an essay

[grens]

i figured this is the most appropriate section to post this in.

im in college and have an art major. as a gen. ed. class i need to take a few history classes. for my one history class i need to do an essay and i was wondering if anyone could help me out with a few things.

i need to do an essay on the reformation. about the 2 different paths that were created as a result of the differences between martin luther and john calvin. i need to compare and contrast the 2 philosophical positions toward the catholic and church.

i was wondering if anyone could help clarify the difference between luther and calvin's positions. i know that calvin followed luthers actions but expanded and some other little things but...

im not a very good history student, i dont have a nac for it. if anyone could help, even a little bit, that would be great. thanks

[rasputin]

Both were reformists from the Renaissance Era, which basically achieved religious diversity, starting in the Italian city states. New values of Individualism, Humanism and Secular Spirt were created and practiced.

Martin Luther (a monk) found the church corrupt, saying the popes live with women and have illegitimate children. He also said the clergy was corrupt in the sense that they ignore the vows of being clergymen (poverty, chastity, etc.). Luther rebelled against the Catholic church over these two ideas primarily.

Martin Luther said the organization of the Catholic church was corrupt and that theology was wrong. According to the church, truth came from tradition and the Bible could only be interpreted by the clergy. Luther said the Bible should be the only sense of truth and that anyone could read and interpret the Bible. He also translated the Bible into German. This started a religious reformation.

John Calvin thought the church's organization was nonsense and unnecessary and said it should be organized either on a regional level (Presbyterian - led by Laymen and Clergymen) or a congregational level (independent and also led by Laymen and Clergymen).

His beliefs on Theology were quite extensive (taken from my old history notebook):
Causation - he said the New/Old Testament Gods are incompatible and he sided with the wrathful Old Testament God.
Universe - the universe is propelled by God's purpose but has a struggle between good and evil residing in it.
Man - man is a paradox punished for original sin. Man is a sinner but some men are elected to be saved.
Ideal Society - His ideal society was a Theocracy (government ruled by God).

The rest of the common stuff can be found on Wikipedia or something.

[grens]

awesome...youre a life saver

[grens]

wait so the 2 different paths that the paper says i need are basically the same. just one thats more elaborate and thoughtout and built upon?

[rasputin]

wait so the 2 different paths that the paper says i need are basically the same. just one thats more elaborate and thoughtout and built upon?

Basically Martin Luther had a less in-depth approach with how Catholicism should work and didn't think as much into it as Calvin did. Primarily, both had the same belief that the organization and theocracy of the church was wrong at the time, and because they were Renaissance men (longed to learn as much about everything as possible) they decided to rebel and start spin-offs, so to speak.

Martin Luther is the guy that brought the Bible to the other countries, with first translating it to German (his native tongue), then with the help of the printing press, he was able to spread the word of the Bible to all areas of Europe.

[larcain]

You might want to look up Luther's 99 "statements" and Calvins beliefs on predestination.

[grens]

Both were reformists from the Renaissance Era, which basically achieved religious diversity, starting in the Italian city states. New values of Individualism, Humanism and Secular Spirt were created and practiced.

Martin Luther (a monk) found the church corrupt, saying the popes live with women and have illegitimate children. He also said the clergy was corrupt in the sense that they ignore the vows of being clergymen (poverty, chastity, etc.). Luther rebelled against the Catholic church over these two ideas primarily.

Martin Luther said the organization of the Catholic church was corrupt and that theology was wrong. According to the church, truth came from tradition and the Bible could only be interpreted by the clergy. Luther said the Bible should be the only sense of truth and that anyone could read and interpret the Bible. He also translated the Bible into German. This started a religious reformation.

John Calvin thought the church's organization was nonsense and unnecessary and said it should be organized either on a regional level (Presbyterian - led by Laymen and Clergymen) or a congregational level (independent and also led by Laymen and Clergymen).

His beliefs on Theology were quite extensive (taken from my old history notebook):
Causation - he said the New/Old Testament Gods are incompatible and he sided with the wrathful Old Testament God.
Universe - the universe is propelled by God's purpose but has a struggle between good and evil residing in it.
Man - man is a paradox punished for original sin. Man is a sinner but some men are elected to be saved.
Ideal Society - His ideal society was a Theocracy (government ruled by God).

The rest of the common stuff can be found on Wikipedia or something.


i was wondering if you knew what textbook and all the info on it so i could use it in my bibliography

[rasputin]

i was wondering if you knew what textbook and all the info on it so i could use it in my bibliography

All of this information that I gave was based on lecture when I was doing undergrad studies. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with any good books pertaining to this topic because I've never had to research it myself.

[grens]

ok oh, no problem. thanks again