Protestant Reformation
Uploaded by xLoves a xRiSKx on Oct 13, 2006
The Protestant Reformation
By the tenth century, the Roman Catholic Church had come to dominate religious life in Northern and Western Europe. Consequently, many people over Europe were outraged by the unfair power given to the popes and priests. Many priests and monks were so poorly educated that they could scarcely read, let alone teach people. The popes who ruled during the Renaissance patronized the arts, spent extravagantly on personal pleasure, and fought wars. The popes were illiterate, begged for money, spent their earnings on alcohol and women during that time. Many popes were too busy pursuing worldly affairs to have much time for spiritual duties. This angered the people and criticism of the church’s policies began rising to a whole different level.
At this time, the Protestant Reformation began to evolve. Martin Luther posted “The 95 Theses” on the main church’s door in 1517. He decided to take a public stands against the actions of a friar named Johann Tetzel, who at the time was raising money to rebuild St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Tetzwel used “indulgences” that gave people the impression that by buying indulgences, they would buy their way into heaven. Luther’s words hit the printing press and his actions began the Reformation. It led to the founding of Christian churches that did not accept the pope’s authority. Luther’s and his followers had become a separate religious group called the “Lutherans” and eventually, the term “Protestant was applies to Christians who belonged to non-catholic churches. These brave moves against the church made it seem that the Reformation was having success in their movement.
With people’s opposing of the church and criticism in great progress, I believe that the Protestant Reformation was very inevitable. The Church’s actions and heavy taxes were unbearable during the tenth century. The Reformation couldn’t possibly be avoided because the church would have not done anything to improve itself, even if they knew the effects it was going to take. Someone would have eventually spoken up during that time, if not Martin Luther, Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas Moore added their voices to the chorus of criticism. The printing press would have still expanded secular ideas to the world and the church’s pathetic bribes would have worsened every day. Humanism would be...