Humanism and the Reformation

To what extent did Renaissance humanism result in the Reformation?

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51 Responses to Humanism and the Reformation

  1. Emma M says:

    I believe that the humanism, to a very large extent, resulted in the Reformation. People began to realize that they could change things by speaking out, and that others would follow them. Also, humanists began what protestant reformers prized. These were the tools that allowed them to go directly to original literary sources. This enabled reformers to be able to back up their ideas using traditional authority and the original Scripture. Humanism also played a role in the Reformation specifically in Germany. Humanists there had spread a resentment of clerical immunities and ecclesiastical abuses among German cities and towns, which provided a solid foundation for Martin Luther’s protest against indulgences and the theology that legitimated them.

    • Andrew G says:

      Humanism was a very large part of the Reformation like you said. The people in Germany used the idea of humanism greatly to make a change in the church. Since they disapproved of the clerical immunities and ecclesiastial abuses, they decided to make a change. They wanted the church to be different and focus on the well being of God, as well as the people. This was very important in the Reformation.

    • Molly says:

      I agree, and with the invention of the printing press, people could speak out and have it typed and sent out to others. This helped the rapid spread of new opinions and ideas.

  2. Andrew G says:

    Humanism showed people that people were able to make changes. They could do whatever they wanted to, within reason. People didn’t like the way the church worked. This included the selling of indulgences, nepotism, absenteeism, and the overall corruption of the church. Since the humanists drilled the idea that anyone can do whatever they felt like doing, people wanted to make a change within the church. These were people like Martin Luther. They came up with ideas for the church to follow. This is what sparked the Reformation.

    • Maggie M says:

      I agree that humanism was the first act of man to change his ideas. Instead of focusing on religion, humanists studied philosophy and believed in the great potential of human beings. People were finally learning to speak out and voice their opinions on subjects they felt strongly about! Were it not for this example, reformers like Martin Luther or John Calvin may have been left in the shadows. Without humanits like Erasmus, these great men may have never been known and died without spreading their ideas.

      • Sarah B. says:

        Also contributing to the influence these humanists, such as Erasmus, had was the printing press. This invention really allowed for the spread and circulation of new ideas. A wider audience was reached and people were able to choose for themselves what they believed in.

    • Danielle C. says:

      I definitely agree. Humanists are the ones who arose questioning upon the church and its reliability. Europeans at the time simply believed the church because they were told to do so. The large amount of illiteracy is also a factor because people weren’t educated enough to do the research and prove the church wrong. However by the time the printing press came along, more and more people began to educate themselves and humanists were in this group. It was at this point in time that they revived the works of the original scripture and compare them to the present teachings, finding the Catholic Church was not all it had cracked up to be.

    • Nick MmM says:

      I really agree with you stating that humanism showed people that they were able to make changes. Also how the corruption within the church led to questioning of the fact if the catholic church is above law and god. Because many examples in the past of their actions show that they acted like they were even though they thought not.

  3. Tori Mo says:

    Humanism played a large role into the sparking of the Reformation and throughout it as well. People begin to think for themselves and question the Latin Vulgate. Luther translated it and Valla pointed out errors in it. People began questioning the papacy there after because they added “twists” as the video said if they didn’t like something the Bible said. That was a huge way that the corruption of the Church unraveled. Luther called for Scripture authority only, which would allow the people to be told exactly what the Bible said.

    • Emma M says:

      I agree that the Latin Vulgate played a large role in the way that humanism resulted in the Reformation. Christian humanists greatly questioned its validity. These criticisms, along with new translations of the Bible, greatly undermined Catholic authority. Also, many reformers were influenced by different humanists and their teachings. For example, John Calvin was greatly influenced by Erasmus. Along with Calvin was Martin Luther, and it was once stated that “Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched.” Therefore, even certain humanists help form the ideas many reformers had.

      • Sarah B. says:

        I agree, that bringing to life the errors in the bible the Catholics relied on greatly influenced the unraveling of the corruption of the church. Because of this, more questions were asked about the church and with these questions came new beliefs. Also, this initial error in the bible led many to realize that the indulgences the church promised would guarantee you a spot in heaven were ludicrous.

      • Brian VD. says:

        iagree (a day late with bad grammarner) without humanism the reformers wouldn’t be really angry about anything because a lot of the corruption was exposed thought humanist’s works, like Erasamus’ praise of folly. without the humanists to coming to theese conclusions that the church was coorrupt reformers, like luther and calvin would not had anything to base their reforms of off

  4. Maggie M says:

    Humanism was the beginning of what you could call “rebellion” in Europe. Views on different ideas began to change for the first time, and people began to stray from original thinking.The Renaissance, which was the peak of humanism, was often marked by de-emphasis on religion and emphasis on secularism and individualism. Erasmus, one of the greatest humanists of the time, was known as having “laid the egg that Luther hatched.” Luther, one of the greatest reformers of the reformation, would not have been as well-educated or as strongly confident with his ideas had it not been for Erasmus.

