Why protestantism began

Edward VI. Mary I. Elizabeth I. She first tried to promote a 'middle way' in religion. James I. He was a Protestant but was tolerant towards the Catholics. Charles I. It resulted in the creation of a branch of Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to differences in doctrine.

The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, , when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences , or 95 Theses.

The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him. These ideas were controversial because they directly contradicted the Catholic Church's teachings. Luther's statements challenged the Catholic Church's role as intermediary between people and God, specifically when it came to the indulgence system, which in part allowed people to purchase a certificate of pardon for the punishment of their sins.

Luther argued against the practice of buying or earning forgiveness, believing instead that salvation is a gift God gives to those who have faith. Luther's objections to the indulgence system paved the way for other challenges to the Catholic doctrine throughout Europe. For example, John Calvin in France and Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland proposed new ideas about the practice of Holy Communion, and a group called Anabaptists rejected the idea that infants should be baptized in favor of the notion that baptism was reserved for adult Christians.

Broadly speaking, most of the challenges to the Catholic Church revolved around the notion that individual believers should be less dependent on the Catholic Church, and its pope and priests, for spiritual guidance and salvation. Instead, Protestants believed people should be independent in their relationship with God, taking personal responsibility for their faith and referring directly to the Bible, the Christian holy book, for spiritual wisdom.

Subsequently, King Henry rejected the Pope's authority, instead creating and assuming authority over the Church of England, a sort of hybrid church that combined some Catholic doctrine and some Protestant ideals. Over the next 20 years, there was religious turbulence in England as Queen Mary — reinstated Catholicism in England while persecuting and exiling Protestants, only to have Queen Elizabeth I and her Parliament attempt to lead the country back toward Protestantism during her reign — Some English citizens did not believe Queen Elizabeth's efforts to restore England to Protestantism went far enough.

These citizens fell into two groups, both labeled Puritans by their opponents. The first group, known as separatists, believed the Church of England was so corrupt that their only choice was to leave England, separate from the church, and start a new church. This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on the Rhine.

Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, presented Luther with copies of his writings laid out on a table and asked him if the books were his, and whether he stood by their contents.

Luther confirmed he was their author, but requested time to think about the answer to the second question. He prayed, consulted friends, and gave his response the next day:. By , Luther found himself increasingly occupied in organizing a new church, later called the Lutheran Church, and for the rest of his life would continue building the Protestant movement.

An apoplectic stroke on February 18, , deprived him of his speech, and he died shortly afterwards, at a. He was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit. His actions led to the start of the Protestant Revolution. Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and is characterized by the doctrine of predestination in the salvation of souls.

Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. Calvinism can be a misleading term because the religious tradition it denotes is and has always been diverse, with a wide range of influences rather than a single founder. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, and many within the tradition would prefer to use the word Reformed.

While the Reformed theological tradition addresses all of the traditional topics of Christian theology, the word Calvinism is sometimes used to refer to particular Calvinist views on soteriology the saving of the soul from sin and death and predestination, which are summarized in part by the Five Points of Calvinism.

Some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things, including salvation. These reformers came from diverse academic backgrounds, but later distinctions within Reformed theology can already be detected in their thought, especially the priority of scripture as a source of authority.

Each of these theologians also understood salvation to be by grace alone, and affirmed a doctrine of particular election the teaching that some people are chosen by God for salvation.

Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, and to a larger extent later Reformed theologians.

The doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther. Following the excommunication of Luther and condemnation of the Reformation by the pope, the work and writings of John Calvin were influential in establishing a loose consensus among various groups in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Germany, and elsewhere.

After the establishment of the Geneva academy in , Geneva became the unofficial capital of the Protestant movement, providing refuge for Protestant exiles from all over Europe and educating them as Calvinist missionaries. The book was written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with some previous knowledge of theology, and covered a broad range of theological topics, from the doctrines of church and sacraments to justification by faith alone and Christian liberty.

Many French Huguenots, however, still contributed to the Protestant movement, including many who emigrated to the English colonies. Though he was not personally interested in religious reform, Francis I — initially maintained an attitude of tolerance arising from his interest in the humanist movement.

This changed in with the Affair of the Placards. In this act, Protestants denounced the mass in placards that appeared across France, even reaching the royal apartments. Several thousand French Protestants fled the country during this time, most notably John Calvin, who settled in Geneva. Calvin continued to take an interest in the religious affairs of his native land and, from his base in Geneva, beyond the reach of the French king, regularly trained pastors to lead congregations in France.

Despite heavy persecution by Henry II, the Reformed Church of France, largely Calvinist in direction, made steady progress across large sections of the nation, in the urban bourgeoisie and parts of the aristocracy, appealing to people alienated by the obduracy and the complacency of the Catholic establishment.

Interior of a Calvinist Church: Calvinism has been known at times for its simple, unadorned churches and lifestyles, as depicted in this painting by Emanuel de Witte c.

The Anabaptists were a group of radical religious reformists formed in Switzerland who suffered violent persecution by both Roman Catholics and Protestants. Anabaptism is a Christian movement that traces its origins to the Radical Reformation in Europe.

Some consider this movement to be an offshoot of European Protestantism, while others see it as distinct. Anabaptists are Christians who believe in delaying baptism until the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ, as opposed to being baptized as an infant. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the movement. Schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later developments among the Anabaptists. Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that was freely chosen, and so rejected baptism of infants.

The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism. Balthasar Hubmaier wrote:. Anabaptists were heavily persecuted during the 16th century and into the 17th century because of their views on the nature of baptism and other issues, by both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics.

Anabaptists were persecuted largely because of their interpretation of scripture that put them at odds with official state church interpretations and government. Most Anabaptists adhered to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government.

