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Protestant Reformation Dbq Essay

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How did the Protestant Reformation shape society in 16th century Western Europe?

When looking back at the Protestant Reformation, what caused society to struggle in 16th century Western Europe? The Protestent Reformation changed how people saw religion from the words of the Pope and Council, but also showed how the printing press spread the word of the Bible. The lower levels of hierarchy and the towns outside reach of the Bible were given the word of God and this shaped what is now known as Christianity. From the words of Martin Luther, a German priest, the Pope and Council altered God’s words, but how did this cycle back into the hardships the people faced in these times?
Martin Luther, a German priest, author, and professor, brought up a valuable question. Was the Pope misusing the words of God? Luther wrote up his recent discoveries and opinions into a total of 95 thesis statements. Luther stated in one of his many statements, “I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils, because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and contradicted each other.” (Document 1, Luther) He clearly argues that he can no longer submit his faith to the Pope and Councils because their words were simply contradicting each other's claims. Luther began to praise God on his own, vetoing the words of the Pope and Council and following the words …show more content…

He took the words of God, and made them his own, changing their meaning. After these sudden changes, Martin Luther said, “The main reason I fell out with the pope was this: the pope boasted that he was the head of the Church, and condemned all that would not be under his power and authority. He said, “..although Christ is the head of the Church, there must be a physical head of the Church upon earth.” (Document 5, Luther). As Luther said, this could not be tolerated. The Pope was taking the role of God and giving himself the

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The Protestant Reformation had a huge impact in all Europe in the sixteen century, but which ones were the factors that lead to it? It is very important to highlight that the European Christianity was falling into a noticeable corruption of its popes and some other high position members. Robbery, and even warriors were among of some factors that took the Cristian Church to a declining path. One of these examples was the Pope Julius II, which one won the nickname “the warrior pope” because he led armies against people. Furthermore, the church was not the only factor promoting this reformation, some other social changes were occurring with the masses in Europe; many of the peasants were being free especially in the western Europe.

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Luther believed that the church did not have any power over the bible. For example, in the 22nd and 23nd statement he says “As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very Few” (Martin Luther: Ninety-Five Theses). In the 95 Theses Luther challenges common beliefs about purgatory.

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Luther challenges the Catholic Church in 1517 and 1535 because they abuse their power by stealing money from the Catholics with indulgences and increasing papal power over the whole world. Luther wanted to let people know that the Church was taking advantage of them at the time and that they do not deserve that. Luther says he “grieves over the wholly false impressions which the people have conceived from them,” meaning that the Church has told them lies about the indulgences by making them believe they should give all their money to get into heaven (Document A). Luther was trying to let people know they shouldn’t be treated like this because this is the religion they have chosen to believe. In 1535, Luther says that “the pope may well be,

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Theses are statements that Martin Luther made himself to criticize the church for their wrongdoings. He made the situation go public by posted the statements on the front door of the German Church.

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The church tried with all of the power it had gained to stop Luther, but power hungry men and pious fools thought him worthy of protection. Luther may have been correct in his Theses, but the actions his allies took to accomplish his ideals were extreme; extreme to the effect that order was sacrificed for many years for a goal that would

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Jeramie Jones Dr. Hermann History 101 Right before the 16th century, there were huge changes in the way people started to think. One major movement that influenced this was the wave of humanist thought, which understood the importance of the study of classical text to emphasize a larger value of the individual, to which the Protestant Reformation owed a lot to. This basis of thought is a huge reason people began to critique the teachings of, and even question the theological foundation of the Catholic Church. The main reason for which religion was so divisive in the 16th century was that people finally began to think for themselves. Despite Roman Catholicism being the dominant in Europe all before the 16th century, a new wave of Protestantism

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Historians argue that there were many causes of the Protestant Reformation, but there was one main issue that instigated its formation. Economically, resentment of the Church’s wealth and taxes influenced the drive for reformation and particularly, other European leaders. In the same respect, the Church’s growing political authority and push for power troubled such leaders. Despite the perceived supreme power of the Church in Europe, the religious affairs and corruption amongst the Church’s leaders were more important causes of the reformation. An increased disdain and mistrust of the Church dominated the opinion of the public and further supported the idea of reformation.

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Luther also disagreed with the fact the Roman catholic Church worship “ higher authority” instead of God. Two of his beliefs were sola Fide and Sola Scripture. These two beliefs stated

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Luther's impact can be seen here, as well, since he told people to read the bible for themselves, which was exactly what the church didn't want. The Church feared any sort of threat that could rise against them. As Document 4 states, “I recognize the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church as the Mother and mistress of all churches; and I vow and swear true obedience to the Roman

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To convince anyone he had to do extensive studies of the bible. If he didn't know enough material he couldn't create a sufficient argument. He made numerous connections between the old and new testament. He clearly read that faith saves one, and all the works the pope enforced were folly.

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Martin Luther was Augustin monk who was sent to Rome as a reward for all his hard work and dictation to his faith. When he arrived in Rome notice all the corruption of the Catholic Church by selling Indulgence (Remission before God of a temporal punishment due to one’s own sins, but they are already forgiven) this was not the primary issue Luther had with the Church. Desiderius Erasmus one of Europe most famous and influential scholar agrees with Martin Luther in some of his arguments. They agree upon that “no one has enough merits to save themselves” anyone who donated to the Catholic Church in either their time or money would receive a reduced sentence in purgatory after they die for the sins they committed. The Church was drawing from the

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Martin Luther was able to break christianity into two denominations, Catholic and Protestant. “Background: The Reformation” states that Martin Luther, worked under the Pope as a young naive monk. The church sold indulgences. Indulgences are a guaranteed ticket into heaven that is extremely expensive. Martin knew this was wrong, and cautiously explained to the Pope how indulgences go against Christianity's beliefs.

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In 1518, “...the pope condemned Luther’s writings as conflicting with the teachings of the Church” and some called it heretical (History.com Staff). The pope told him to renounce his belief, to which Martin Luther refused. In response, “Luther said he would not recant unless scriptures proved him wrong” (Martin Luther Biography). He also made comments about how he believed the higher powers in the church didn’t have the power or knowledge to interpret scripture. By doing this he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

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Starting from the statement that Christians receive salvation through faith and the grace of God. Luther also stated, “The churches rituals did not have the ability to save souls. ”Also Luther talked about how the Church and the Pope make errors often. This had gone from a need for reforming indulgences to a whole

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“In 1521, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X. He was ordered to appear before leading authorities at the Diet of Worms”(Forster 3). The Diet of Worms was sent to him commanding Luther to deing nay the many things he said about the catholic church. But he stood strong and said “I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go conscience.

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