    • Coby S says:

      Wow, I never thought of humanism in Europe as a kind of “rebellion”, but now that I think about it, it really was! Just as any rebellion throughout history, humanism had its leaders and it’s followers. Erasmus, Petrarch, and many other humananists of the Renaissance stretched the boundaries of what people thought of themselves and the world!

    • Tori Mo says:

      I agree that it all began as a rebellion. But as humanistic ideas spread and escalated then the Reformation really began to ignite. and as for Erasmus “laying the egg that Luther hatch” I completely agree, if not for Erasmus, what would Luther had done different? If anything at all?

    • Molly says:

      I also agree, Humanism really was a rebellion. No different than kids who wear all black, cutting their hair drastically as a way to make a statement to others. People began to think independantly and culture their own views. And like “Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched,” we all build on other people’s ideas. All ideas are like play-doh, you can mold it, and then another person can come along and add on to it to make something more appealing to their own thinking.

  5. Tori O says:

    Humanism brought forth a great belief in the importance of yourself, and I feel that it lessened the huge role of money in society. The Church did the exact opposite of this, and focused on money and less on the individual. They kind of treated the followers of the church as a sort of property. They had to pay the Church and strictly follow the Church’s rules. This was the EXACT OPPOSITE of humanist ideals. Humanism wasn’t about following every rule, but following yourself. The beginning of humanism, in my opinion, jump started the Reformation.

    • Tim F. says:

      “They kind of treated the followers of the church as a sort of property,” well, that’s just a wonderful way to put it. The funny thing is, it is completely true and heretic was a common term used by Catholics who didn’t go to church every Sunday.

    • Tori Me says:

      I completely agree Tori. Humanism was all about speaking up for yourself and going against what is expected, which is exactly what humanist thinkers of this time did. The Church expected everyone to follow their rules because that’s all that the people ever did. But once people started challenged their ideals, they didn’t know what to do. Church leaders tried to get rid of them, but people such as Luther couldn’t be stopped.

  6. Tim F. says:

    Now, this is definitely one broad question to ask. The Renaissance humanism unquestionable impacted the Reformation through many ways. The humanism focused on the individual; this alone undermined the Catholic Church authority, which tended to focus on the more broad idea. Also, the humanism focused on the vernacular and the classics. This rediscovery of the old helped the people see beyond the Catholic ideas. When people have more than one option, they tend to look at both, and that is exactly what the humanism gave the people. Basically, without humanism, there would be no Reformation.

    • Coby S says:

      Yes, I totally agree that without renaissance humanism, there would be no reformation ! It gave Europeans a sense of individualism, which later let them question the Catholic Church and what exactly they were preaching. Europeans deffinently wanted to learn exactly what was in the bible. Because of renaissance humanism, people of all social classes were beginning to read… and read ALOT due to the printing press. They were reviving the old classics and the vernacular. Now that a lot of Europeans could read, they wanted to read the bible and once they did, man were they mad at the Catholic Church! Common Europeans found out exactly what was in the bible and wanted to change the Catholic Church to what the bible was teaching. This is known as the reformation. So yes, without the renaissance humanism, the reformation would have never happened.

    • Kelly S. says:

      I couldn’t agree with you more. The Reformation would not have even occured without humanism. Humanism showed the Europeans that they were individuals and could think for themselves. This helped individuals to question not only religion, but other important matters of the time. The people then tried to successfully change many of the ways and practices of the Catholic Church, that they disliked. This is also known as the Reformation. So without the idea of humanism, the Reformation may have never happened.

    • AlecMWINTERISCOMING says:

      Awww Timur, Timur the platypus, you make nice points. In my description I went along the same path, I thought that it really was spurred by the individuality that humanism gave them. The connection that reformation wouldn’t have happened without humanism is also very interesting, and I’d go to say that it is a true statement.

      • Mark VH says:

        Agreed. You can’t really try and make too good a point by saying that they were independent. Humanistic ideas and goals really played into what the reformation was talking about and what they were trying to do, and vice versa. If there ever would have been a reformation without humanism, which is still fair to say their might have been, it would have been drastically different and not resemble the reformation that actually did happen, which is why you cannot argue that they didn’t affect one another.

