Luther And John Calvin Similarities

Among the many religious changes that occurred throughout Europe in the sixteenth century, few were as widely influential as the Reformation. There were three streams of the Reformation: the common class, the educated middle class, and the monarchs and princes. All three streams wanted the church to be fixed and hoped it could combine old ideas and new ones. The Reformation was influenced by many different people, yet the most important was John Wyclif, who stated that the church did not need possession in order to be powerful. Different ideologies came from the influences of Wyclif, and many others. Lutheranism began in the mid 1500’s by Martin Luther, and he developed a doctrine of Justification by Faith where he wrote of how people stay in the church and get to heaven from faith

The main ideology of Lutheranism is that salvation can be gained by three fundamental precepts: by faith, by grace and by scripture alone. Luther felt that Salvation could not be achieved through good works such as prayer or holy living: "Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works." (Luther, On Christian Liberty, p.9). Faith in God is created through the belief and love for Him; salvation would rise from it nonetheless. Luther felt that it was up to every individual to interpret the Scriptures and decide for himself what was good. This was a revolutionary concept, as previously it had been only the Pope who could interpret the Scriptures. Another concept of Lutheranism was that every believer could achieve priesthood. All men who had true faith had the opportunity to serve God and were equal in His eyes. "Among Christians there shall and can be no authority; rather all are alike subject to one another." (Luther, Part Two. How Far Temporal Authority Extends, p.31). Bishops and priests in the Lutheran church were not authoritative figures but simply serving an office.

The Protestant Reformation began during the Renaissance time period, it was the attempt to reform the Roman Catholic church. It led to the creation of Protestant churches. This reformation began after multiple church leaders started demanding individuals to supply them with such large quantities of goods, food, and money that individuals did not have much left to provide to their own family. Several believed if they did not contribute and present the church with what they asked, they would be denied entrance to heaven once they passed away. People saw how the church thrived while those who contributed were ravenous and penniless. Martin Luther, a monk, noticed several inaccuracies between what the Roman Catholic Church practiced and the Bible as he studied the Bible. He decided to speak out by creating the 95 Theses, and nailing it on the entrance of a catholic church. Protestants who had similar view as Luther’s began Luther-ism. John Calvin, had very similar views as Luther and was even inspired by him to reform the Catholic Church as well. I most admire Martin Luther because of how he spoke up and protested against the Roman Catholic church when he knew it could put him in danger, but I am most similar to John Calvin because of how he believes in predestination and how faith is revealed by living a righteous life.

After the defeat of the Roman Empire in 476, western Europe had grown and changed the world. However, the Catholic church was the defining characteristic that had remained very central and important to European culture. The Protestant reformation during the sixteenth century was sparked by Martin Luther, who was a writer from Germany. He believed that churches were abusing power, because at the time, churches would say things like "sins can be forgiven and people can go to heaven after they die if they contributed money or a donation". Luther stated that no one was in a place to give someone a place in heaven besides god and that churches were being greedy, immoral and hypocritical. He took an advantage of the printing press and its fast growing industry to spread these ideas and information from his book 95 Theses to the public of European countries including Italy, Germany, France and Holland. Lutheran philosophy and teachings helped educate the public, and some of the resulting reforming measures included the closure of monasteries, divisions of church and translation of the holy bible from Latin to different European languages (Drame, lecture notes). John Calvin was another important figure who developed Calvinism in 1530 to spread Lutheran philosophy throughout various European countries. In order to control the "damage" Luther had

Martin Luther was one of the most influential people in Christian history, when he began the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. He questioned some of the basic beliefs and principles of the Roman Catholic church and his followers split from the Roman Catholic to begin the protestant tradition. Martin Luther spent a few years at the monastery and finally became an Augustinian monk. Martin Luther gained religious enlightenment through the studies of the scriptures. Martin Luther believed that the key to spiritual salvation was not the fear of God but the believe that faith alone will bring salvation. This thinking set the motion for the reformation. It led to one event after another and also peasant revolts. The following paragraph explain how Martin Luther influenced peasant revolts.

Both the reformation and the “Age of Discovery” had large effects on society, culture, and politics throughout the 1500s. The reformation started in the early 1500s as the church was looking for a new identity. This new identity was thought as the people at the time wondering what exactly God wants from us to be able to be saved and go to heaven. There were two main religious ideas born in this time frame. Those were Lutherism and Calvinism.

