Protestant Reformation Essay

616 Words2 Pages

The spread of Protestant Reformation was rapidly moving across the western civilization affecting everyone and everything in its path. The Protestant Reformation was a religious movement against the Catholic Church that had failed to meet many Europeans expectations. Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus were two people who greatly affected the spread Protestant Reformation through their teachings. Their teachings highlighted the corruption within the Catholic Church that needed to be resolved. The issues that Luther and Erasmus found proved to be going against God and his teachings. Therefore Luther and Erasmus were a critical part in improving the reformation of the Catholic Church.
Martin Luther was an individual who tried to improve the
He tried to address the inappropriate behavior of clergy members that he discussed, through his writings of In Praise of Folly. Just like Luther, Erasmus argues his observations of incorrect behavior of clergy members, especially focusing on the Monks. In, In Praise of Folly Erasmus states, “The etymology (meaning) of the word monk implies a solitariness, or being alone; whereas they are so thick abroad that we cannot pass any street or alley without meeting them... I yet make them highly in love with themselves, and fond admirers of their own happiness.” This is saying how the monks are unfaithful to their own religion by not following their own rules. Not only do the monks not follow their own religion properly, but they also abuse the trust of the lay people. They do this by going around and begging people for food and money when they are “voluntarily” poor. Erasmus is outraged by the fact that the Monks have the nerve to pretend they are needy and helpless when they don’t actually need any extra support. Because of the unethical ways of the Monks, Desiderius Erasmus thought that to fix this rising issue he had to make people aware of what was going on around them. Just like Martin he tried to bring awareness to the corrupt was of the Catholic Church. To conclude, both Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus both played a crucial role in bringing reformation to the failed ways of the Catholic

Open Document