Renaissance Essay, Research Paper

The Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation were two very

important events in European history. They are a vital part of the

Renaissance. They signify the point at which the power of the church

dimineshes and the power of the monarchs increases.

The Protestant Reformation began with Martin Luther. Martin Luther had

once been a monk for the Church, but, after leanring about the way

indulgences were practiced in the Church (particularly practiced by Tetzel),

he wrote 95 statements about indulgences and posted them at a local church.

He had assumed that the Church would accept these statements. Unfortunatly

for the Church, the statements were not accepted.

By not accepting Luther’s teachings, the Church had inadvertantly

encouraged its own decline. Since they did not kill Luther immediatly, he

was able to spread his “heresy,” and, by the time the Church realized how

large a threat he was, it was too late. Luther had, in the 1520’s started

the religion of Lutherism.

Lutherinism conflicted directly with the Church. It said that only two

sacraments were necessary: baptism and communion. This reduced would reduce

the power of Lutheran ministers and also save peasants money. This

encouraged peasant converts. This also encouraged lords and princes to

convert. They would convert to sieze the holdings of the Church in their

lands and also to gian power over the new religion. Instead of the Church

controlling the officials, the officials controlled the (Lutheran) Church.

Lutherinism also stressed intent. He said that, for God to forgive a

person, the person would have to feel real regret, instead of iust paying a

fine. Luther also stated that, for a person to have good credited to their

soul, they would have to have a good intent, not just a fear of Hell. I

believe that these facts were unimportant to converts compared to the facts

that Luther had defined Lutherinsim much better that the Church had defined

Christianity.