Some who practiced re-baptism, however, felt otherwise, and complied with these requirements of civil society. They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites, and some historians, tend to consider them as outside of true Anabaptism. Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli.

As early as it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the mass, and even infant baptism. Zwingli had gathered a group of reform-minded men around him, with whom he studied classical literature and the scriptures. However, some of these young men began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform.

The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October disputation held in Zurich. This incident illustrated clearly that Zwingli and his more radical disciples had different expectations.

To Zwingli, the reforms would only go as fast as the city council allowed them. To the radicals, the council had no right to make that decision, but rather the Bible was the final authority on church reform. Feeling frustrated, some of them began to meet on their own for Bible study. As early as , William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in villages surrounding Zurich, encouraging parents to not baptize their children. The council ruled in this meeting that all who refused to baptize their infants within one week should be expelled from Zurich.

Since Conrad Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel, born on January 5, , the council decision was extremely personal to him and others who had not baptized their children. Thus, when sixteen of the radicals met on Saturday evening, January 21, , the situation seemed particularly dark.

At that meeting Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn baptized several others immediately. This continues to be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism. Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists, resorting to torture and execution in attempts to curb the growth of the movement.

The Protestants under Zwingli were the first to persecute the Anabaptists, with Felix Manz becoming the first martyr in The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I that were passed against the Donatists, which decreed the death penalty for any who practiced re-baptism. Martyrs Mirror , by Thieleman J. Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites.

Describe the key developments of the English Reformation, distinguishing it from the wider reformation movement in Europe. The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

The English Reformation was, in part, associated with the wider process of the European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity across most of Europe during this period. Many factors contributed to the process—the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism, the rise of the common law, the invention of the printing press and increased circulation of the Bible, and the transmission of new knowledge and ideas among scholars, the upper and middle classes, and readers in general.

However, the various phases of the English Reformation, which also covered Wales and Ireland, were largely driven by changes in government policy, to which public opinion gradually accommodated itself. Unlike his father, who was secretive and conservative, the young Henry appeared the epitome of chivalry and sociability.

An observant Roman Catholic, he heard up to five masses a day except during the hunting season. He was thus susceptible to whoever had his ear. This contributed to a state of hostility between his young contemporaries and the Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

Anne arrived at court in from years in France, where she had been educated by Queen Claude of France. Anne served as maid of honor to Queen Catherine. She had not produced a male heir who survived into adulthood, and Henry wanted a son to secure the Tudor dynasty.

Henry argued that this had been wrong and that his marriage had never been valid. According to Canon Law the pope cannot annul a marriage on the basis of a canonical impediment previously dispensed. In the king summoned parliament to deal with annulment, thus bringing together those who wanted reform but disagreed what form it should take; it became known as the Reformation Parliament.

There were common lawyers who resented the privileges of the clergy to summon laity to their courts, and there were those who had been influenced by Lutheran evangelicalism and were hostile to the theology of Rome; Thomas Cromwell was both. Cromwell was a lawyer and a member of Parliament—a Protestant who saw how Parliament could be used to advance the Royal Supremacy, which Henry wanted, and to further Protestant beliefs and practices Cromwell and his friends wanted.

The breaking of the power of Rome proceeded little by little starting in Meanwhile, having taken Anne to France on a pre-nuptial honeymoon, Henry married her in Westminster Abbey in January Henry maintained a strong preference for traditional Catholic practices and, during his reign, Protestant reformers were unable to make many changes to the practices of the Church of England. While the Catholic Church was not the only church on the European religious landscape the Eastern Orthodox Churches still dominated in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia , by the 16th century, it was certainly the most dominant.

The church had a great deal of political as well as spiritual power; it had close alliances, for example, with many royal houses, as well as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, which at that time encompassed much of Central Europe, including present-day Germany.

By the 16th century, the idea that you could purchase an indulgence to reduce your purgatorial debt had become increasingly widespread. Often, the sale of indulgences exceeded the official parameters of church doctrine; unscrupulous quaestores might promise eternal salvation rather than just a remission of time in purgatory in exchange for funds, or threaten damnation to those who refused.

Indulgences could be sold on behalf of departed friends or loved ones, and many indulgence salesmen used that pressure to great effect. Enter Martin Luther. A Catholic monk in Wittenberg, Luther found himself disillusioned by the practices of the church he loved.

If God really did send his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for the sins of mankind, then why were indulgences even necessary? In autumn whether the actual date of October 31 is accurate is debatable , Luther nailed his 95 theses — most of the 95 points in the document, which was framed in the then-common style of academic debate, objections to the practice of indulgences — to a Wittenberg church door.

His intent was to spark a debate within his church over a reformation of Catholicism. Instead, Luther and those who followed him found themselves at the forefront of a new religious movement known as Lutheranism. By , Luther had been excommunicated by the Catholic Church. Soon after, he found himself at the Diet council of the city of Worms, on trial for heresy under the authority of the very Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. At that council, the emperor declared Luther to be an outlaw and demanded his arrest.

The answer has as much to do with politics as with religion. And when a prince converted, his entire principality was seen to have converted too. It originally referred to a number of German princes who formally protested an imperial ban on Martin Luther, before becoming a more general term for reformers who founded movements outside the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Luther was able to spread his ideas more quickly than ever before due to one vital new piece of technology: the printing press.

For the first time in human history, vast amounts of information could be transmitted and shared easily with a great number of people. The relationship between Luther and the printing press was actually a symbiotic one : The more popular Luther became, the more print shops spread up across Europe to meet demand. While earlier would-be reformers, such as John Hus, had been burned at the stake for heresy, getting rid of someone as widely known as Luther was far more politically risky.