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The Reformation

The Reformation. Essential Questions. There had been movements to reform the Catholic Church in previous centuries. Why did the protests this time result in the upheaval we call the Reformation?

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The Reformation

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  1. The Reformation

  2. Essential Questions • There had been movements to reform the Catholic Church in previous centuries. Why did the protests this time result in the upheaval we call the Reformation? • Why was it so crucial to Luther and other Reformation leaders to stress salvation by grace and faith alone and to downplay what they called “works”? • Why were many Reformation leaders opposed to such things as decorations, images, or elaborate rituals in religious services—even in some cases church music? • Why did the Reformation quickly split into many sects instead of uniting around Luther’s ideas or those of some other key figure? Why were these Protestant sects often as hostile to one another as to the Catholic Church?

  3. Essential Questions (continued) • In what ways did secular princes and monarchs take advantage of the Reformation to boost their own power and authority? What effect did the Reformation have on the rising power of the nation-state? • How did the Catholic Church respond to the challenge of the Reformation? In what way was the response a defensive one of trying to prevent all change, and in what ways did the Church respond positively and actually make some changes of its own?

  4. Events Leading to the Reformation • Political, theological trouble in the medieval Church • Avignon Papacy and the Great Schism • Increasing secularization of the Church • Concern over papal and clerical behavior • Social, political, and cultural shifts (e.g., the Renaissance and humanism) Pope Alexander VI Christian humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam

  5. Early Calls for Reform • John Wycliffe • Jan Hus Illustration of Hus being burned at the stake John Wycliffe

  6. Great Continental Reformers

  7. Indulgences • Indulgences: Church pardons from temporal (earthly) punishment for sin • Indulgences drew upon excess “good works” of the saints and clergy • Indulgences could be sold so that the Church could generate revenue A 15th-century indulgence

  8. Discussion Questions • Some say the great wealth and power of the Catholic Church corrupted it and led it to abandon the true spirit of Christian teachings. Others say it was more the growing wealth and power of kings and secular states that weakened the authority and prestige of the Church. Do you think one of these factors is more important than the other? Why or why not? • Why might the humanism of the Renaissance have led many educated people to question the power and authority of the pope more than had been the case in the past? • The Reformation was triggered by outrage over indulgences. Why do you think it was this specific issue that began the Reformation?

  9. Martin Luther: “Here I Stand” Early life prompted him to join the clergy Became a monk in the German state of Wittenberg Tetzel’s indulgences of 1517 pushed Luther to “protest” Martin Luther Johann Tetzel An indulgence sold by Tetzel

  10. St. Peter’s Basilica

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