Question: How did the Protestant Reformation come about? Who were the main leaders and what were their key ideas?
There is a powerful teaching abounding in Christendom, that all of us are "PREDESTINED" to be in one destination or another after death; often loosely termed "Heaven or Hell". This is based on the teachings of various Groups since the Reformation, which has an approx. date of AD 1530. Some purists state that the exact date is AD 1505 and linked to England's Henry 8th with some justification. The result of Henry's resistance to Rome was the Church of England (C of E). Leaving aside the internal political struggle in England, by those trying to restore The Roman Church, many Church leaders were not content that the C of E was sufficiently radical in its separation from Roman Church's Doctrines.
Calvin himself refused to dogmatically conclude what many of his fellows and students readily accepted. But, what Calvin formally refused to confirm was embodied eventually in the Articles of the Synod of Dort (AD 1618-19). This definition holds that “Christ died only for the elect (chosen)”. What this means in effect is that only some people are “elected” to be saved, which to the writers does not seem to conform to the whole of Scripture, and especially to the New Testament! It is however ironic that Calvin is now chained to that definition, in what became known as the “Calvin Secondary Form", but was in fact under the force of Beza! Calvin is however on record as stating before his death that “election is related to the Person and Work of Christ”; which all true Christians will agree with as Christ Jesus is the "elect" of God; and we as His Body are therefore also "elect" (see: Isa. 42:1 and Rom. 8:33).
What started the Protestant Church?
The Reformation began in Germany in 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer the remission of the temporal punishment of sins to their purchasers.
Calvin believed that human beings have access to the saving truths of religion only insofar as God has revealed them in Scripture. But revealed truths were not given to satisfy human curiosity but were limited to meeting the most urgent and practical needs of human existence, above all for Salvation.
Google: Martin Luther initiated the reformation at the Diet of Worms 1521. He was a German teacher and a monk, brought about the Protestant Reformation when he challenged the Catholic Church's teachings starting in 1517. The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s.
What is the difference between Martin Luther and John Calvin?
The difference between the two is primarily a matter of emphasis rather than a matter of content. For Calvin, God is strictly a personal being whose omnipotence controls everything. Like Luther, he held that God is absolute sovereign. However, Calvin goes a little beyond Luther in his emphasis on this point.
Did John Calvin agree with Martin Luther?
It has long been recognized that John Calvin admired Martin Luther and that the Frenchman's theology at various moments approached the teaching of Wittenberg. This relationship, however, was always mediated, particularly through the work of Philip Melanchthon.
The greatest leaders of the Reformation undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin. Martin Luther precipitated the Reformation with his critiques of both the practices and the theology of the Roman Catholic Church.
Who started the first Reformation?
Martin Luther
The Reformation generally is recognized to have begun in 1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546), a German monk and university professor, posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the castle Church in Wittenberg.
He rejected the Roman Catholic belief that Mary acts as a mediator between man and God as idolatry, since only Christ can fulfil this role. Calvin forbade prayers and supplications to Mary for the same reason, further arguing that praying to the dead is not a practice supported by Scripture.
The Roman Church tried to stop the tide of truth re. “Salvation in Christ Jesus alone”, over a few hundred years of oppression, which reached the extremes of the torture and burning alive of protesters because they would not renounce the knowledge of “the just shall live by faith alone in Christ-Jesus’ death Sacrifice”, the Protestants gained ground and now there are many denominations which have varying teachings; but all based on the basic premise of Martin Luther and the Apostle Paul’s teaching!
Martin Luther was sentenced to death by burning alive; but he was rescued by a powerful German Noble.
See:
Why the Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is not of God Almighty:
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