Download Protestant Reformation Chapter 13 section 3 What was the

Protestant Reformation
Chapter 13 section 3
What was the Protestant Reformation?
 Prior to the Reformation all European Christians were Roman Catholic
 The [REFORM]ation was an attempt to REFORM the Catholic Church
 People like John Wycliffe of England, Bohemian, Jan Hus, German, Martin Luther and Christian Humanist wanted to get rid of
the corruption and restore the people’s faith in the church
 The Reformation caused a split in Christianity with the formation of these new Protestant religions
Causes of the Reformation
Conditions
 100 Years War between France and England(1337-1453)
 Black Death
 Scientific Advances which contradicted the Church
 Fall of Constantinople
Social
 The Renaissance values for humanism and secularism led people to question the Church
 The printing press helped the spread of ideas and the questioning of the Church
 The increasing literacy
Political
 Powerful monarchs challenged the Church as supreme power in Europe
 Many leaders viewed the pope as a foreign ruler and challenged his authority
Economic
 European princes and kings were jealous of the Church’s wealth
 Merchants and other resented having to pay taxes to the Church
Problems with the Church/ Religion
 During the Middle Ages the Church is caught up with worldly affairs
 Popes competed with Italian princes for political power
 Fight to expand their own interest in foreign lands
 Some people felt church straying from spiritual roots
 Popes and Bishops led lavish lives and were patrons of the arts
 To finance their projects they increased fees for their services, Baptisms and marriages
 Popes with illegitimate children Alexander VI (1492-1503 ) and Julius II (1503-1513)
 Simony (paying for church offices)
 Sale of Indulgences
Indulgences
 Catholics believed dead went to purgatory, worked off sins committed
 Lessened the time one’s soul spent in purgatory,
 In the Middle Ages the Church only granted them for good deeds.
 In late 1400s they could be bought with money.
Early Reformers
 Three men stepped forward to challenge the church
 These influential theologians openly criticized church
 Beginnings of discussions that eventually led to reform
John Wycliffe (@1320-1384)
 The Englishman believed church should give up earthly possessions
 Translates the Bible in to English (Wycliffe Bible) was not completely accurate.
 His views unpopular with church officials
 Was removed from teaching position
Jan Hus (1372-1415)
 From Bohemia,
 preached against immorality and worldliness of Catholic Church
 Excommunicated by Pope Gregory XII; later arrested, tried for heresy and burned at stake
Erasmus (1466-1536)
 From Rotterdam
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Considered “Prince of the Humanists”
Study early Church manuscripts and writings of early church fathers
He stressed inward piety, not external observance of rules and rituals.
He developed what he called “the philosophy of Christ,” meant to show people how to live good lives on a daily basis rather
than how to achieve salvation.
 To reform the Church, he wanted to spread the philosophy of Christ, educate people about Christianity, and criticize the
abuses of the Church.
 In his 1509 work The Praise of Folly, he especially criticized the monks.
 Erasmus did not want to break away from the Church, as later reformers would.
Eve of the Reformation
 They were calling for reform due to corruption in the Church.
 Many Church officials used their offices
to advance their careers and wealth, and many local priests seemed ignorant of their spiritual duties, especially instructing the
faithful on achieving salvation–acceptance into Heaven.
 As a result, obtaining salvation became almost mechanical; by collecting relics, for example
 Most people found the Church unconcerned with their spiritual needs
Johann Tetzel
 Dominican Friar
 1517 in Wittenberg
 To raise money for St. Peter Cathedral and the Vatican
 Offered Indulgences bypassing purgatory for themselves and love ones, both living and dead.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
 German
 Father encouraged him to study law
 A sudden religious experience inspired him to become a monk
 He taught theology at The University of Wittenberg
 He became troubled over the possibility of not going to heaven
 He turned to the Bible, and confession for comfort
Roman 1:17
 “The righteous shall by his faith.”
 Luther realized that only faith (in the ultimate goodness of Jesus), not good deeds, could save a person. No good works,
rituals, etc. would save a person if they did not believe.
Luther’s 95 Theses
 A list of things he wanted to debate and thought were wrong with the Catholic Church
 Theses written in Latin, intended for church leaders, not common people
 He criticized:
o The Power and authority of the Pope
o Violation of the vows taken by the clergy
o The Extreme Wealth of the Church
o “Pardon Merchants” selling Indulgences
 Posted his 95 Theses, on Church doors in Wittenberg, Germany
 Nailing theses to church door common practice; doors used like community bulletin boards
 Theses stimulated discussion among university intellectuals
 Gutenberg’s Printing Press made it possible for Luther to spread his beliefs in German or the vernacular
 Published, distributed across Europe, widely read by intellectuals, clergy, laypeople
 Desire for reform grew
 Gained support from people and criticism from Church
Luther’s Message
 Following publication of theses, Luther continued to study, debate
 Contradicted basic Catholic beliefs, insisted God’s grace cannot be won by good works; faith alone needed
 1519, declared only head of Christian Church was Jesus, not pope
 In 1520, Luther called for the German princes to overthrow the papacy and establish a reformed German church.
 Luther wanted to keep only two sacraments–baptism and Communion–and called for the clergy to marry.
