Protestant Reformation

Reformation- a change in the church’s ways of teaching & practicing Christianity

1. Christian Humanists Goals:a. Reform Catholic church b. Wanted people to read works on Christianity to improve religious feelings c. Believed that to change society, you had to first change the people in society

Desiderius Erasmus

1. Most famous Christian humanist 2. Wrote The Praise of Folly

a. criticized society that he thought needed reforming & abuses of Catholic doctrine

3. ideas paved the way for the Reformation

Religion on the Eve of Reformation

1. 1450-1520- Renaissance popes failed to meet the church’s spiritual needs

2. Pope Leo X & John Tetzel (monk) sold indulgences a. Told peasants it would cancel out their sins & free them from purgatory

Martin Luther 1. German monk who disagreed

with the selling of indulgences 2. Believed in the idea of

justification by faith 3. Wittenberg, Germany (October

31, 1517)a. Martin Luther placed 95 Theses on church’s doors

4. Pope Leo X excommunicates Luther5. Edict of Worms- imperial order

issued by German princes who had met in Worms to bring Luther back into the church *they wanted Luther to take back criticisms

of the church and the pope*Luther refused and was sent into hiding * Luther’s works were burned and he was

declared an outlaw and heretic

7. Wittenberg 1522- Luther’s ideas were being put into practice

Lutheranism

1. Lutheranism becomes the 1st Protestant faith2. Main ideas of Lutheranism

a. Salvation by faith aloneb. Religious truth & authority lie only in the Biblec. Church was not a hierarchy, but a community of believers

Politics in German Reformation

1. Peace of Augsburg (1555)- formally accepted the division of Christianity in Germanya. German states free to choose between Catholicism & Lutheranismb. German rulers picked religion of their subjects

The Spread of Protestantism

1. Swiss Reformers: a. Ulrich Zwingli- Swiss priest who

led the Protestant movement in Switzerland– wanted to break from Catholic

traditions completely

b. John Calvin - est. the most powerful and influential Reformed group in Geneva. – Luther sparked the religious revolution,

and Calvin gave order to the new faith– wrote book called The Institutes of

Church Religion – Came up with concept of predestination

c. John Knox- leader of the Reformation in Scotland– Followers known as Presbyterians

England’s Reformation

1. Rooted in politics, not religion.

2. Henry VIII wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn in hopes of getting a male heir

3. Pope refused to annul the marriage so Henry turned to the English Parliament

4. English Parliament finalized the break of the Catholic Church in England with the pope in Rome in 1534.

a. Act of Supremacy- King had control over all religious doctrine, clerical appointments, and discipline.

5. Henry married a total of 6 times before his death.

Catholic Reformation

1. Also known as the Counter-Reformation 2. 3 Chief pillars to Counter Reformation:

a. Society of Jesus (Jesuits)- founded by Ignatius of Loyola, obedience to Pope

b. Reform of the Papacy- Pope Paul III est. Reform Comission in 1537

c. Council of Trent- cardinals, abbots, archbishops, etc. met on and off for 18 yrs. - reaffirmed Catholic beliefs