The Protestant Reformation essays

The Protestant Reformation essays Martin Luther was the most important person in the Reformation of the Catholic Church. He was a German monk. He posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. This showed how he stood up against the church and criticized it for all of its faults. He criticized the Catholic Church for the sale of indulgences, and the failure of the church to meet the needs of the people of Europe. The church at this time was unable to satisfy the people spiritually and intellectually. He felt that only two of the seven sacraments were true to Christianity, as was written the Bible. He became the leader in the rebellion against the Catholic Church, and the leader in the formation of the Protestant Religion. His ideas and revolt against the church helped the people of Europe to break free from the power of guilt that the Catholic Church held over them. Though he was a major religious reformer, Luther did not want to reform society. The Protestant Reformation that he started was simply a release from Catholicism for Europeans, and into a free, less complicated religious life. Ulrich Zwingli was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. He led the Protestant religion to its stature of popularity with the Swiss. By 1518, Zwingli, like Luther, protested the sale of indulgences. He was a strong believer and enforcer of the belief that if an idea could not be supported by an ancient scripture, then it should not be believed or practiced. With Zwingli's reforms in the church in Switzerland, the people began to question society, much like the followers of Luther. They began to question transubstantiation, saints, celibacy, and sacraments, as well as other religious ideas. Zwingli's influence opened up new doors for reform and thinking for the Swiss people, much like Luther did for a majority of Europe. John Calvin was another Protestant reformer from Germany that created the new religion of Calvinism with...