Renaissance Rediscovery

Renaissance Rediscovery


Lutheranism was founded by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century and was created when Luther was given a great reception from fellow Germans in regards to his challenges toward Rome. Around the 1520’s, Lutheran congregations rejecting the papal authority had appeared throughout most of Germany and Scandinavia. Calvinism was created by John Calvin, and it was he who made the rebellion against Rome international. The huge difference between the two men being that Luther wanted the Germans to simply be freed of all papal corruption and Calvin wanted all Christians to be made into the idea that he felt God intended. Martin Luther believed that through the grace of God he and anyone else would be able to obtain immortal salvation. He was quite different from the Roman papal teachings because of his belief that faith alone was the factor through which Christians might reach bliss in the afterlife. This was different from John Calvin who believed that God had already predestined all souls and a person was either intended to go to hell or heaven for all eternity.
What made Calvinism have a much greater religious reform than Lutheranism was the combination of government within The Calvinist churches. The combination of the government within the church made Calvin’s preachings more political and moral. By 1570 Calvinism had spread across the Christian community in several places and was an international faith whereas Lutheranism was limited to German speaking countries and Scandinavia. Lutheranism did not spread really after 1550 which not help much in terms of doing a religious reform.

Similar Essays