Causes of the Protestant Reformation

1771 Words8 Pages
The Protestant Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. After Martin Luther, a German friar, posted his Ninety-five Theses (or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences) in 1517, Protestant ideas spread to other European countries including Switzerland, France, and England. Ordinary people’s dissatisfaction towards the Catholic Church, early Protestants’ different understandings of the Scriptures, and rulers’ demands for escaping the Pope’s jurisdiction were all causes of the Protestant Reformation. After Christianity was recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire, people thought that the church no longer held its original mission. They raised calls to reform institutions, improve clerical education, and change basic doctrines. During the sixteenth century, the great humanist Erasmus published The Praise of Folly in order to “criticize abuses in the church and in society and to promote greater inwardness and purer spirituality in religion” (I, 1) in a satirical way by ridiculing the nobles and the pedants. In the early 16th century, Pope Leo X authorized the sale of indulgences in order to finance the building of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Erasmus didn’t agree with the sale of indulgences. In The Praise of Folly, he expressed his opinion of the sale of indulgences when he says “by this easy way of purchasing pardons, any notorious highwayman, any plundering soldier, or any bribe-taking judge shall disburse some part of their unjust gains, and so think all their grossest impieties sufficiently atoned for” (I, 1). He thought that the indulgence gave the criminals excuses to cover their offenses and led to impieties to God. Erasmus held these thoughts because he was a humanist and focused more on ordinary people but not the aristocracy. The Praise of Folly was finished after Erasmus’ journey in
Open Document