The development of Christian Europe consisted of many different philosophies and ideals. These ideals helped shape what Christianity is today. Augustine had many different ideas than Calvin and Luther, but they also had similar ideas and all had their sights set on transforming Christian as a religion.
In early Christian Europe Augustine writes, discusses, and explains the relationship Christianity has with different religions, society, and the Roman government. Augustine challenged the views and beliefs of the pagan faith. One of the views that Augustine challenged was the claim that people must worship the old gods to gain material success. Augustine also represents a conflict with the City of God and the City of man, which is a very influential idea in the development of Christian Europe. Augustine also lays out his theological translation in which he believes is linear and predetermined.
Augustine’s ideas stemmed from a series of events that took place in the 5th century. During this time the city of Rome was captured by the Vandals. This was significant because the city of Rome was very powerful and thought to be indestructible. This was a city that was seen as a city that would never fall. The capturing of this great city led to the fall of the Roman Empire in the west. Romans saw this destruction as a form of punishment for converting from the traditional Roman religion to Catholic Christianity. Pagans believed Christians were to blame for the fall of the Roman Empire. The Christians didn’t like the fact that Christians wanted to be more faithful to their God rather than their state. It was believed that the Christian God was the one true God, so the Romans couldn’t understand why this God didn’t protect them like he shoul...
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... Martin Luther had trouble controlling his tongue, and John Calvin was believed to fight the battle of faith with weapons of the world. However, all three of these men will always be remembered for their ideas, beliefs, and philosophies set forth to transform Christianity as a religion. Each one of these men transformed Christianity in a particular and unique way. Augustine taught salvation from God with Luther’s ideas on the Word and Calvin’s ideas on Scripture. These men transformed Christianity during their time and shaped Christianity for Christians for years to come. When Christians looked at these men’s lives they seen glory and trust in God to overcome worldly views and shortcomings. Although these three men had different views, all three believed if you put your faith and trust in God you would succeed in the social realm and in the faithful aspects of life.
Calvin's theology was similar to Luther's in many respects, but there were enough fundamental differences to result in a separate church. Probably the best known aspect of Calvinist theology regards predestination, which Calvin interpreted strictly; while there's some debate over the differences on this point between Luther and Calvin, there's no doubt that it became a distinguishing point among the followers of each. More significant were the differences in the relationship between church and state, with Calvin placing much more authority with the clergy and Luther placing the greater emphasis for church regulation with the prince. By the time Calvin was influential, the Protestants had already failed to reconcile doctrinal differences at Marburg in 1529, so the formation of Calvinist churches was just one more wrinkle in the Protestant revolution. Renaissance, “rebirth”, the period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in Classical scholarship and
John Calvin and Martin Luther were both Protestant reformers in the sixteenth century who jump started the Reformation. They were both very committed to God however they approached it at somewhat different angles. The differences between these two became a battle between predestination and justification by faith alone. Along with that there was a generation gap in between them that may have caused John Calvin’s difference in views compared to Martin Luther.
The role of religion in early-modern Europe (from about 1400 to 1700) religion remained an essential ‘lens’ through which members of this period viewed their lives and the world around them. The influence of religious outlooks was always important during this time period. This can be seen through Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, Michel de Montaigne’s On Cannibals, and the political works of philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. These authors’ works can only be understood and put into proper context with an understanding of the religious lens through which they wrote.
Martin Luther’s reforms and struggle to define salvation were more successful than Calvin’s reforms and struggle of defining salvation. Both protestant reformers were men of virtue and knowledge; yet Luther’s abilities to evolve the church were beyond extraordinary. Both reformers put tremendous effort to evolve the church and make it a powerful base; yet Luther was able to capture the attention of more people as well as make bigger changes. Thus, both protestant reformers were regarded with great respect; however, Martin Luther was more successful than John Calvin.
He too believed that it was important to teach students how to critically look at philosophy. He quotes in The City of God that “...the minds of their enemies have been alarmed by the multitude of the Christians…”(Augustine, and Paul Halsall). His radical ideas, swept across the Christian community in Western Civilization.
