The Role of The Protestant Reformation in Catholic Church Formation

Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is by far the most practiced religion with about 2.1 billion followers. Islam, the second most practiced religion comes nowhere near Christianity with about 1.8 billion Muslims. This shows the drastic amount of followers Christianity has. With that enormous number, only about half of Christians are Catholic, which is surprising considering the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ thousands of years ago. After Jesus resurrected from the cross, he instructed his apostles to continue his work; hence the creation of the Catholic Church.

Christianity is split into three main denominations: Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox. Many times people group all denominations together into just Christianity, however, there are vast differences between them. For instance, Catholics believe good works are essential for salvation, teachings are based on scripture and Church traditions, the Pope and clergymen can interpret the Bible because they are the most qualified, and the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Christ. While Protestants believe salvation only comes through faith, teachings are only based on the Bible, the pope and clergymen do not have religious authority and anyone can interpret the Bible, and the bread and wine only symbolize the body and blood of Christ. Catholicism used to be unified before it split apart. Several centuries ago, there weren’t Protestants or Eastern Orthodoxs. Instead, the Catholic Church stood alone with all the power. However, this power gradually starts to slip out of their hands. Corruption in the Church, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, and the invention of the printing press will eventually lead to the Protestant Reformation and the division of the Catholic Church. This reformation had many effects such as brutal wars, cultural division, and shifts in power.

During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church received an abundance of criticism for its corruption. This corresponds with the increase in reforms led by religious leaders during this same time period. One of the most obvious ways we can tell that the Church was corrupt, was the fact that they sold indulgences. During this period, it was believed that very few people go to heaven or hell, and instead, many go to purgatory. As a solution to everyone’s problem, the church came up with a system where people could essentially pay to get themselves into heaven. People were captivated because they could guarantee themselves a pleasant afterlife and the Church was happy because they could use this money to build things like the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. The problem with indulgences is that they can’t assure you salvation which means the Church was lying to the public for their own well-being. Martin Luther even writes “no gift of a bishop that man becomes sure of salvation” in his Letter to the Archbishop of Mainz. As more people start to exploit the Church, the more trust is lost within the Church. Members of the clergy are supposed to be leaders and provide guidance to members of the Church. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, however, they were not fulfilling their roles. For example, many priests took vows of chastity but at the same time would publicly showcase their lovers and even have illegitimate children with them. To fix this mess they created, clergymen could purchase a document from the Church that would make their children legitimate. Instead of being right and just, these men are deceitful and hypocritical. Proverbs 11:4 says “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death,” meaning all these schemes for money are not virtuous or what God tells us to do. With all this chaos, the church is not building themselves a good reputation which will hurt them later down the road.

During the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, many people were questioning the Catholic Church’s teachings. The Church had the most power and its leaders acted like kings. Instead of being religiously affiliated, they often got involved in politics. This caused both outrage and hatred all over Europe, which called for change. In 1517, a turning point in history was made when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. Luther wrote 95 arguments against the practice of indulgences because he thought they were corrupt and dishonest. This event is extremely important because it marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church taught that salvation was attainable through devoutness or good works during the Medieval Period. Luther however, objected to these beliefs because he thinks that deeds alone will not get you into heaven. Instead, he believed that salvation could be obtained through faith in God alone and also encouraged the idea of predestination; hence why he hated the idea of indulgences. He did not believe that the Pope or any other clergyman had the power to decide if someone got into heaven or not. In Martin Luther’s 95 Theses he talks about what “Christians are to be taught” on numerous occasions. In one way or another, every one of his points argue against indulgences which is one of his main reasons for why the Church is corrupt. He criticizes the Pope’s actions because he believes that he is in the wrong. The importance of the 95 Theses is that Luther’s ideas quickly spread across Europe to spark one of the biggest reformations in history.

By 1450, Johannesburg Gutenberg invented the printing press that changed history. It allowed people to mass produce large amounts of information to be shared around the world. It drastically changed how knowledge was shared because before the printing press, any information had to be written by hand. The printing press had dispersed all across Europe, and by the time Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, the printing press had made many improvements. This invention not only produced books, but more importantly, it produced pamphlets. Pamphlets proved to be very influential during the sixteenth century because it allowed Luther’s message to spread rapidly, significantly far. This helped the movement gain momentum and support it most likely would not have earned, if the printing press was not invented. In the past, the Church could easily destroy the few writings of protestors and reformers. Now, with the invention of the printing press, Martin Luther was able to become the first reformer to widely publicize his beliefs about the Church. As the saying goes, “knowledge is power,” and the invention of the printing press gave power to Luther for being able to spread his message. Another way the printing press helped further the Protestant Reformation was the printing and translation of the Bible. New translations of the Bible were made so that not just priests and clergymen could read and understand it, but also for ordinary people to read in their common languages. Therefore, a bigger population could access a Bible to enlighten themselves. On the down side, this led to mistranslations and misinterpretations and before you knew it, the Catholic Church lost its own authority and power.

During the Protestant Reformation a huge shift in power is seen. As the Church was weakened by various causes, royal power grew and kings in Europe became even more powerful than they were before. This is a tremendous shift for society because previously, the Church obtained all the power while the government or political side was weaker at the time. In the United States’ society today, any religion is left out of political issues and the two remain separate. The major division between Catholicism and Protestantism was not just religious or political. There was a massive cultural division across Europe as well that correlates with Catholics and Protestants. The north can be considered as Protestant and the south as Catholic. In fact, the division was also due to language differences. For example. German speaking countries mainly practiced Protestantism while the countries who spoke the Romance languages had a great number of Catholics. One of the major effects of the Protestant Reformation was the Thirty Years’ War. Between 1618 and 1648, Catholics and Protestants fought each other with national armies all across Europe. The Thirty Years’ War is known as one of the most brutal wars in human history. Not only was it one of the longest, but it was also one of the bloodiest wars with over eight million casualties. This long lasting conflict caused famine and diseases which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths along with the many who died in battle. During the last year of war, in 1648, several peace treaties known as the Peace of Westphalia were signed by different parties eventually leading to the end of the war.

Over the course of many generations and many centuries a great deal has changed. In the first century, the Catholic Church was formed and everything was unified. Fast forward a few centuries and now the Church has an abundance of power. Over the course of time the Catholic Church starts to abuse its power and people start to realize it. Reformers imerge and soon enough with the printing press, the Protestant Reformation is caused because of corruption in the church, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, and the invention of the printing press. The division in the church leads to many things such as cultural division, shifts in power, and deadly wars. Religion has always had a powerful impact on history and the Protestant Reformation was a significant turning point in history.