Roman Catholic Church Reformation Essay

Throughout the Middle Ages and into the 16th century, the dominance and supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe was unmatchable and unmanageable, leading to its corruption. Irritated with the actions of the papacy and clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, many discussed ways to mend the church by purging it of its faults and corruption. However, most attempts to fix the church were fruitless, that is, until 1517, when Catholic monk Martin Luther protested the actions of the Catholic Church and began what is known as the Reformation. During this time, theologians and scholars known as reformers led more successful attempts of protesting and reforming the Catholic Church, riding on the backs of Renaissance and Classical philosophy and scriptural teachings. One of the

Zwingli truly epitomized the essence of the Reformation because he valued both classical and scriptural education and literacy. The Reformation coincided with the Renaissance, during which many upper class people, who called themselves “humanists” sought to revive the classics and improve themselves through education and mastery of skills. Zwingli was a Christian Humanist, and “coupled love of classical learning, as in Renaissance humanism, with an emphasis on Christian piety” (Source ). This was evident in Zwingli’s actions, as he received a classical education himself, and was especially influenced by the famous “prince of Humanism” Desiderius Erasmus (Document 3). His friendship with Erasmus and his classical education helped to shape Zwingli’s ideas about Christianity, and also provided him with the knowledge necessary to read the Bible, which was written in either Latin or Greek. In addition, Zwingli was