Protestant Reformation Essays (Examples)

Protestant eformation occurred as a reaction to the increasing encroachment of the Catholic Church on the political, social, and economic affairs of Europeans. Although the Protestant eformation had a strong theological and doctrinal component, it would evolve into a major turning point in history that transcended religion. The Protestant eformation was essentially a protest made in order to reform the heart of Christianity.

It began when Martin Luther nailed 95 theses, or statements, on the door of a Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These assertions held in part that the Pope did not have absolute authority over interpreting the will or word of God. People -- ordinary believers -- could read the Bible and therefore interpret the Truth for themselves. Moreover, Luther "maintained that justification (salvation) was granted by faith alone; good works and the sacraments were not necessary in order to be saved," ("Protestant eformation," n.d.). The Protestant doctrine that…

Protestant eformation

Western civilization has thrived for centuries, with the combined power and influence of the State and the Catholic Church. History up to the 16th century had witnessed a flourishing society influenced and ultimately, governed, by the principles and tenets of Catholicism. Inevitably, the Catholic way of life is the social way of life during these times. But the Church's stronghold over the society had been plagued with numerous incidents of corruption and abuse of power in the society. The Church has become so powerful that its representatives, bound to live holy lives and to serve God, were actually the ones committing and perpetuating these acts of corruption and abuse of power. It is inevitable, then, that a crack would appear in the solid foundation that linked State, Church, and Society. It is during this prevalence and proliferation of corruption in the Church that its faithful congregation decided to…

Reformation

Protestant Reformation

For most of the 1000 years after the fall of the estern Roman Empire, the Catholic Church was the only centralized authority in estern Europe. hile kingdoms rose and fell, the Church remained and was the only religious authority in Europe. But beginning in the 15th century, people began to question the authority of the Catholic Church and specifically the Pope. hat followed was a turning point in the history of estern Europe and the Catholic Church's position in society.

The Protestant Reformation actually began with John ycliffe, who first attacked corruption in the Church, "including the sale of indulgences, pilgrimages, the excessive veneration of saints, and the low moral and intellectual standards of ordained priests." ("Protestant Reformation") ycliffe's followers, called Lollards, continued his protests after his death in 1482, and were certainly an influence on Martin Luther. Generally attributed with beginning the actual Reformation, Martin Luther…

The sale provoked Martin Luther to write his famous 95 theses that signaled the start of the Protestant eformation. ("Protestantism" 2006; "The eformation" 2004)

Even before the 16th century reform movement, several attempts had been made to challenge the authority of the Church but the dissent was successfully suppressed. However, by the 16th century, a number of political and social factors made the conditions in Europe ripe for the success of the reformation movement launched by Martin Luther. By then, both the Holy oman Empire and the pope were declining in power and were faced with potent threat from the Ottoman Empire; the invention of the printing press in the 15th century made rapid distribution of dissenting opinion possible; and finally, the rise of secular learning and nationalism in Europe had made the population receptive to the ideas of Protestantism. ("Protestantism" 2006)

eference

Protestantism." (2006). Article in Encyclopedia Encarta Online.…

However, a large portion of Luther's Ninety Five Theses focused on theological issues ranging from a critique of Marianism to a rejection of the sacraments. The critique of Catholic ritual and theology was remarkable considering the scope of the Church's power over religious doctrine.

Of course, Luther was excommunicated and began his own Christian sect that later blossomed into a diverse set of Protestant denominations. The consequences of the sixteenth century Reformation include a diversification of Christianity. The religion had been relatively monolithic, even after the Great Schism. ithin the Holy Roman Empire, only the Pope was vested with supreme ecclesiastic authority. Martin Luther and other reformers harshly criticized the authority of the Pope, representing a radical revolution in the European consciousness. In many ways the Reformation was an ideological precursor to political revolutions like those in France as well as the New orld.

The trend in critical thinking and…

Documents 8 and 9 show how gender roles and norms were shifting towards a more egalitarian society. However, the Reformation also meant targeting the Jews as scapegoats. Twenty years after Martin Luther wrote "That Jesus was Born a Jew," he wrote one of the most significant anti-Semitic texts in the history of Europe. "Concerning the Jews and their Lies" (Document 14) calls for the mass burning of synagogues, death threats on rabbis, and refers to the Jews as "poisonous bitter worms" and "burdens." Document 15 indicates that the Nazis used this very document as part of its propaganda campaign.

Luther's propaganda campaign targeted the Jews, while paradoxically championing for individual rights and freedoms. Luther questions the authority of the Catholic Church in all religious matters, instead calling for a direct personal connection with Christ and scripture in Document 6. Luther also criticizes the Church's command over the interpretation of scripture…

Finally, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is quite unique but still has parallels in both Judaism and Christianity. For example, many Catholics flock to the Vatican for Easter or for local churches and cathedrals throughout Europe for their historical meaning or for their connection with certain saints. Similarly, many Jews feel that they must visit Israel at least once in their lifetime, just as the Muslims believe it is their duty to visit Mecca.

8. Medieval Islam and Christianity demonstrate remarkable parallels. Although Muslim scholars developed a more advanced system of mathematics than the Catholics did, and their academic sophistication can be easily said to trump that of the Catholic Church, the two religions both exuded political and military might. Their tolerance of other religions was weak, although the Moors in Spain did permit admirable leeway for the Jews when the Jews would have been more severely persecuted under Catholic…

" (Bernard, 333). Such statements seem to be explicit justifications for the stripping of the monasteries; they imply that Henry was not a pawn to the policies instituted by Cromwell but, instead, he found his own obscure religious beliefs to be one of the major contributors to decisions regarding the new Church of England.

