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The Reformation

The Reformation began on Oct. 31, 1517, when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. It was a stunning day for the church as we know it. The church was divided into many sections but would come to terms with two major divisions of the church, Catholic and Protestant.

My family was raised catholic and converted to a protestant christianity. My grandmother is still a very devout catholic. My grandmother believes the reformation introduced heresy into the church is will ultimately be the cause of many people going to hell. My parents believe the opposite, that most catholics are lost and that they are the ones going to hell.

I am virtually agnostic, in that I hold no religious standard, but logically think God must exist. In my view, all who follow Jesus, if living by the Bible, are there by "saved" and are to be considered christian. I believe this applies to catholics, protestants, and mormons alike. But the reformation caused many problems and polarized christians into different camps. Instead of one church, the church was and is segmented into several parts, all claiming to have the right definition of what the Bible says.

Ultimately, was the reformation good? Or did it cause to much disruption and division in the church to be beneficial?

Reformation The

I believe that the Reformation was not only good, but absolutely necessary. From my point of view, as a Mormon, the Reformation began the process of pluralism that was necessary to eventually allow religious liberty. There are still scholars within the Catholic Church who actively argure that religious liberty is a very bad thing, as it stifles the Catholic Church's divine right to impose christianity upon people.

I believe that Martin Luther, John Calvin, Wesley, and others were inspired and led by God to do what they did. They each had prejudices and biases that kept them from finding and recognizing further truths and principles, as each of us do, but they did wonderful jobs that should be recognized and celebrated.

The Reformation Beliefs Religious General

From what I understand, and in my opinion, the "church" as it was in those days had become corrupt and so far from the true Church of Christ and the true teachings of the Apostles (known as the "apostasy"), that there had to be a Reformation. There had to be change that would eventually lead to a Restoration of the true church. So the Reformation was a necessary step in the progression and redemption of the Church of Christ.

In my opinion, of course.
Roz

Reformation The

You are dead on. In those days, the church would allow "indulgences" and charge coins for them and tell people it would get them out of some time in purgatory. The church began what ultimately would be a bloody separation of the Catholic church and the protestant church. The reason that so many sections became because of it was due to the religious freedom that Luther taught! Luther didn't teach that one way was better than another, he taught that Christ was the center piece, since the Catholic church was not teaching that, they where wrong. Biblically speaking, he was right.

According to history, it wwasn'ta matter of Catholic church members not agreeing with him, it was a matter of money and tradition, they didn't want to lose either. Historically speaking, the movie Luther is very accurate from what I have studied. I have a review on it in the movie section.

Historically, Luther also influence things in government like economics, which at the time was geared towards supporting the church, and the church towards supporting itself. Martin Luther makes my top five for most influential people in history. The Reformation was a religious and historical turning point for the world as we know it today.