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The Protestant Reformation marked the beginning of what would become a new movement in the Christian tradition. Its leaders and forms were many, but the spirit of the Protestant tradition continued to emphasize the importance of personal faith, the gift of grace, and the authority of the Bible. In Germany, the Lutheran tradition built on Martin ...
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The theological and religious descendants of the Protestant Reformation arrived in the United States in the early 17th century, shaped American culture in the 18th century, grew dramatically in the 19th century, and continued to be the guardians of American religious life in the 20th century.
- John Fea
- 2017
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American Protestant life has revolved. The volume also provides a chronological overview of the tradition s entire history, addresses its prominent theological and sociological features, and explores its numerous intersections with American culture. Aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, as well as an
- The Medieval Church
- Early Heresies & Reformers
- Martin Luther & Indulgences
- Excommunication & The Start of Reformation
- Zwingli, Calvin, & Henry VIII
- Conclusion
The Church dominated medieval Europe (c. 476-1500) as the sole authority on spiritual matters and, as it became more powerful, influenced the spheres of politics and culture. In time, the pope became a significant political presence and, generally speaking, spent more time and effort on worldly affairs than religious matters. The hierarchy of the C...
These movements were condemned by the Church as heresies and were routinely crushed, often ruthlessly, as the clergy sought to maintain their authority and power. One of the earliest movements was the Paulicians (7th-9th centuries) who advocated a return to the simplicity of early Christianity and the life of Saint Paul (l. c. 5 to c. 67) and rejec...
Even though in the present day these reformers are recognized as the pioneers of the Reformation, there is no evidence they, initially, had any effect on the central reformist Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546), a German monk who also objected to the sale of indulgences. No matter how one chooses to date the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther stands a...
In 1520, Pope Leo X, tired of sending emissaries to reason with Luther, threatened him with excommunication unless he recanted. Luther publicly burned the edict (known as a papal bull) at Wittenberg and was excommunicated in 1521, meaning that, according to church doctrine, he no longer was in a state of grace with God and should be shunned by beli...
Luther's radical concepts were made more palatable to European intelligentsia, codified, and streamlined by his friend and collaborator Philip Melanchthon (l. 1497-1560) who is also responsible for the story of the dramatic nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. Melanchthon was an early defender of Luther, who ha...
Many other princes and nobles supported the Reformation for this same reason. The Church as a powerful political entity had been influencing land rights, successions, even wars, for centuries, and by aligning themselves with the Protestant cause, these nobles gained greater autonomy and power. The separation from the Church was not a peaceful or am...
- Joshua J. Mark
The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses. The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him. These ideas were controversial because ...
view the Reformation is commonly influenced by the larger American society with its historically Protestant worldview. Protestants naturally see their predecessors as heroes who resisted Catholic tyranny, but this Protestant view is a somewhat simplistic and even warped construction of the actual events.
Abstract: This article examines connections between the Protestant Reformation and American literature and argues that Protestantism’s best expression exists in contemporary iterations of self-reliance.