Bernard also argues that rather than wholly rejecting both Catholicism and Lutheranism, Henry VIII wished to reinstitute the form of Catholicism that existed at its onset, following the first councils convened under Constantine. Historically, after seeing the holy cross on the battlefield and seizing control, Constantine signed the Edict of Milan, which ended Christian persecution. He also organized the Council of Nicaea, which created a Christian orthodoxy and established an organized Church backed by the state. As a result Christianity flourished during his reign, and the seeds of monastic orders and faiths were sown. This harkening…

Double lind of the Protestant Reformation: The irth of Fundamentalism and the Necessity of Pluralism" presents a useful and interesting argument. This article appears in the Journal of Church and State, a periodical directed at those affiliated with religious and political issues. Howard's thiesis, at first glance is slightly confusing but as it becomes more clear as the article progresses.

Howard argues" that the movement of authority from the sacred Latin on the tongues of priests to the printed pages in the European vernaculars simultaneously generated the fundamentalist impulse and the necessity of the pluralism that this impulse seeks to constrain" (p.1). This complicated argument is simplified by understanding the particular words that seem to have more than one meaning. Understanding that this article is written by a man of Christian faith helps give context to his position. The fundamentalist impulse that is being described, in my opinion, is the…

Wycliffe and Hus

The Protestant Reformation was not an event that sprang full-grown upon Europe like Athena out of the head of Zeus; the seeds of the Reformation had in fact been sewn years before Luther or Zwingli or Calvin or Knox came onto the scene. Two of the foremost seeders of "reform" were John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. This paper will discuss the lives, writings and activities of these two men and show they facilitated the setting of the stage for the later Protestant Reformers of the 16th century.

Wycliffe was the English Catholic priest who set the foremost stage for the Reformation when in the latter half of the 14th century he penned two enormous works: On Divine Dominion and On Civil Dominion while stationed in England. There were a number of thrusts to his argument in both works -- such as the idea that the Church should…

Peacemaking throughout HistoryThe course objectives were covered by analyzing the peacemaking processes and movements throughout history. The five course objectives were:1. analyze how historical narratives have marginalized peacemaking;2. explain the meanings of negative peace and positive peace and describe specific historical examples of each;3. identify and describe individuals and groups in the past and in the present who have advanced efforts at peacemaking;4. identify, describe, and evaluate methods of peacemaking followed by individuals and groups in the past and in the present;5. explain the influence of peacemaking to themes of continuity and change across historical periods from antiquity to the present.This essay will explain how the course material addressed each of these objectives, summarize their meaning and provide two examples for each one.Historical NarrativesMarginalization of peacemaking by way of historical narratives means that peace movements and people or groups who promote peace efforts have been undermined by viewpoints and worldviews…

92). Pope Innocent X lamented the procedure, of course -- for it served to subvert the truths which the oman Church strove to propagate.

Thus, the modern world was built not upon the majesty of kings and religion, but upon treaties and revolutionary ideals. The philosophical fruit of Protestantism would spring up in the age of omantic/Enlightenment doctrine, which would produce the American and French evolutions. "Liberty, equality, fraternity" would be the modern world's ethos -- in theory. However, capitalist ethics would undermine the romantic ideology. Imperialism -- for gold, God, and glory at the end of the medieval world -- would be based, in the modern world, upon sheer greed (as a principle). America defined this principle well with the notion of "manifest destiny," which by the end of the 19th century was expanded beyond the American frontier to encompass the whole globe.

The new Imperialism of America (and…

Church

Discuss the Conciliar Movement. What was it and why did it arise? Give an overview of the major councils, key issues, and outcomes. In what ways was it successful? Why did it ultimately fail.

The Conciliar Movement began in the 14th century and included the Council of Pisa (1409), the Council of Constance (1414-1418) where the Conciliarists ruled that they as a collective had more authority than the Pope as head of the Church, and the Council of Basel (1431-1449) which failed to conclude at all. The Church's traditional doctrine regarding the head of the Church and the authority of the Pope was finally confirmed at the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517), but it would be more than 300 years later before the doctrine of Papal Infallibility would be official defined at the First Vatican Council (1870), only to be somewhat undefined and "conciliarism" restored at the Second Vatican Council…

Luther's thought incited anti-Roman sentiment and thought initially in his native Germany. He strongly influenced sympathetic local princes to confiscate church lands and property and to redistribute these. He urged for the end of the practice of granting indulgences. Through his work, 95 Theses, he questioned the worth and truthfulness of indulgences. The Roman Catholic Church "granted" indulgences to absolve one's sin from a "treasury of merits" of the Church. Luther could not accept the clergy's ability to absolve sin and that it was something, which could be bought. He held that there was no biblical basis for indulgences and that the ible should be the sole basis and center of Christian theology. Outside of the ible, the clergy had no sure and valid foundation for their interpretations (Hermansen).

The foremost Reformation figure after Luther and Huldreich Zwingli, a Swiss pastor, was John Calvin, a French Protestant theologian (Microsoft Encarta…

In terms of politics, the Catholic Church was both a political and religious institution. As a political institution, it was imperative for the Church to maintain its number of devotees. Hence, while the philosophy of humanism inspired many reformation attempts, these were also driven by the need for more Catholic worshipers, and hence for more political power. When politicians turned away from Catholicism, however, this became a problem.

