Religious Thought - AP European History

The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between Christian forces of Europe and Muslim armies of the Middle East. Most of the conflict took place over Middle Eastern territory considered sacred by both faiths. The other answers are incorrect because they refer to other historically opposing forces, several of which did not fight wars with each other.

Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses, in which he questioned and criticized many practices of the Catholic church, including indulgences (reduction of punishment for a sin), which many church members were abusing by commercializing the process. These questions would spark change resulting in the Protestant Reformation.

Thomas Aquinas was a renowned Catholic philosopher and lived before the Reformation, so he would not be the best answer. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived far after the Protestant Reformation, so he would not be a good answer here. Henry VIII lived during the Protestant Reformation and became the head of the church of England, but he did not publish the work in question, so he would not be the best choice. Finally, Martin Luther was an important figure in the Reformation and he published the work in question, so he would be the correct answer.

The reformation was a 16th century cultural and religious upheaval that challenged the views of the Catholic Church and the Pope. At the time, the Catholic Church had enormous political and religious power. The reformers were angry about the corrupt practices of the church, such as selling indulgences (something that one pays for that reduces the amount of punishment one will have to undergo their sins) and believed that the bible, rather than the leaders of the Catholic church should be the ultimate authority. In 1517 Martin Luther nailed a list of “95 Theses” (complaints) on the door to Wittenberg Catholic Church, a document that would later become the basis of the Protestant reformation. Tensions continued to rise and bloody conflicts broke out all over Europe over different Christian sects and how to best worship god. These small wars culminated in the bloody 30 years’ war which killed somewhere between 25-40% of Germany’s population. The peace of Westphalia allowed freedom of religion for Christians, ended several land and independence disputes, and broke the political power of the Catholic Church. Many experts say that the Peace of Westphalia began the modern method of diplomacy.

John Calvin was a prominent French theologian and pastor during the fourteenth century. He preached predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in determining the fate of souls. His beliefs were a major influence on the branch of Protestantism commonly referred to as Calvinism.

The Battle of Bosworth was the final battle of the War of the Roses. This battle was between the then King Richard III of York, and Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster. Henry Tudor defeated Richard III, and took the crown, becoming King Henry VII of England

The Great Schism of 1378 involved a split in the Roman Catholic Church. For several years in the fourteenth and early-fifteenth centuries, there were effectively two popes claiming legitimate authority over the whole of Christianity: one in France and one in Rome.

The belief that God does not exist is called “atheism;” the belief that God may or may not exist, but “I need to see proof for myself” is called “agnosticism.” Deism is the belief that God created the universe with certain permanent laws (the law of gravity and so on) and then sat back and left creation to its own devices: essentially a “watchmaker God,” who created the world and then left it alone. Deism grew in popularity during the so-called Age of Reason in Europe, when scientists and thinkers like Newton began to uncover certain seemingly perfect laws about the universe.

The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 after he was injured in a battle. Working with other like-minded Catholic men, Ignatius developed the Jesuits to be a counterbalancing force to the great success of Protestant Reformers in Europe. The Jesuits would become the "foot soldiers" of Catholicism in spreading the message to different cultures and countries.

John Wesley was an Englishman who lived from 1703 to 1791. He did not initially try to break away from the Anglican Church of England, believing that Methodism was just a part of Anglicanism. Wesley was against the idea of predestination and believed in using laypeople to spread the gospel and work for change. Wesley is credited with leading many Methodists to become advocates for important social change.

Indulgences were sold throughout the medieval period in Europe by the Catholic church as a means to grant oneself forgiveness for sins or to gain forgiveness for someone who had died. The idea was the Catholic church was in charge of dispensing “merit” so that people could enter into heaven and that those who give financially to the church should benefit. They became extremely popular in 1517, when Pope Leo X sold indulgences to build a new St. Peter’s Basilica, as many people attempted to gain forgiveness. The selling of indulgences outraged Martin Luther, who mentioned them throughout his 95 Theses and fought against them as one of his main issues for reform. In 1567, the church outlawed the selling of indulgences.

Under Catholic teaching, the sins of believers were forgiven upon the crucifixion of Christ; nonetheless, some sins still carry the need for some form of penance or the enduring of a punishment. The doctrine of indulgences allowed for believers to perform certain good works in order to be relieved of the need for penance. Often this meant saying special prayers or giving to charity, but in some cases, priests were open to selling indulgences outright for personal gain. This cynical form of indulgence-granting was one of the factors that led Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses in order to reform the church. Thus, indulgences contributed to the tumultuous religious reorganization of Europe known as the Reformation.

John Calvin (1509-1564) was an influential theologian whose teachings formed the basis a wide array of newly formed churches. Chief among Calvin's theological differences from the Catholic church was his belief in predestined salvation. According to Calvin, God was absolutely sovereign in all matters of salvation, meaning that works and faith by human beings are worthless, no matter how good, without being chosen by God for salvation. Rather unintuitively, this led Calvin to preach that moral rectitude in every facet of life was of the utmost importance. Surely, if one had been chosen for salvation by God, he argued, then one had to be of the highest character and ought to show it.

The prestige of the Papacy declined significantly in the decades leading up to the Protestant Reformation. The Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, a fourteenth-century event in which popes were held in Avignon by the French King, and the Great Schism, in which two separate popes, one in Rome and one in France, were elected for several decades, both contributed negatively to the prestige of the Papacy. The Pope’s involvement in secular politics also contributed to the declining prestige of the Papacy, as it angered the rulers of Europe and inspired disdain from intellectuals. Finally, the rise of humanism put a greater emphasis on the abilities and virtues of man and less emphasis on salvation. The Italian city states were only gaining wealth in this time period, so this answer choice cannot be said to have contributed to the declining prestige of the Papacy.

The Second Vatican Council (sometimes called Vatican II) was convened in 1962 under Pope John XXIII and ended in 1965. This council was held in Vatican City and had the primary task of working to make the church and its teaching relevant in the modern era. Many of the initiatives undertaken at the council were meant to make the church more accessible to people, such as allowing the Mass to be said in languages besides Latin. Overall this council is credited with reviving and modernizing the Catholic Church and ensuring that it could stay true to its teachings and continue its mission even while the world was rapidly changing.

Jan Hus and John Wycliffe were both European religious reformers in the centuries leading up to the Protestant Reformation. Both men emphasized personal communion with God and diminished the significance of the Church as the only path to salvation.

The Roman Catholic Church had long held that there were seven sacraments that outwardly reflected inner faith. Luther disagreed and outlined in his published writings that only baptism and communion were legitimate sacraments within Lutheranism.

It is important to remember that whilst Luther was a reformer, he was not a revolutionary. Luther was actually quite attached to many aspects of the status quo. He was famously appalled by the Peasants Rebellion in Germany. His reaction to the rise of the “extremist” Millennials and Anabaptists was one of outrage and disgust. He encouraged the German princes to eradicate these denominations wherever possible.

All of these were early adopted tenets of Lutheranism except for predetermined salvation, more commonly called “predestination.” Predestination is a tenet of Calvinism that states that the fate of all men regarding their salvation or damnation is predetermined by God. It is a crucial tenet of Calvinism and one that separates from the vast majority of other denominations of Christianity.