In the midst of the many events of the sixteenth century, a schism of the Catholic Church was due to the political, social, and economic aspects of life. Religion was ultimately the cause of the schism and was also greatly affected by the aftermath. To see this, one can observe the opposition to the Church at the time, the lack of a secular state, and the Church’s “need” for funds obtained via indulgences. Around this time, life was forever impacted by the many ideas differing from the Catholic Church.
To begin with, there was great opposition to the teachings and the institution of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century. It must be noted that these opposing points of view were not exclusive to this period, but around this time multiple
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A lack of secular authority, or lack of separation of church and state, was beneficial to the Catholic Church in some ways. For example, it provided the Church with authority over leaders who followed the religion, as the pope was thought to be the communicator of God and therefore his word was absolute and infallible even above those who ruled over nations. For instance, Canon 6 of the Council of Trent states that anyone who does not acknowledge the Catholic Church as a divine hierarchy shall be excommunicated. The message of this was directed to everyone, including the rulers of nations, displaying the absolute and official position that the Catholic Church established for itself. Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish priest, stated, that Catholics should obey the “hierarchical Church” despite any private judgement, meaning that the Church is a to be obeyed as a type of divine government. Again, the intended audience was all Christians, and therefore leaders of nations. However, the religious involvement in politics was not unique to the Catholic Church. For example, John Calvin, who himself founded a protestant religion, declared to the villages around Geneva that those who do religiously disgraceful acts such as blaspheme, contradict the word of God, or perform evil acts shall be punished by political means such …show more content…
To first understand indulgences, one should first understand Catholic moral philosophy. Unlike the protestant belief in forgiveness through prayer and pure faith, Catholics observe a tradition which requires them to confess their grave sins to a certain church authority to receive God’s forgiveness. Confession is incredibly crucial to practicing Catholics, as an unconfessed grave sin is believed to qualify one for eternal damnation. As an example of an outlook on sin, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a piece of German artwork ca. 1497-1498 that displays a scene of the biblical description of the end of the world. The purpose of this was to remind everyone that the end of the world, and therefore the judgement of all souls, is near and to invoke fear of sin and evil so that one’s soul will not perish in Hell. However, in sixteenth century Europe, the policy on receiving forgiveness changed for Catholics. In detail, Instructions for Selling Indulgences by Albrecht of Brandenburg states that one who confesses is to respect the need for Church funds by telling how much of what they own but could go without to facilitate contributions in the future. The intended audience for this writing was confessors who would sell the indulgences. Indulgences were sold to collect money for the Church, an economic gain with a religious cause. The sale of indulgences is
The practice of selling indulgences became under attack from a monk named Martin Luther in the early 1500’s. Indulgences were used as a means by many church officials to add to their wealth and prestige. By buying an indulgence, one was released for all sin and acceptance into Heaven guaranteed. Luther argued that no one needed to buy admission into Heaven. He believed that people could obtain salvation thru their faith and actions alone. The authority of the Pope was also challenged by Luther believing that religious matters needed to be resolved through the words of the Bible and not an individual’s decision. All of this was set down in Luther’s 95 Thesis that he posted on the Church door in Wittenberg, Germany ("The Reformation Video").
Roper, H. R.. The crisis of the seventeenth century; religion, the Reformation, and social change. [1st U.S. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 19681967. Print.
The Act of Supremacy 1559 arguably was a key turning point in the relationship between Church and State in the 16th century because most of the changes it introduced were permanent. However, it could be said that it was not the only factor which contributed to the changing relations as the Act of Supremacy 1534, the role of key individuals and the changes under Edwards reigns played a significant role. This implies that the changing relationship between the Church and state in the 16th century was not a consequence of Act of Supremacy 1559 but all of them together.
Martin Luther was not fond of the practices the Roman Catholic church of indulgences. Indulgences are a practice where worshippers would pay their priest which granted remission for their sins (“Indulgences."). This practice became increasingly corrupt. In the 95 Theses, Luther, became prominent in the Protestant Reformation due to its humble and academic tone (A&E Television Networks, LLC.). For example, in the second theses he states, “The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.” This means that only god can give salvation, not a priest. He is questioning why we must pay to re...
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.
Martin Luther’s view on indulgences appears in many of his writings including Luther’s 95 Theses and The Statement of Grievances. Martin Luther believes that the Papacy should not have a role in collecting taxes, indulgences, or any ways of drawing income from the German nation. On number twenty-three in the Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Luther states “The brotherhoods, and for that matter, indulgences, letters of indulgences, and everything of that kind, should be snuffed out and brought to an end”. Martin Luther wants the German nation to get rid of indulgences since the indulgence sellings can harm the integrity of the church. Indulgences were not new to the German nation during the 16th century. Indulgences have been around for three centuries prior to 1520 even before Martin Luther’s Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation was published. With indulgences, the German nation pays for their sins to be forgiven. The church makes most of its profits from the public by selling these indulgences. In Carter Lindberg’s The European Reformation, Carter Lindberg states “An indulgence, then, drew on the treasure of the church to pay off the debt of the penitent sinner who would otherwise be obligated to pay off the penance by works of satisfaction either in life or in purgatory”. For example, in
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. The selling of indulgence troubled Luther, he thought people were ignorant to believe that they didn’t have to repent after they bought an indulgence.
Roles of the Catholic Church in Western civilization has been scrambled with the times past and development of Western society. Regardless of the fact that the West is no longer entirely Catholic, the Catholic tradition is still strong in Western countries. The church has been a very important foundation of public facilities like schooling, Western art, culture and philosophy; and influential player in religion. In many ways it has wanted to have an impact on Western approaches to pros and cons in numerous areas. It has over many periods of time, spread the teachings of Jesus within the Western World and remains a foundation of continuousness connecting recent Western culture to old Western culture.-
Theological Context." Reformation & Renaissance Review: Journal of The Society For Reformation Studies 7, no. 2/3: 337-346. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 24, 2014).
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.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
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 Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants. This essay will discuss the affects that
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.
When Christianity was undergoing a sharp decline during the Middle Ages, it demonstrated the survival power through Christian thinking, religious regeneration, literature, art, architecture and education that marked a transition from ancient to modern times. When “the Middle Ages came to an end with the movement known as the Renaissance, or ‘rebirth’ of learning and study,” Protestantism began to find its fulfillment through the development of humanistic spirituality in the early 16th century. Prior to Protestant Reformations, Petrarch (1304-1374), Erasmus (1466-1536), Francisco Ximenes (1436-1517), John Wycliff (1325-1384), John Huss (1373-1415) and Sanonarola (1452-1498) all tried to reform the Church and Ximenes said that the lasting reform could come only when an atmosphere of freedom gave men full opportunity for the rediscovery and application of long-neglected religious truths. Gonzalez rightly pointed out that at the end of the 15th century the new learning had opened the minds of people who rose against the corruption in the Church and its leadership, papal infallibility claims, violation of celibacy laws and monastic vows, selling of ecclesiastical positions and sale of indulgences for forgiveness of sins, misinterpretation of the Word of God, and at the same time seeking freedom for individuals and the end of feudalism and change in political powers, all culminated