Probably the most successful as well as most sincerely spiritual reform within the Catholic Church was the Society of Jesus, established by Ignatius of Loyola (388). Loyola began his reform during a painful recovery from a war injury. With a large amount of time to devote to reading, Loyola began to study writings regarding the personal search for Christ. He sincerely dedicated his life to be a soldier of Christ, and as such devoted a writing of his own to this new…

The Protestant Revolution empowered common authors and people to envision the gospel in their own words and terms. Even "Hamlet" has a reference to the Protestant Revolution at its beginning, to the prince's desire to return to Luther's home of Wittenberg. The story of this great play deals with theological questions such as royal authority and the proper way to address the funeral rites and moral, Christian revenge on behalf of the dead.

Of course, the effects of the Protestant Revolution were not always beneficial for literature. When Protestantism's more extreme forms, such as Puritanism, took hold in England, fictional imagination was often condemned as heresy. The Puritan's moral rule caused the English theaters to be closed, during Oliver Cromwell's reign. The idea of England's Protestant Revolution encompasses both the relatively secular and expansive vision of Queen Elizabeth I and the Scottish King James, as well as the narrow and…

They felt that they Church was getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. And as a result, there were no great protests when the King broke away from the Church, because many felt that Henry would ease up on taking money from them. Henry knew of the Catholic Church's unpopularity and used this to his advantage (Truman, 2009).

Christian Humanism played a large role in the development of the English Reformation as it also did with Calvinism, which emphasized the rule of God over all things (Belief system within Christianity: Calvinism, 2004). Both of these were very similar to the ideas Lutheranism, in which each individual was seen as responsible for their own fate. There were several other heretic groups that were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for their beliefs; these were the aldenses and the Albigenses. These were a couple of groups of Christians who would not…

Politics and Lutheranism

The Reformation was as much a political phenomenon as it was a religious phenomenon. Although the Reformation was guided by common basic beliefs in the individual's capacity for salvation, it proceeded according to the political exigencies required in each country or principality it entered. The Reformation was highly flexible and succeeded for a number of reasons. First, there was no influential, well-heeled organization guiding Lutheranism as there was in Roman Catholicism. Second, Protestantism was less international and more local than Roman Catholicism, which was conducive for the development of local political power. Finally, Lutheran doctrines emphasized a more anti-authoritarian way of thinking which was to precede the Enlightenment.

Lutheranism in Germany

Lutheranism succeeded in Germany largely because of the region's political fragmentation, which offered no centralized authority to negotiate a peaceful sharing of power with the Catholic Church. (Gilbert) The centralized governments in Spain, France, and even…

Bernini's David

The Baroque was a dramatic period in Europe: the religious unity the continent had enjoyed for centuries had come to a crashing halt with the Protestant Reformation. King was turned against King, prince against pontiff. Persecution and war were dominant themes, especially following the excommunication of Henry VIII from the Church. Bernini's David, sculpted between 1623 and 1624, represents the swirling, dramatic, grim activity of the times (Avery). It is indeed a strong manifestation of the Baroque principles and themes: David is reared back, depicted in mid-action, like a lock ready to be sprung on his foe. He is full of conviction, bent on striking, Unlike Michelangelo's Renaissance Era David, which aimed mainly for a frontal view to show off the human form and which conveyed a sense of the confidence, leisure, pride and grandeur of the Renaissance Age, Bernini's David is a figure of determination -- a…

Any one who tried to gain enough power and wealth would be considered a threat to the power of the church and was therefore quickly deposed of their wealth.

Weber proposed that even though Catholics tolerated a greater display of outward wealth, Protestant doctrines asked the followers to concentrate on mundane pursuits. It also asks its followers to accept a lower station in life without a hierarchical structure to force the issue. There were no examples of upward mobility or examples of extravagance to follow. The Protestant faith in promoted a pride in one's work and the "work and Save" ethic. The members were self-motivated, not forced into submission by the Church. This was a key difference between these two philosophies. Weber claimed that this attitude was much more productive than the Catholic idea of wealth attainment. The Calvinists had a word which meant ones calling, or duty on earth.…

orld ar I and orld ar II, a great deal of interest has been paid to the German Christian Church and Movement. The focus of this discussion will be on the German Christian Church and movement, specifically the protestant Church (people's church), after I and through II and the Nazi movement. The purpose of this discussion is to illustrate that the protestant German Christian church's ideology was not a product of Nazi orders or a response to Neo-Pagan influences, but in fact, was derivative of the post I culture of German.

Background Info

According to a book entitled Twisted Cross: the German Christian Movement in the Third Reich, the German Christian Movement was composed of Protestants, both clergy and lay people. The author asserts that people that were a part of this movement believed that Nazi Rule was a prime opportunity to spread Christian ideology.

