently happened because of Luther’s reforms. The area that was affected most by the Reformation was Germany. Luther was favored there and he gained support by appealing to German patriotism and evoking a national pride and feeling that influenced many princes. Luther stated that the only way Reformation could come about was by the princes to abolish papal power. This happened when Charles V excommunicated Luther and the German princes did not enforce the banning of Luther’s teachings. Charles V was also to blame for the disintegration of imperial authority because during his reign, he never took an interest in the constitutional problems of Germany that were left over from the Middle Ages. Germans princes used the religious issues as a way to extend political...
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...Renaissance and Reformation Effects The Renaissance began in the 1300s in Florence, Italy and reached to the 15th Century where it spread to the whole Western Europe. Renaissance means “rebirth” because of its changes from the primitive medieval times to the modern Renaissance. Both, the Renaissance and the Reformation had many effect on the European society and some of their impacts were combined. They believed that the human spirit had to be reawakened as it was in the classical times of Greece and the Roman Empire. Many new inventions, techniques and ideas helped to change the human society and caused a spiritual and religious crisis that shatters the Christian unity known as the Reformation. Many elements affected the social economic in the Renaissance. Everything began with the humanist as they revived an interest in ancient Greece and Rome to increase their understanding of their own times. During the process of this time period the society shifts from agriculture to urban in which trade is inter-regional and growing fast. The growth of trade helped the merchants to become powerful money leaders and developed a new middle class. In one hand the Renaissance effected individual scholars, writers, artists, wealth merchants and ruler could patronize the arts. But in the other hand the peasants still had their old simple life’s in which they had to work hard and fight for staying alive. But not only had the economy changed, there were also some changes in fine arts, where...
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...Introduction A reformation reader is a book edited by Denis Janz in which he brings lesser known documents and figures to luminosity. Janz makes the context reformation clearer by including the pre-Reformation Catholic sentiments authors and discussing about the Counter Reformation and the Catholic Council of Trent. He brings up different scholarly arguments on how to interpret the Reformation. Janz tries us much as he can to stay neutral and give explanations on what the questions are. He therefore, provides documents that hold the ability to place challenges on both viewpoints and supports a study of the texts themselves. In his book, Janz includes opinions explaining the significance of both Martin Luther and John Calvin. This paper is therefore, intended on highlighting the significance of these two individuals and contrasting the opinions contained in writings of each. The significance of Martin Luther Many people wonder why there exists a great fuss over martin Luther and the Protestant reformation. They also don’t understand how and why this German monk turned out to be a lightning rod for change in religion and community in Europe during the Renaissance. Many people also do not comprehend the significance of the circumstances and the importance Luther and his persuade on the Reformation and how it affects them in the present days. Back in 1520 Luther was thought of as an insightful church leader and other thought of him as an ecclesiastical terrorist. His thoughts...
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...Martin Luther born in 1483 in germany was a christian theologian and monk. his contributions to the christian religion were revolutionary and the impacts have shaped doctrines and structures present today in the religion. His interpretation of the bible resulted in controversial insights which challenged roman catholic traditions and the papal power which influenced europe in the middle ages. he initiated the protestant reformation which was hugely significant in the history of christianity. deep study of the scriptures gave way to many revelations for Luther. He believed and preached that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven could not be simply earned through the doing of good deeds, but can only be received as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as a redeemer from sin and subsequently eternity in Hell. At the time, the roman catholic church was selling 'indulgences' which were then believed to ensure acceptance to heaven and release from purgatory for those who bought them, regardless of sin, thus allowing people to think they could buy their way into heaven. The money was then used to construct cathedrals and monuments. Luther challenged the church on the corrupt nature of these promises they made to the public and endeavoured to expose the truths of the bible. As many germans were unable to read and understand the bible, they relied heavily on the word of the pope and the church, however Luther preached that ones faith and belief in Jesus...
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...During the 16th Century the renaissance and the reformation both had a major impact on Europe, this was due to the liberties and new ideas that produced changes in the society. Source 1 concentrates more on the effect the renaissance had whereas Source 2 concentrate more on the reformation and its effects. These however are not the only factors that contributed the ‘new age’ which was being formed, for example other key turning points would be international relations in regards to commerce as well as overseas exploration. In Source 1 it states that there was a ‘regeneration of cultural values’ this helps to support that the renaissance did have a massive effect in Europe as it was down to those values mentioned in Source 1. It highlights that there was a mass movement in cultural ideas throughout Europe at the time as many people’s view on society and cultural was changing. The infusion of new ideas had the biggest effect on the people in the middle class as out of everyone they cared the most about what others thought of them and whether or not they were doing the ‘right’ thing for that time period. Examples of the new ideas presented where shown through architecture, art and fashion. The change is backed up by Source 1 further as Morris expresses the ideas of the rebirth of ‘standards that had lain dormant since the fall of Rome’ this implies that the so called ‘new’ ideologies that are being formed aren’t so new, that in fact they are the thoughts expressed during the Roman...
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...Although some people may argue that the Renaissance had a greater impact upon the people of Europe because education was changing for the better, and the use of the vernacular was increasing. The Protestant Reformation had far more of an impact upon the people of Europe than the Renaissance because the printing press helped to make many pieces of work available to the public.and many people felt the need to purchase relics. Education was changing for the better. When the authority of the church was beginning to be questioned, it was thought of as less of a necessity to teach in school, “Education during this time became increasingly secular- less focused on religion.” (page 298). The church was becoming viewed as less of a necessity in school....
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