The Reformation

Around the 1500's the Roman Catholic Church was faced with a problem. The church was not willing to adjust with society. Because of this the Europeans called for a reformation. A reformation is a change in teachings. The church leaders said they were to busy with government affairs to attend to the matter. In reality the church leaders knew a reformation could throw them out of power. The unity of the church was now starting to break. The start of the Roman Catholic Church reformation was much because of one man. His name was Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a monk very devoted to the religion of Christianity. He was very knowledgeable and studied the scriptures regularly. One night upon his studies he realized something. The ideas of his church, according to the bible, were very wrong. The reformation was Martin Luther's life ambition and his story.

Martin Luther was a German monk. After reading the phrase "The just shall live by faith" he began to question his beliefs He then came to the realization that it is trusting in Jesus that got you to heaven; not by works as the church believed at the time. His ideas brought a conflict of beliefs. In 1512 Pope Leo X started rebuilding St. Peters Church. In order to get the extra profit he sent out more monks to sell more indulgences than were out on the market at the time. Indulgences are documents that are supposedly a way to lessen your sins. In other words a way to buy an individual to heaven. Martin Luther realized that it was just an easy way for the church to make money. He also knew it was confusing the people. Later that night he posted ninety-five thesis. A theses is a document that states an authors research and findings. The Theses said that only God can forgive sins and he challenged them to debate if they disagreed.

After Martin Luther posted the theses he openly attacked Catholic beliefs. He also openly said the Pope made mistakes. This was not a regular occurrence in the church for they always followed the Pope no matter what. Martin Luther said a Christian had a right to pray directly to God and could read the bible freely. The Pope tried to condemn Martin as heretic. The Pope made an agreement with the King and tricked Martin. He did not receive a fair trial and was condemned for heresy. In 1524 most people supported Martin Luther and his ideas. Many left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Lutheran church. The Lutherans had strong forces which held their enemies at bay. King Charles V realized that he could not win so he signed The Peace of Augsburg Treaty. This treaty allowed the Lutherans to practice their religion in Germany, as well as the Catholics. This treaty kept peace for fifty years.

Throughout the 1500's Martin Luther's ideas spread over Europe. Some of the first countries other than Europe to adopt Luther's form of church were Scandinavia and Switzerland. They protested against the Catholic Church thus getting them the name protestants. Protestant church leaders, called ministers, taught from the bible and made services a lot easier to understand. Many people completely terminated the Catholic rituals and joined the Lutheran Church. Later John Calvin made the first official protestant church. As the Protestant church was growing the Catholic Church was working hard to spread their ideas to India, China, and Japan. The church also tried to persuade the Lutherans to come back. The Catholic Church took back their loyalty from many countries . By the middle of the 1500, the northern half of Europe was Protestant and the southern half Catholic. Then under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I the Catholics launched an attack. There were 30 years of war following. In the end they came to a draw. Today there are Catholic and Protestant branches of the church. Both have survived. All of this started because of one man, Martin Luther.

http://www.reformation.org

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12700b.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook02.html

http://www.mun.ca/rels/reform/