During the Reformation, the representatives included: Martin Luther, Zwingli, john calvin, Mennont Simmons, Jacobs arminius, john wesley, and later developed Protestant sects.
In a narrow sense, Protestant religious reform is usually limited to the European religious reform movement from 15 17 when Martin Luther put forward the Outline of the Ninth Five-Year Plan to 1648 when the Peace Treaty of Westphalia was promulgated.
Religious reform is the inevitable result of the development of capitalism in Europe and an important milestone in the history of religious development.
Cultural background 1. Politically, European nationalism is on the rise, demanding the establishment of a unified nation-state and breaking the control of Catholicism.
Second, economically, with the development of capitalist relations of production, the emerging bourgeoisie has grown up, demanding to break the spiritual shackles of Catholic theology and remove obstacles for the development of capitalism.
3. Culturally, the Renaissance advocated individual freedom, equality, desire and the supremacy of human nature, and advocated competition and scientific knowledge, which provided a theoretical and ideological basis for people to challenge the Catholic Church.
4. Religiously, the Catholic Church has a great influence on the divided land of Germany, not only ruling Germany spiritually, but also plundering a lot of wealth from Germany.
In society, the Black Death was all over Europe at that time.
Social roots 14 to 16 century, western European society was in a transitional period from the Middle Ages to modern times. At that time, social changes in western Europe were mainly manifested in three aspects:
First, economically, with the development of productive forces and technological progress, emerging capitalism sprouted and grew, and the feudal mode of production began to collapse;
Second, politically, the bourgeoisie and new noble began to form, opposing the privileges and separatism of feudal nobles. Feudal monarchies such as Britain and France established a "new monarchy" with political centralization on the basis of alliance with the bourgeoisie and new noble. They strengthened political centralization, promoted mercantilism, rewarded cultural creation, and effectively promoted the development of the nation-state. However, Italy and Germany still have separatist regimes and are in urgent need of political reunification;
Third, the anti-feudal and anti-theocratic Renaissance movement of the emerging bourgeoisie appeared in the ideological and cultural field. Humanists criticized the ignorance, abstinence preaching and feudal hierarchical power system of the medieval church, advocated individual freedom, equality and desire, and advocated the theory of competitive enterprising spirit and scientific knowledge, which greatly promoted people's ideological emancipation and concept renewal, and constituted a huge impact on Catholic theocracy.
Under such a social background, the religious reforms in western Europe in the16th century all aimed at the unified theocracy of the Roman church to Europe, requiring the establishment of a "national church" adapted to the development of the nation-state or a "cheap church" adapted to the rise of the bourgeoisie through reform.
The ideological origin of religious reform is the product of social reality change, but its ideological source can be traced back to the religious "heresy" thought of medieval citizens.
1 1 and1After the rise of medieval cities in the 2nd century, in order to resist the plunder and control of feudal nobles and churches, cities supported the royal power economically and politically, and the royal power gave cities the privilege of free trade and even autonomy.
With the development of the city, the civil class gradually emerged, and they were extremely dissatisfied with the unified theocracy of the church and the rule of orthodox theology, so they brewed the anti-church civil "heresy" thought. The "heresy" thought of the citizens strongly impacted the legal authority of the church theocracy, reflected the citizens' desire to establish a "national church" or a "cheap church", and provided a historical legacy for the religious reform in Western Europe in the16th century (including the "double-edged sword theory" and "Sun-Moon theory" first put forward by the heresy-specific church).
Religious belief is the product of spiritual liberation and psychological needs, with strong emotional color. Only when religion is rational can it be in constant harmony with modern legal system and science, and the boundaries between the two sides are clear. While respecting the existence of pluralism, religion can constantly change to an enlightened and civilized direction and constantly adapt to the requirements of the new era.
Religious reforms in European countries have seriously threatened the social and political status of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. Faced with this situation, some people of insight in the Catholic church severely criticized the corruption in the church, believing that all kinds of evils and abuses poured out of the church like soldiers pouring out of Trojans, and they advocated reform one after another. While European countries vigorously carried out religious reforms, the Catholic church also began to reform.
One: eliminate internal abuses and re-examine canon and doctrine. The church eliminated a group of ignorant, corrupt and greedy clergy, stipulated that priests must wear robes and practice celibacy on priests; Set up schools in each parish to improve the knowledge level of clergy. While affirming the efficacy of atonement vouchers, the church banned the sale for non-religious purposes and cancelled the sales organization.
Two: continue to strengthen the heresy court. In the middle and late period of the Reformation, the activities of heretical courts became more rampant, and a large number of "heretics" were arrested, imprisoned and even executed. At the same time, the Catholic Church strengthened its ideological control, constantly published prohibited bibliographies and seized books promoting new ideas. Copernicus' theory of celestial movement suddenly appeared in the first batch of banned books.
Third, recruit all kinds of fanatics, form groups against the Protestant Reformation, do everything possible to undermine the Reformation and enhance the prestige of the Pope, among which the Jesuits are the most representative groups. Through internal reform, the Roman Catholic Church got rid of its predicament for the time being.
The influence of the reform dealt a political blow to the theocracy of the Catholic Church, promoted the formation of European nation-states, and sketched a political blueprint for the bourgeoisie, such as Calvin's theocracy in Geneva.
Economically promoted the development of European capitalism.
Culturally, it liberated people's minds, promoted the development of national cultural education in western European countries, and provided ideological weapons for the early bourgeois revolution.
The main targets of the reform are the Catholic Church and the Pope.
Its role is to promote the development of European capitalism.
Overview time:16th century
Location: From Germany to Europe.
Areas: religion and politics
Form: religious reform and political revolution
Nature: bourgeois ideological emancipation and anti-feudal political movement
Subject: the bourgeoisie and Christians who accept bourgeois ideas, feudal lords (kings) and farmers.
Reasons ① Church corruption
② the rise of the bourgeoisie
③ The struggle between religious power and kingship.
(4) the resentment of civilians
⑤ Popularization of printing
⑥ The rise of "new monarch", the strengthening of absolute monarchy and the decline of feudal system.
⑦ The awakening of national consciousness and the formation of an independent nation-state.
Influence (1) Politically, it attacked the theocracy of the Catholic Church, deprived the church of its political and economic privileges in various countries, strengthened the kingship of various countries, and was beneficial to the development of nation-states.
(2) Economically, ethical norms and lifestyles that meet the needs of the bourgeoisie have been established, and a large number of property and land originally belonging to the church have been seized, which is conducive to the development of capitalist economy.
③ Culturally:
A broke the spiritual monopoly of the Catholic Church, liberated people's minds and developed humanism.
B To develop their own national culture, countries generally attach importance to education, set up schools, and increase learning subjects including natural science, which has promoted the development of national culture education in Western European countries.
C spreading bourgeois ideas provided a banner for the early bourgeois revolution.
In the early stage of substance, the bourgeoisie opposed the ideological emancipation and social movements of feudal rule and religious theocracy, and implemented the principle of separation of church and state worldwide. The scientific revolution has promoted the vigorous development of the scientific education system.