Western Civilization Reformation
...aith. Therefore it was decided that the church needed the reinforcement of a thorough reexamination. This need was deeply felt by some pious souls, if not by the popes (Daniel-Rops 37). In the German Reformation, Martin Luther was the leader, and he split the church into two groups, the Catholic and Protestant. He had protested that some of the clergy were selling indulgences (temporal pardons of sins) without making clear that people must also be sincerely repentant for those sins. He’s most famous for his list of 95 indulgences, named the 95 Thesis, that he nailed to the door of the catholic church. Luther strongly opposed any abuse of the church in order to make personal money (Hsia 61). In Switzerland, Zwinglian lead the Swiss Reformation. He broke traditional standards. He said, “A church without the magistrate is mutiliated and incomplete (Spielvogel 456).” Zwinglian’s extreme conservativeness was opposite the lavish décor and interior of the churches of this time. Relics and images were abolished; all paintings and decorations were removed from the churches and replaced by white washed walls. He also had music removed from the sermon because he felt it was a distraction from the world of God (Spielvogel 471). The English Reformation came about because of Henry VIII’s desire to divorce his wife, in search of one that could bear him a son. Though he was able to successfully murder some wives, he had to divorce eventually, which went against the creed of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the king established his authority and converted the church to Anglican, so his divorce would be legal (Jensen 171). The Genevan Reformation was lead by John Calvin. Calvin enforced the ideals of purity, simplicity, and devout religious faith. Calvin deals with far more important issues than simply refuting indulgences and accusations against the Catholic Church. Calvin shows a humanist concern for the past and the pristine purity of true faith, and also he shows himself as heir to Luther against what he regarded as clear, persistent, and flagrant corruption in the Catholic Church (Jensen 197). All of these reformations took power away from the churches and placed it under the crown. No one’s power will be higher than that of the crown. All of these reformations sought to eliminated corruption, sin, and any other wrong doings from the churches. The Catholic Reformation and the English Reformation fought to keep Catholicism, while the Swiss Reformation, the German Reformation, and the Genevan Reformation all fought for Protestantism. Each of these reformations divided up their country’s people. The Holy Roman Empire was the main fighting force against Protestantism (Spielvogel 400). All of these reformations broke traditional standards around western Europe...