Why Is The Protestant Reformation Called The First Western Enlightenment

The Protestant Reformation made sure that the Catholic Church’s grasp on Europe was forever gone with the nailing of Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses. The Reformation led to people rejecting the Pope and his Church in favor of a personal relationship with God. And with their role as the ultimate authority gone, people were able to focused on other viewpoints without worry of punishment. Steven Ozment, an American historian, suggested that the Protestant Reformation was the first Western Enlightenment. From my point of view, Ozment is right to suggest that the Reformation was the first Western Enlightenment because it gave people the choice to explore beyond the old Church’s mindset. Martin Luther’s role on the Reformation was important to the entire movement because his criticism of the Church led to the spilt and it is what influenced Ozment’s opinion.
Martin Luther was born in a world where the
According to “About Martin Luther” (n.d.), his view on the Church began to fall apart when he saw that Rome, the capital of Catholicism, was “swamped in corruption.” He sought out answers in the Bible and instead found that individual faith granted the person salvation (“About Martin Luther,” n.d.). Once he returned to Wittenberg, Luther began to write the famous Ninety-five Theses to attack the Church for practicing indulgences stating that they were the “most pernicious because they induce complacency and thereby imperil salvation” (“About Martin Luther,” n.d.). Thanks to the printing press, Ninety-five Theses quickly spread across Europe and it was the spark needed for the Protestant Reformation to begin. Steven Ozment had the right idea because Luther’s Ninety-five Theses inspired other people to question the Church’s practice of indulgences. And Martin Luther had his own enlightened moment when he discovered that self faith allowed salvation.