Why was the movement known as the Protestant Reformation?

Answer 1

This happened when it did because of the Catholic Church and how much it was involving itself into every aspect of the European everyday life. The church has too much desire to see itself in the things of the world such as power and wealth rather than focusing about what they were there for, to promote holiness and salvation. Because of this different humanist called for reform in the church.

One of the first popular voices to challenge the church was John Wycliffe. His argument was that the church had no control over who went to salvation. He said that salvations was a free gift received by God, and the church's sacraments and rituals had no meaning and could not give someone salvation. Wycliffe said that "all believers in Christ were equal and, in effect, Christ's priests." (Perry, 311) But his reform against the church failed because of a revolt by peasants in 1381. Though Wycliffe's beliefs were key to the revolt Luther started and also the revolt in England.

Another movement against the church was the mysticism and Humanism movement. This became popular movement among woman, who saw this as a alternate to the control of the papacy and the church. One of the more popular voices in humanistic community was Erasmus. Erasmus though that "critical words would suffice to show the clergy the folly of their ways."(Perry, 313)

Another movement against the church was that of the Millenarians. Millenarians looked forward to the destruction of the world and the paradise created thereafter for God's chosen people. There vision was not promoted by the church, but it was acceptable. These people saw that this kingdom was for the poor, not the rich and those who were well established in the current world. They were also a key to the reform of Luther because he used their idea of the "Whore of Babylon" (Perry, 313) and entitled it to the pope.

The most popular voices and the most successful was Martin Luther. Though Martin Luther started off as a monk in the Catholic Church he soon figured out that his sins were not satisfied by the sacraments of the church. While reading The Bible he found two verses in Romans that helped him find that it was not of the church that we retained salvation but it was of faith alone. Luther also began to attacked the church on the selling of indulgences to help pay for their expenses. This led to one of his most popular endeavors, the posting of his 95 thesis. Luther's belief that faith alone could save you went against what the church has to say. Because of this in 1517, Luther's beliefs help set off the reformation and also earned his the title of heretic from the church.

Another Answer:

The Protestant reformation started because God opened the eyes of those great reformers concerning the false doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. And because the Catholic Church were purposely keeping the Word of God away from the people.

Therefore, the reformers sought to take the Word of God to the masses, so that people could study the Bible for themselves and find out the truth.

Teachings like "indulgences" and "penance" and "saved by works" were exposed as contrary to the Word of God during the Protestant reformation.

Answer 2

By the end of the 15th century, the Church of Rome, with parishes, monasteries, and convents throughout its domain, had become the largest landholder in all Europe. It was reported that it owned as much as half the land in France and Germany and two fifths or more in Sweden and England. The result? The splendor of Rome grew immeasurably during the late 1400's and early 1500's, and its political importance prospered temporarily, says the book "A History of Civilization" By the beginning of the 16th century,Machiavelli, a famous Italian philosopher of that period said--:"the nearer people are to the Roman Church, the head of their religion, the less religious are they.� Had the Catholic church been more serious at housecleaning, there would possibly have been no Reformation. But, as it was, cries for reform began to be heard from inside and outside the church. In the years following the Diet of Worms, the Reformation movement gained so much popular support that in 1526 the emperor granted each German state the right to choose its own form of religion, Lutheran or Roman Catholic. Answer

The Protestant Reformation took hold once the Bible was printed for the first time. When people started reading the Bible and understood it they realized that the Catholic Church's doctrines were opposite to what the Bible taught and that they had been lied to. The Bible became such a threat to the churches existence it took to violence, torture and murder if a person was found in possession of one because the church was finally exposed for what it was and in a big part still is today. The Catholic Church, in 325AD put together what is referred to today as the "New Testament". They knew that since the Church was growing and spreading across the known world, they needed to make sure that teaching of what Jesus taught was uniform. Tradition, Mass and scripture remained Universal for the next 1200 years. Then in 1516AD, Martin Luther, a monk, decided he didn't like what was being taught. It was too strict. No room for anyone to choose what they did or did not want to believe. So he found something that would make life easier. "Sola scritpura". Scripture alone! We should just believe what the bible says and not what has been passed down from generation to generation. That caused quite a stir. It attracted the attention of another reformer, John Calvin. Calvin took this looser way of honoring God and ran with it creating Calvinism in 1536AD. These are the main two factors of the Protestant Reform. One of the main reasons Luther wrote his 95 theses was to reform the practice of selling indulgences which had become corrupted through the excesses of one Johann Tetzel in Germany, who, in order to raise money both for church building programs and to finance war, taught 'as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.' This false doctrine, not taught in scripture, was a clear case where a tradition was allowed to grow up and flourish which was clearly contrary to scripture. Luther originally intended to remain in the Catholic church and merely reform it, but the corrupt church leadership of the time would not listen. (such corruption both in Luther's time and prior to it is acknowledged in the Catholic

Encyclopedia - including grossly immoral Popes) Luther, while visiting Rome on business with his monastic order also noted gross profanity and sacriligeous attitudes from priests as they performed their rites in a hasty and irreverent manner, which the Catholic church today certainly would not countenance. He saw that this practice arose from the false teaching, also not Biblical, that the religious act was itself Holy and the character of the person performing it was irrelevant - yet the Bible teaches that God's servants must be of good character. While in Rome Luther was also horrified to discover that the church leaders were of the most immoral character, and so a degree of disillusionment set in, although at this early stage he believed the church could be reformed. It is interesting to note that some have said that, given the degree of theological diversity permitted in the Catholic church today, that Luther would have remained a good Catholic were he around today. However, that is mere speculation, as he certainly was of strong character and stood for what he believed to be true, highlighting what he saw, in the light of clear scriptural truth, to be in error, including many church traditions which conflicted with scripture. Luther of course, like all humans, including the Pope, was not infallible and so some of the separation must be attributed to him. He was also a man of his times and the polemical and abusive style which many would today find grossly offensive (he would get blocked and so would his opponents if they talked like that on this forum), calling each other 'goats' etc, must not have helped the cause of unity. In the end, there was most certainly a need for reform and this has been acknowledged by Catholic church historians, yet it had to come at a later time and so he had to leave as the Catholic church of his day was not ready to change.

Answer 3

Causes and Corruption of the Reformation

There were many people who felt that the practices and teachings of the Church were not consistent with the teachings found in the scriptures. Corruption dominated and led to the destructive split in the Church such as…

· The Catholic hierarchy, which consisted of bishops, archbishops and cardinals, had control of the large amounts of money collected by the Church. This access to wealth lured many men to join the clergy(priesthood) because they wanted to become rich rather than to serve God.

· Priests were poorly trained and could not even speak Latin; therefore they couldn't preach or explain the mass or the Bible to the people. Many priests married and had children and ignored celibacy (priests were not allowed to marry).

Answer 4

The reformers were concerned about the corruption, riches and the lives of excess among the Catholic clergy and at the court of Pope Julius II.

The reform movement really gained momentum When Martin Luther wrote and made public "The Ninety-Five Theses". This was a list of questions and propositions (mainly about the abuse of indulgences) for public debate.