World History Chapter 16.3

World History Chapter 16.3

1. Introduction

   • Renaissance values (humanism,secularism) stimulated criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and its extravagance
   • By 1500, educated Europeans began calling for a reformation....a change in the Church's ways of teaching and practicing Christianity
   • In Germany the movement for reform led to a split in the Church
     • producing a new form of Christianity known as Protestantism
   • The series of events that gave rise to Protestantism is known as the Protestant Reformation

2. Martin Luther

   • The Protestant Reformation was began by a monk named Martin Luther
   • He was born in Eisleben,Germany in 1483 to middle-class townspeople
   • He was studying law, because his father wanted him to, at the University of Erfurt. However, Luther was more interested in theology and religion
   • He feared God was trying to punish him when, in 1505, Luther was nearly struck by lightning in a thunderstorm.
     • He knelt and prayed to Saint Anne--in return for protection, he promised to become a monk
   • Soon after kneeling to Saint Anne, he entered a monastery.
     • As a young monk, he prayed continuously in an attempt to save his soul.
       • He was still unsure God would still find him acceptable.
   • After reading Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans....
     • "he who through faith is righteous shall live"
       • He determined that a person could be made just, or good, simply by having faith in God's mercy and love
         • Idea became known as justification by death

3. Luther's Protest

   • At this time, Pope Leo X was trying to raise money to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
     • 1) sold Church positions to his friends (Simony)
     • 2) authorized the sale of indulgence
   • What were indulgence's?
     • Certificates issued by the Church that were said to reduce or even cancel punishment for a person's sins as long as one also truly repented
   • Why did people by indulgence's?
     • People believed that the document would assure them admission to heaven.
     • Peasants were promised that the indulgences would relieve them of guilt for future sins.
     • People were encouraged to buy indulgences for the salvation of their dead relatives.
   • The Church's agent for selling indulgences in northern Germany was John Tetzel
     • "Once you hear the money's ring, the soul from purgatory is free to spring."
       • Purgatory,according to the Church, is a place in the afterlife where people are made fit for heaven.
   • As a professor and priest in Wittenberg, Germany....
     • Luther preached against the sale of indulgences.
     • Luther lectured against other Church abuses he believed were corrupt.
   • On October 31,1517, Martin Luther nailed the door of Wittenberg Church a placard with 95 theses, or statements, criticizing indulgences and other church policies.

4. Breaking with Rome

   • With printed copies of the Ninety-Five Theses spreading quickly throughout Germany, the sale of indulgences sharply declined.
     • Encouraged by this reaction, Luther published hundreds of essays advocating justification by faith and attacking church abuses.
   • Upset with the decline in the sale of indulgences,Pope Leo X sent envoys to Germany to persuade Marin Luther to withdraw his criticism.
   • When Luther refused to recant, Pope Leo X formally condemned Luther and banned his works.
     • In 1521, the pope excommunicated Martin Luther from the Church.
   • Shortly after being excommunicated, a diet, or council, of German princes met in Worms, Germany to attempt to bring Luther back into the Church.
     • They believed that Luther should take back his criticisms....and alliviate the pressure the Church was placing upon the people of Germany.
   • Luther arrived and refused to recant his criticisms
     • He was condemned as a heretic and was rushed out of the city to be hidden by his friend, Prince Frederick of saxony.
   • While in hiding, Luther translated the New Testament into German. With more affordable translation, most people could now read the Bible.

5. Lutheranism

   • Following the Council of Worms, Luther laid the foundations for the first Protestant faith: Lutheranism.
   • While Catholicism stressed faith and good works in salvation and the importance of church teachings as a spiritual guide, Lutheranism emphasized:
     • salvation by faith alone
     • the Bible's role as the only source of religious truth
   • Lutheran services:
     • centered on biblical preaching, rather than ritual
     • were held in the language of the people, rather than Latin
   • Luther and his followers did not structure a hierarchy of clergy, but a community of believers.
     • All useful occupations--not just the priesthood--were vocation, or callings, in which people could serve God and neighbor.
   • Lutheranism was more than just a new religion in Germany....It stirred social unrest among peasants wanting to end serfdom.
   • When a major peasant revolt erupted in 1525, Luther, fearing social chaos, backed the princes against the peasants.
     • Lutheranism became a more conservative movement as a result of the death of thousands.
   • Lutheranism had already sown the seeds of more radical Protestant movements that would transform Europe's religious landscape.