Members of the movement believed…

onsidering that the old order in Ireland was in place since two millennia and had always been under the control of the Gaelic chieftains, their removal from the leadership of the provinces of Ireland by the English rown was destined to arise the resistance of the majority who sought support in the atholic world and especially hoped in the papal authority. urtis points out that the resistance against the protestant faith that built up after Elisabeth took over Munster and Ulster was coming not only from inside the respective Irish provinces, but also from the dissidents in Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Low countries. On one hand they were gathering in the spirit of preserving the old faith, on the other, the Irish and the Anglo-Irish who opposed the Reformation were changing their ways supported by the Jesuits who helping the process of transforming the faithful into fanatics. On the…

The painting is shocking because of its dramatic perspective. First and foremost the table is not situated in the centre of the painting, nor is Jesus. In a symbolical manner this transmits the idea that God is no longer in the centre of man's world and this accounts for the chaos that seems to be omnipresent. The lower side of the painting is dominated by human figures and an atmosphere of panic and confusion seems to be dominating. The upper side of the painting is filled with angels. There is a clear separation lien between the scared world of the divine and the one of the people. The dark colours, as well as the composition succeeded into transmitting the desired message, managing to appeal to the viewer's emotions.

The aroque

As opposed to the simplicity that the Protestants supported, a new style emerges, that is the aroque. This new artistic…

It made Luther angry that the Church was telling people that unless they paid their indulgences, they would be stuck in purgatory forever. This was a ploy, Luther thought, made up by greedy men who were hiding behind the masks of religion in order to take advantage of people.

But the printing of a long list of criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church, which was all-powerful, made the Church even more angry, and Luther was considered an iconoclast. By the time the Church charged him with heresy. He was brought before Cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg, and the Cardinal demanded he recant what he had written, and in effect, apologize. In 1519, Luther was asked to debate with theologian Johann Eck, and the Church kept demanding he recant, but he ran back to ittenberg for safety, and his faculty sent a letter to the Papacy saying Luther would not return and…

A Critical Analysis of Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist by Carlo Dolci

Carlo Dolci’s Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist (Illus. 1) is an oil on canvas painting housed in the Phoenix Art Museum. Completed in Florence, Italy, by Dolci in 1670, the painting reflects the style of the Baroque and the typical religious-historical type of subject associated with the Counter-Reformation underway throughout Europe as part of the Council of Trent’s mission to use art to reinforce the principles and doctrines of the Church at a time when Protestantism was undermining the Church’s teaching authority (Vidmar). Salome appears as though disinterested in the disembodied head, offering it up to the public as though it were a piece of overripe fruit that one may or may not like to partake of. Dolci’s use of light reinforces the idea that Salome is by no means…

Calvinism and the Reformation

John Calvin (originally Jean Cauvin) was born July 10th, 1509, in the merchant city of Noyon, France, in a family of modest ancestry of watermen and artisans.

His father, Girard Cauvin, ran the course of a respectable bourgeoisie member who studied law and went all the way from a town clerk to the position of a procurator of the cathedral chapter. As a prediction to his son's further relationship with the Catholic Church, by the time he died he was excommunicated.

His older brother, a priest encountered similar troubles this department and was also excommunicated. Standing Firm on his position, he refused the sacraments on his death bed and was buried outside the churchyard.

John Calvin was the second son of Girard Cauvin and Jeanne LeFranc. For some, John Calvin's birthday was an unfortunate event, for others, a blessing. Throughout his career, he only appears to…

Finally, the rise of science and technology due to industrialization militated against institutionalized religion (Bruce, 2002, p. 18). As people became more educated and reliant on science and technology in their everyday lives and work lives, religious disagreements with science and led people to abandon institutional religions as unscientific and backward. People knew that science and technology worked; therefore, religious arguments against science and technology tended to be rejected. In sum, the religious and secular teachings of the Protestant Reformation caused people to move toward greater secularization for religious, economic, social and intellectual reasons.

3. Conclusion

The Protestant Reformation significantly contributed to both Capitalism and Secularization in the est. By eliminating or reducing the Roman Catholic Church's underpinnings, including the Sacraments and obedience to Church authorities for salvation, the Reformation caused individuals to search here on earth for signs that they were saved and to rely on themselves rather than…

Other theological beliefs rejected by the Anabaptists were the predestination theology of the Calvinists and the belief that Jesus was born of the flesh of Mary.

In England during the reign of Edward VI the Church of England was busily engaged in establishing itself as the official religion of the country. Edward VI followed Henry VIII, his father, as the King of England and was expected to continue the persecutions of the Anabaptists that his father had initiated. Edward continued the ban against the right of Anabaptists to practice their religion in England but he did not promote the physical persecutions that had been part of his father's reign.

It is highly significant to remember that Edward VI's influence was highly minimal. His advisors were determined to bring major changes to England's religion and because of their influence, major changes did occur.

During Edward VI's reign England's churches were made…

The universe viewed through a telescope looked different, and this difference in itself played into the Protestant argument that received truths may be fallible. In fact, the notion of truth outside empirical evidence became unsteady:

For most thinkers in the decades following Galileo's observations with the telescope, the concern was not so much for the need of a new system of physics as it was for a new system of the world. Gone forever was the concept that the earth has a fixed spot in the center of the universe, for it was now conceived to be in motion…gone also was the comforting thought that the earth is unique (Cohen 79)

However, while the telescope was transforming ideas about the shape of the cosmos and the relationship between science and faith, the microscope essentially remained a toy through much of the early modern era. If anything, the revelation of the…

The Good News is that righteousness is not a demand upon the sinner but a gift to the sinner. The sinner simply accepts the gift through faith" (hitford 2005). Luther's emphasis on the individual's reception of that Good News fueled his skillful promotion of Bibles written in the language of the people in an accessible translation and his disdain for the abstruse philosophy of theologians such as the Scholastic Thomas Aquinas. Although a highly literate and educated man, Luther did not believe that rationalization and reason could lead one to Christ, only God. Additional philosophizing added nothing to the truth that could only be found in the actual words of the Bible.

