Compare And Contrast Martin Luther And Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation started in the sixteenth century by individuals who felt that the traditional Catholic Church had gone against Christianity’s basic teachings. Many felt that the church had too much power over their followers and were using this power to control others and gather money. The church had been charging for indulgences, or forgiveness of sins, which was seen as fraud and greed in many individuals’ eyes.
Some of the leaders in this reformation where Martin Luther and John Calvin, who decided to act on their beliefs of corruption in the Catholic Church. Martin Luther had conflicting theology with the Catholic Church. He believed that you couldn 't earn salvation through good work but through faith alone. He states that humans are weak and sinful creatures who aren’t able to reach salvation on their own. Luther also believed that the Bible was the only source of religious authority which differed from the Catholic idea that philosophy and scholars had religious authority as well. Since Martin Luther felt so strongly about these topics he distributed a document called “Ninety Five Theses” which criticized the Catholic Church and their teachings. This document lead to others fighting the laws of the church through written thoughts and extravagant actions. John Calvin was a man of action and created a …show more content…
They began to clarify stances on issues and worked to reduce corruption in the church through education. One of the main groups that helped with these reforms was the Council Of Trent who began to establish schools that taught incoming priests proper theology and standards of the church. Another key group was the Society of Jesus who educated participants on theology, philosophy, language, and science. This proved to be valuable information since they could make more educated arguments to “prove” that they were correct against the protestant