1. The Protestant Reformation (1450-1565)

2. Key Concepts
Effects of Black Plague and Renaissance ideas led to a questioning of the practices of the Catholic Church.
Invention of the Printing Press allowed ideas of Protestant Reformers to spread quickly
Word “Protestant” refers to individuals who are protesting against corrupt practices of the Catholic Church
Protestant Reformation led to the split of the Catholic Church, to an increase in the power of monarchs, and increase in Christian sects

3. The Church’s Problems Charges of greed against Popes and other clergy
Increase in power of monarchs challenging Church’s power
View of Humanity in Humanism

4. Corrupt Catholic Church
# 1 – Problem
The “protesting” of corrupt practices – Indulgences- led to a split away from the Catholic church that is called the Protestant Reformation

5. Worldly Catholic Church
Popes competed for power with wealthy Italian city-state rulers
Popes led armies into battles to protect Papal lands
Popes plotted against European kings for the loyalty of people
Popes lived “un-spiritual” lives

6. Johann Gutenberg’s Printing Press
Invention of movable type was invented in 1452
Manufacture of paper becomes easier and cheaper
Helped spread ideas before Catholics could squash them
Intensified intellectual criticism of the Church
Protestant ideas appealed to the urban and the literate

7. Martin Luther – Protestant Reformer
Luther’s early life – troubled family life
Luther’s sense of unworthiness and his fear of God
Luther’s understanding of “passive righteousness”
Luther’s confrontation with the Catholic Church - criticisms

8. Martin Luther – German Monk
Luther troubled by the sale of indulgences
Dominican friar Tetzel was selling indulgences in Wittenberg in 1517
Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517
Luther slowly but surely is drawn into a heated debate about fundamental beliefs of the Catholic Church

9. Martin Luther’s Teachings
“Sola Fidei” (Salvation by Faith Alone)
“Sola Scriptura” (Authority of the Scriptures Alone)
--Luther’s German Translation of the New Testament
The Priesthood of All Believers
--Peasant Revolt of 1525
All Vocations are pleasing to God
Some latent Catholicism

10. Persecution of Luther Luther attacks the Pope
Pope pays little attention to the Luther at first then attempts to capture Luther
Luther goes into hiding in 1521
-- “A Mighty Fortress is our God”

11. Political Support from German Princes
German princes supported Luther and a break from the Catholic Church for spiritual and political reasons
Break from Catholic Church meant chance to seize Church property and get richer
Break from Catholic Church meant more power over people in the region
Break from Catholic Church meant break from German Monarch

12. Martin Luther – Protestant Reformer
More than anyone else, Martin Luther responsible for starting the Protestant Reformation
Hammering of “95 Theses” on the door of Church led to split of Catholic Church
Luther’s belief in salvation by grace alone and not by Indulgences was main criticism

13. John Calvin and Geneva More of a scholar than Luther
More of a systematic thinker than Luther
Early legal training
Calvin’s “Systematic Theology” (1536)
Clear-cut moral directives for living
Relied on Scripture and St. Augustine primarily for his ideas

14. John Calvin’s Teaching
Predestination
Divine calling to all sorts of vocations
The “invisibility” of the True Church
Government serves the Church
Established city of Geneva as example to the world

15. Calvin’s Predestination
Idea/doctrine that salvation is a result of God’s choice of individuals not individual’s choice of God.
Two groups of people – the saved and the damned

16. John Calvin’s Geneva, Switzerland
John Calvin’s leadership in Geneva from
Geneva became the model Protestant training center
A “Quasi-theocracy”
Very austere religion practiced in Geneva
Self-discipline and the “Protestant Work Ethic”

17. Other ideas of John Calvin
Adult, “believer” baptism
Social and economic equality
Pacifism
Unity of the “visible” and “invisible” Church
Stressed role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer— “inner light”
Simplicity of life and millenarianism—living in the last days

18. Idea/doctrine that only two types of individuals in the world
John Calvin
Idea/doctrine that only two types of individuals in the world
Saved – going to heaven or Unsaved – going to hell

19. Martin Luther and John Calvin
Different ideas about how to get to heaven - salvation
Translations of the Bible into common languages
Call for a return to the simplicity of the early Church
Reformers
Martin Luther
John Calvin

20. Results of Protestant Reformation
Kings became more powerful than popes in Protestant Northern Europe
New Christian denominations increase
Baptists
Methodists
Lutherans