The Protestant Reformation Movement
he Protestant Reformation which began as a movement to reform the Church but then later turned into a rebellion against it, resulted in a number of non-Catholic religions know today as Protestant religions. This Reformation began mainly due to the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church but also due to political issues with surrounding states of the Holy Roman Empire. Europeans were plagued with death and disease like smallpox and the bubonic plague, which made them fear for their eternal salvation for the afterlife. Most believed the Catholic Church had the keys to salvation.
The people looked to the Church to provide rules and rituals to provide a path to heaven. Sacraments were the main ritual believed as sacred rites needed for salvation.
The first sacrament was Baptism. Those that committed sins and died with them were dammed to hell for eternity. But the Church offered Eucharist or Communion as a way to gain grace and avoid sin. And with penance or confession to a priest a Christian could have those sins forgiven. It didn’t end there after penance you still had to atone for your sins and if you died before you did they had to go to purgatory, a place which suffering would purify the soul, so then they are allowed into Heaven. You could atone for your sins while still living with certain prayers and sacrifices in order to earn an indulgence, or the removal of punishment still due for sins that have been forgiven as a way not to go to purgatory after death. This “sale of indulgences” was one of the many corrupt practices the Church used in order to gain wealth. The Church not only sold indulgences for the "living" they also began to sell them for those that had died and were believed to be in purgatory as a way to save your "dead" loved ones.
The Lutheran Revolt was began by Martin Luther a man that was studying to become a lawyer but after surviving a storm, during which he vowed to enter a monastery if God saved him. He was disgusted with the Churches sale of indulgences. He issued Ninety-Five Theses. He proposed that faith alone was enough to be saved, that each man could interpret the Bible the Church was not needed, he wanted Mass to be given in the local language so all could understand not in Latin, ministers instead of celibate Priests, No indulgences, No Pope, and only Baptism and communion needed not the 7 sacraments of the Catholics. Luther became in the Churches eyes a rebel who denounced doctrines "inspired by God."
Pope Paul III launched his own Catholic Counterreformation or Catholic Reformation against the Protestants. In Italy and Spain they took it to the extreme and employed Inquisitions where they arrested, interrogated, fined, imprisioned and sometimes executed people. During this time Catholicism had a spiritual revival with the formation of a “Company of Jesus” which became known as the Jesuits. In 1545 Pope Paul III gathered a great council of Catholic Church leaders, The Council of Trent. Emperor Charles V wanted it to compromise with the Lutherans, but the council did not agree with him. They decided affirmed indulgences, papal supremacy, priestly celibacy, the Latin Mass, and the Churches power to forgive sins. The only thing that they agreed to change was that indulgences were not for “sale” and the council allowed each bishop only one diocese to live. The council ruled that each diocese must have a seminary to train the priests. Obviously, these rule changes did not win back any Protestants but they were not designed to win them back they were to purify and strengthen Catholicism. he Pr
The people looked to the Church to provide rules and rituals to provide a path to heaven. Sacraments were the main ritual believed as sacred rites needed for salvation.
The first sacrament was Baptism. Those that committed sins and died with them were dammed to hell for eternity. But the Church offered Eucharist or Communion as a way to gain grace and avoid sin. And with penance or confession to a priest a Christian could have those sins forgiven. It didn’t end there after penance you still had to atone for your sins and if you died before you did they had to go to purgatory, a place which suffering would purify the soul, so then they are allowed into Heaven. You could atone for your sins while still living with certain prayers and sacrifices in order to earn an indulgence, or the removal of punishment still due for sins that have been forgiven as a way not to go to purgatory after death. This “sale of indulgences” was one of the many corrupt practices the Church used in order to gain wealth. The Church not only sold indulgences for the "living" they also began to sell them for those that had died and were believed to be in purgatory as a way to save your "dead" loved ones.
The Lutheran Revolt was began by Martin Luther a man that was studying to become a lawyer but after surviving a storm, during which he vowed to enter a monastery if God saved him. He was disgusted with the Churches sale of indulgences. He issued Ninety-Five Theses. He proposed that faith alone was enough to be saved, that each man could interpret the Bible the Church was not needed, he wanted Mass to be given in the local language so all could understand not in Latin, ministers instead of celibate Priests, No indulgences, No Pope, and only Baptism and communion needed not the 7 sacraments of the Catholics. Luther became in the Churches eyes a rebel who denounced doctrines "inspired by God."
Pope Paul III launched his own Catholic Counterreformation or Catholic Reformation against the Protestants. In Italy and Spain they took it to the extreme and employed Inquisitions where they arrested, interrogated, fined, imprisioned and sometimes executed people. During this time Catholicism had a spiritual revival with the formation of a “Company of Jesus” which became known as the Jesuits. In 1545 Pope Paul III gathered a great council of Catholic Church leaders, The Council of Trent. Emperor Charles V wanted it to compromise with the Lutherans, but the council did not agree with him. They decided affirmed indulgences, papal supremacy, priestly celibacy, the Latin Mass, and the Churches power to forgive sins. The only thing that they agreed to change was that indulgences were not for “sale” and the council allowed each bishop only one diocese to live. The council ruled that each diocese must have a seminary to train the priests. Obviously, these rule changes did not win back any Protestants but they were not designed to win them back they were to purify and strengthen Catholicism. he Pr