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 redistribution of religious and political 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.
FORMER The Reformation
Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther's "95 Theses." Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, are priority allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, are priority ended the Thirty Years' War. The key ideas of the Reformation, a call to Purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, Should be the sole source of spiritual authority, were not themselves novel. However, Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give THEIR ideas a wide audience.
No reformer was more adept than Martin Luther and using the power of the press to spread His ideas. Between 1518 and 1525, Luther published works more than the next 17 most prolific reformers combined.
The Reformation: Lutheranism AND GERMANY
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and university lecturer in His Wittenberg When he composed "95 Theses," protested the pope's are priority sale of reprieves from Penance, or indulgences. He although I had hoped to spur renewal from within the church, in 1521 he was summoned before the Diet of Worms and excommunicated. Sheltered by Friedrich, elector of Saxony, Luther translated the Bible into German and continued His output of Vernacular Pamphlets.
When German peasants, inspired in part by empowering Luther's "priesthood of all believers," revolted in 1524, Luther sided with Germany's princes. By the Reformation's end, Lutheranism had Become the state religion throughout much of Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltics.
The Reformation: SWITZERLAND AND Calvinism
The Swiss Reformation began in 1519 with the sermons of Ulrich Zwingli, whose largely paralleled Luther's teachings. In 1541 John Calvin, a French Protestant who had Spent the previous decade in exile writing His "Institutes of the Christian Religion," was invited to settle in Geneva and put His Reformed doctrine, are priority stressed God's power and humanity's predestined fate, into practice. The result was a theocratic regime of enforced, austere morality.
Calvin's Geneva became a hotbed for Protestant exiles, and His doctrines quickly spread to Scotland, France, and the Low Countries Transylvania, where Dutch Calvinism became a religious and economic force for the next 400 years.
The Reformation: ENGLAND AND THE "MIDDLE WAY"
In England, the Reformation began with Henry VIII's quest for a male Heir. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could remarry, the English king declared in 1534 that he alone Should be the final authority in matters relating to the English church. Henry dissolved England's monasteries to confiscate THEIR wealth and worked to place the Bible in the hands of the people. Beginning in 1536, every parish was required to have a copy.
After Henry's death, England tilted Toward Calvinist-infused Protestantism During Edward VI's six-year reign and then endured five years of reactionary Catholicism under Mary I . In 1559 Elizabeth I took the throne and, During her 44-year reign, cast the Church of England as a "middle way" Between Calvinism and Catholicism, with Vernacular worship and a revised Book of Common Prayer.
THE COUNTER-Reformation
The Catholic Church was slow to respond systematically to the theological and publicity innovations of Luther and the other reformers. The Council of Trent, are priority met off and on from 1545 through 1563, articulated the Church's answer to the Problems that triggered the Reformation and to the reformers themselves.
The Catholic Church of the Counter-Reformation era grew more spiritual, more literate and more educated. New religious orders, notably the Jesuits, rigorous spirituality combined with a globally minded intellectualism, while mystics as Teresa of Avila Such new passion injected into the older orders. Inquisitions, both in Spain and in Rome, were reorganized to fight the threat of Protestant HERESY.
The Reformation'S LEGACY
Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation came deep and lasting political changes. Northern Europe's new religious and political Freedoms came at a great cost, with decades of rebellions, wars and bloody persecutions. The Thirty Years' War have cost Germany alone has 40 percent of its population.
But the Reformation's positive repercussions can be seen in the intellectual and cultural flourishing it inspired on all sides of the schism, in the strengthened universities of Europe, the Lutheran church music of JS Bach, the Baroque altarpieces of Pieter Paul Rubens and even the capitalism of Calvinist Dutch merchants.
who is martin luther
Martin Luther, one of the most notable theologians in Christian history , is responsible for initiating the Protestant Reformation . To some Christians sixteenth century he was hailed as a pioneering defender of truth and Religious Freedoms, to others he was charged as a Heretic leader of a religious revolt. Today most Christians would agree that he influenced the shape of Protestant Christianity more than any other person. The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther.
Born in Eisleben, Germany, in 1483, Martin Luther went on to Become one of Western history's most significant figures. Luther Spent His early years in relative anonymity as a monk and scholar. But in 1517 Luther penned a document attacking the Catholic Church's corrupt practice of selling "indulgences" to absolve sin. His "95 Theses," are priority propounded two central beliefs-that the Bible is the central religious authority and that HUMANS have reach salvation only by faith and not by THEIR THEIR deeds, was to spark the Protestant Reformation. Although I these ideas had been advanced before, Martin Luther codified them at a moment in history ripe for religious Reformation. The Catholic Church was divided ever after, and the Protestantism that soon emerged was shaped by Luther's ideas. His writings changed the course of religious and cultural history in the West.
MARTIN LUTHER ENTERS THE Monastery
But Hans Luther had other plans for young Martin he wanted him to Become a lawyer, so he withdrew him from the school in Magdeburg and sent him to the New School in Eisenach. Then, in 1501, Luther enrolled at the University of Erfurt, the premiere university in Germany at the time. There, he studied the typical curriculum of the day: arithmetic, astronomy, geometry and philosophy and he attained a master's degree from the school in 1505. In July of that year, Luther got caught in a violent thunderstorm, in a bolt of lightning are priority Nearly struck him down. He considered the incident a sign from God and vowed to Become a monk if he survived the storm. The storm subsided, Luther emerged unscathed and, true to His promise, Luther turned His back on His study of the law days later on july 17, 1505. Instead, an Augustinian monastery he ENTERED.
