3. The Protestant Reformation: Roots
• Great Schism of the West (1054)
– First break within the Catholic Church
• John Huss
– 100 yrs. before Martin Luther
– The first reformer
– Beat off five crusades against the Catholic
Church
– Excommunicated and burned at the stake
• Northern Renaissance
4. Causes of the Reformation
• Problems with the church
– Greedy - $$
– Popes = Politicians
– Warriors instead of moral leaders.
– Many officials were unmoral and
corrupt.
• It starts in Germany
– Not unified
– No strong leader to hold religion
together
5. Lutheranism
• Salvation comes from God and faith
alone.
– No ceremonies, relics, good deeds
• Sacraments – baptism and communion
– Key is the Bible
• Wants people to be able to read the Bible
• Religious education for all
– Priest do not have special powers
• Broke away from the Catholic Church
because it was not pure
– Traditional Lutherans have many
similarities to Catholics
10. Luther says NO!!!!!!!!!!
Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders.
Gott helfe mir. Amen." ("Here I stand. I
can do nothing else. God help me.
Amen.")
• He is excommunicated from church and
forced into hiding for the rest of his life
•Worked banned – Stopped by Frederick the
Wise
11. Luther’s Legacy
• Permanent split in the Christian
faith between Catholicism and
Protestantism
• A number of different sects of
Protestantism::
– Methodist
– Presbyterian
– Baptist
• Today - approximately 590 million
Protestants worldwide
12. John Calvin - Calvinism
• French lawyer -
moved to religious
community in
Geneva, Switzerla
nd
• Founder of
Calvinist faith
• 1536 – The
Institutes of the
Christian Religion
– Code = all
religious questions
13. Beliefs
• “Faith Alone” saves
you
• The Bible holds the
truth
– Religious Education
• Calvinism = Calvinists
• PREDESTINATION
– God has already
decided who is
saved/condemned.
– “ the elect” – expected
to follow a high moral
standard
14. Calvinism Spreads
• Official religion – Geneva
– Theocracy – government ruled by
religious leaders who claim God
authority.
– Outlawed dancing, cards, bad
language, etc.
– Created appeal – people knew how to
act – Are the elect people????
15. Calvinism Spreads
• Spreads to
France, Germany, Netherlands, Scan
dinavia, Scotland
• France
– Huguenots
– Civil Wars (1562)
– King Henry IV – Edict of Nantes
• Freedom of religion
• Some political rights
16. Henry VIII of England
• Wished to divorce
Catherine of Aragon
and marry Anne
Boleyn
– Pope refused to grant
it
• Henry declares
himself head of the
Church of England in
the “Act of
Supremacy” 1534
• Henry is the head
of the Church of
England not the
Pope
– In America we call this
the Anglican Church
17. End of a united Christendom
Bloody wars of religion, religious
persecution
Religious, Social, Political conflicts
intermingled
Establishment of modern languages
(German, English) not Latin
Confiscation of Church lands increased
power for rulers
Define Protestant Reformation – break from the Catholic church because people wanted to change the RCC’s ways and disagreed with some of their policies
