TinselWriter – History

Discussion Assignment #3: The Reformation

Below are the questions you were asked prior to our discussion of the Reformation.  After listening to the lecture and reading the selections providedfrom the writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, your ideas about religion during the reforming period (Catholicism and Protestant traditions) may have changed. Pick two of the following five true/false questions and write a summary including your initial response and then why your opinion was changed (or confirmed). Please refer SPECIFICALLY to the sources provided in your response to questions 2, 3, and 5. Material for questions 1 and 4 will come from lecture.

1.Martin Luther was the first to call for reform of the Catholic Church which was, in the late Middle Ages, very resistant to new ideas, new faith communities, and new methods of prayer and worship. (LECTURE – Discuss Catholicism on the Eve of the Reformation and Reformers within the Catholic Church prior to Luther)

2.The early reformers, Luther and Calvin, believed that everyone who opened their hearts to Jesus and followed the Bible would achieve eternal salvation. (LECTURE; LUTHER: The Bondage of the Will, excerpt; CALVIN: Institutes of the Christian Religion – textbook, chapter 13)

3.Opposing the new ideas of Martin Luther which embraced free will, the Catholic Church rejected the idea of free will – man’s ability to improve. (LECTURE; LUTHER: Table Talk, Of Free Will)

4.The European states/kingdoms that embraced the new Protestant traditions were ones that provided an overall climate of freedom for its subjects. (LECTURE – Discuss how German politics (Holy Roman Empire), English politics, and French politics affected the success (or failure) of Protestantism in those regions.)

5.The Protestant Reformation initiated a period where churches in Europe were free of state control. (LECTURE – Discuss religious climate of Holy Roman Empire (Peace of Augsburg), England, and Switzerland after the success of the Reformation; CALVIN: Institutes of the Christian Religion – textbook, chapter 14)

THEN – Write on paragraph on the following: If Luther could be brought back to life today, what would surprise hime? What would he be proud of? What would he be ashamed of?

LUTHER: Table Talk, Of Free Will (excerpt) – Found on Pilot.

LUTHER: The Bondage of the Will (excerpt) – Found on Pilot

Citation – (Luther)

CALVIN: Institutes of the Christian Religion – Chapter 13 – Found in Textbook

CALVIN: Institutes of the Christian Religion – Chapter 14 – Found in Textbook

Citation – (Calvin)

Requirement: Three 200 word paragraphs.

Format as follows:

Copy and paste questions. Indicate your initial answer, then the correct one. Afterwords, add the paragraph with information supporting the correct answer.

Example:

Copy and paste question you choose.  My response _____; Correct response _______.

        Paragraph here . . .

Copy and paste second question you choose. My response _____; Correct response _______.

        Paragraph here . . .

If Luther could be brought back to life today, what would surprise hime? What would he be proud of? What would he be ashamed of?

        Paragraph here  . . .