Why does St. Augustine seek God? Through his Confessions we come to understand that he struggled a great deal with confusion about his faith, before finally and wholeheartedly accepting God into his life. But we never get a complete or explicit sense of what led Augustine to search for God in the first place. Did he feel a void in his life? Was he experiencing particular problems in other relationships that he thought a relationship with God would solve for him? Or perhaps he sought a sense of security from religion? A closer analysis of the text of St. Augustine’s Confessions will provide some insight into these fundamental questions.
This paper will outline specific points in Saint Augustine’s Confessions that highlight religious views following the fall of Rome. Though Augustines views on religion may not reflect that of most people in his time period, it still gives valuable insight into how many, namely Neoplatonists,, viewed God and his teachings.
Factors Which Led to the Spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire Christianity was not born in a vacumn. There were many social, geographical, historical and religious issues prevailing at the time of Christ and all of which were favorable to the spread of Christianity. Geograpicly, Christianity came into being in the Meditation world, the largest of the various centers of civilization at that time. Israel stands almost central to the five continents, dividing the east and west.
John Calvin and Martin Luther felt that the Catholic churches were doing wrong. The popes would try to control the churches and did wrong by taking the churches’ money. They both believed that truth comes from the Bible. They didn’t swear or use God’s name in vain. One big similarity was that they didn’t believe in the teachings of the Catholic churches.
The Catholic Church’s corruption during the late Middle Ages further enabled church reforms due to the ever-increasing view of the loss of credibility within the church by both the laity and clergy. Thus implementing the ideas of reform. Martin Luther is considered the father of the reformation where he instigated the challenging for the church, papal authority, and changed how the people were allowed to worship. Carlstadt and Zwingli, much like Luther, practiced Evangelical traditions, however, they expanded further than Luther in regards to doctrine and practice. John Calvin on the other hand challenged some of the Evangelical and Reformed Traditions by various religious changes politically and socially. Lindberg examines the Evangelical
In researching his life, I found interesting facts that originally he did have a Christian belief system. However, after the death of his mother, he returned to Rome where he by a bishop named Ambrose began teaching him scripture and later who baptized him. What I found extremely interesting is that he was not a fan of Greek literature and in fact disliked many Greek writings. Because of this one fact, he was limited to the language of the Christians, which was Latin. This I also found to be a break from previous philosophers who seem to be great thinkers of Greek society. Augustine also framed the concept of the original sins and just war. Augustine believed that Christians should be passive and peaceful people but he would lay the foundation of terms that a nation should go to war about.
In a sense the Christian church within the Roman Empire influenced Europe. The literature and architecture of Rome was influenced by the presence of the Christians. The influence of this is still regarded today. We regard these works today -- e.g. paintings and architecture as marvels of fine art. Even today, the (Catholic) church is still prominent in Europe, particularly Rome. And even today, in the Vatican City, its influence is still felt.
The Reformation provoked changes in religion from the Christian church in the early 18th century. Martin Brecht defines the Reformation as the world-historical event which was “triggered and substantially shaped by the monk and professor Martin Luther. His religious struggle over a gracious God, his existence between God and the Devil, led to a schism within Western Christendom and to the emergence of Protestant churches” (Brecht). Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. How were Martin Luther and Jean Calvin different and how were they similar in their quest to reform the church?
By this, he meant that the Catholic Church had put so much emphasis on the bible as a central religious authority and imposed it on people to follow its teachings. The other central belief of the Martin Luther document was that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. This particularly sparked the Protestant Reformation. The ideology of the Catholic Church that faith and not deeds would mean salvation for the believers was widely denounced and most people were of the opinion that both were the way to salvation. Although these two ideologies about the Catholic Church had been advanced before, Martin Luther wrote and presented them at a moment in history that was right for the religious reformation. Due to this documents by Martin Luther, the Catholic Church would soon be divided with Protestants leaving to form another denominational faith. The Protestants were often guided by the Protestantism that was shaped by Luther’s ideas on the issue of believe and the way to salvation that stipulated that good deeds and faith were the factors that influenced salvation (Denis 28). His writings changed the course
One influential cult was based upon a mystical interpretation of Plato. Neo-Platonism was like a rational science that attempted to break down and describe every aspect of the divine essence and its relationship with the human soul. An Alexandrian Jew named Philo tried using Greek philosophy to interpret the Jewish scriptures. He wanted to unite the two traditions by suggesting that the Greek philosophers had been inspired by the same God who had revealed himself to the Jews.