As is evidenced in Chaucer, in medieval society there had long been simmering a strong dislike of clergymen who appeared to use their office for financial gain, rather than as an exercise of piety: "The poor resented the…

Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God does not bestow his graces on men because they are noble or rich; but, according as it pleases his goodness, which regards not the appearance of persons, he chooses whom he will."

Shakespeare's Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father from Purgatory. Purgatory was a Catholic concept. But rather than trusting the vision of the divine on earth, Hamlet is suspicious about the ability of fallen human beings to enact justice. Rather than finding good in the face of women, Hamlet sees only evil. "In considering the cultural conditions that allow tragedy to revive, we may also want to consider that the plays occurred in Christian Northern Europe;…

religion on world events cannot, and should not be underestimated in its importance in dictating the events of history. The Protestant eformation is one such historic event or epoch that seemingly altered the way religion and society intermixed. The 16th century was a time of revolution and revolt and this modification of the church helped exposed many of the problems that the church had in maintaining a control over its subjects.

A the time shortly before Martin Luther's edict of worms, many were having problems with the Catholic church and an opportunity for a new sect to break off was ripe. The main problem with the church at this time was its ineffectiveness in dealing with personal salvation. The pomp and bloviated rituals apparently had lost their folk values and growing numbers were despondent and unsatisfied with the Catholic church's stance on many issues.

The main issue with the Catholic…

He argued that forgiveness could not be bought with money, and that it could only come as a result of the relationship between God and the sinner. His writings were very controversial, and because he did not want to obey Pope Leo X and retract them, he was excommunicated and condemned as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

I believe that Martin Luther had a more profound impact on world history because the Protestant Reformation opposed the corruption that had taken over the Catholic Church. Luther taught that salvation comes from God, and that only through faith can a sinner be redeemed, and also narrowed down the number of sacraments. Moreover, he translated the Bible to German which made it more accessible to the common people who did not speak Latin which in turn contributed to the development of a standard version of the…

Analysis

The Baby Boomer Revival assumed shapes and forms different than the former ones with programs Charismatic movement, the East Timor Indonesian Revivals, the 'Jesus People', the Asbury College Revival; and the Saskatoon Revival representing the spirits of the times in order to woo people to the mission movement and get them interested in the Church. At oen time, the church would have prohibited these charismatic programs and many, indeed, were controversial when they first appeared and still are today. Nonetheless, their impression and effects have been enduring and in a time when traditional programs were falling flat with the church losing members per day, innovative programs were the only ones that succeeded.

What I have learned

Sometimes, dramatic changes -- a shift in perspective and a change of habits -- are necessary for end-goals and objective to be reached.

The Pre-Reformation Revival, 1300-1500

Summary

Corruption of the church lowered…

Lutheranism

Martin Luther's involvement in sixteenth century's Christian controversy brought forward the Protestant Reformation. His teachings generated a new Christian branch that has come to be one of the ideology's most important beliefs. In comparison to Catholic law, Lutheranism promotes the idea that the church is not necessarily one of the most important institutions making it possible for people to connect with God. Moreover, the ideology encourages individuals to focus on developing a more personal relationship with God, as this respective connection can apparently be even stronger as long as the person is determined and as long as he or she concentrates on faith.

I chose to speak about Lutheranism because this branch of Christianity attempts to have people use both rationality and morality in trying to interpret religious passages. By refraining from putting across subjective ideas, Lutheranism serves a greater good and is actually intended to provide assistance for…

With the decline of the Church, other religious movements emerged dominant among Renaissance thinkers and followers, which included the movement of Protestantism, and later on, Reformation. Under the Protestantism movement, reformed Catholic churches established their own assembly, disassociating from the Catholic Church to form their own religious organization. Protestantism, in fact, preceded the Protestant Reformation, which culminated the Renaissance movement in the 16th century. Under the Protestant Reformation, socio-economic changes were put into place, which involved primarily the transfer of power from the Church to the civil society/citizenry. The Reformation gave birth to a more democratic, independent society, wherein people or the citizens are given more voice in decision-making concerning civil society. Primarily, decentralization of social, economic and political power took place because of the Reformation.

Scientific development became one of the most important areas that developed from the Renaissance. Apart from promoting humanism and intellectual thought, expressed through artworks,…

Confucianism, Catholicism and Islam between 1450 and 1750.

Three major religions, located at diverse axes of the world, Catholicism, Confucianism, and Islam, were faced with similar problems and challenges in the years between 1450 and 1750. Catholicism encountered a militant Protestant Reformation in the shape of Martin Luther King that espoused religion whilst criticizing the Pope. Confucianism, in the shape of the renowned philosopher and politician Wang Vangming, grappled with a future that threatened to challenge its traditional learning and way of life whilst Wahhabism introduced fundamentalist religion into an Islam that had gradually become more secular and detached from the Koran-simulated way of life. The following essay elaborates on their individual problems and challenges.

Catholicism.

