Protestant Reformation
Unit 5
World History
SSWH9
Problems in the Catholic Church
• By the 16th century, corruption in the Catholic
Church led many to begin to question the
Church
What were the issues?
•
•
•
•
Immorality of church leaders and priests
Popes focused on secular wars and issues
Wealth of the Pope and church leaders
Questions about Church doctrines
(indulgences, salvation by good works)
Martin Luther
• Martin Luther was a monk and professor in
Germany
• He was especially upset by the selling of
indulgences for forgiveness of sin.
What is an indulgence?
• Indulgences = people could pay the Church to
get themselves or loved ones out of purgatory
Martin Luther
• After studying the Bible, he began to believe
that salvation was through faith alone, not by
good works and faith like the Catholic Church
doctrine suggested
Stop and Think!
• What were the criticisms of the Catholic
Church leading up to the Protestant
Reformation?
• Why do you think these things bothered
people?
95 Theses
• In 1517, Luther posted his “95 Theses” on the
doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany
• He stated his beliefs that based on scripture
salvation came through faith alone
• He also criticized the selling of indulgences.
Impact of 95 Theses
• Martin Luther’s ideas spread quickly and he
gathered support from lots of people
Why did ideas spread so quickly (as
opposed to the past)?
• Gutenberg’s printing press!!
• Texts could now be copied in a 1-2 days, when
it would have taken monks a year to transcribe
by hand.
Impact of 95 Theses
• The Catholic Church excommunicated Luther
in 1521.
• He refused to change his ideas, and was made
an outlaw according to the Edict of Worms.
Impact of 95 Theses
• His books were to be burned and he was
supposed to be delivered to the Holy Roman
Emperor, but he was protected by his local
German ruler.
Impact of 95 Theses
• Martin Luther’s movement continued to gain
popularity
• Many German princes supported new state
churches that held services focused on Bible
readings, sermons and song rather than the
Catholic Mass.
• These first Protestants came to be known as
Lutherans.
Stop and Think!
• What were the 95 Theses?
• What was the Edict of Worms?
• How did Martin Luther impact the European
world?
Another Protestant Reformer –
John Calvin
• John Calvin fled
Catholic France after
her converted to
Protestantism.
• He went to Switzerland
where Huldrych Zwingli
led a Protestant
Reformation that
focused on scripture,
prayer and sermons
instead of the Catholic
Mass.
John Calvin
• Calvin became the
leader of the movement
after his death and
introduced the doctrine
of predestination.
• In other words,
Calvinists believed that
God determined in
advance who was saved
and who wasn’t.
Impact of Calvinism
• Calvinism spread quickly in many places in
Europe.
Stop and Think!
• How was Calvinism different from
Lutheranism?
Overall impact of Protestant
Reformation
• New Protestant faiths and denominations
• Decrease in religious unity in Western Europe
• Decrease in power of the Catholic Church