Preview

Essay On The Protestant Reformation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1305 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On The Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a religious movement throughout Europe during the 16th century. During this time, the acceptance of worshiping God how a person wanted to wasn’t met with the scrutiny that the Catholic Church dealt among non-conformists in the past. The Reformation was spurred by the teachings of Martin Luther, a former catholic monk. His ideals helped to lead entire nations into the beginning of an era of religious freedom. The Reformation also led to much of what America’s religious ideals are today. Much of what allows for religious freedom in today’s world was due to the Reformation (“Protestant 2012”).
The Reformation was a result of the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences which created animosity between the church and normal citizens. Indulgences were when the church allowed a person’s sins to be repented through payment. Problems occurred when the indulgences became an easy thing to obtain. Soon, some people became what were known as a professional pardoner. This was
…show more content…
This was a result of the passing of the Edict of Worms. The Diet of Worms, a religious council in Germany, declared Luther a heretic and demanded that no one follow his teachings. This was because the fear of revolt loomed over the church’s head, which could spell out a multitude of problems for them. Martin Luther stood by his teachings and refused to renounce his writings. Thus, on May 25th, 1521 the Holy Roman emperor signed the Edict of Worms condemning Luther and his writings. The writings of Luther were burned, and he was forced to go into hiding (“Martin”). During his time of hiding, Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin to German. In 1524, German peasants revolted after discovering Luther’s works and his punishment dealt by the church. As a result of these revolts, Lutheranism would end up becoming the official religion of Germany and other countries by the end of the Reformation (“The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In 1517, a single friar collapsed thousands of years of religious unity, undermining the power of the Roman Catholic Church, an institution that held religious authority over the majority of the Western world. Martin Luther, the son of a miner, published a document titled The Ninety-Five Theses that challenged the selling of indulgences as a general pardon and exemption from purgatory. How is it possible that one publication by a lowly German monk could destabilize the authority of the most powerful institution in Europe? Luther was not alone in his dissatisfaction with the Church and…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Protestant Reformation is breakdown of authority and power in the Catholic Church. It happened because of black death, renaissance (Humanism, Secularism). Divine right is the idea that God created the monarchy. The monarchy started in October, 31, 1517. The black death impacted the Protestant reformation.…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted ninety-five theses on the door of a Catholic church in Wittenberg. He also wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz regarding the sales of indulgences. Luther was against these sales of indulgences. Indulgences is the money that can be paid to the church so that a sinner spends less time in purgatory. It is said that people go to purgatory to work off their sins after they have died so they can still go to heaven. Luther’s ninety-five theses protested the sales of indulgences and claimed that the church was teaching false doctrines. Luther wrote to the Archbishop Martin Luther’s courage and bravery on Halloween in 1517 sparked the protestant reformation and ultimately a hope for the people of Europe to finally have a voice and break from the Catholic church. The courage and bravery that Martin Luther showed in his letter to the Archbishop sparked the protestant reformation and gave the peasants of Europe a hope to break from the Catholic church.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg Germany in October of 1517 with Martin Luther who was a German Augustinian Monk. Martin Luther criticized the Roman Catholic Church feeling the church had lost its way and openly accused them of corruption and false teachings by posting a document he authored called the “95 Theses”. Martin Luther was the first to stand up to the Catholic Church and singlehandedly set Protestantism in motion and paved the way for others such as Philipp Melanchthon and John Calvin who also left the Catholic Church in 1530 and also later openly criticized the Catholic church for their corruption as well.…

    • 1260 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Protestant Reformation began in 1517, initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Protestant reformers. Martin Luther opposed and challenged the corrupt ideals and practices of the Catholic Church, such as the selling of indulgences (forgiveness from sins) for money, the selling of religious positions, and the fact that Bibles were in Latin, when no one even understood it. From these oppositions, Protestantism was formed and quickly gained support and conversion…

    • 1050 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Protestant Reformation was a religious and social movement that spread far across Europe among many groups of people. Particularly, several events throughout the 16th and 17th centuries furthered the reformation of closely-knit religion and society, with many people drifting away from a Catholic monastic lifestyle and absolute obedience to papal authorities. Instead, these people valued faith and freedom from religious beliefs and institutions that seemed foreign to Christian faith. Many protestants were of lower social classes, in favor of freeing themselves from the higher institutions controlling them and hopeful with the possibility of eventual social mobility. Protestant ideas in favor of the lower classes led to an uprising of peasants…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry had taken advantage of the Protestant Reformation to obtain power in the Church of England. While the English Reformation had practically banned the Catholic Church, it also stated that the king was the only leader of the church. Elizabeth I pushed for intense Catholicism and Puritanism in the English church. While in opposition of Elisabeth I, James I and Charles I moved the English church away from puritan ideals, Charles I. revoked the Puritan represented parliament, and Charles also enforced anti-puritan policies. The monarchy once had thought of puritans as a focal point in New England, but latter on they pushed away Puritanism and treated puritans harshly which had upset many of those puritans to make plans to immigrate to either the West Indies, America, or Europe (Roark,…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Protestant Reform Movement