Luther's Protestantism effectively ended the many years of sole religious monopoly that the Catholic Church had on Europe. At the same time, Catholicism was also threatened by the new Humanism that tentatively insisted, first…

Martin Luther: Biographical Sketch

In this essay, I have presented a biographical sketch of one of the major "players" in the eformation i.e. Martin Luther. I have discussed his life starting from his birth till his death. In the conclusion, I have mentioned how important he was for the revolution in Europe and how Christians today can follow his footsteps and exemplary character.

At the same time as the Catholic Church made efforts for setting its base and went ahead as the most important and chief institute of religious conviction in the history of world, a lot of compromise were made so that the institution can build and advance further. Sorry to say, one of the sufferers of this Catholic flow was the true-connection-oriented Christianity. With the development and progress of the Catholic Church, the world witnessed the removal of the common man and the domination and unquestioned superiority of…

ased on the gospels of the New Testament, Jews acted as the murderers of Jesus Christ who in Jewish history is claiming to be the Son of God. Criticizing today's Christian practices such as idolatry which is purely against time old philosophy of the scripture continually arouses negative notion on the true authority of Jesus on his teachings.

Most of the parables of Jesus written in the gospels of the New Testament have survived and prospered in the heart and mind of all Christians. The parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the lost sheep are some of the parables that depict the importance given by God towards mankind.

The growth of the early Christian Catholic Church have sporadically developed worldwide since its founding after the death of Jesus Christ with Apostle Peter as the first Pope. The church traces its origin from the 12 Apostles in their…

Philosophy

In his discourse, The Republic, Plato describes the "ideal state" as composed of three social classes: the merchant class, military class, and philosopher-kings. The merchant class maintains and provides service to the society by safeguarding the people's economic activities, while the military class provides the society's security needs. However, in order to establish a stable society, the class of philosopher-kings must govern, having the knowledge, skills, and talent to govern and lead over the society politically. Moreover, the philosopher-king is appropriate for the role of a political leader because he (Plato assigns the role to men) possesses virtues of temperance, courage, wisdom, and justice. These three classes provide balance in the society in terms of the security, prosperity, and leadership, thereby establishing what Plato calls the "ideal state."

Aristotle's philosophy on happiness and the good life is illustrated in his discourse, the Nicomachean Ethics, wherein he posits that in…

The setting up the king's supremacy instead of the usurpations of the papacy, and the rooting out the monastic state in England, considering the wealth, the numbers, and the zeal of the monks and friars in all the parts of the kingdom, as it was a very bold undertaking, so it was executed with great method, and performed in so short a time, and with so few of the convulsions that might have been expected, that all this shews what a master he was, that could bring such a design to be finished in so few years, with so little trouble or danger (Slavin, 19)."

Cromwell's position was no less tenuous than that of his predecessor, olsey. Henry did not become a tyrant without warning. Ridley reports that even as a young man, before he succeeded his father as king, Henry was prone to outbursts of anger and bad temper…

7). Martin Luther understood that this corruption ran deep throughout the church and that such infractions against the Christian population needed to be weeded out from the roots.

While many viewed Luther's actions as adding fuel to the fire in terms of papal corruption, who would now, under threat, certainly enact even harsher punishment upon the general population, Luther felt at peace with his decisions. In studying the true word of God in the Bible and in pinpointing the discrepancies between these words and the words of church leaders at the time, Luther understood that he had the basis of his religion behind him, and thankfully he was able to spread this belief to the minds of many others who followed his cause throughout the eformation and into the creation of an entirely new Christian religion.

eferences

Brecht, M. 1993. Martin Luther: His oad to eformation, 1483-1521. Print. New York,…

Gospel: Gospel is a message that has contents on Jesus, God, salvation, the Kingdom of God, and everything that is done to reach out this message to the believers. Gospel is also one of the books in the New Testament talking about the life, death, resurrection, and the works of Jesus Christ.

• Original sin: Original sin refers to the tendency and deprivation to the evil that is seen as innate in all humankind and it is passed from Adam to all human beings, resulting from the sin engaged by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sin is naturally adapted to every born human being, born of Adam being the initial sinner.

• Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism is a 20th-century religious movement emphasizing on a strict belief in the literal understanding and interpretation of the religious texts.

• Heresy: Heresy is a theory that is developed to be at…

Life is something man share with all other creatures of the earth; however, possessing a soul "distinguishes him from them" (Blits). This gives man incredible latitude, say Blits, and a man can be good or he can be a beast. He can use his "godlike reason" (IV.iv.40) and rise above his natural instincts when he needs to or he can fail in using his reason. In failing, he sinks to the level of a beast. This struggle presents a double for Hamlet, an "equivocal nature" (Blits), according to Blits. This duality gives man a purpose and "thinking and life have a single cause" (Blits), thus man is a "whole because his nature, though composite, is one" (Blits). Hamlet fails to keep the "soul's two functions together. He thinks without acting…and acts without thinking…even while he thus sets motion and thinking apart, Hamlet tends to collapse the former into the latter"…

Christianity in Europe

The Decline of European Christianity, 1675-Present

The demise of Christianity in Europe coincides with the rise of the Age of Enlightenment at the end of the 17th century.

