Henry VIII vs. John Calvin in the Protestant Reformation In the sixteenth century, stood the reformation of the Catholic Church in Western Europe. While the main focus was an internal renovation of the church, the outcome was much different than expected; the reformation led to a revolt against and an abandonment of principal Christian belief. The difference in the view and act of oneself was different from individual to individual during the reformation. While Calvin left for Geneva in 1536 from France because of the fear of persecution for the publically spread beliefs of his about the Church to the people, Henry VIII had manipulated the church for a way to receive a new wife in hopes for his first son. Different motivation stands for each of these people in what they did for the reformation.
The Puritans wanted to alter practices promoted by the Anglican Church as well as decrease the power of the discriminatory and corrupt bishops. After the death of the last Tudor, Elizabeth, King James I began to overtax the Puritans. The Puritans, persecuted by the King and angered by his favor towards the Catholics, had a falling out with England and therefore were voluntary candidates for colonists in the New World. Upon arrival in the New World; however, they preceded to practice intolerance towards others outside of their group. Puritan Massachusetts or the “city upon a hill” for example, instilled a theocratic government in which it was treason to oppose any Puritan practice.
The failure to convert the Native Americans to Christianity perhaps is another reason that changed the puritans’ attitude toward the Indians. The puritans saw Indians less as people that needed to be converted but irredeemable heathens that needed to be exterminated in order to fulfillment God’s divine plan, like Canaanites or Amalekites in the Bible. “Now He hath many ways to destroy them”, said Mary at the end of her
The Catholic Church Why did the Catholics become angry at the Catholic Church in the 1300s? During the Reformation problems happen in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was in chaos. They weren’t focus on people’s lives; they were focused on money and affairs. Martin Luther and John Calvin were in the Reformation they were determined to reform the Catholic Church.
All people are born sinners. Natural men must be reborn to be saved; “…hell is waiting for them…” (Edwards 46). These views are that of Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Edwards belonged to a religion that was lingering and was close to disappearing due to the growing numbers of Christians, so he used figurative language and imagery in order to scare people back into the Puritan way of life. “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell.” (Edwards 47).
These invisible crimes are used to serve malicious self-interest and to manipulate others to fear the law and to question themselves. This infests the god-fearing community with terror of the government and works people into a frenzy where the accused must confess or face punishment. It is uncompromising and doesn’t allow room to negotiate ones innocence, giving way to emphasizing fear further. “Miller’s play is a condemnation of an administration that uses religious intolerance as a way to wield control and repress its’ citizens.” Furthermore, the allegations the questions are leading. The phrase “The Devil can never overcome a minister” gives the ministers unearthly powers over the “invisible world”, further highlighting the status-quo and engendering awe and fear.
The political dissolution of the central governments throughout Europe resulted in feudal systems in which broken-down provinces comprised of Knights, nobles, and peasants. There was no form of central authority which caused neighboring kingdoms to war with each other. The Church saw this chaos and reacted in a sense to utilize these poor living conditions to use the mass as a religious army. The Church used religion to gain the support of the masses. Each part of life, such as love, birth, death was controlled by Christian dogma; fear was used in this belief system.
Before discussing the subject, we must know who a rebel is and what his aims are. A rebel is a person who wants to bring about a change in the existing order of things, for he thinks that it results in more evil than good because its consequences are detrimental to the welfare of the mass of people. According to the historical narration of the life of Jesus, there were corruption, injustice and discrimination in the society in which He lived. The religious leaders preached one thing and practised some thing else. The poor were treated with contempt and marginalized.
The Church taught that God was not merciful. When time passed he started believing and trusting in God more until he started loving him. When he knew about the things that the Catholic Church was doing, asking the people what to do in order to get to salvation, he started an alliance with other protestant reformers and protested against Catholic Church. People were paying the Church for indulgences papers saying they or their families were forgiven for their sins. Catholics believe that only good works from people was the only way to get to salvation, but Luther was trying to make people know that you do not need to pay to be saved you just got to follow God’s rules, be good, and follow Jesus´ footsteps.
Another complaint was that King John angered the Roman Catholic Church, which led to every church service in England being banned and the Pope excommunicating him. With this the people and barons were scared. The Catholic Church taught that the people could only ascend into heave if the Catholic Church believed that the people