The Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation

The Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation

Open Ended

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The Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation

What does

reformation mean?

Let’s break it down

Prefix Re
Root form
Suffix tion

The Catholic

Response

-The Catholic Reformation is the direct response

to the boom of Protestantism across Western

Europe and an attempt to fix the issues of the

Roman Catholic Church at the time. From

1545-1700, the Roman Catholic Church

launched a continent-wide campaign in an

attempt to win back over the same peasants they

had mistreated years ago while attempting to

rid itself of the systemic issues the church had

during this time period.

Prelude to Reformation and the Need for Reform

-During the second half of the 15th Century,

the classical learning that was part of Italian

Renaissance humanism makes its way from

Italy and into Northern Europe. The

combination of both Renaissance and

Northern European ideas spawned Christian

Humanism. Christian Humanism is the

belief that human freedom goes hand in

hand with Christianity and its doctrine.

-Desiderius Erasmus was the most famous

Christian Humanist of the time. Erasmus

believed that the Christianity could be more

than just the key to eternal salvation.

Salvation is the saving of one’s soul from

sin. According to Erasmus, the church

should be a guide to everyday life, not just

the key to salvation.

Prelude to Reformation and the Need for Reform

-The Roman Catholic Church dominated

Western European life. Entering the 1500s, the

Roman Catholic Church was the center of

power, influence, and salvation. Salvation is the

saving of one’s soul.

-A majority of Europeans were

extremely illiterate. According to

Queen’s University, the literacy rate of

all of Europe as of 1500 was 11%.

Monks and bishops were the only

people that learned logic, grammar, and

writing.

-For most Western Europeans, they had

no choice but to follow the command of

the Roman Catholic Church due to the

severe lack of other educational

institutions at the time.

Prelude to Reformation and the Need for Reform

-The Roman Catholic Church was

immensely corrupt at the time. Corruption

is the practice of dishonest conduct by those

in power.The RCC functioned more so as a

political organization than a religious

organization. High ranking RCC officials

benefitted on their connections to high

ranking politicians and monarchs.

-The Roman Catholic Church’s immense

wealth stemmed from indulgences.

-Indulgences were the forgiveness of sins in

exchange for financial compensation.

Open Ended

Are indulgences immoral? Is there a justification for charging one's way into Heaven?

Martin Luther and the 95-Theses

-Martin Luther is credited with launching the Protestant

Reformation across Western Europe. Luther objected to

several of the Roman Catholic Church’s practices at the

time, including the enforcement of indulgences and the

divide the Church had created between God and

mankind.

-The former monk and teacher set the Protestant

Reformation in motion October 31, 1517 in Wittenberg

Germany when he nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the

door of Castle Church

The Power of the 95

-The Ninety-Five Theses was the document that

single-handedly change the landscape of Christianity

across Western Europe. Luther’s stances on the Roman

Catholic Church serves as an excellent example to the

frustrations of European peasants as well as the

framework for what would become Protestantism. This

document can be credited with creating the first

denominations in world history. The first major

denominations that were founded across Europe include

the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anabaptists Church.

Small Group

Discussion #1: The

Ninety-Five Theses

The Spread of

Protestantism:

England and

Switzerland’s

Changes

Reformation Reaches England
-King Henry VIII of England had fallen in

King Henry VIII was in love with Anne Boleyn despite being married

to Catherine of Aragon. However, when King

Henry VIII approached Pope Clement VII

about remarrying, he said that doing so

would result in England’s excommunication.

-In order to avoid excommunication, King

Henry VIII created the Church of England

while placing himself as the church’s head.

-The Church of England would be confirmed

when Parliament passed the Act of

Supremacy on November 3, 1534.

Reformation Reaches Switzerland

-While the Protestant Reformation

was taking off in Wittenberg,

thousands of Swiss university

students had not only heard of

Martin Luther’s ideas, but were

indoctrinated into Lutheranism.

These same students paired with

John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli

were able to turn the Swiss city of

Geneva into “Protestant Rome” by

1536.

Small Group

Discussion #2: The

Act of Supremacy

Denominational

Lightning Round:

Calvinism,

Lutheranism, and

Anabaptism

The Birth of Calvinism
-Calvinism was the first major

divergence from the Roman Catholic

Church that was spawned during the

Protestant Reformation. The Calvinist

movement was launched by John

Calvin and his teachings in

Switzerland and began teaching this

reformed doctrine in 1519.

-One of the key beliefs of Calvinism is

predestination. Predestination is the

belief that the world’s events and the

fate of one’s soul is already

determined by God.

​Calvism is one of the first examples of Protestant

The Birth of Lutheranism

-Lutheranism was the direct result of the impact

of the Ninety-Five Theses. After Martin Luther

nailed the document to the doors of Centre

Church, the Roman Catholic Church

excommunicated the monk and teacher in an

attempt to annul Luther’s work. To annul

something is the act of cancelling or making

something invalid.

-After his excommunication, Luther founded the

“Churches of the Augsburg Confession” in 1517,

making the church the world’s first ever

Protestant church. If it were not for Lutheranism,

we would not have the Baptist, Methodist, or

Presbyterian churches today.

The Birth of Anabaptism

-Anabaptism was created as an offspring of Ulrich

Zwingli’s reforms in the Swiss church across the

1510s and into the 1520s. Swiss humanist Conrad

Gebel is credited with co-founding the Anabaptist

church in the city of Zurich only a few years after

John Calvin launched the Calvinist church in the

same city.

-Key beliefs of the Anabaptist church include that

baptism as an adult is the only proper way to be

baptised and that the public confession of one’s

sin is the only pathway to salvation.