European Reformation Research Paper

The reformation was a 16th century movement that aimed to reconstruct the church. At all levels of European society could be found dissatisfaction with the church. The major issues regarded how the church constituted their authority. The church’s emphasis on ritual was growing to be unhelpful. Christians craved a more personal experience with their faith. The popes and bishops were power hungry. They were acting more like kings and princes than they were as guides for the people. It was clear the church was being abused and conflict was arising. The church was charging for sacraments and selling “indulgences” as forgiveness from sins. Early reformers in the 14th and 15th centuries started to see the corruption. People like Wycliff (England 1320-1384) and Hus (Bohemia 1369-1415) believed that the pope did not have the right to worldly power. They defended the bible over the church, saying that the church does not have the highest power but the bible does. Soon enough Martin Luther …show more content…
The church owned almost one third of all property in Europe. The reformers and their followers were trying to get rid of papal authority, which encouraged a separation of the church and state. The idea was to get rid of the pope’s power to open up the land. Luther agreed with this too, “they pretend that no one may call a council but the Pope ...” Luther states this in his statement to the German Princes (1520). He expresses how the power of the pope should not be this elevated and they are fooling people. His statement clearly shows that the church is corrupt and should not be the authority. It does not have to be the churches call for a council, because the church and state need to be separate for corruption to end. The problem is that the church has to much power that it is confusing the people between the state and the church, because the church acts like the