Transcript The Reformation - Social Studies School Service

The Reformation
Essential Questions
1. There had been movements to reform the Catholic Church in
previous centuries. Why did the protests this time result in the
upheaval we call the Reformation?
2. Why was it so crucial to Luther and other Reformation leaders
to stress salvation by grace and faith alone and to downplay
what they called “works”?
3. Why were many Reformation leaders opposed to such things
as decorations, images, or elaborate rituals in religious
services—even in some cases church music?
4. Why did the Reformation quickly split into many sects instead
of uniting around Luther’s ideas or those of some other key
figure? Why were these Protestant sects often as hostile to one
another as to the Catholic Church?
Essential Questions (continued)
5. In what ways did secular princes and monarchs take advantage
of the Reformation to boost their own power and authority?
What effect did the Reformation have on the rising power of
the nation-state?
6. How did the Catholic Church respond to the challenge of the
Reformation? In what way was the response a defensive one of
trying to prevent all change, and in what ways did the Church
respond positively and actually make some changes of its own?
Events Leading to the Reformation
• Political, theological trouble
in the medieval Church
• Avignon Papacy and the
Great Schism
• Increasing secularization of
the Church
• Concern over papal and
clerical behavior
Pope Alexander VI
• Social, political, and cultural
shifts (e.g., the Renaissance
and humanism)
Christian humanist
scholar Erasmus
of Rotterdam
Early Calls for Reform
• John Wycliffe
• Jan Hus
John Wycliffe
Illustration of Hus being
burned at the stake
Great Continental Reformers
Indulgences
• Indulgences: Church
pardons from temporal
(earthly) punishment for sin
• Indulgences drew upon
excess “good works” of the
saints and clergy
• Indulgences could be sold so
that the Church could
generate revenue
A 15th-century indulgence
Discussion Questions
1. Some say the great wealth and power of the Catholic Church
corrupted it and led it to abandon the true spirit of Christian
teachings. Others say it was more the growing wealth and power
of kings and secular states that weakened the authority and
prestige of the Church. Do you think one of these factors is more
important than the other? Why or why not?
2. Why might the humanism of the Renaissance have led many
educated people to question the power and authority of the pope
more than had been the case in the past?
3. The Reformation was triggered by outrage over indulgences. Why
do you think it was this specific issue that began
the Reformation?
Martin Luther: “Here I Stand”
• Early life prompted him to join
the clergy
• Became a monk in the German
state of Wittenberg
• Tetzel’s indulgences of 1517
pushed Luther to “protest”
Martin
Luther
Johann
Tetzel
An indulgence sold by Tetzel
St. Peter’s Basilica