European Reformations

Question 1

Luther’s new emphases

Answer 1

• debate over salvation, how men and women get to heaven or hell
• Luther asserts salvation by faith alone, not deeds
• importance of the vernacular bible - he translated into German in 1534

Question 2

Luther’s Critique of medieval Catholicism and the Papacy

Answer 2

• attacked the ‘indulgences’ of the Catholic Church
• over time, attacked more aspects of roman Catholicism (prayers for the dead/salvation, church ceremonies, clerical celibacy)

Question 3

Broader Challenges of the Reformation

Answer 3

• emphasis on bible as source of authority, potentially challenges secular and papal power
• fragmentation of Christianity in Western Europe
• challenges traditional religious culture

Question 4

Early Spread of Protestantism

Answer 4

• divisions within Protestantism results in new strands developing in the 16th century
• Lutherism and Calvinism (1564), oversaw reform in Geneva

Question 5

Beginnings of the Reformation

Answer 5

• background of earlier medieval criticism of the church, practices and papal authority
• Martin Luther, German monk, criticises abuses and corruption in the church
• in 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church of Wittenberg

Question 6

Lutheranism vs Calvinism

Answer 6

Calvinists demand more of a break with Catholicism

Question 7

Calvinism and Authority

Answer 7

• lutherans had retained church government by bishops, but Calvinist’s reject this since it is not found in the bible
• instead impose Presbyterianism, more of a grassroots organisation
• Calvinism also develops resistance theory to the authority of monarchs, Calvinist elites were involved in rebellions in Netherlands, Scotland and France

Question 8

The Legacy of the Reformation and Counter Reformation

Answer 8

• impact on culture and the religious beliefs and practices of individuals
• challenges to established authority but sometimes boosted the power of secular rulers