 Luther continued to emphasize his new doctrine of salvation
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 Luther set up new services to replace the Mass, featuring Bible readings, preaching the word of God, and song
Reactions to Luther
Pope Leo X
 1520, Pope Leo X order Luther to give up his beliefs in a Papal Bull
 Luther burned the order and was excommunicated
HRE Charles V
 1521: Summoned to appear before HRE Charles V and the German Diet at Worms
 He Refused to change opinions
 Edict of Worms Declared to be outlaw, condemned his writings
 Luther’s ideas spread
Empowered the People
 Insisted that individual Christians should be own interpreters of scripture, Christian practices should come only from Bible
 To aid this process, Luther translated Bible from Latin and Greek into German
 Translation allowed more people to read Bible without aid of clergy
 Some Local German Churches accepted Luther’s ideas
 Lutheranism was formed
 1529, Charles V tried to suppress Lutherans in Germany
 German princes issued a protestatio, or protest against this
 The reformers came to be known as [PROTEST]ants - Protestants
Religious Revolution
 Luther’s religious movement soon became a revolution.
 He believed the state was called by God to maintain the peace and order necessary to spread the gospel.
 It gained support from many German rulers, who took control of Catholic churches and formed state churches supervised by
the government.
 From the beginning Luther’s movement was tied to politics.
Peasants’ Revolt
 1524 Peasants took up Luther’s banner
 They wanted social and economical changes and end to serfdom
 Luther denounced it when it became violent
 Nobles suppressed it killing tens of thousands and leaving more homeless
 The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ruled the Hapsburg Empire consisting of Spain, the Austrian lands, Bohemia, Hungary,
the Low Countries, Milan, Naples, and Spanish territories in the New World.
 Wanted to keep all Catholic and under his control he faced many problems.
 Charles V’s chief political problem was his rivalry with Francis I, king of France.
 Pope Clement VII joined the side of the French in their wars with Charles V.
 Finally, many individual rulers of the German states supported Luther
Peace of Augsburg 1555
 Charles was forced to make peace with the Lutheran princes,
 It accepted the division of Christianity within Germany.
 Which meant that each individual Prince could choose the religion for his area.
 All states would have the same legal rights.
 The settlement did NOT recognize the right of subjects to choose their own religion
 Lutheranism was formally recognized, but the other Reformation movements weren't.
The Spread of Protestantism
 Luther’s stand against the church opened the door for others
 Differing ideas on religious matters put forth.
 As Lutheranism arose in Germany, new religious movements began in Switzerland and other places in Europe.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484- 1531)
 Born in Switzerland, entered priesthood at 22, in Zürich
 preached ideas similar to Martin Luther’s
 Many ideas viewed as radical
 His church based on theocracy,
 Relics and images were forbidden in the city, and a new service of scripture reading, prayer, and sermons replaced the
Catholic Mass.
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 Luther accused Zwingli of tampering with word of God
 Many supported Zwingli, others did not, including Luther
 The Swiss and German reformers sought an alliance, but they could not agree on the meaning of the sacrament of
Communion.
 Without Lutherans’ support, Swiss Protestants vulnerable to attack by Catholics
 When the disagreement between Swiss Protestants and Catholics erupted into war, Zwingli was a casualty. He died in battle
in 1531.
 John Calvin assumed the leadership of Protestantism in Switzerland.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
 most important reformer next to Martin Luther
 Educated in France, influenced by Erasmus, Renaissance humanists
 fled Catholic France for Switzerland after he converted to Protestantism
 Supported reforms of Luther in Germany
 Created his own Protestant religion in, Switzerland
 Disagreed with Luther’s “Salvation through faith alone.”
 People Sinful by Nature
 1536 Geneva became theocracy under Calvin; strict laws regulated behavior and purified their lives: No drinking, swearing,
card playing, gambling etc.
 Strictness at heart of Calvinism’s appeal, gave sense of mission, discipline
 Calvinists making world fit for “elect” who had been chosen for salvation
 Calvin believed in
 Foreknowledge
o God knows everything that will happen in your life
 Predestination
o Salvation through Predestination
o At birth it is decided if you will go to heaven or hell
 Calvin’s success in Geneva made it a powerful center of Protestantism
 Missionaries trained in Geneva were sent throughout Europe.
 By the mid-sixteenth century, Calvinism had replaced Lutheranism as the most important form of Protestantism
Calvinism
o Started in Switzerland – Calvinists
o England = Puritans
o Scotland = Presbyterians
o Holland = Dutch Reform
o France = Huguenots
o Germany = Reform Church
John Knox (1510-1572)
 Scotland
 His Reformed Church replaced Roman Catholic Church
 Laid groundwork for later Presbyterian denomination
Anabaptists
 The radical Anabaptists rejected the involvement of the state in church affairs
 complete separation of church and state; Government was not to even have political authority over real Christians
 To them the true Christian church was a voluntary community of adult believers who had undergone spiritual rebirth and had
then been baptized.
 This belief in adult baptism separated the Anabaptists from both Catholics and Protestants, who baptized infants.
 Based on New Testament accounts of early Christianity, Anabaptists considered all believers equal
 Anabaptists would not hold office or bear arms.
 They took literally the biblical commandment to not kill.
 Their political and religious beliefs caused Anabaptists to be branded dangerous radicals.
 Protestants and Catholics agreed on the need to persecute Anabaptists.
 Contemporary Mennonites and Amish are Anabaptist communities
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