Don’t count out Erasmus, an early proponent of similarly radical ideas. Introduction Martin Luther, a German theologian, is often credited with starting the Protestant Reformation. When he nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517, dramatically demanding an end to church corruption, he split Christianity into[…]
Originally published by Newberry Digital Collections for the Classroom, 09.26.2017, Newberry Library, republished with permission for educational, non-commercial purposes. Introduction The English Reformation was part of a European-wide phenomenon to reform the church which began in 1517 when legend has it that the German monk and theologian Martin Luther nailed 95 theses (propositions for discussion)[…]
To circumscribe the Reformation solely within the sphere of theological disputation is to mask the complexity of both its birth and afterlife. By Jay Gundacker and Sean Hallowell Martin Luther To understand the rapid spread of Luther’s ideas, a brief account of the role that the Church played in Medieval society is necessary. In the[…]
In the great reformer’s eyes, if you didn’t love a rousing tune you deserved only “the music of the pigs”. Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther triggered what would become the Protestant Reformation with a document protesting corruption in the Catholic Church. At its heart, his Reformation was a movement about the nature of sin[…]