Religious Reforms


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Religious Reforms

Religious Reforms: In 1517, Martin Luther wrote Ninety Five Theses criticizing many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. His writings were immediately reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. It led to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther’s translation of the New Testament sold 5000 copies within a few weeks and the second edition appeared within 3 months. Luther said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one”. Printing culture brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas that led to the Reformation.

Print and Dissent: Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people. In the 16th century, Menocchio (a miller in Italy), began to read books that were available in his locality. He reinterpreted the message of the Bible.

He formulated a view of God and Creation that made the Roman Catholic Church angry. When the Roman Church began its inquisition to repress heretical ideas, Menocchio was executed.

Then, the Roman Church imposed severe controls over publishers and book-sellers. They began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558, Erasmus, a Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer, who criticised the excesses of Catholicism but kept his distance from Luther expressed a deep anxiety about printing.

The reading mania: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the literacy rates went up in most parts of Europe. Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans. By the end of the 18th century, in some parts of Europe, literacy rates became as high as 60 to 80 per cent. As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a vital reading mania. People wanted to read books and printers produced books in large numbers.

  • Protestants Reformations :- A 16th century movement to reform the Catholic Church dominated by Rome. Martin Luther was one of the main protestant reformers . Several Traditions of anti -Catholic Christianity developed out of the movement . 
  • New Testament :- The second part of the Bible that describes the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . 
  • Inquisition :- A former Roman Catholic Court for identifying and punishing heretics . 
  • Denomintions :- Sub groups within a religion . 
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