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Reformation
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{{Short description|16th-century movement in Western Christianity}} {{other uses}} {{Use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Reformation}} {{Protestantism}} {{Christianity}} The '''Reformation''', also known as the '''Protestant Reformation''', the '''European Reformation''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Alstair |title=European Reformation: 1500–1610 (Heinemann Advanced History): 1500–55 |date=2002 |publisher=Heinemann Educational |isbn=0-435-32710-0}}</ref> was a time of major [[Theology|theological]] movement in [[Western Christianity]] in 16th-century [[Europe]] that posed a religious and political challenge to the [[papacy]] and the authority of the [[Catholic Church]]. Towards the end of the [[Renaissance]], the Reformation marked the beginning of [[Protestantism]]. It is considered one of the events that signified the end of the [[Middle Ages]] and the beginning of the [[early modern period]] in Europe.{{sfn|Davies|1996|p=291}} The Reformation is usually dated from [[Martin Luther]]'s publication of the ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' in 1517, which gave birth to [[Lutheranism]]. Prior to Martin Luther and other [[Protestant Reformers]], there were [[Proto-Protestantism|earlier reform movements]] within Western Christianity. The end of the Reformation era is disputed among modern scholars. In general, the Reformers argued that [[justification (theology)|justification]] was [[sola fide|based on faith in Jesus alone]] and not both faith and [[good works]], as in the Catholic view. In the Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed view, good works were seen as fruits of living faith and part of the process of [[sanctification in Christianity|sanctification]].<ref name="Bray2021">{{cite book |last1=Bray |first1=Gerald |title=Anglicanism |date=3 March 2021 |publisher=Lexham Press |isbn=978-1-68359-437-6 |language=en|quote=The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the central teaching of the Lutheran Reformation and is fully accepted by Anglicans.}}</ref><ref name="Harstad1997">{{cite web |last1=Harstad |first1=Adolph L. |title=Justification Through Faith Produces Sanctification |url=https://els.org/resources/document-archive/convention-essays/essay1997-harstad/ |publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |date=10 May 2016}}</ref> Protestantism also introduced new [[ecclesiology]]. The general points of theological agreement by the different Protestant groups have been more recently summarized as the [[Three solae|three ''solae'']], though various Protestant denominations disagree on doctrines such as the nature of the [[real presence of Christ in the Eucharist]], with Lutherans accepting a corporeal presence and the [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed]] accepting a spiritual presence.<ref name="Bente2021">{{cite book |last1=Bente |first1=Friedrich |title=Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church |date=2 December 2021 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5-04-061695-4 |language=en |quote=In fact Calvin must be regarded as the real originator of the second controversy on the Lord's Supper between the Lutherans and the Reformed}}</ref><ref name="Nevin2012">{{cite book |last1=Nevin |first1=John Williamson |title=The Mystical Presence: And The Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord's Supper |date=19 April 2012 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-61097-169-0 |page=xxviii |language=en |quote=In ''The Mystical Presence'' Neven maintained that John Calvin, the foremost architect of Reformed doctrine, included the real spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist.}}</ref> The spread of [[Gutenberg's printing press]] provided the means for the rapid dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The initial movement in Saxony, Germany, diversified, and nearby other reformers such as the Swiss [[Huldrych Zwingli]] and the French [[John Calvin]] developed the [[Continental Reformed Protestantism|Continental Reformed]] tradition. Within a Reformed framework, [[Thomas Cranmer]] and [[John Knox]] led the [[English Reformation|Reformation in England]] and the [[Scottish Reformation|Reformation in Scotland]], respectively, giving rise to Anglicanism and Presbyterianism.<ref name="NullYates2017">{{cite book |last1=Null |first1=Ashley |last2=Yates III |first2=John W. |title=Reformation Anglicanism (The Reformation Anglicanism Essential Library, Volume 1): A Vision for Today's Global Communion |date=14 February 2017 |publisher=Crossway |isbn=978-1-4335-5216-8 |language=en|quote=Therefore, Cranmer fully integrated justificton ''sola fide et sola gratia'' into the doctrine and worship of the Church of Englan. His "Homily on Salvation" taught these principles to every parish in the country on a regular basis. Several of the Articles of Religion make the Protestant understanding of justification normative for Anglican doctrine (Articles 9-14, 17, 22).}}</ref><ref name="González1987">{{cite book |last1=González |first1=Justo L. |title=A History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation to the twentieth century |date=1987 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-17184-2 |language=en|quote=It is clear that, in rejecting Roman Catholic doctrine on this point, Cranmer has also rejected Luther's views and adopted Calvin's position. The sacrament is not merely a symbol of what takes place in the heart, but neither is it the physical eating of the body of Christ. This must be so, because the body of Christ is in heaven and therefore our participation in it can only be spiritual. Only the believers are the true partakers of the body and blood of Christ, for the unbelievers eat and drink no more than bread and wine—and condemnation upon themseves, for the profanation of the Lord's Table. These views are reflected in the Thirty-nine articles, of which the twenty-eighth says that "the Body of the Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavently and spiritual manner. The next article says of the wicked that "in no wise are they partakers of Christ," although "to their condemnation [they] do eat and rink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." This marked Calvinistic influence would prove very significant for the history of Christianity in England during the seventeenth century}}</ref><ref name="Fortson2017">{{cite book |last1=Fortson III |first1=S. Donald |title=The Presbyterian Story: Origins & Progress of a Reformed Tradition, 2nd Edition |date=4 December 2017 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-3817-6 |page=117 |language=en |quote=in Scotland the story was a striking contrast as a national Sottish Presbyterian Church was the outcome. The Reformation in Sotland, in manifold ways, was the by-product of Herculean efforts by John Knox, "the Father of Presbyterianism."}}</ref> The period also saw the rise of non-Catholic denominations with quite different theologies and politics to the [[Magisterial Reformers]] (Lutherans, Reformed, and Anglicans): so-called [[Radical Reformers]] such as the various [[Anabaptists]], who sought to return to the practices of early Christianity.<ref name="Shah2016"/><ref name="Cremeens2018"/>{{sfn|Pettegree|2000b|p=242}} The [[Counter-Reformation]] comprised the Catholic response to the Reformation, with the [[Council of Trent]] clarifying ambiguous or disputed Catholic positions and abuses that had been subject to critique by reformers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026564/Counter-Reformation|title=Counter Reformation|date=9 October 2023 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]}}</ref> The consequent [[European wars of religion]] saw the deaths of between seven and seventeen million people.
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