Historia 101: la Reforma protestante | National Geographic en Español

the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century shook the very foundation of Europe's cultural identity the Reformation was a revolution of religion in Western Europe essentially it was the result of centuries worth of political and social grievances against the Christian Church as it existed Christianity which began as a fledgling religion in the first

century had grown by the 13th century into an institution powerful enough to rival state governments for instance the Pope then the leader of the Christian Church had greater political and military influence than some emperors and kings this tension was exacerbated by the transformative social and intellectual period known as the Renaissance in particular this period

involved the rise of humanism a philosophy that shifted man's fate from being determined by religious doctrine to being determined by man himself additionally some within the church believed it had become increasingly corrupt priests like John Wycliffe of England and yon HUS of Bohemia challenged the church's teachings which they believed had strayed away from the Bible however

one of the most well known advocates for a reformed Christian church was a German priest named Martin Luther Martin Luther began to question the church in the early 1500s he believed it was abusing its power and disagreed with some of its practices for instance he challenged the church's doctrine that stated the Pope

not the Bible was the ultimate spiritual authority plus he criticized the church for selling indulgences the practice of purchasing forgiveness for one sins by giving money to the church Luther believed the church needed to revise its doctrine by returning to the Bible's teachings and by saying that salvation could be granted by faith in