The protestant reformation was established in the 16th century due to religious, political, intellectual, and cultural revolution, which focused on making changes in the Catholic Church. In central and northern Europe, reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther challenged and protested against the Church’s authority (Cantoni, Dittmar, Yuchtman, 2018). This paper will focus on the major catalysts of protestant reformation for pragmatic and historical reasons.
The major causes of the protestant reformation include economic, social, religious, and political background. The religious cases involving issues such as monk’s anger towards the Church and the church authority. As the Church continued to seek economic strength and political power, the ordinary people believed that the Church was turning non-religious and too worldly (Cantoni, Dittmar, Yuchtman, 2018). Scandalous lives and greed had led to a split between the peasants and clergy.
The political economy had begun shedding new light on the historical and comparative study of religion. The interaction between the political economy and religious competition explains the shifts in human investments and the fixed capital away from religion (Becker, Pfaff, Rubin, 2016). The protestant had higher incomes and high literacy than the Catholics, which led to the authentic onset of reformation. Humanists disliked how the Church treated the people and educated people, thus improving oneself and reasoning, which led to people questioning the church’s authority.
The invention of better printing presses that permitted more religious ideas and bible transitions also played a great role in reforming the Christian faith. Many people desired to read the Bible and rely on the Bible for various religious guides (Becker, Pfaff, Rubin, 2016). Christians continued to put into practice the needed reforms as stated by Martin Luther King. For instance, they began reading the Bible in their language and understood how the Catholic Church has begun leading the Christian faith to become corrupt.
The protestant reformation’s main aim was to change the practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. The religious, political, social, and economic aspects led to a convergence of factors that created a growing need to reform the Church. The protestant reformation shows the causes of institutional change regarding variations in human capital, media market competition, economic development, and political economy.
References
Becker, S. O., Pfaff, S., & Rubin, J. (2016). Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation. Explorations in Economic History, 62, 1-25.
Cantoni, D., Dittmar, J., & Yuchtman, N. (2018). Religious competition and reallocation: The political economy of secularization in the protestant reformation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(4), 2037-2096.