Up to that moment, Europe had been relatively one in religious belief. True, religious wars had been raging for more than a century, with the fracturing of nations in the wake of the "Protestant Reformation." ut even then, Europe had acknowledged a single Savior -- wherein lay His Church was the major point of contention. ut today Europe exists in a post-Christian state. Its Christian identity has collapsed under the weight of Romantic-Enlightenment ideals, expressed dramatically in the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century and adopted politically throughout the continent as a result of a more man-centered, rather than God-centered, vision of life. This paper will trace the decline of European Christianity and provide three reasons…

However, Henry VIII was still insistent at that time on Catholicism in everything except loyalty to the Pope. The Pope had named Henry VIII a Defender of the Faith for the opposition that Henry had to Martin Luther, and Henry's theology did not change any because of his rejection of the authority of the Pope.

Thomas Cranmer and some or the other leaders of the Church, however, decided that there was a need to reform what they considered to be the heresies that had developed. Especially important to them were a liturgy and a ible that was printed in English. In addition to this, they also wanted to do away with some of the beliefs and practices that the Catholic Church had and that they believed did not fit in with Scripture, such as veneration of saints, celibacy for the clergy, and Purgatory. Their desire by accomplishing these things was…

Anabaptists / Mennonites / Amish

Anabaptists/Mennonites/Amish

Anabaptists / Mennonites / Amish a theological perspective.

In this essay, the author explores the Anabaptists / Mennonites / Amish with a theological perspective. The author has discussed background and characteristics of all three Christian movements.

Anabaptists

The term "Anabaptist" or Wiedertaufer," which means "rebaptizer," was first given to the Swiss rethren by Ulrich Zwingli. [footnoteRef:2] Above the past four hundred years, the term "Anabaptism" has obsessed several connotations. At first it was utilized as a term of ridicule by Reformers and Catholic authorities throughout the Protestant Reformation, Anabaptism initially supposed "re-baptizer" (Huxman & iesecker-Mast, 2004, p. 540). [2: William R. Estep, "The Reformation: Anabapist Style, "Criswell Theological Review 6 (Spring 1993): 199.]

"In the early seventeenth century, Menno Simmons's interpretation of Anabaptist convictions, which stressed separation from the world and non-resistance, gained a popular following." (Huxman & iesecker-Mast, 2004, p. 540).Scholars such as…

Charles Van Doren has concluded that the Copernican Revolution is actually the Galilean Revolution because of the scale of change introduced by Galileo's work.

The technological innovation of the Renaissance era started with the invention of the printing press (the Renaissance). Even though the printing press, a mechanical device for printing multiple copies of a text on sheets of paper, was first invented in China, it was reinvented in the West by a German goldsmith and eventual printer, Johann Gutenberg, in the 1450s. Before Gutenberg's invention, each part of metal type for printing presses had to be individually engraved by hand. Gutenberg developed molds that permitted for the mass production of individual pieces of metal type. This permitted a widespread use of movable type, where each character is a separate block, in mirror image, and these blocks are assembled into a frame to form text. Because of his molds, a…

Introduction

For centuries during the Middle Ages, Europe had been at war with Moslems of the Middle East. There had been Crusades (beginning in the 11th century), wars for Holy Lands, and wars of great consequence (such as the Battle of Lepanto in 1571). Charles V had struggled to combat both the invading Moslems and the Protestant rebellion in his own kingdom in the first half of the 16th century, showing just how dramatic that conflict between the West and the Middle East was for many. Yet the tension that had existed dissipated to a great extent when the Ottoman Empire began to decline. Russia grew in power in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the West was rapidly modernizing. The Ottoman Empire itself was changing, and the new dynamic of life in the modern world played a significant role in the way that some Europeans saw and created images…

Faustus, who sees his time also coming to a close, becomes a kind of Hamlet-figure and doubts that he can be forgiven. Faustus' problem is more than a life of misdeeds -- it is a problem of lack of faith. The faith of Everyman may have been lukewarm, but it was not corrupt. The faith in the time of Everyman has been polluted by Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines.

Considering the form of the narrative, this is not surprising: Faustus is obsessed with fame and renown. Everyman has no name proper -- and neither does his author. That the author of the medieval morality play should be anonymous is nothing out of the ordinary, and indeed seems all the more fitting when one considers that the second most printed book after the ible was The Imitation of Christ, a work whose author never put his name on the original (and which…

Due to a shortage in labor supply, the demand for the working class increased exponentially. As such, the peasants were no longer at the bottom of the hierarchy in terms of the social and the economic class -- they were suddenly a highly desirable commodity that began charging fees to provide ti. The following quotation corroborates this fact.

Labour had become scarce and expensive and labourers well-off. Thos who survived the plague suddenly found they could pick and choose their masters, name their price for services, build up their landholdings and begin to employ their neighbors (Jones).

Since feudalism (a precursor to capitalism) was the system upon which England's economics and society was based, the government had to change its focus so that it could attempt to restore the exploitive practices in which laborers were readily cheated out of their labor. The English government became much more active in the…

As the light changes during the course of a day, the colors change as well; reds and yellows get more brilliant at noon, blues become brilliant as the light fades in the afternoon. All the while, the pictures tell important stories or symbolize truths. Light radiating through glass adds life, beauty, is transcendent, and spiritual connections become apparent.