12. ’98 Compare and contrast the Lutheran Reformation and the Catholic Reformation of the sixteenth century regarding the reform of both religious doctrines and religious practices.

Martin Luther and King Henry were both devout catholics and didn't necessarily want Christianity to undergo another great schism like what occured between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox. But both men wanted the church to undergo some kind of reform, however it was Henry who instituted the most direct religious reform in the form of the Church of England. Luther wanted the catholic church to reform to ease his mind. He hated the strange rituals that bishops and priests practised in order to absolve someone of their sins. He saw right through the priests and their money-grabbing schemes because he believed in salvation through faith and faith alone.

In the wake of religious disunity and doctrinal questioning caused by Luther's criticism of the Church, many reformers struck out, hoping to continue the reformation called for by Luther and his writings. One of the most influential of these reformers, John Calvin, left behind a lasting impact on Europe and Protestantism. Calvin, like Luther scoured the Bible for “God's truth”. Instead of arriving at the same conclusion Luther, Calvin happened upon a unique dogma. His findings were contrary to those of Luther, primarily in the achievement of salvation.

Religion is the most important aspect of many people’s lives, serving as a roadmap to live a virtuous life while promising eternal life and salvation. In his work On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther writes on what it means to truly be Christian and how to achieve salvation. Luther discusses many aspects of Christian faith, including the difference between the inner man and outer man, the effect of works on salvation, the marriage with Jesus as a result of faith, how individuals should act towards others, and the important notion of Christian liberty that arises because of one’s faith. Luther’s ideas were highly controversial at the time as many of them opposed the thinking of the Catholic Church, one of the most powerful institutions in the world. The Catholic Church adamantly disagrees with many of the ideas expressed by Luther, including the value that works, the church, and humility has in salvation.

The Lutheran Reformation is particularly associated with the German territories and the pervasive personal influence of one charismatic individual Martin Luther. Luther’s concern was the doctrine of justification, which formed his central point of his religious thoughts. The Lutheran Reformation was initially an academic movement, concerned primarily with reforming the teaching of theology at the University of Wittenberg (McGrath 2007). The Lutheran began in 1822 this happen after Luther’s return to Wittenberg from his enforced isolation in Wartburg. Luther was condemned for “false doctrine” by the Diet of Worms in 1512 (Noll 2000).

Both Calvin and Luther were struggling against the ideals the Catholic Church possessed striving to bring about changes in order to make it a supportive religious place of worship. Their mission and ultimate goal of reformation of uniform regarding the Church’s rules and regulations; although, both men had different concepts which caused them to question the Church’s authority. Luther believed that the Bible was the central religious authority and that we reach salvation only by faith alone, not by the works of the pastors and priests. Calvin, on the other hand, believed in predestination. Predestination was Calvin’s doctrine stating that God preordains salvation or damnation for each person before creation; those chosen for salvation were

Luther was a believer in the Protestant way of life, the work ethic, and the beginnings of Capitalism which all led to his belief of humans having a higher status. Luther also promoted individual thinking, self-educating, and one-on-one relationships with God. All of these things imply that Luther believed that humans have a higher status over nature.

Martin Luther and John Calvin were both leaders in the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was a monk, or priest, in the Augustinian friars’ order and his ideals were that Catholicism were corrupting the New Testament beliefs and people were saved by faith alone not by buying their way into heaven. John Calvin studied law “but in 1533 he experienced a religious crisis, as a result of which he converted from Catholicism to Protestantism. Calvin believed that God had specifically selected him to reform the church” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448). “The cornerstone of Calvin’s theology was his belief in the absolute sovereignty and omnipotence of God and the total weakness of humanity” (McKay et al., 2015, pg. 448).

John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination is arguably one of the most important results of the Protestant reformation. Predestination is the belief that “salvation[entrance into heaven] is given to only those whom god has chosen”. The chosen people were called the elect. John Calvin wrote this important belief during the era of the Protestant Reformation. People often formed negative opinions on predestination or let it rule their lives. Some people who did not think like Calvin loathed predestination because they believed that