How did the Reformation reflect humanist ideas?

Answer 1

The humanists, notably Erasmus, but also others, were fiercely anticlerical. Because they were against the special privileges of priests. The clergy paid no taxes, had no civic requirement to do town watch or fight fires, and went to separate court systems for the prosecution of crimes. They also had been educated by the Catholic Church within the university system that the Church created (oddly based partly on Muslim progressive movements witnessed in Spain and the Eastern nations). These "scholastics" educated as Martin Luther was in Germany or John Calvin was in Paris and Lyon, were very oriented towards Aristotelean logic systems. The humanists wanted to turn The Bible into a subject for debate because they thought their 16th century translations of ancient texts was more accurate than the translations done in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Think now. If you wanted future people to understand YOU personally, would you rather have someone in the near future translate your use of English or would you rather people 1500 years later try to interpret your words and word usage. Yet this is what the humanists did. And when they translated the Bible according to their standards, they discovered "errors" in the Bible being used in the Catholic Church. It never occurred to them that they were making the errors or that there was a difference in word usage and meanings that would have made a 4th century translation more accurate. Especially since the 4th century translation was done by someone who spoke Aramaic, Greek, Latin and some north African dialects. And was working from original first century papyrus scrolls, which didn't last till the 1500s. Nonetheless, the humanists thought nothing of their own limitations; they only projected limitations onto people who no longer existed. This is perfectly reflective of the many failed efforts from the likes of Luther, Calvin, Smyth, Knox, Henry VIII or Wycliffe to recast the Bible on their own individual terms. Like the humanists, the reformers lost their way by denying the Scriptural basis for forming the Catholic Church under a central leader with supporting bishops. Without authority, there was nothing to keep each and every Protestant interpretation of Scripture from becoming the basis of a religion. In essence, without any authority (though they naively thought Scripture would be the authority), everyone became an authority. And there was no one in the movement to do as Christ told Peter, "Feed my sheep." The word was no longer a living word. It was a dead horse beaten and beaten and beaten to death, often with good intentions. So in despising their fellow man, the humanists and reformers alike became tools of the imperialists who wanted to cause dissention within the Catholic Church so they could get the land and treasure owned by the clergy. And it worked. We are still cleaning up the mess they made today. Hope that helps. By Luis Monarrez AKA Lettuce.

Answer 2

humanist ideas spread mainly among the wealthy people in society. most cultures hace a set of rules or commandments that guides peoples behaviour

Answer 3

Both believed that human nature was a vital part of Christianity and should not be repressed by the Catholic Church