Renaissance+Religion


 * **John Calvin** || **Luther's 95 Theses** || **Queen Elizabeth I of England** ||
 * [[image:john_calvin.jpg width="226" height="282" align="center"]] || [[image:church_door.jpg width="216" height="288" align="center"]] || [[image:queen_elizabeth.jpg width="207" height="287" align="center"]] ||
 * ** The man shown above is John Calvin. Calvin was a Protestant priest who joined the Reformation movement and preached his beliefs to many people both through public speaking, and his book "Institutes of the Christian Religion". **


 * Born in France, John Calvin trained as a lawyer and a priest. He recited elaborate rituals and stressed the importance of the Bible, saying that it was the only source of religious truth. Calvin also believed that salvation was through faith alone, and that the world was divided into two kinds, Saints and Sinners. He lead a city-state in Switzerland and there, set up a theocracy (government run by Church leaders). Lastly, Calvinists stressed hard work, discipline, thrift, honesty, and morality, and believed in religious education for girls. **


 * John Calvin's largest and most important idea was predestination, or the idea that God long ago determined who would gain salvation. He believed that this was decided before a person was born, and throughout that person's lifetime, God's decision would not change. This, and all of John Calvin's other ideas had a lasting affect on the world, including a new religion, the Calvinists. ** || ** The picture above is of the Wittenberg Church door. This door is where Luther's 95 Theses were posted on October 31, 1517 in hope of ending the selling of indulgences.

Martin Luther was a German monk and professor of theology. John Tetzel, a priest, came up with the idea of indulgences, or certificates lessening the time a soul would spend in purgatory and guaranteeing it a place in heaven. Tetzel offered these to anyone Christian who contributed money to help rebuild the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. This idea outraged Martin Luther, who believed that these indulgences had no basis in the Bible. Luther believed that the Pope had no authority to release souls from purgatory, and that they could be saved only through faith. To protest indulgences, Luther posted his 95 Theses, or statements on the practice of selling indulgences, on the door of the Wittenberg Church.

Luther also rejected the Church's doctrine that good deeds were necessary for salvation, and believed that the Bible was the sole source of religious truth. He disagreed with the idea that priests and church hierarchy had special powers and thought that all Christians had equal access to God. Luther translated the Bible to German, permitted clergy to marry, simplified mass, and rejected five of the seven sacraments. Because of these ideas, Luther was declared an outlaw of the Church by Charles V, Holy Roman Empire.

Luther's ideas spread, and although he was outlawed from the Church, many German princes also broke from the Catholic Church. Later in time, other reformers started Protestant sects of their own. What came after this was a time of war between Catholics and Protestants, and the division of the Catholic Church. ** || **The image above is of Queen Elizabeth the I of England. She and King Philip II of Spain were for "enemies" for a very long time. Elizabeth ruled her country to be Protestant, while Philip ruled his country to be Catholic. Philip's goal was to overthrow Elizabeth and turn England into a Catholic country, but there were many bumps in the road.**


 * Elizabeth I was the most powerful Protestant monarch in Europe, and therefore felt an obligation to help her fellow Protestants. She secretly began sending aid to French and Dutch Protestants embroiled in religious wars. The aid was of course used to fight Philip the II, who was trying to switch these countries over to Catholic. Eventually Elizabeth stopped disguising her aid against Philip, and caused tremendous problems and difficulties in Spain.**


 * Later, in an attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, Philip sent out the Spanish Armada. His hopes were to defeat England and therefore make it Catholic. Unfortunately, his attempt failed and England remained Protestant for a little bit longer.** ||