An essay comparing different religions of the 16th century

Essay by PLoveHigh School, 11th grade May 2005

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Reformations of the 16th century

By Patrick Love

At the beginning of the 16th century, religion was much different than it was today, and it is probably fair to say that it was much worse. People either believed in the Roman Catholic faith, or they were punished, and if they believed in the Roman Catholic faith they also would have to belie that you had to buy your way and your family's way out of purgatory, and you had to have confidence in the officials of the church who were corrupt and who were keeping money for themselves. You were forced to believe in the near unbelievable. People back then weren't stupid, though, and some took it upon themselves to see changes happen in the church. What they believed in was Christ, God, and the Bible, and because of some individuals who had revolutionary ideas, several reformations took place in Europe in the 16th century.

Three results of these reformations were Lutherism, Calvinism and Anglicanism, of which I will be discussing in this paper.

Of the founders of these three religions, two were very similar in their reasons for reformation, and in their study of the Bible and the church, and one was simply a completely different case. Martin Luther was born in 1483, in Germany, and in 1505 became a clerk after being frightened by a thunderstorm.1 Later, in 1507 he became a priest. In the years to come, he spent much time studying the Bible, and particularly Paul, where he found that many of the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church were unnecessary. He found that only through faith could people be given God's grace. He tried to get the church to change their ways, but wasn't able to convince them that he was correct, and this...