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Similarities Between Luther And John Calvin

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The first Reformation of the 16th century, began with Martin Luther with the publication of his great, influential work, The Ninety-Five Theses. Luther’s mission to reform the Church and dispose of the corruption of priests and the sale of indulgences, inspired others such as lawyer-turned-reform advocate and preacher, John Calvin to act in the name of what he believed to be righteous. The ideals of the Reformations presented first by Luther, and then modified through the separate branch of Calvinism began a chain-reaction, motivating King Henry VIII to make use of the changing religious ideals to extend his political power. In this essay, the similarities and differences between the Calvinist Reformation of Geneva and Henry VIII’s Reformation …show more content…

Calvin was extremely vocal about his contempt for the sale of indulgences, the sacrament of penance and most of all, the overwhelming pressure to perform enough “good deeds” to be accepted into Heaven, induced by the Roman Catholic Church. King Henry VIII was also against the authority of the papacy, as seen through the fact he decided to reform the Church of England in an attempt to overpower the influence of the pope. Though he had originally done so so he would be able to divorce his wife, it is clear that his decision to reform the Church was also a power move as after the Reformation, control of England laid solely with the king. While Calvin and King Henry VIII’s willingness to speak out against the pope qualifies as a similarity between the two Reformations, it is important to realize again, the motivations behind the two. While Calvin’s willingness to speak out specifically about the corruption of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church illustrates his religious motivations, King Henry VIII’s decision to break from the Roman Catholic Church was more so a power play then a crusade for a reformed and righteous

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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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Martin Luther and King Henry VIII of England are both famous in part for their separation from the catholic church. They were both excommunicated, paving the way for foundation of their respective churches. However, Luther and Henry VIII were motivated by different things. Though both men left the church for change, Henry VIII had personal and political motivations while Luther had purely religious motivations. Both men left the church because the church was not fulfilling their needs.

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In 1529, Geneva, Switzerland was under the control of Protestant reformers. John Calvin and Guillaume Farel, were two men who had led the reforms in Geneva, but were banished because they refused to obey the decisions made by the municipal government. Looking to seize an opportunity, Cardinal Jacopo Saoleto wrote a letter to the Genevans to persuade them to rejoin the Catholic Church. Calvin was eventually persuaded to form a reply letter to Sadoleto, defending the Protestant reforms. Predominantly, the major topics covered in Sadoleto’s letter and Calvin’s letter coincide closely, since Calvin’s letter was in a direct response to Sadoleto.

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The Reformation was a time in Europe in the 1500s in which people questioned the beliefs of the Catholic Church. There were many changes made by the catholic church. The people that were responsible were Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII. The Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe was primarily the result of three men and their disagreements with the Catholic Church; Martin Luther, John Calvin, and King Henry VIII forever changed the religious landscape of Europe.

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Many reformers such as Martin Luther, John Wycliff, and John Calvin played prominent roles in sixteenth-century Europe; they helped to reform Catholic churches and change the Europeans’ ways of thinking. “The Reformation was a rejection of the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance” is a true statement. The main goal of the religious reformation was to bring back the former beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which were based off of the bible; this went against the Renaissance ideas. Martin Luther was one of the many important reformers in sixteenth century Europe. Luther helped to completely change the church systems by writing his 95 theses.

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John Calvin is sometimes referred to as one of the greatest Reformation theologians. Calvin studied law before he studied theology. Calvin argues for two types of government in his compendium of theology, "The Institutes of the Christian Religion,” one, government that rules the spiritual, or inward aspect of humanity, the spiritual government, and two, government that rules the external aspects of human life, the secular government. “Man is the subject of two kinds of government, and having sufficiently discussed that which is situated in the soul, or the inner man, and relates to eternal life, we are, in this chapter, to say something of the other kind, which relates to civil justice, and the regulation of the external conduct. “ In Calvin’s mind, no human law could stand on it’s own without God, who has created the world and government in the beginning.

