Could Protestant reformation be avoidable in Europe?



Could Protestant reformation be avoidable in Europe?

Introduction

In the 16th century, Protestant Reformation was one of the major movements, and challenges for the religious authorities in the Europe. The aims of this reformation included to reform the practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church (US-History, 2013). The ambitious political rulers supplemented the cause, as they wanted to earn more power and control in the region, on the expense of Church. The ineligible and uneducated popes were given responsibilities for teaching the people; popes, priests, and Catholic Church considered themselves as the only representative of God and Christ and they seemed to be answerable to none. History shows that the reformation brought many social and political changes such as ending the unity of Medieval Christianity, and hence it became the origin of modern era. This essay attempts to answer that was it possible to avoid this Protestant reformation in Europe.

Discussion

Roman Catholic Church significantly dominated the religious life of people in Western and Northern Europe in the period of tenth century. Most of the people were frustrated due to the enormous power given to the priests and popes of the region. This was particularly true because many of the authorized popes were uneducated; even many of them were unable to read, and they were assigned to teach people. The popes were mostly found to spend their earnings on alcohol and women. Similarly, many popes remained too busy in their worldly affairs that they could hardly spare time for their religious obligations. The popes were even involved in the sale of high offices and indulgences in order to increase the wealth of the church. These are some of the reasons due to which anger spread in the people and they began to raise their voices against the popes. Finally, the Protestant reformation began to evolve; where the word “protestant” refers to the protest developed against the Church doctrines and practices. However many people considered that this reformation brought a threat to change the social structure of the society, while some considered that it was unavoidable due to the existing conditions of the Church (Bishop, p.1).

The reformation in Europe could not be put to stop because the Church did not make any effort to resolve the issues repeatedly mentioned by the people. Even, if the Church knew about the possible effects of the reform, they did not try to improve themselves. There could be many possibilities to stop this reformation and stop the anger of people. The people were mainly frustrated as the actions of Church and heavy taxes became unbearable to them. If this was not the case, the reformation could be put to a stop. Though Martin Luther was the first to raise his voice against the system, if he was not there, someone else have done the same. For example, the persons such as Thomas Moore or Desiderius Erasmus would have spoken up for the cause. Hence, the reformation provided the people with ...