Luther was a man of the establishment. He was not a revolutionary in any way, and not a man of the people. He was a serious reformer of the clergy but had otherwise little ambitions to change the very fabric of society. The princes that Luther supported used religion to extend their financial and political independence. Calvin chose to support the peasants and won following over the Dutch Netherlands and made a small gain in Germany.
Catholic beliefs had always been criticised by the people who didn’t see them as a way to represent Christianity. Surly Luther wasn’t the first person who stood against the pope, so we have to find out why Luther became so successful and got the huge support from the people. Religion played big role in the people who were living the 16th century lives, the majority people were poor, had nothing bright in future and there was great chance if they die at young age. The only hope was the after life, another world which you enter after your death and would have much better life .As we know nothing comes free, you had to be a good person to enter the heaven after your death ,Being good person meant following your church and doing what your god have said to you. This was the point where the church start to took advantage of people, people would do anything they could to make sure they are going to heaven.
learning to read and write in Latin and his native German. This was before the widespread availability of books, therefore peasants could not actually read the Bible, so the clergy were their only source of Scripture. Luther saw firsthand the corruption of the Church, and came to believe it was his restlessly duty to protest. Luther was prosecuted for his stance, however he famously used Scripture to defend himself, and this started the revolution now known as the Reformation. As the ideas spread, peasants began to see for themselves just how corrupt the Church was, and how they were being oppressed from their own religion.
The Church became almost authoritarian, and in those days, it is nearly impossible to go against the Church’s doctrine. In Bradford’s own word on the state of affair in England: “… But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable conditions, but were hunted and persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them.” This was in response to how it was a treasonous offence to go against the authority of the Church of England. Bradford joined this group of separatist in 1606, despite the displeasure of his family. In 1609, he joined a group of separatist, who had migrated to Holland. Although the separatist had more freedom to practice as they wanted in Holland, they developed the
The Puritans were a group of people who grew dissatisfied with the Church of England and worked towards societal, moral and religious reforms. The writings and ideas of John Calvin, a leader in the Reformation, led to Protestantism and were critical to the Christian revolt. They contended that The Church of England had become a product of political struggles and man-made doctrines. The Puritans were one branch of separatist who decided that the Church of England was beyond reform. They broke away from the persecution of church leadership and the King to come to America.
In Elizabethan England, the Puritans were very devote Protestants and were unsatisfied with the elements of Elizabeth’s Religious Settlement. They only accepted placements in the new church in an attempt to change it from inside. They wanted more aspects of their religion to be incorporated into the settlement, such as plain clergical dress. In this essay, I am going to discuss whether it was only the Queen’s determination that suppressed the Puritans or if there were any other factors involved. On the one hand it was Queen’s determination that stopped the Puritans.
Bismarck began to fight back, he banned the most active order of Catholic priests and introduced a law that the government had a right to inspect all schools, including Catholic ones. The government would also control the training of priests and appoint them to churches and no one could be married without a civil ceremony in a government office. The Catholics saw this all as an attack on their beliefs, the country was left in struggle resulting in the ‘Kulterkampf’ movement. The loyalty of the Catholics had been weakened and the Prussian conservatives did not want the government to control local problems. This made Bismarck largely unpopular and cause disunity in Germany.
Also, Mary struggled to re-establish the Catholic faith as she was unable to restore monasteries and chantries and unable to restore land due to rested interests. When Mary came to power, she was determined to crush the Protestant faith. It was part of her policy to reverse the religious changes made by Henry VIII and Edward VI, she wanted to restore Papal Supremacy and she supported a reconciliation with Rome. It could be viewed that this was a public display of force to impress the Pope and exiles such as Reginald Pole. Mary’s chief advisor, Gardiner, supported this policy.
But I must not," (Hardy 97) indicating how a man of the God and the church was turning away from justice in order to assimilate into an elitist, apathetic society. Having had considered the option he knows to be righteous, the Vicar still decides to conform. This conformity is a microcosm for the Victorian upper class and their propensity toward absurd social laws that integrate into the church and discriminate against the less wealthy, revoking any right to salvation they have ever earned. Hardy's invocation of emotion
When the sins of the Catholic Church are recited (as they so often are) the Inquisition figures prominently. People with no interest in European history know full well that it was led by brutal and fanatical churchmen who tortured, maimed, and killed those who dared question the authority of the Church. The Medieval Inquisition was the institution of the Roman Catholic Church for combating or suppressing heresy. After the Roman Church had consolidated its power in the early Middle Ages, heretics came to be regarded as enemies of society. The crime of heresy is defined as an opinion, disbelief or deliberate denial of an article of truth of the Catholic faith.