The Catholic Reformation - Essay Example

The Catholic Reformation The reformation events arose as a result of the criticism the Catholic Church received from Martin Luther, a at the Wittenberg University (Mullet, 2004). He openly condemned the luxuries that the leaders of the church engaged in and ended up pinning his ninety five notions of protest on the Roman church door. During the reign of Pope Leo X, the church sold luxuries which were good works using lies. The selling of these luxuries took place for the purpose of raising funds for rebuilding the church at St.

Peters (Mullet, 2004). These luxuries sold because of the lies that the church was using. The leaders sold them to the people using lies saying that whoever bought a luxury would get out of purgatory whereas any person you bought for would escape hell’s fury. Martin Luther however believed in going to heaven only by believing in Jesus Christ. This outcry from the professor scared the Pope because the people realized they do not require any human involvements for them to go to heaven (Mullet, 2004).

The translations of the bible, especially the New Testament into other languages that people could understand and the following of the older testament’s Judaism by the church were the other causes of this reformation. There was evidently a lot of corruption among the high level clergy at the time (Hulme, 2004). These events led to the reorganization of the church immediately after the pinning of the ninety five notions by Martin Luther on the day of All Saints. This activities brought a lot of friction between him and the pope resulting in his trial in the year 1521.

The trial resulted in his excommunication and the eventual spread of reorganization across the entire German state. This new movements arose without involving the direct influence of Martin Luther (Hulme, 2004). The Christians in Zurich, Switzerland, also revolted under Zwingli who also spread the gospel of the standard of rationalization through faith (Mullet, 2004). There was also an emergence of the radical reformers claiming that the standards of authority in spiritual matters must be put to use without concessions.

In France, John Calvin led his people through his forceful influences to serve the church and the state as one organization. This he said would have to be forcefully done for the magnificence of God. The spread of the reformist factions in England was more about political issues than spiritual issues (Mullet, 2004). This resulted in the formation of the Anglican church after the pope’s refusal to grant the King of England a divorce from his wife (Hulme, 2004) . The King became the head of the church while another reformist in Scotland by the name of John Knox led the creation of the Presbyterianism association at around the same time.

He got his influences from his previous workings with John Calvin in Geneva (Hulme, 2004). The impact that the Catholic Church reform had on the society is that it brought about the emergence of various factions leading their faithful. A lot of suspicion and disorder came to the leadership of these Christian groupings as a result of their fights for power and money (Mullet, 2004). The Catholic Church developed strategies to counter the charges that the reformists made against the church. The efforts by Pope Pius V eventually led to the reunification and resurgence of the church.

The reformers movements cause an erosion of the faith people had in the Catholic Church (Hulme, 2004).ReferencesHulme, E. (2004). The Renaissance: The Protestant Revolution and the Catholic Reformation in Continental Europe. London: Kissinger Publishing.Mullet, M. (2006). The Catholic Reformation. New York: Routledge.