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Effects of the reformation
Contribution of Martin Luther the reformer
What is the relationship between religion and politics
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Recommended: Effects of the reformation
A 16th-century movement in Western Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. The world of the late medieval Roman Catholic Church from which the 16th-century reformers emerged was a complex one. Over the centuries, the church, particularly in the office of the papacy, had become deeply involved in the political life of Western Europe. The resulting intrigues and political manipulations, combined with the church’s increasing power and wealth, contributed to the bankrupting of the church as a spiritual force.
Abuses such as the sale of indulgences (or spiritual privileges) by the clergy and other charges of corruption undermined the church’s
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spiritual authority. These instances must be seen as exceptions, however, no matter how much they were played up by polemicists. For most people, the church continued to offer spiritual comfort. There is some evidence of anticlericalism, but the church at large enjoyed loyalty as it had before. One development is clear: the political authorities increasingly sought to curtail the public role of the church and thereby triggered tension. The Reformation of the 16th century was not unprecedented.
Reformers within the medieval church such as St. Francis of Assisi, Valdes (founder of the Waldensians), Jan Hus, and John Wycliffe addressed aspects in the life of the church in the centuries before 1517. In the 16th century Erasmus of Rotterdam, a great humanist scholar, was the chief proponent of liberal Catholic reform that attacked popular superstitions in the church and urged the imitation of Christ as the supreme moral teacher. These figures reveal an ongoing concern for renewal within the church in the years before Luther is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints’ Day—the traditional date for the beginning of the …show more content…
Reformation. Martin Luther claimed that what distinguished him from previous reformers was that while they attacked corruption in the life of the church, he went to the theological root of the problem—the perversion of the church’s doctrine of redemption and grace.
Luther, a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, deplored the entanglement of God’s free gift of grace in a complex system of indulgences and good works. In his Ninety-five Theses, he attacked the indulgence system, insisting that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. Here lay the key to Luther’s concerns for the ethical and theological reform of the church: Scripture alone is authoritative (sola sciptura) and justification is by faith (sola fide), not by works. While he did not intend to break with the Catholic church, a confrontation with the papacy was not long in coming. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated; what began as an internal reform movement had become a fracture in western
Christendom.
Martin Luther inspired another thinker of the time that questioned the Church’s beliefs. That man was John Calvin. The Catholic belief during the Renaissance and Reformation was that one’s good deeds hel...
James Kittelson’s biography on the life of Luther is thought provoking and informative. Kittelson does not have a concise thesis, but as it is a biography the central theme of Luther the Reformer is an insightful narrative of Martin Luther’s life from his birth in Eisleben until his death on February 18, 1546 in Eisleben. Kittelson thoroughly and with great detail and sources explains Luther’s mission to reform the catholic church. Luther the Reformer seeks to condense Luther’s life in a manner which is more easily read for those who do not know the reformer’s story well. Luther is portrayed not only as a theologian throughout the book, but as a person with struggles and connections throughout the Germanic region in which he lived. Luther’s theology is portrayed throughout the entirety of the book, and Kittelson approaches Luther’s theology by explaining Luther’s past. The inclusion of
The long-term causes of the Reformation- the corruption of the church and the hostility of the laity- appear to have been historical illusion. " I have come to the conclusion, that the Church in England in 1529 needed considerable reforms, because many abuses, undoubtedly, had occurred in various departments of religious life.
The Church's Need for Reform in 1529 In 1529 Henry the 8th started to reform the Catholic Church in England, however there are different reasons and opinions as to why he decided to reform the church. There was a big anti-clerical feeling in 16th century England, the corrupt church was unpopular with the masses. However the main view claims that the reformation was actually due to politics at the time. Henry needed a male heir to the throne and therefore needed a divorce to his wife.
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
Through the years from the medieval ages up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has always had a major influential presence in all walks of life for European people, whether it was for taxation, the establishing of laws, the rise and fall of monarchs, and even daily social life. Furthermore, the Catholic Church held such power that they could even appoint and dispose of great kings with just the writing of the pen. However, their power started to wane once human curiosity overcome ignorance and blind obedience. For example, the Enlightenment Age brought a series of shocking blows to the Church’s power such as disproving the Church’s theory of geocentricism and presented an age of questioning and secularism. In essence, by looking at the Church’s
The most criticized abuse of the Roman Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences by the pope. Indulgences permitted people to buy release from time in purgatory for both themselves and their deceased loved ones. They were papers sold in order to bring remission of punishment due to sins. Another common abuse that existed in the Church was simony. Simony is the act of selling of Church positions. The Church had permitted important ecclesiastical posts to be sold to the highest bidders and had left residency requirements in the religious community unenforced. A last abuse of the Church is nepotism. Nepotism is the act of giving jobs to family members instead of giving it to more qualified workers. This was a common problem where a well-trained and dedicated worker was needed and not just anyone.
at the time, the majority of decline in authority and power of the church and pope lie within the
Jaden Premo History 112 September 13th, 2017 2. Growing concerns about the corrupt power and influence of the Catholic Church in the 16th century fomented challenges to church doctrine known as the Protestant Reformation. Write an essay in which you discuss the following: What was an indulgence? What was the purpose of selling indulgences? Which groups were impacted the most by the selling of indulgences?
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society, including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power. The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups.
To start off with, Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses can be perceived as an elaboration of Erasmus’s The Praise of Folly because they share similar conceptions. This can clearly be seen with their common idea that the buying of indulgences was a commercial transaction rather than a repentant of sin. Erasmus stated that this sort of procedure has deluded the people with imaginary pardons for their sins. Martin Luther also stated his discontent of indulgences in the Ninety-Five Theses and his letter to Archbishop Albrecht in 1517. Just like Erasmus, he believes that indulgences are not just. Paul Bishop, in his analysis of Ninety-Five Theses, states that “Luther went on to say that every repentant Christian has the right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without the letters of pardon, this being an act of God’s mercy alone.” In other words, it is stated that Christians are able to repent their sins because of God’s mercy not letters of pardon. Luther basically elaborates on Erasmus’s dissatisfaction of indulgences. Furthermore, Luther’s rejection of monasticism could have been influenced by Erasmus’s criticism toward the religious and monks, as he expressed in the Praise of Folly. He, with sincere frustration, attacks them by saying that they’re highly pleased with themselves, filthy, ignorant, and misnomers that stay as far away from religion as possible. Martin Luther, although a monk himself at one point of his life, later on rejected monasticism. This is because monasticism contradicted his belief toward justification by faith. Their good works and deeds did not lead to salvation, according to him. For that reason, Protest Reformation destroyed monasticism, as did Lutheranism. To conclude, Martin Luther’s reformation ideas are elaborations of Erasmus’s ideas in the prelude of the
When Pope Leo X decided that it was time to begin selling “indulgences” in order to raise money for a renovation to the Vatican, he didn’t realize that he helped set the stage for a revolt that was going to be known as the Reformation of the 16th century. To ignite the reformation, Martin Luther, a German monk, stapled his 95-point thesis on the door of All Saints Church in 1517, arguing that the Pope should not have the right to pardon people from their sins for a price. Rather, he believed that the Bible had the final say on whether or not someone could be forgiven for his or her sins. With these beliefs spreading rapidly to Northern Europe, this revolt significantly affected art of the 16th century.
Religion is undergoing a lot of reformations up to today. We cannot talk of these reformations without making mention of the sixteenth-century reformation. There was a lot of dispute in terms of religion during this century. The most important issue under dispute in the sixteenth-century religion reformation was a doctrinal issue. Based on the readings given, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther King Jr, John Calvin and Saint Ignatius of Loyola argued on this issue from different perspectives.