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Section 3
The Protestant
Reformation
The Protestant
Reformation
The Big Idea
Efforts to reform the Roman Catholic
Church led to changes in society and the
creation of new churches.
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I can list and explain the internal problems which
weakened the Catholic Church including:
Tax policies
Selling of indulgences
England’s break with the Catholic Church
I can explain the reasons for the growing
unhappiness with the Catholic Church and the main
ideas of the following men;
John Calvin – predestination
Desiderius Erasmus – Free Will
William Tyndale – translating the Bible into English
Main Idea 1:
Reformers called for change in the Catholic
Church, but some broke away to form new
churches.
By the late Renaissance, people had begun to
complain about problems in the Catholic Church.
They called on its leaders to end corruption and
focus on religion.
Their calls led to a reform movement against the
Roman Catholic Church called the Reformation.
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Unpopular Church Practices
People felt that the clergy and the pope had become
too political.
The way the church raised money was also
considered unfair. The sale of indulgences was
unpopular.
An indulgence was a document given by the pope that
excused a person from penalties for sins he or she had
committed.
The idea that the church was letting people buy their way
into heaven made Christians angry.
These unpopular practices weakened the church,
and people began calling for reform.
Tax policies: the Catholic Church collected taxes
from subjects and sent a large portion of those
revenues to the Pope in Italy. Churches did not pay
taxes to the nation that the church was in,
frustrating monarchs.
Henry VIII wanted to leave his marriage. The
pope refused Henry’s request, so he left the
Catholic Church and created his own church.
The Church of England, or Anglican Church,
was much like the Catholic Church, but it
opened the door for other churches to form.
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Martin Luther
Martin Luther nailed a list of complaints
to the door of a church in Wittenberg.
This list was called the Ninety-five Theses.
The printing press allowed this list to be spread to neighboring
states.
Luther thought that anyone could have a direct relationship
with God.
He did not believe that priests had to speak to God for the
people.
Beliefs should be based on the Bible, not interpreted by
priests or the pope.
Luther translated the Bible into German so that Europeans
could read it for the first time.
http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-9389283
John Calvin
John Calvin believed that
God knew who would be
saved even before they
were born. This is called
predestination. Nothing
that people did during
their lives would change
God’s plan, but it was
important to live a good
life and obey God’s laws.
http://www.biography.com/people/john-calvin-9235788
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Desiderius Erasmus
Erasmus was a scholar from Rotterdam.
In the late 1490s, he served as a
secretary to the bishop of Chambray.
While employed by the bishop he traveled to
Paris, France where he first learned of
Renaissance humanism.
In the early 1500s he wrote In Praise of Folly, a book in which
he wrote of the various abuses of the Catholic Church.
Erasmus supported Protestant ideals but did not favor Martin
Luther’s extreme turning away from the established
church.
He is most noted for his belief in Free Will which is the belief
that man chooses how to live and whether or not to
accept Christ.
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