Renaissance humanism and the Reformation?

Question

How did humanism contribute to the reformation? Here's what I got so far: ideas were spread faster when more people learned to read, and individualism when Martin Luther said that people did not need priests to interpret the bible

Do you have any specific examples?

Or anything else that would make my essay better?

Answer 1

"Humanism" is the philosophy that the individual human agent and the things that he/she values (beauty, art, balance, justice, etc.) should take precedence in society and dominate intellectual explorations.

You are right, this emphasis on individuality and the rise of vernacular languages/the printing press led to the spread of the Reformation. Another less obvious way that humanism contributed to the Reformation was the birth of the practice of textual criticism. Lorenzo Valla was able to prove that key Church documents like the Donation of Constatine were forgeries--the Bible, too, was shown to have different possible meanings than the common Latin translation used throughout Europe during the Middle Ages (the Vulgate of St. Jerome). This willingness to QUESTION AUTHORITY coupled with the rise of scientific skepticism, the decline of papal authority, and the rise of secular nation states paved the way for the Reformation, the end of an immense tradition.

Answer 2

Renaissance, literally “rebirth,” the period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages, conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in classical learning and values. The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents, the substitution of the Copernican for the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, the decline of the feudal system, the growth of commerce, and the invention or application of such potentially powerful innovations as paper, printing, the mariner's compass, and gunpowder. To the scholars and thinkers of the day, however, it was primarily a time of the revival of classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation. A natural progression now known as the Reformation, a religious revolution took place during the 16th century, its greatest leaders were Martin Luther and John Calvin.. The Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity.
The world of the late medieval Roman Catholic church from which the 16th-century Reformers emerged was a complex one. Over the centuries the church, particularly in the office of the papacy, had become deeply involved in the political life of western Europe. The resulting intrigues and political manipulations, combined with the church's increasing power and wealth, contributed to the bankrupting of the church as a spiritual force. Abuses such as the sale of indulgences (or spiritual privileges) by the clergy and other charges of corruption undermined the church's spiritual authority. These instances must be seen as exceptions, however, no matter how much they were played up by polemicists. For most people, the church continued to offer spiritual comfort. One development is clear: the political authorities increasingly sought to curtail the public role of the church.
The Reformation of the 16th century was not unprecedented. Reformers within the medieval church such as St. Francis of Assisi, Valdes (founder of the Waldensians), Jan Hus, and John Wycliffe addressed aspects in the life of the church in the centuries before 1517. In the 16th century Erasmus of Rotterdam, a great Humanist scholar, was the chief proponent of liberal Catholic reform that attacked popular superstitions in the church and urged the imitation of Christ as the supreme moral teacher. These figures reveal an ongoing concern for renewal within the church in the years before Luther is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints' Day—the traditional date for the beginning of the Reformation.

Answer 3

Although at first glance it would seem that the two would work hand in hand this is not the case. True Humanists believed that we should live for today and enjoy our life rather than worrying about preparing our souls for God on our death. The Protestant Reformers were all about getting the Church's message across to the people so that they could prepare themselves truly for their life with God in the hereafter. So although the Humanists did lead the way for the Reformation, or sowed the seeds or it with free thinking, it did not pay a part in the Reformation as a whole. This is my take on it anyway. Hope it helps.

Answer 4

You have a good start. Remember that Luther translated the bible into German, and translations into other languages soon followed. It had been punishable by death to print the bible in the common languages of the people. The Catholic Church did not want people to read and think for themselves. The printing press and a growing literacy led to individual thinking. New ideas were a major part of the "Renaissance" or "Rebirth" of thinking and creating. Stagnation of thought had been a means used by the Church to maintain its control of the people for centuries.
Good luck with your paper.
Added thought - The Catholic Church had grown wealthy and more interested in temporal power on earth than spirituality.
They had a monopoly on education and thought for centuries.
Roman Church elites would have had Luther burned at the stake if they could have gotten their hands on him. It was a sad time for the Christian religion until the Reformation brought back more of the true purpose of Christ's ministry.
Human thought and creativity should not be stifled. It is a gift we humans have - the ability to think - that should be encouraged not punished.

Answer 5

Okay, because Bibles could be printed in the local language, those lay people who could read (mainly nobles) could decide what the Bible meant ("sola scriptura"). People didn't need a priest to tell them what the "holy truth" was; individuals could read it for themselves. Eventually, churches started breaking off from Luther and the holy church interpreting their own ideas of what the "holy truth" was.
At the same time, the idea of "humanism" was taking off. Philosophers like Erasmus figured that because man was created in God's image, he was the one the world was created for. Thus the world revolved around man's actions. Follow this thought along and you eventually come to modern humanistic thought, which is that man himself could decide what was right and wrong.

Answer 6

One example is that moveable type, invented by Johann Gutenberg, helped revolutionize printing. So flyers, pamplets, and books became more readily accessible, therefore increasing literacy.