1. The Protestant Reformation

2. Do Now:
Identify an element of society that you feel needs to be REFORMED!

3. The Roman Catholic Church
By 1500 the Roman Catholic Church gained power & wealth over Europe.
AKA: Holy Roman Empire
The Church strayed from their spiritual roots and corruption set into the many of the Churches leaders and doctrines

4. Causes of the Reformation
Church corruption A need for reform
Development of personal devotions  suspicion of clergy
Greed of secular leaders  1/3 of Europe was church land
Papal need for money  indulgences
Printing Press Ideas for reform spread rapidly

5. Church Corruption: To raise money for the Church
Selling Indulgences:
To raise money for the Church
Pardons issued by the pope that people could buy to reduce a soul’s time in purgatory
Purgatory is where a soul works out its sin before going to heaven

6. Church Authority Only Priests could read the Bible
Pope was God’s authority on earth
Church had the authority to determine one’s standing in eternity

7. One defiant monk: Martin Luther
October 31, 1517: Luther nails his 95 Theses to the Church door.
Luther advocates for Church REFORMS
His ideas spread: ignites a wildfire that spreads all over Europe

8. The Protestant Reformation Begins
Luther’s Beliefs: Foundation of Protestant Faith
Salvation through FAITH alone
Bible should be read by everyone, no need for a priest
A strong community of believers
{Luther Translates the Bible into German: first time the Bible is in a modern language}

9. Pope Leo X v. Luther
By 1520: Pope Leo X excommunicates Luther from the church.
Pope Leo X of Luther:
“A wild boar is loose in the Lord’s vineyard”

10. Spread of Protestantism by 1560

12. Lutheranism 3 Beliefs: Peasants loved this!
1) Faith in Jesus, not good works = salvation
2) The Bible is the final source for truth
3) Church = believers, not its clergy
It doesn’t matter where you attend, its what you do!
Peasants loved this!
Couldn’t afford indulgences
Everyone was equal under God
“No peasant would work for a noble unless it should be shown us from the Gospel that we are serfs”
Luther denounced the violent revolts caused.

13. Counter-Reformation
Catholics became hostile and set out to defeat Protestantism.
Wars broke out between 1520 and 1648, leaving Germanic Europe Protestant, and Latin/Roman Europe Catholic

14. Council of Trent
Pope Paul III calls for a council to convene in the city of Trent, near Rome.
Set to discuss Catholic Church reform.
Catholic beliefs established
Rules for Bishops and Priests behavior were set
Clergy was instructed to preach faith harder
Seminaries were built
Pope Paul III also established the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Pope’s “agents” in Europe
Preached, taught, and fought heresy