Something that really started things off for the protestant reformation was simply the corruption inside the Church. Giovani di Lorenzo de’ Medici, also known as Pope Leo x, really enjoyed his time in the papacy. He spent money like there was no tomorrow and it had greater circumstances than he have ever imagined. Pope Leo X loved to live extravagantly and he wanted St. Peters Basilica to show that extravagance. The problem was, The Pope did not have any money! He had already spent most of it on his lavish lifestyles, with shows and games and all sorts of entertainment going on all the time. Not to mention all the art he spent the papal treasury on, he had commissioned the great artist Raphael to do a portrait of himself. So when he went to rebuild St. Peters Basilica he had to find a way to make some money. So you know what he did? He started handing out indulgences for “donations” but really he was just praying on people’s fears and telling them that if they bought these indulgences they would be able to have a shorter time in purgatory and get to heaven faster. He was even saying that people could buy indulgences for people who had already passed and who may be stuck in purgatory still making up for all of their sins. So basically Pope Leo X was telling all of these people, mostly peasants, that their family members wouldn’t go to heaven unless they gave a “donation” to the church. Not to say that this was exactly what Giovani de’ Medici was saying but it sure is the way that it appears. He just wanted to remodel St. Peters Basilica! This was kind of like the final straw of corruption in the Church and led directly to Luther’s Revolt. Martin Luther, a German monk, decided to write the ninety five theses. The ninety five these... ... middle of paper ... ...pes for the church were being destroyed, a good amount of culture was lost during this religious turmoil but a lot was also gained. The rise in literacy and people’s new found ability to think for themselves brought a whole new aspect to the world and it is said that Luther actually started the concept of freedom of speech. So once we get passed all the centuries of wars and religious turmoil it created, which still can cause issues today, the protestant reformation, led by the ideas of Martin Luther, really paved way for a better world. Where we have the freedom of speech as well as religion, we can speak to God whenever we would like and we no longer need to live in fear of the corrupted Catholic Church, we now put more emphasis on family life and respectability to married life. And to think all of this started just because Luther wanted to start a simple debate.
There are so many causes from the Protestant Reformation. In the Protestant, there was three different sections that got affected more the the others. When the Protestant Reformation happened it affected the Sociality, Political, and Economic the most.
First we will talk about Martin Luther. Martin Luther was born on November 10th, 1438 and died February 18th, 1546, but his actions throughout his life leave a mark in the history world. Luther was a Catholic priest and professor of Theology from Germany. He attended the University of Wittenburg, and there, not only did he earn a doctorate, but he also gained "religious enlightenment". He is, to this day, a very influential person of the past and he changed history forever, but why? The answer is the Protestant Reformation.
The 1500’s were a time of reformation and also a time of corruption in the church. The pope, Pope Leo X was one of the most corrupt popes because of his greed for money. The church was very wealthy during the protestant reformation promoting false beliefs to many people, but one man named Martin Luther changed that with his 95 theses because of his dislike for the wrongdoings from the Catholic church.
While numerous theological issues had been brewing for some time, the Reformation was officially began in 1517 by a man named Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a professor of biblical theology who had several issues with the Catholic Church. His complaints or disputes with the Catholic Church are known as his 95 Theses. In his 95 Theses, Martin Luther argued that God offers salvation through faith alone and that religious authority comes from the Bible alone which posed a challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church. After sparking the Reformation, Martin Luther made it his goal to incorporate the church congregation in the praise and worship part of church service. A detrimental and vital aspect of Christianity, Martin Luther believed this needed to be done. Along with his followers, Martin Luther made continuous...
...ning of one small but powerful man, Martin Luther. Luther was a holy person himself and he began noticing the corruption in the Church. He tolerated everything till the last straw in which he saw a priest, Johann Tetzel selling indulgences. Tetzel said that for a certain amount of money, he said that he would assure their entry to heavens and as well as their dead relatives as well. This final outrage lead Luther into writing his 95 theses about indulgences. This would lead to the questioning of the Church and soon it would lead to the exposure of the Church throughout Europe by one powerful weapon that Luther had. And that was the printing press. Within a few nights, all of europe came to know the truth about the Church and many people were happy that finally, someone had told everyone about how the Church really was. Many changes occurred during this period.
The political organization and religion aspects during the 16th century influenced Protestant Reformation to occur in Germany. Martin Luther’s writings reflect on his views and perspectives of German politics and religion at the time. Martin Luther’s ideas in the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation and The Statement of Grievances mentions Martin Luther’s thoughts about how corrupt the church is, why the corruption in the church needs to end, and what Martin Luther’s ideas are to change the way of the church.