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Martin Luther and John Calvin view on Sinful Person Justification by faith (Sola Fide), which known to be the core value of the Reformation, is the belief that righteousness from God is considered as a recompense for sinner 's account through faith alone. The sixteenth-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Catholic Church that result in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches. Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin were known as two of the most significant figures in the history of The Reformation. They both proclaimed Justification as the main subject of the gospel of God’s grace. They were well acknowledged for their common doctrines of Salvation, as the deliverance from sin and its consequences,

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In 1536 an Institute had given Calvin a reputation for the Protestant leaders, while Calvin spent the night in Genevalate, the preacher and reformer of Guillaume was creating Protestantism in the town. He persuaded him to continue to help in this line of work, his influence has not only persevered in the Church of England, where Calvin was greatly respected among those Puritans who were unfortunately separated from the Anglican Establishment, but also persisted in the Reformed churches of France, Scotland, Hungary, Germany, and the Netherlands. The latter was formulated into their own personal churches, Congregational or Presbyterian, which is what eventually brought Calvinism to North America. Even in today’s modern society these wonderful churches, along with the authentic Reformed Church and German Evangelical, recognize John Calvin as one of their founding fathers.

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John Calvin John Calvin was an important aspect in the reformation for multiple reasons one being that he was a leading figure by publishing the Institutes of the Christian Religion which he hoped to regulate Protestantism. He also became a valued spiritual and political leader in which he put together a religious government. Later given absolute supremacy as the leader in Geneva. He was a man who instituted numerous positive policies. He did a superb job of what he was trying to accomplish, he banned all art other than music which ended up creating Geneva the center of Protestantism, which is what he was shooting for initially.

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Among the religions and beliefs during the 16th century, there were different opinions on how to run society and the government. Martin Luther and John Calvin were two leaders in the Protestant Reformation who wanted change in the Catholic Church. Although Luther and Calvin were similar in the political authority and ecclesiastical, they differed on religion and society. Luther and Calvin were both Protestants who believed the Catholic Church was corrupt due to the selling of indulgences and the preaching of salvation.

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The Protestant and English reformation were both reforms that took place in the 16th century against the Roman Catholic Church. Comparatively these reformations are alike and different in some sense. For example, Two leaders led these reforms and went against the church’s beliefs for different purposes. For personal reasons , King Henry VIII went against the church, whereas Martin Luther knew the church could not offer him salvation amongst other reasons. Before becoming a monk, Martin Luther was once a law student .

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When examining three of these differences in doctrine, and how Calvin’s prayers from the Commentary on Hosea touch on the subject, one can clearly see how the prayers illustrate the conflict between Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation that was beginning. The first one of these conflicts was the issue of sanctification. In his first prayer, John Calvin is heard pleading with God that grace will remain extended to him and other believers. He admits that there is sin and wrongdoings in each and every person’s lives and prays that the Lord will restore his heart to a holy and righteous state. This process of being continually renewed to a state of righteousness and pure heart is often referred to as sanctification.

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Geneva, supported resistance to Hitler and the Nazis. In Luther’s Germany, however, Protestant leadership generally supported obedience to authority and did not advocate resistance to the Nazis. Is there anything in content of Luther’s and Calvin’s teachings that would lead to these different approaches to resistance to the state? The teachings of Martin Luther never gave way for a revolution, he did not even encourage the idea of disobedience to oppressive rulers.

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Calvin contributed greatly to the reformation. One thing he did was getting the government to put church as a mandatory authority in their towns. The second thing he contributed to the reformation was more religion gestures about God and that resulted in Reformed churches. Throughout he kept up his status of his powerful leader in the Reformation. Not only was a big figure in the Reformation he changed a lot of things happening at this time.

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These ideas prompted many Catholics into finally correcting the church themselves and seeking Reformation. Martin Luther became the leading figure of the Reformation because he had openly challenged the authority of the Pope and attacked the practice of indulgences in his “Ninety-Five Theses” letter. Several other prominent Theologians such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli seized upon Luther’s beliefs and Reformation swept across 16th century Europe, leading eventually to

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