Church History Reformation

International University of the Caribbean

Course: Survey of the Development of the Christian Church

Done by: Mark Morgan

Date: July, 2011

Tutor: Ms. D. Whittle

Research Paper

Question:

God’s orchestration of political, social, geographical, religious and other factors during a particular period of history to advance the development of the Church.

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INTRODUCTION

The era of the 16th century in Christianity is referred to as the time of the reformation which led to Protestantism. The reformation is the period in Christian history when elements of theology and some practices of the Roman Catholic Church were protested by members of the church. This began with the movement of some in the church to create reform but this reform was rejected by the Roman Catholic Church hierarch. This led to what is referred to today as the Protestant Churches, a group of churches with much of their theology differing from that of the Roman Catholics. There were several events that led to the Protestant Reformation. These happenings all took place in a Roman Catholic influenced social, geographical, and religious context in and around the 16th century. There are two main theologians often recognized as the leaders of the reformation, Martin Luther and John Calvin. This caused a great deal of complication for the Catholic Church as these leaders were well educated and prolific advocates of their reformed doctrines. In light of this the Catholic Church developed a counter reformation against the protestant movement. This led to fierce battles that turned into warfare that took place in various parts of Europe.

The Anglicans out of England were the largest of the new denominations. There were also the Lutherans and other reformed churches based in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scotland. There were many smaller bodies as well. The most common dating of the reformation begins in 1517 when Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses, and...