Describe Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. What did he mean by justification by faith alone? What was he protesting? What did he do? What were his philosophies? How did the Catholic Church react to this? What are some of the key differences between Protestants and Catholics? Protestant Reformation Many changes took place during the next few hundred years. Several historical events influenced the rise of the Protestant Reformation, including the Black Plague (which killed 1/3 of Europe), numerous wars of the 14th century, and the Renaissance or Rebirth during the 15th and 16th centuries which not only changed art and architecture through greats like Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but an entire worldview. During the black plague, many lost faith in the Catholic church when priests abandoned the sick to flee for their own safety. During the Renaissance, new artists and thinkers questioned medieval church values and gave a fresh new (and radical) worldview. Also during this time, an invention called the Printing Press allowed for mass circulation of literature. How could this be a threat to the Catholic Church? Within the church, which has grown very wealthy and powerful, there were numerous examples of corruption, abuse, and scandals. Combine that with political and religious divisions and dissent and you've got yourself a stage for destruction. Above all, the printing press allowed for individual interpretation and perception of the scriptures, which was a direct threat to the authority of the Catholic Church. All of these historical events bring us to this central issue you've seen building in your previous lessons --authority. The long standing authority of the church was being questioned. During this time, the selling ofindulgences also becomes popular. The church was rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica and it was believed that whoever donated money to this project would be able to buy their loved ones' souls out of purgatory. Martin Luther of Saxony (1483-1546) Martin Luther was a German Catholic Monk (from the Augustinian branch) who was unhappy with all this corruption, abuse and especially, the selling of indulgences. He decided to reform the church and proclaimed our Justification through Faith. He nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittgenstein in 1517. This theses outlined all of the things he felt were wrong with the Catholic Church. There were many things he had issues with. First, he defied Pope Authority, saying that there is a Universal Priesthood where we all can be preachers and should marry and have children. (This is something Luther did himself right away after years of being a celibate monk, taking a fellow nun as his wife and having multitudes of children. Just call them the "Jon and Kate Plus 8" of the 16th century.) He rejected most of the 7 sacraments, including confession, anointing, and ordination. He rejected many of long held Catholic doctrine/rituals such as the veneration of Mary, the saints,.

1. Describe Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. What
did he mean by justification by faith alone? What was he
protesting? What did he do? What were his philosophies? How
did the Catholic Church react to this? What are some of the key
differences between Protestants and Catholics?
Protestant Reformation
Many changes took place during the next few hundred years.
Several historical events influenced the rise of the Protestant
Reformation, including the Black Plague (which killed 1/3 of
Europe), numerous wars of the 14th century, and
the Renaissance or Rebirth during the 15th and 16th centuries
which not only changed art and architecture through greats like
Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but an entire worldview.
During the black plague, many lost faith in the Catholic church
when priests abandoned the sick to flee for their own safety.
During the Renaissance, new artists and thinkers questioned
medieval church values and gave a fresh new (and radical)
worldview.
Also during this time, an invention called the Printing
Press allowed for mass circulation of literature. How could this
be a threat to the Catholic Church? Within the church, which
has grown very wealthy and powerful, there were numerous
examples of corruption, abuse, and scandals. Combine that with
political and religious divisions and dissent and you've got
yourself a stage for destruction. Above all, the printing press
allowed for individual interpretation and perception of the
scriptures, which was a direct threat to the authority of the
Catholic Church.
All of these historical events bring us to this central issue
you've seen building in your previous lessons --authority. The
long standing authority of the church was being questioned.

2. During this time, the selling ofindulgences also becomes
popular. The church was rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica and it
was believed that whoever donated money to this project would
be able to buy their loved ones' souls out of purgatory.
Martin Luther of Saxony (1483-1546)
Martin Luther was a German Catholic Monk (from the
Augustinian branch) who was unhappy with all this corruption,
abuse and especially, the selling of indulgences. He decided to
reform the church and proclaimed our Justification through
Faith.
He nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in
Wittgenstein in 1517. This theses outlined all of the things he
felt were wrong with the Catholic Church. There
were many things he had issues with.
First, he defied Pope Authority, saying that there is a Universal
Priesthood where we all can be preachers and should marry and
have children. (This is something Luther did himself right away
after years of being a celibate monk, taking a fellow nun as his
wife and having multitudes of children. Just call them the "Jon
and Kate Plus 8" of the 16th century.)
He rejected most of the 7 sacraments, including confession,
anointing, and ordination. He rejected many of long held
Catholic doctrine/rituals such as the veneration of Mary, the
saints, and the rosary.
He proclaimed "Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura"which
means "faith alone, grace alone, scripture alone." According to
Luther, that's all you need, not the clergy or the sacraments.
And finally, to top it all off, he declared that the Pope was the
Antichrist!
I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils,
because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and
contradicted each other. Unless therefore, I am convinced by the
testimony of Scripture, I cannot and will not retract. Here I
stand, I can do no other. So help me God, Amen. - Martin
Luther

3. As you can imagine, Luther wasn't too popular with the Catholic
Church due to these actions. He was declared a heretic by
the Papal Bull in 1520 and excommunicated in 1521.
At the Council/Diet of Worms (pronounced "Varm"), Luther
refused to recant - he would not take back his criticisms of the
church.
Luther would have probably met the same brutal fate as other
heretics like William Tyndale and Joan of Arc if he had not had
the luxury of being heavily protectedby German princes (even
back then, it was all about "who you know.")
Soon after Luther's protest, a reformation happened (giving
the "Protestant Reformation" its name) involving hundreds of
people that followed in Luther's path. They translated the Bible
into German in 1534, which greatly upset the Catholic Church.
Soon after, the Bible was translated into English by William
Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for this act (he, unlike
Luther, did not have German prince protection). After this, the
protestant movement did not stay unified, but split into several
different sections or denominations.
Today, there are several thousand Protestant denominations.
Just a few examples are Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Calvinist,
Presbyterian, Nazarene, Mormon, United Church of Christ,
Church of Christ, Pentecostal, etc.
The Catholics had a Counter Reformation in response. During
the Council of Trent (1545-63), they reaffirmed Catholic
doctrine, practice, the authority of Pope, built more impressive
architecture, and commissioned an extremely high volume of art
pieces (the majority of both the Vatican's and Dayton Art
Institute's Renaissance pieces are a result of this counter
reformation) to confirm and display both the majesty and
ultimate authority of the Catholic church.