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Reformation comes to pass in the interest of preaching the gospel and is doctrinal. Their resolve was to eradicate the false gospel and reestablish the true gospel, although there were detestable behaviors in the sixteenth century protestant reform. Although, these shortcomings were not the cause of the Reformation. The sole cause of the reformation was to restore the good news and the glory of God for salvation by grace alone. There beliefs are that every man is a sinner and people are only justified by faith and faith alone. That man has a great necessity for absolution. The forgiveness and righteousness comes through Jesus Christ and becomes ours through faith. Our standing with God does not come from our works, but is from what Jesus did for us. Protestant Reformation was to restore this gospel of the good news of Jesus…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Reformation Dbq

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Reformation was a large, unique movement away from the Catholic Church in 16th and 17th century Europe. Starting with Martin Luther being the first to officially oppose the theology of the Catholic Church, he posted his work, 95 Theses, to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. This act allowed for multiple movements away from the Catholic Church, consequently creating multiple new religions, some of which remain today. Some movements began with the sole idea of rectifying the Christian religion, while others were seen as an opportunity for gain of power or in umbrage of a political adversary. Due to the unmitigated diversity of each distinct reforming sect, the Reformation as a whole is to be considered as both a religious…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Protestant Reformation, known to many as the “Protestant Revolt”, was a European Reform movement made to correct the wrongs of the Roman Catholic Church. Its entire purpose was to reform the beliefs, values, and teachings of the Church in a way that people respected or thought the Church should be. This Reform was led by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych, and other future Protestant Reformers in the early 1500s-1600s. The humanist ideas during the Renaissance gave rise to an extensive call for Church reform. Thus, leading to, the Protestant…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crusades Essay

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Monarchs started to gain political power (e.g. Henry VIII) and were able to make Church (Protestant) of England because he has money and he is powerful.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In 1517, German monk Martin Luther cited his grievances as he nailed the 95 Theses to the wall of the church in Wittenberg. Luther’s complaints centered around his disapproval of the selling of indulgences, as the clergy asked for gifts and money in exchange for the remission of one’s sins and to lessen one’s suffering in purgatory or even the chance of eternal life. The citing of these grievances is believed to have begun the Protestant Reformation, with the intention of recreating the Catholic Church. However, Luther was a very controversial figure of the Reformation as he would often contradict himself in various speeches and written works and allow himself to appear as a hypocrite regarding his own beliefs. I argue that In Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, Martin Luther unjustifiably takes on the responsibility of God himself, as he advocates against the peasants and proposes their murder as a solution; although Luther attempts to justify himself in both of the analyzed works, he is plagued by multiple self-induced paradoxes and contradictions within his works as he commits multiple deadly sins, including going against his own explained words of God, which is best evidenced by the aforementioned In Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants as well as his pamphlet called Freedom of a Christian. Additionally, Luther’s hypocrisy allows for his himself to emerge as selfish and deceitful and willing to go to seemingly any extent to spread the Protestant Reformation in circumstances that will be most beneficial to himself by appealing to the people he desires, and even disregarding mass deaths as a possible consequence in the process.…

    • 2349 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Protestant Reformation was the 16th Century move to democracy for Christians and time of reform from the “dark ages” or from the strict control of the Roman Catholic Church. The reformation was initiated by a schism within the Eurpoe Christian community within the church, and among other Christians that had divergent interpretations of the Bible. It was also a time of change and time for new opportunities and asking new questions. The reformation brought new structures and beliefs that would change everything and have a definite impact on our modern era.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were three key figures who influenced the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was one of the most significant people during the Protestant Reformation. Luther believed in “justification by faith alone,” or that faith alone will save you from hell. Luther wrote the 95 Theses which were against indulgences and criticized the Church. He also wrote his three pamphlets; Address to the Christian Nobility, Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and Freedom of a Christian. Luther presented his views on reformation to the Diet of Worms and was declared an outlaw. Another important figure was Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli was the leader of the Swiss Reformation and was humanistically educated. Zwingli was also did not like the idea of indulgences. He and Luther met at the Marburg Colloquy and although they settled many disputes, they could not agree on transubstantiation. The final important figure was John Calvin. John Calvin was the founder of Calvinism which replaced Lutheranism as the dominant Protestant group. Calvin believed in predestination, or that when you are born God already knows if you are going to heaven or hell.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther was a long time coming due to how corrupt the Catholic church had become. People all over Europe were hoping, even praying for reforms as they “sought to live pious lives despite the poor example…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays