what is the significance of the Protestant Reformation?

Answer 1

As one who was raised, and currently active in, the Lutheran Church, you would think I would be able to easily answer this. Yet, the question is kinda reminding me of a final with just one essay question, that I think I know, but am grasping to find the words. Thankfully, this will not effect my grade or whether or not I graduate.

Martin Luther discovered the book of Romans and realized that one is saved by faith and grace and not by works. At the time the Catholic Church was scaring people with hellfire stories for both the person and the person's family. They said that if they gave money to the church, then they could buy their way out of heaven. In reality, it was just a way for greedy preiests and bishops to prey on the ignorant and uneducated. With the posting of Luther's 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, people were able to read what the Bible really says. Somebody grabbed it, took it to the printing press (the new invention) and it spread. The beginning of the Reformation. In a nutshell, it resulted in more freedom of Christian faith and practices. Martin Luther did not set out to break away from the church, but eventually his followers did.

I hope that the following links can explain it better than what I could. Also, the movie "Luther" that came out four years ago, is a good primer, though my husband, a seminary student, did point out that while some artistic license was taken, it was still very accurate. Also, a movie on Luther came out in the 50s I think that my husband says is better, though I've not seen it.

http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=5895&key=34751023
http://www.elca.org/spiritual.html#What%20Do%20We%20Believe
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=112
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?sitemap/faith

Of the church sites, the ELCA is the most liberal of the Lutheran churches, with the Wisconson Synod being the most conservative. While the churchwide bodies work together, they are separate bodies with differing beliefs, both on what it means to be a Lutheran and on the Bible. Also, "The Lutheran" magazine is a publication of the ELCA.

I hope this has been of some help.

Dkimmy, I just stuck my Lutheran heritage tail between my legs. I was going to mention that thee were others prior to Luther, but didn't get as big of a "hearing". However, I got distracted by something I had seen on one of the links I gave. Overall, my knowlege of the history of that time period is very sketchy. Actually, if I were really interested (and I am) I should go to the seminary library and have my husband (who also does work-study there) help me find the books. If I'm not int he hospital by Monday (our first child is pretty much due any day) I'll ask him if he has time to help me so I can have some reading for the hosptial.

Thank you for the information.

Answer 2

Meaning Of Protestant Reformation

Answer 3

dkmimny makes some very good points. I would just point out however, that Wycliffe preceded Luther by almost 200 years. Wycliffe and the Lollards did have an impact on Luther, however. Also, Wycliffe was not burned at the stake until after his death. Yes, the Catholic church had him exhumed and burned as a heretic some years after his death. Also, someone mentioned earlier that after Luther's 95 Theses someone published the bible in the vernacular. That person was Luther himself. Particularly, it was the New Testament that the church wanted to keep away from the masses. I'm not so certain on Germany, but in England, the mass was said in Latin, but the sermons were preached in the language of the people, but most sermons focused on the stories of the Old Testament. As Luther exposed, the New Testament is rife with the salvation by faith doctrine. There was no mention of purgatory, confession to priests, relic worshipping, etc. The New Testament in the hands of the people could and eventually did cripple the power of the Church. Monarchs and the like were able to challenge the authority of the Pope and his bishops with ecclisiastical backing. William Tyndale translated the New Testament into english in 1526 (illegally of course). Though he burned at the stake some twenty years later, by then Henry VIII had repudiated papal jurisdiction in his country.

Answer 4

I would say first and formost, the existence of freedom of religion in the modern western civilization as we know it. It got extremely ugly in Europe for a time but we are now at a point where it has settled down and we dont have to worry about getting burned at the stake because we disagree with a dogmatic church/state. Some may blame or heil secularization as destroying the church/state but it wasnt, it was the reformation that started that. If there is only 1 church after all, then it is very likely to be taken over by the govt. But the more we fracture as a theological units making up the church, the less likely anyone will control the state.

Answer 5

the significance for the church was that it was the beginning of the end of papal authority; they no longer had the power to dictate to the nation states both religious dogma and political decisions. in the worldwide scope, it was the beginning of nationalism and the decline of the old feudal order. the king or emperor of the country is now the supreme head and all feudal lords are subject, even their peasantry. the countries we know today in europe were once broken into several territories each owned by a feudal lord. during this time period, the king or emperor rallied support of the feudal lords by condemning the pope and his papal bulls.
in terms of religious dogma it was even more powerful.
there was already a grassroots discontent over roman catholicism by two little known men; john wycliffe and jan huss.
they were teaching that salvation was by grace alone not by doing penance or other means to get to heaven. the papacy during the time of the great plague about 2 centuries before allowed the roman clergy to receive money when commoners asked the clergy for a guarantee that their loved ones went to heaven. thus began the doctrine of penance or indulgences and purgatory, where the dead are in limbo and if the living wanted to by usually extreme forms of money can guarantee the dead will go to heaven. wycliffe and huss decried this as heresy and as a result they were tortured and burned at the stake as heretics themselves. the men also believed in translating the Bible into the common language so that all people could read the Bible. however, the roman church did not want this done. the printing press was invented initially for the printing of Bibles.
luther came on the scene immediately following the same principles of these two men. his 95 theses are basically his 95 reasons the roman church is becoming doctrinally heretical. he wanted an explanation from the pope why there are inconsistencies in way they are teaching vs. what the Bible already taught. he wasn't trying to lead a revolution he just wanted clarification. when he received the answer, luther wasn't satisfied, especially rome's answer concerning papal authority as vicar of christ and the indulgences.
a debate between luther and rome's leading doctrinal lawyer ensued, which at the end, luther was excommunicated by the Roman church.
from luther, rapidly spread his main contention, salvation by faith alone.

Answer 6

On one level it began the rupture in the Christian church that led to the plethora of Christian faiths today. More deeply, it was one element of a turning against received authority that eventually led to the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, modern democracy and the world we live in today.

Answer 7

It marked the breaking out of people from living under the tyranny of the hierarchical priesthood in the middle ages.

Answer 8

It lead to the division between the church and state.




g-day!