The Protestant Reformation was a period of time (1500-1700) where there became a change in Western Christendom. This reformation was caused by the resentment from the people because the Catholic Church abusing their powers for political and economic advances. In this time the church was selling pardons for sin and indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in purgatory and save the dead from damnation. The reformation was when people became more aware with the back hand dealings with the church and men like Martin Luther and John Calvin created their own churches to what they believed was not corrupt unlike the church. Unfortunately there many consequences as far at the Roman Catholic church attempting to bring people back to the church,
Council of Chalcedon. It was just another way he found to exercise his power as the
The reformation is generally associated with the publication of Martin Luther ninety five theses. It was his way to show the protest against the “business” made on religious people: the Holy Roman Empire was earning money on selling people indulgences. Martin Luther got the support of German princes, who were on the same side, but with different motives (they wanted to get autonomy). Luther was the great part of reformation, his influence was immediate, and people listened to him. One of the immediate effects of reformation can be observed in the development of that times writers. For example, Francois Rabelais satirized church, writing about their “business” in humorous way. The other writers, like Erasmus wrote more specifically about the pappy and their role in the lives of ordinary Christians. The major short term of reformation was about the informational acknowledgement, Luther told people the truth about the papacy and their actions, and the reaction of people was immediate: the loss of respect to church, papacy. These results were really strong, because people felt that, all the dogmas...
...s did not have to be run by a religious leader or Monarchist and that a person’s life did not have to be centered on religion or the afterlife. If it were not for the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the world we live in now would be a much different place. The Protestant Reformation was a major building block of history, and some would say our country.
This corruption took the forms of actions by the Catholic Church such as: the selling of Indulgences for money as a means of attaining salvation, the buying/selling of Church relics (Simony), and the placement of poorly trained people in positions because they knew employers (Nepotism). Luther had also come to believe that the Catholic Church was wrong in their ideas and beliefs. In 1517, Luther posted his 95 theses which expressed his beliefs and thoughts on the corruption of the church, demanding the Catholic Church to reform. He wrote about “sola gratia” as the justification of sinful humankind “by grace… (as) the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). He expressed his thoughts on “salvation through faith in Christ” (2 Timothy 3:14-4:2) as “sola fide”, opposed to the catholic belief of salvation through faith and good
Throughout the middle ages, the Catholic Church faced many obstacles due the corruption within the church. In response to the corruption within the church, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In his Ninety-Five Theses, Luther questioned the selling of indulgences. The selling of indulgences started when Pope Leo X wanted money to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Leo X asked Johann Tetzel a Dominican preacher to offer a plenary indulgence to whoever donated funds for the construction of the Basilica.
Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”. To construct Saint Peters Basilica, Archbishop Albert borrowed money from the Fuggers (wealthy banking family). To pay for this loan Pope Leo X gave permission to Archbishop Albert to sell indulgences in Germany. An indulgence is a way to reconcile with God, by confessing your sins to a priest and perform a penance. By the later Middle Ages people believed that indulgence removed all their sins and ensured entry to heaven.
In 1517, when reformist Martin Luther wrote an indictment of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church called the 95 Theses, he appealed to many people across Europe. In his indictment he greatly criticized and addressed the selling of indulgences above all. At first, a person would have to do “work of satisfaction” like fasting, prayer, almsgiving, retreats and pilgrimages in return for an indulgence. But when the empire was in need of money to fight off the Ottoman Empire and rebuild St. Peter’s in Rome, the pope allowed indulgences to be sold for money where he would receive half the proceeds and the other half would go to funding. This is when Luther was even more angered by the selling of indulgences since he already believed that salvation could not be obtained by man’s own effort, but more the fact that man would be saved only if God willed it. It was that event that prompted the German monk to post his ideas and beliefs as the 95 Theses and address the abuse of selling indulgences in it.
Why is the Catholic Church so corrupt in its teaching? They have found ways to control the knowledge that their followers contemplate on. The control of knowledge and power is the foundation for every successful religious organization. The Catholic Church have acquired this power through strategic control on the mind of its follower. The Catholic Church propagate their ideals as righteous in order to be accepted; for without this acceptance, they are faced with the task of initiating this power through force. So to beguile their followers, they present themselves in “sheep clothing” (KJV, Matt 7:15). They are accepted as blameless, peaceful, loving and harmless but in actuality, “they are ravening wolves” (KJV, Matt. 7:15).