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Running head: The Protestant Reform Movements

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The high period of the history of the church and in the fullness of point is how B.K. Kuiper begins the segment about the Protestant Reformation in his book "The Church in History.1" Regardless whether we would agree with him or not, it is without a suspicion that the Protestant Reformation was a history developing event is the life of the church. As the Catholic Church began to enlarge and grow its territory in Europe corruption (both real and perceived) began to expand itself in the church that prided itself in its roots to the Apostle Peter and Christ. It is said that absolute power degrades absolutely, and that can surely be seen in the history of the Catholic Church. 1 Politics, religion, and power all landed and converged on the leadership of the Catholic Church following the fall of the Roman Empire. The problem with joining these three is that together they become a poison rather than a vaccine in the world. As of this several in the church grew disheartened and unhappy with the church and began to desire a reformation, change.

The source of the word Protestant comes from a Diet or meeting of Catholic leaders in 1529 in Speyer, Germany to reflect on action against the Turks and try again to arrive at terms with the reformation movement started by Martin Luther (who will be discussed later). The church leaders forbade any expansion of the Reformation awaiting a German council could meet the subsequent year. Charles V affirmed he do away with what he called the Lutheran "heresy." However, fourteen cities and five reforming princes drafted a protest, for themselves, a formal legal appeal, their subjects and all who in the future or then should trust in the Word of God as expounded by Martin Luther. Therefore, the term Protestant came to suggest any Christian that rejected the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church and followed the teachings of Martin Luther and the others that came after him.

1. The Church in History B.K. Kuiper CSI Publications Grand Rapids, Michigan

The most and well known famous of the Protestant Reformers is Martin Luther. Martin Luther is the father of the Protestant Reformation since it was the Holy Spirit's inspiration to him that "the just shall live by faith" by started the movement and installed the steadfastness in him that let him stand up against the most powerful entity of the day, the Catholic Church. The Martin Luther was born in the Eisleben, in the state of Germany on November 10th, 1483 to a very religious and hardworking family. While visiting the college to read law Luther had a transformation of heart and chose to enter an Augustinian monastery and learn theology. One historian asserts that on one tour to Rome that Luther toured all the great shrines and that while on his knees, rising the stairway which is believed to be the stairs that Jesus climbed to reach Pilate's judgment hall that he heard a voice inside him say "the just shall live by faith." This was set in movement circumstances that would bring about the Protestant Reformation. A year next in his room in the tower of the Black Cloister in Wittenberg, Germany interpreting Paul's letter to the Romans he came to Romans 1 verse 17 which says "The just shall live by faith." As he considered the verse, it is said that awesome joy overflowed his heart and the strain on his soul was taken away and no longer would he attempt to earn his salvation by works.

The predicament with Luther's new found conversion and enlightenment was that it was direct resistance to the Catholic Churches education of penance in which taught that a priest could abolish sin but the person that had committed the crime would have to give some act to justify their contriteness. Luther too began to teach the priesthood of all believers, which meant that God had invested all men the right to come straight to him for forgiveness and that they no longer had to become the member of the Catholic Church to attain salvation.

Soon Luther could no longer conceal his new found revelation in the face of some endless suffering since of the hardships that church had inflicted on the people so he sat down wrote ninety-five statements or theses that outline his criticism and views of the practices of the church. Luther then hammered his ninety-five thesis to the entrance of the Castle Church in Wittenberg for all to see. Reformation had started, and Luther was its profile. Luther was called to arrive before church leaders and reveal himself, but when it was clear that he would not withdraw from his position, he was dismissed from the church by Pope Leo on June 15, 1520. Nonetheless, the flame of reformation was late, and there was nothing that the church could do to stop it. Another significant personality in the reformation movement is Ulrich Zwingli, who is known as the father of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born in Wildhus has Switzerland, Zwingli disagreed from Luther in that he was never a monk in a convent but rather he was taught in scholastic theology studying the writings of the Church Fathers. His education was similarly influenced by the new interest in the ancient writings of the Greeks and Romans. Zwingli was the individuals' Priest, this was his official name, and he took his responsibilities seriously. Also to clarifying on the Gospel on Sundays at the Cathedral, he, also, gave teachings on Psalms in the township marketplace square on Fridays, which was the city's market day. Therefore, not only the townspeople heard the Word of God, so did the poor from the neighboring countryside. Inspired by the stance that Luther had held against the Church, Zwingli started to attack the church and its doctrines systematically. Because of Zwingli influence and teaching, the Catholic Church suffered favor with the men in Zurich, and they commenced to move away from the churches rule. They began to remove images from buildings; the mass was abolished, and processions, altars, and relics, were discarded. Just as Luther had begun the fires of reformation in Germany, Zwingli did so in Switzerland and commencing in the town of Zurich Reformation spread throughout Switzerland.

Another prominent figure the Protestant Reformation movements were John Calvin. Born in a little city in Northern France, Calvin was sent to Paris to proceed with his education after the passing of his mother at the age of thirteen. Calvin developed a love for and literature scholarship and in1523 he went to the University of Paris where he studied theology. At some point, amid the year 1528 and 1533, he encountered a "sudden conversion" and clutched Protestantism. Calvin expressed this experience by saying "God subdued my soul to docility by a sudden conversion." At the age of twenty-six, Calvin made one of his greatest contributions to the Reformation movement when he composed his Institutes of the Christian Religion. It has been called the most significant exposition of divine truth presented by the Reformation. In his book, Calvin explains the important teachings of the Protestant Movement. Calvin's book and his teaching helped flame the fires of the Reformation.

An incredible but never the less another famous person in the account of the Reformation movement was King Henry V111. The King Henry's participation to the Reformation did not come from his ministerial and theological contributions but rather from his willingness to face the authority of the Church. King Henry had applied to the pope for a divorce from his wife Catherine to be able to marry another. The pope took the time to give his decision, and the King Henry's patience grew thin. In 1534 he had the Parliament pass the Act of Supremacy which decreed that the king rightfully and justly is and must be the supreme leader of the Church of England. This meant that the king and not the pope was the head of the church in England. Although King Henry's actions were not righteously motive, they did continue to undermine the Catholic Churches authority and aided the flames of Reformation spread across Europe.

The Church in History B.K. Kuiper CSI Publications Grand Rapids, Michigan

Zondervan instruction book to the History of Christianity Jonathan Hill Lion Publishing Plc. At Oxford England

CN Trueman "John Calvin" the History .co.uk.

Protestants 1 st Called Protestant Diane Severance, Dan Graves, and Ph. D , Msl www.christianitytoday

The Reformers: Ulrich Zwingli. https://europeanhistory.boisestate.edu/reformation/reformers/zwingli