The Reformation occurred in Northern Europe during the 1500's, which changed religion for the Roman Catholic Church. The invention of the printing press allowed the middle class to have access to the Bible and learn to read. Due to the printing press, civilians could read the Bible in their mother tongue instead of Latin. The printing press helped promote the sales of indulgences and ideas of salvation and corruption by reformers named Martin Luther and John Calvin. The printing press was responsible for the spread of knowledge and the start of the realization of the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Bible was the first piece of information to spread around Europe and be printed by the printing press. Like Steven Kreis mentioned in the Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History, there was "a need for a more efficient printing press." As a result, the printing press decided to translate the Bible from Latin to English during the process. Martin Luther then later translated the Bible into German, contributing to the spread of religion throughout Europe. With the Bible becoming more widespread,
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Besides reminding people that they cannot directly pay for salvation, the 95 Theses emphasized the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. The realization of the fraudulence in the Roman Catholic Church brought about a plethora of effects, the most significant being increased doubt towards the Roman Catholic Church. Rebellions occurred, and other theologians such as John Calvin used the printing press to bring more awareness to the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church using the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1. "Nothing can be more absurd than the lie that the power of judging and interpreting Scripture is in the Church, and that only an interpretation approved by the Church can be