Protestant ReformationEssay Preview: Protestant ReformationReport this essayThe Protestant Reformation began as a movement by one monk to correct the injustices of the Catholic Church. The Northern Christian Humanists of centuries before believed that the Christian faith had once been a simple religion, twisted and vague through time and hopeless papal authority. Although Martin Luther meant only to make corrections in the faulty faith, a split occurred in the Christian Church. From the rapid spread of Reformation ideas, it is obvious that others were concerned with the welfare of the Church as well. Reformers such as Zwingli and Calvin became popular and fought for the right to practice their religion openly. Unfortunately, the religious activities of the time were so entangled in the economic, social, and political forces of the time that what started as a statement ended as a revolution in the Christian Church.
The economy of the time was a hard mix of prosperity among the upper and middle classes, and extreme poverty throughout the majority of the land and peasants. Because the economic prosperity of the late 15th and 16th centuries did not directly affect the lower class, who were kept in submission by lords and extreme taxation, the peasants embraced new forms of religion. The Anabaptists were a group of laborers who were adversely affected by the economic change of the age. They felt that the church should be a voluntary association of believers who were all equal. Such radical ideas could be linked to the dissatisfaction among the lower class and peasants.
Parish priests, however, were also unhappy with the Churchs unfairness. While they suffered with the commoners to pay their bills, the Pope and cardinals were enjoying a life of luxury at their expense. They were continually subjected to new taxes to benefit the Pope and Rome, and were threatened with excommunication and certain damnation if they resisted. Increasingly, one could buy titles of significance in the Church while it was nobles who were usually the officials selected to fill the highest positions such as cardinals. The hawking of indulgences for the Popes building fund for a new basilica in Rome was what truly angered Martin Luther into action. The acquisition of these indulgences supposedly assured ones time in purgatory to be shortened. Martin Luther, however, contested that there was biblical reference neither to indulgences nor to purgatory. He maintained that these indulgences were being forced on people already burdened with huge economic burdens, simply to build up the Popes treasury and to create funds to build St. Peters Basilica.
The social activities of the era were also catalysts for reform in the church. The Northern Christian humanists had studied early Christian writings and determined that the churchs theology had been clouded over many ears with certain untrue dogma. In order to purify the Church, they felt that society would need to be educated and a return to true Christianity would be initiated. Followers of the Modern Devotion held the view that traditional beliefs should be emphasized in favor of a more direct and personal approach to religion. While this was not a huge movement, it laid the groundwork for the Protestant feelings of directness with God. Priests were not needed to talk to God; it could be done by anyone through prayer. Martin Luther believed the Popes claim to be the only one who could interpret scripture. Appealing to peoples individuality, Luther objected
The Protestant Reformation led to an increasing emphasis on the power of the individual to do what is right with the government. As Protestants began to lose faith in traditional government structures, a sense of freedom and empowerment became a fundamental feature of life.[4] This idea was also a factor in the growth of traditional societies, especially in western Christian Europe and the UK after the Civil War.[5] Protestantism became synonymous with authoritarian government, a religious belief which saw the state as the last form of government. Luther believed that, as religious institutions were undermined, those that held these beliefs would lose power over the people.[6]
In a sense, the Protestant Reformation was a new era of modern social change, as different forms of authority and politics were brought under control of the Protestant Church. In the wake of the Civil War, it became clear that Christian principles of authority were being weakened and that human reason and reason alone were needed to solve the problems of the time. The importance of human reason, in Luther’s view, was lost. When he was arrested for the murder of his wife, Luther insisted, “The soul must be brought under control.”[7]
The Christian Faith
The religious and political philosophy of Luther helped shape a large part of America´s post-Civil War Protestant theology. However, this led to other problems. First, Luther was criticized for not speaking to Christians in terms of God and religion, as well as for using Protestant rhetoric against Muslims and immigrants.[8] The majority of the population knew about modern religions,[9] but only about three in ten believed that Catholicism was the true religion of Christ, in spite of the Bible.[10] In the American post-Civil War period, the majority of Catholics believed that Christ had been crucified by a Roman Catholic priest, but they tended to believe that the Catholic Church did not believe the original Word of God.[11]
Luther emphasized the significance of human reason, as it was not what people believed, but only who they believed to be able to live the gospel. Luther stressed the right of man and man alone to self-determination, “And we as Christians have been the first of men, and we shall all be the first to be created anew by the Holy Ghost as a man of great merit”. To some extent his message was as true towards immigrants as it was about the naturalization policy of the government. It did not matter if or how citizens could not become citizens in the first place (they never were), nor could they become citizens in lawlessness. These two concepts were inseparable. Luther was the first to establish and apply the rule of law across all of America.
In spite of these many difficulties, the Protestant Reformation brought a new kind of Protestantism to Americans. Luther´s approach to modern thought was as far removed from a Calvinistic philosophy and as broad as the Protestant Reformation. Although his theology was more liberal than the Reformers in 1755, it never put much emphasis on human reason and human dignity.[12] Luther did not believe that religion was the only cause for human progress. Rather, he called upon God to create, with the consent of the Father, good and evil people.[13] Although the early Protestant movement embraced Calvinism, Luther often stressed the importance of using human reason to change the social order. He described how God could create a new order in society by influencing the social environment and making it so that it is a way of