The above rather elaborate description is cited at length in order to provide insight into the way that stained glass windows and ornamentation can evoke a spiritual and 'transcendent' quality that is particularly in keeping with a religious context such as a church. As referred to in the previous section, the use of stained glass is also strongly related to the Christian symbolism of light. As Web ( 2007) states, "A light philosophy ("God is light") was expressed, and it was thought that light reflected on earth is the closest we can…

Rise of the Papacy in the Middle Ages

The ishop of Rome had always exerted the highest authority in the Church since the time that St. Peter took root there, recognized by the Church as the first Pope.[footnoteRef:1] His successor St. Linus followed in Peter's footsteps, as did each of the successors on down the line throughout the centuries (with the exception of the Avignon Popes during the Great Western Schism). That Rome should serve as the center of the new Church even after the Roman Empire fell is no surprise, as John Farrow notes: "It was inevitable that the new religion should spread to Rome. All roads led to the seat of the Imperial splendor, all things came there, for in truth it was the center of the known world."[footnoteRef:2] Thus it was quite natural for Peter to establish himself there, for as head of Christ's Church, he was…

Specifically, Caesar masterfully showed how through building alliances one may achieve power and rise to the top of the leadership tier even in a group or society as vast as the Ancient Roman Empire (Abbott, 1901, p.385).

The Roman Empire also provides an example of organizational systems within the public domain through the Republican system. In the Roman Republican system of government, one man did not have the power to make law. Instead, power was balanced amongst three different branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial ("The Roman Empire"). In fact, this form of government introduced the concept of a senatorial body to the public. In Rome, the Senate was designed as a separate body of government from that of the Emperor so as to avoid the tyranny of one leader. Through the advent of the Senate, the Romans laid the groundwork for leadership structure of Britain…

Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam

The Creation of Adam (1512) as conceived and depicted by Michelangelo represents a significant moment in art history because it brings a humanistic style of expression and sense of realism to the art world that had not existed prior. The work is focused almost exclusively on the Body as a subject. The two figures—God the Father and Adam—represent the majesty of the human anatomy in its ideal form: muscular, flexible, unique, authentic, poised, admirable, beautiful and proportional. In the painting, God is mostly draped with a thin cloth; Adam is completely nude and his position (reclined with one knee propped up while he stretches backwards and reaches forward languidly) suggests one of royalty being wakened after a long slumber. Indeed, the idea that Adam is like royalty is one that Michelangelo infuses into the scene giving the painting its high-minded rapturous quality, which is much in…

ut the rabbi could also serve as the connection between a Jewish ghetto and the surrounding Christian community. This dual raised status of rabbis made their role the most enviable in the community. ut the shifts in French society that occurred in the decades just preceding and following the French Revolution created cracks in the isolation of European Jews.

The French Revolution is generally seen as an overthrow of the monarchy, and of course this is in part what happened. ut the revolution was intended not simply to overthrow the Second Estate -- the nobility and royalty -- but also the First Estate -- the church and the clergy. The revolution unseated the Catholic Church from its position of power perhaps even more surely than had the Reformation, and it helped to free the country from Protestant as well as Catholic influence. ut even more broadly, the revolution allowed people…

John Jewell

The 16th century was a highly contentious time in the relationship between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Issues that had been brewing since the days of Henry VIII began to resurface as both denominations attempted to assert their theological and historical legitimacy. John Jewell, ishop of Salisbury, played a significant role in this dispute and his classic Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae (Jewel, 2010) raised many highbrows throughout both England and Rome and remains one of the most significant documents in the history of the Anglican Church.

John Jewell was born in ude, a small seaside resort town on the Atlantic Ocean in 1522 (Jenkins, 2006). As a young boy he demonstrated tremendous academic ability and he was educated in the Anglican tradition. When Catholic Queen Mary ascended to the throne outspoken Anglican followers such as Jewell were subject to some pressures to endorse certain Catholic theological…

This indicates that human rights, and the desire for human rights, seem to be a human need, and so, it is not reliant on any one foundation, such as the Protestant Reformation. True, the Reformation set the wheels in motion, but continued oppression by tyrannical governments also caused the need for human rights. This is true for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well. The Declaration came as a result of World War II and the formation of the United Nations, and it sought to ensure the human rights of all citizens of the world, no matter where they lived or who governed them. Again, the basic belief that everyone is entitled to human rights is a basic human condition. It usually takes some kind of power or tyranny or oppression to bring out the desire for these rights, and after World War II and the Holocaust, there was…

I. MY QUESTION

The topic of religious revolution interests me because much of history has been shaped by religious revolution. Consider the history of the West. The rise of Constantine to the seat of the Emperor in the early 4th century allowed Christianity to flourish. The Roman Catholic Church became deeply influential some 400 years later with Charlemagne, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in 800. Religious revolution broke out in Europe with the Protestants, led by Luther, Zwingli, Knox, Calvin and Henry VIII. Their actions led to a revolution in the West that changed the nature of society. Today’s society has very much been impacted the Protestant Revolution, as strains of Puritanism are still seen in American society, for example, as authors like Hawthorne and Melville have shown.

What I hope to learn from the research is how religious revolution unfolded in Europe and what its…

This led him to start the second major religion in Germany -Protestantism. This makes it clear that there were views of religion being also something other than pure belief in a path to reach God even in those days.

The strength of the Protestants increased in North Baden and northeast Bavaria, and was not at a very high level till Germany was unified under Prussian leadership in 1871. The leaders of Germany at that time were under Otto von Bismarck and he was seeking a method to weaken the leadership of oman Catholics and their influence. This led to the start of Kulturkampf in the early 1870s. Other direct steps were also taken like prohibiting the Jesuit order in Germany and expelling the members of Jesuits from Germany. The entire procedure was outlined in Prussia under the "Falk laws" which were named after Adalbert Falk who was the minister of…