The Protestant Reformation- Spreading and Dividing
The Protestant Reformation: Spreading and DividingHeading into the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church was undoubtedly the dominating religious power Europe. But this dominance throughout Europe would not extend to the next one hundred years. This was the time before the great Protestant Reformation begun by theologian Martin Luther that was to challenge the Catholic Church not only in its practices, hierarchy, and Biblical interpretation, but also maybe most importantly, challenge its widespread following in Europe. Historian Hans Hillerbrand, in his book The Protestant Reformation, comments that by the end of the sixteenth century "one fact was beyond dispute: Western Christendom was tragically divided...into no less than five religious factions" (Introduction, xviii). How this transformation came to be is the subject of much debate and historical interpretation. It is argued here that the rapid spread of the rebellion towards the Catholic Church known as Protestantism can be attributed to four main tenets: pre-e!xisting displeasures with the Catholic Church, the accepting and all class incorporation of the ideologies of the Protestant Reformation, effective propaganda used by Luther and other reformers, and po
Luther and his descendants urged people away from putting their religious faith in the hierarchy of the church and preached a more personal, Bible based faith. Surprisingly, King Henry VIII also proved to b!e an influential leader in leading his nation away from Catholicism and further dividing its power. The idea of money cleansing the soul of the sinner did not sit well with many and was looked upon !as one of the ways the Catholic Church had become corrupt. html#Gutenberg), with the invention of the printing press in the mid fifteenth century, "the production and distribution of an expanding variety of texts quickly became too widespread to contain. The ingenuity of this type of propaganda undoubtedly led to the spread of the Protestant Reformation a great deal. This type of religion inspired the devotion of people who tired of the corruption, regulations and regimentation typified by the Catholic Church. In the years following Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses, the once dominant Catholic Church fell pray to other Christian religious factions such as Lutheranism, Calvinsim, and the Anglican Church of England. A Popular History of the Catholic Church. Getting the word of the Protestant Reformers to many people was as important to the success of the movement as their actual message was. Also contributing to the spread of the Protestant Reformation was the new populist ideas that it promoted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**Work CitedChadwick, Owen. This dissatisfaction of influential citizens of Europe was crucial to the spread of the ideals of the Reformation because it was these officials that often decided if the propaganda and ideologies of Protestantism would be allowed to be practiced and acted upo!n by the lower classes in which they possessed much influence. Also, Luther and Calvin's movements and leadership caused other religious radical groups to gain popularity, such as the Anabaptists, that "found their most fertile soil in cities of Switzerland, the Rhineland, and Holland" (Chadwick, 189).
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