Luther began to live the Spartan and rigorous life of a monk but did not abandon His studies. Between 1507 and 1510, Luther studied at the University of Erfurt and at a university in Wittenberg. In 1510-1511, he took a break from His education to serve as a representative in Rome for the German Augustinian monasteries. In 1512, Luther Received His doctorate and became a professor of biblical studies. Over the next five years Luther's continuing theological studies would lead him to insights that would have implications for Christian thought for centuries to come.
MARTIN LUTHER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH QUESTIONS
In early 16th-century Europe, some theologians and scholars was beginning to question the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It was also around this time that translations of original texts, namely, the Bible and the writings of the early church philosopher Augustine, became more widely available.
Augustine (340-430) had emphasized the primacy of the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority. He also believed that HUMANS could not reach salvation by THEIR own acts, but that only God could bestow salvation by His divine grace. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church taught that salvation was possible through "good works," or works of righteousness, that pleased God. Luther came to share Augustine's two central beliefs, are priority would later form the basis of Protestantism.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church's practice of granting "indulgences" to provide absolution to sinners became increasingly corrupt. Indulgence-selling had been banned in Germany, but the practice continued unabated. In 1517, a Friar named Johann Tetzel began to sell indulgences in Germany to raise funds to renovate St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
THE 95 Theses
Committed to the idea that salvation could be reached through faith and by divine grace only, Luther objected vigorously to the corrupt practice of selling indulgences. Acting on this belief, he wrote the "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences," also known as "The 95 Theses," a list of questions and propositions for debate. Popular legend has it that on October 31, 1517 defiantly Luther nailed a copy of His 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. The reality was probably not so dramatic; Luther More Likely hung the document on the door of the church matter-of-factly to announce the ensuing academic discussion around it that he was organizing.
The 95 Theses, are priority would later Become the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone, questioning rather than accusing. The overall thrust of the document was nonetheless quite provocative. The first two of the theses contained Luther's central idea, that God intended believers to seek repentance and that faith alone, and not deeds, would lead to salvation. The other 93 theses, a number of them Directly criticizing the practice of indulgences, supported these first two.
In addition to His criticisms of indulgences, Luther also reflected popular sentiment about the "St. Peter's scandal "in the 95 Theses:
Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St.. Peter with His own money rather than with the money of poor believers?
The 95 Theses were quickly distributed throughout Germany and then made THEIR way to Rome. In 1518, Luther was summoned to Augsburg, a city in southern Germany, to Defend His opinions before an imperial diet (assembly). A debate lasting three hours Between Luther and Cardinal Thomas Cajetan produced no agreement. Cajetan defended the church's use of indulgences, but refused to recant and Luther returned to Wittenberg.
LUTHER THE Heretic
On November 9, 1518 the pope condemned Luther's writings as conflicting with the teachings of the Church. One year later a series of commissions were convened to examine Luther's teachings. The first papal commission found them to be heretical, but the second merely Stated that Luther's writings were "Scandalous and offensive to pious ears." Finally, in July 1520 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull (public decree) that concluded that Luther's propositions were Luther heretical and gave 120 days to recant in Rome. Luther refused to recant, and on January 3, 1521 Pope Leo excommunicated Martin Luther from the Catholic Church.
On April 17, 1521 Appeared Luther before the Diet of Worms in Germany. Again refusing to recant, Luther concluded Defiant His testimony with the statement: "Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other. "On May 25, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V signed an Edict against Luther, ordering His writings to be burned. Luther hid in the town of Eisenach for the next year, where he began work on one of His major life projects, the translation of the New Testament into German, are priority took him 10 years to complete.
MARTIN LUTHERÂ € ™ S LATER YEARS
Luther returned to Wittenberg in 1521, where the reform movement initiated by His writings had grown beyond His Influence. It was no longer a purely theological cause: it had Become political. Other leaders stepped up to lead the reform, and concurrently, the rebellion known as the Peasants' War was making its way across Germany.
Luther had previously written against the Church's adherence to clerical celibacy, and in 1525 he married Katherine of Bora, a former nun. They had five children. Luther's early writings although I had sparked the Reformation, he was hardly involved in it During His later years. At the end of His life, Luther turned strident in His views, and pronounced the pope the Antichrist, advocated for the expulsion of Jews from the empire and condoned polygamy based on the practice of the patriarchs in the Old Testament.
Luther died on February 18, 1546.
MARTIN LUTHER'S WORK significance
Martin Luther is one of the most influential figures in Western history. His writings were responsibl e for fractionalizing the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation sparking. His central teachings, that the Bible is the central source of religious authority and that salvation is reached through faith and not deeds, shaped the core of Protestantism. Luther although I I was critical of the Catholic Church, he distanced himself from the radical successors who took up His mantle. Luther is remembered as a controversial figure, not only Because His writings led to significant religious reform and division, but also in later life Because he took on radical positions on other questions, including His pronouncements against Jews, some have said there are priority have portended German anti-Semitism; others dismiss them as just one man's vitriol that did not gain a Following. Some of Luther's most significant contributions to theological history, However, Such as His insistence that as the sole source of religious authority the Bible be translated and made available to everyone, were truly revolutionary in His day.
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