Protestant Reformation
Religion is one of the most common topics appearing in researches. Christianity, for example, is one of the most popular religions in the world and thus attracts significant attention from several researchers. One of the major happenings in the last millennium in Christianity is the protestant reformation. The impacts of protestant reformation have been felt approximately 500 years after the reformation and are sure to continue. The protestant reformation dates back to the 16th century when a series of events ensued after cases of suspected corruption in the early church. The Catholic Church was the only recognized church in the Christian religion and had not been hit by a similar crisis before. The causes of the Reformation were several, and the consequences have remained up to date.
The church had been subjected to several attempts of reformation before the 16th century. However, the leadership of the church had used all the means available means to curb any cases of rebellion[1]. Several cases of martyrdom were reported with individuals who appeared to go against the church facing death. The Catholic Church had changed the ancient form of worship into activities that the critics interpreted as idol worship. Some of the doctrines that have been blamed for the Reformation included the papacy, the purgatory, the auricular confession, and even pilgrimage. The doctrines had not been in the old way of worship, and the inclusion was understood to be an attempt by atheists to divert the Christian worship into idol worship and destroy the reputation of Christianity. The 16th century, therefore, marked the climax of a reform that was being prepared for several years and was strategically waiting for the right time.
The social, political, and economic factors of the 16th century set a proper stage for reformation. A vast group of the Catholic Church followers had been fed up by the corruption scandals associated with the church leadership[2]. Therefore, a call for reformation was received by most of the followers, and the ancient church had little to do to avoid the reformation. The world was in a state of tremendous transformation, and several scholars have argued that God had a purpose to set the stage for the reformation. For example, the Renaissance was on course and was slowly training people to divert their attention from true Christianity. Surprisingly, the ancient church appeared to be supportive of renaissance and even incorporated the ideas of atheist philosophers into the church. The rebels who claimed to hold the true Christian doctrine got a better opportunity to reform the church and hence the appearance of the Catholics, and protestant churches. The social and political factors however caused misinterpretation on the cause for reformation since most people thought that the move was political and not religious as argued.
Christianity was on the risky of massive misleading due to church relationships with atheists. Therefore, an immediate course of action was needed to correct the errors that the church was committing. However, the move received harsh criticism from church loyal who believed that the move was only political and had no better intentions for the church[3]. Most people did not understand that politics and social factors were needed for the reformation to happen. The protestant reformation was not bowed by the resistance and continued and allowed the individuals who were not comfortable in the ancient churches to join the new protestant churches. Although the reform created an avenue for politics, the main objective was to create clarity towards the worship of one God and to move away from the deception that was associated with the Catholic Church.
The consequences of the protestant reformation have remained evident up to date. The modern study of Christian history is based on the story of the reformation. Most scholars are only interested in the history of the church after the reformation[4]. The ancient church, for example, was associated with politics and laws of the land. However, reformation led to an overhaul that separated the church from the earthly politics. Since the reformation, the involvement of the church on matters of politics has remained limited, and the church only comes into advice when politics go beyond the understanding of men.
Moreover, the definition of liberty owes its origin to the protestant reformation. The reformation gave individuals the right and obligation to believe and make decisions based on their conscience[5]. The choice of the dictates was to be purely based on self-conscience, and worship was made a personal conviction. Also, the reformation created sense in western literature since much happened that would be talked about for several years.
In sum, the main cause of the protestant reformation was the corrupt nature that was associated with the ancient church leadership. The political, social, and economic factors in the 16th century also accelerated the course of the protestant reformation. Therefore, the reformers took advantage of the circumstances in the 16th century to champion for reforms. Finally, the consequences of the protestant reformation have remained evident up to date.
Bibliography
Becker, Sascha O., Steven Pfaff, and Jared Rubin. “Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation.” Explorations in Economic History 62 (2016): 1-25.
Cantoni, Davide, Jeremiah Dittmar, and Noam Yuchtman. “Religious competition and reallocation: the political economy of secularization in the Protestant Reformation.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 133, no. 4 (2018): 2037-2096.
Cantoni, Davide. “The economic effects of the Protestant Reformation: testing the Weber hypothesis in the German lands.” Journal of the European Economic Association 13, no. 4 (2015): 561-598.
Lehmann, Hartmut. “The quincentenary of the protestant reformation in Germany.” Lutheran Quarterly 30, no. 3 (2016): 329-335.
Winter, David. “Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation by Robert Bartlett.” (2016): 134-136.
[1] Cantoni, Davide. “The economic effects of the Protestant Reformation: testing the Weber hypothesis in the German lands.” Journal of the European Economic Association 13, no. 4 (2015): 561-598.
[2] Cantoni, Davide, Jeremiah Dittmar, and Noam Yuchtman. “Religious competition and reallocation: the political economy of secularization in the Protestant Reformation.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 133, no. 4 (2018): 2037-2096.
[3] Becker, Sascha O., Steven Pfaff, and Jared Rubin. “Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation.” Explorations in Economic History 62 (2016): 1-25.
[4] Winter, David. “Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation by Robert Bartlett.” (2016): 134-136.
[5] Lehmann, Hartmut. “The quincentenary of the protestant reformation in Germany.” Lutheran Quarterly 30, no. 3 (2016): 329-335.