Document Based Essay Question: Religious Tolerance Though there was a major split between the Catholic and Orthodox Church in the 11th century, there was another split between Catholics and Protestants. A Protestant is any Christian that is neither Catholic nor Orthodox. This splitting occurred when a reformer known as Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517. However, religious tolerance remained a controversial topic. In early modern Europe, most states had an established church supported by the ruler. However, partly as a result of the Protestant Reformation, many states had sizable religious minorities. While many were for freedom of religion, others were against it. People were for religious tolerance because of reputation, unity,
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The two leaders believed religious tolerance was necessary because they had to unite to fight a common enemy (Spain) instead of each other. If they have religious tolerance, the two groups of Catholics and Protestants would not be enemies and only have a common enemy. Because they would not be enemies, they would have been able to successfully revolt against Spain quicker. The authors of Document 4 stated that, “Any person [in] matters of faith, religion, or God’s worship… nothing having caused more distractions and anguish in all ages than persecution and molestation for matters of conscience in and about religion.” The main reason for agony was religious intolerance with inquisitions. Inquisitions were courts that removed heretics (any non-Catholics). The crave for religious tolerance eventually led to the Puritan Revolution, a revolt where King Charles I was overthrown and the Anglican Church was reformed. However, with constant switches between Protestant rulers and Catholic rulers, …show more content…
Documents 3, 5, and 7 are against religious tolerance. The author of Document 3, Synod of Middelburg, a Calvinist church council in the Netherlands, stated that, “Regarding Christian love, it does not consist in having to tolerate every person in his disbelief without speaking against it or punishing him… He too uses love who admonishes and instructs with soft and hard words, as the need demands.” This church council viewed that religious intolerance was necessary to prevent people from going in the wrong direction towards salvation. This could be similar to parents preventing children from misbehaving by limiting their rights. Meanwhile, the author of Document 5, Paul Hay du Chastelet, a French Catholic aristocrat and political writer, stated something contradicting to the author of Document 2. “For diversity of belief, cult, and ceremony divides his subjects and causes them to hate and despise one another, which in turn gives rise to conflicts, war, and general catastrophe. On the other hand, unity of belief binds men together.” Both Documents 2 and 5 have their stance because of unity. However, the authors of Document 2 was for religious tolerance and the author of Document 5 was against religious tolerance. This is because Chastelet believed that two religions would make people fight against each other, similar to how Voltaire stated in Document 6, “If there were but two, the people
The two leaders believed religious tolerance was necessary because they had to unite to fight a common enemy (Spain) instead of each other. If they have religious tolerance, the two groups of Catholics and Protestants would not be enemies and only have a common enemy. Because they would not be enemies, they would have been able to successfully revolt against Spain quicker. The authors of Document 4 stated that, “Any person [in] matters of faith, religion, or God’s worship… nothing having caused more distractions and anguish in all ages than persecution and molestation for matters of conscience in and about religion.” The main reason for agony was religious intolerance with inquisitions. Inquisitions were courts that removed heretics (any non-Catholics). The crave for religious tolerance eventually led to the Puritan Revolution, a revolt where King Charles I was overthrown and the Anglican Church was reformed. However, with constant switches between Protestant rulers and Catholic rulers, …show more content…
Documents 3, 5, and 7 are against religious tolerance. The author of Document 3, Synod of Middelburg, a Calvinist church council in the Netherlands, stated that, “Regarding Christian love, it does not consist in having to tolerate every person in his disbelief without speaking against it or punishing him… He too uses love who admonishes and instructs with soft and hard words, as the need demands.” This church council viewed that religious intolerance was necessary to prevent people from going in the wrong direction towards salvation. This could be similar to parents preventing children from misbehaving by limiting their rights. Meanwhile, the author of Document 5, Paul Hay du Chastelet, a French Catholic aristocrat and political writer, stated something contradicting to the author of Document 2. “For diversity of belief, cult, and ceremony divides his subjects and causes them to hate and despise one another, which in turn gives rise to conflicts, war, and general catastrophe. On the other hand, unity of belief binds men together.” Both Documents 2 and 5 have their stance because of unity. However, the authors of Document 2 was for religious tolerance and the author of Document 5 was against religious tolerance. This is because Chastelet believed that two religions would make people fight against each other, similar to how Voltaire stated in Document 6, “If there were but two, the people