    • Brian VD. says:

      agreed (late agian with bad grammananer) without looking bacj=k people would have no comparison to what life would be like with out the catholic church. because of the renassianc the “rebirth” of such knowledge put many common thoughts and practices to question. this led to the reformation which tried to solve the questions that humanism and the surge of such knowledge created.

  7. Noah F says:

    I think it led the way, the Rennisance humanism, that is, to a higher thinking and questioning of the catholic church. It gave individuals a role to question religion. It led Erasmus, Huss, and Wyclif, predisessors in my mind to Luther and Calvin, to look into the corruption of the church and question practices such as indulgences and mysteries such as purgatory. This then helped give people such as Luther a base to attack these practices wich had no backing in the bible and to him, and many others, were wrong for a “Higher Authority” to do.

    • Joshua B says:

      I could not agree more. Humanism, absolutely “gave individuals a role to question religion.” That is a great way to put it. Your religion means nothing if you don’t know what it is. Humanism gave people the ability to question there religion in order to find what they truly believed.

    • Nick MmM says:

      I really agree with the fact that humanism led the way to questioning the church and their authority. Also how lutheranism defied the church and questioned the corruption in it.

  8. Sarah B. says:

    Humanism played a large part in the Reformation. Humanism was the start of people thinking for themselves, and challenging what had previously been unquestionable. It gave the human race more credit and supported the belief that because God created us, we have potential for greatness. Whereas before, life was lived for the sole purpose of making it to heaven and obeying the church while you were alive on Earth. With these new perceptions of life and the meaning of it being surfaced more people questioned the church and the Reformation was a result of this.

    • Tori Me says:

      I could not agree with this any more. Humanism really did bring out all these new ideas with people thinking for themselves, rather than only listening to the Church. People began to find themselves more capable of discovering answers out for themselves, and not being told what to do.

  9. Joshua B says:

    Humanism was a major part of the reformation. People began to stop conforming to society and started thinking for themselves. Also, it supported the concept that the human race is great because God made us. This meant that not only priests could read the Bible, but the common man could too. This , along with the revival of Greek and Roman studies allowed people to see the corruption in the Catholic church. This lead to the Reformation.

    • Matt A says:

      I agree, I think that humanism played a large role in the reformation. This is because, as mentioned above, humanism taught people to think for themselves and to think highly of themselves. Humanism also caused lay people to be knowledgable, this helped start the reformation by lay people becoming aware of how corrupt and greedy the church was.

  10. Danielle C. says:

    Humanism definitely impacted the Reformation to the fullest extent. Yes, it had numerous causes, but the rising of humanism is what encouraged people to defy the church is the first place. Had people not acknowledged individual stability, humanists such as Martin Luther would not have begun to act. Instead of assuming the church was highest in command, Europeans were realizing that this was not the case and that they can have a say in things. The Reformation was a movement by the people before nationally and without humanisms, it would have never occurred.

    • Kelly S. says:

      I agree with you, Humanism was one of the main causes of the Reformation and contributed greatly to the movement. Without the rise of humanism, many may not have had the courage and ablity to resist the Church. If people had not resisted in the first place, then the Reformation may not have had such a large impact on Europe. So the spread of humanism greatly helped the Reformation to reach new heights and leave such a lastin gimpression on the Europeans.

  11. Matt A says:

    Humanism had a large impact in the reformation. While it did not single-handidly start the reformation it did play a large role, partly because of humanists like Martin Luther, who unintentionaly helped start the reformation. Also humanists gave the everyday people more confidence and courage to stand up to the church.

    • Caitlyn C. says:

      I agree with what you said about everyday people. I think before the humanists, the idea that a common person would question the church was ludicrous. Looking with the humanistic viewpoint, these people finally had a chance to think/speak what they felt. This new courage and ability to speak their mind helped the Reformation succeed.

      • Mark VH says:

        This is a really good and interesting point. Humanism started the questioning that eventually led to the reformation, people just switched what exactly they were asking questions about. The layman really gained a lot of influence over politics in northern Germany during this time, and this would also have gone with what you said. The German Dukes either wanted to conver to luthernism, or couldn’t afford not to convert.

  12. Heather G says:

    Humanism was probably the kindling for the fire that was the Reformation. (oh look at that metaphor oooooooooh) It laid the groundwork, basically, for people to question everything about their existence, including the Reformation and especially religion.

  13. Brendan C. says:

    Humanism opened peoples minds to the idea of change. The only thing that stands in he way of change is fear and that is what humanism counteracted. Also Humanist were usually successful and wealthy people, the common classes would have aspired to be like them furthermore lining the road towards change.

  14. Brendan C. says:

    Humanism also uncovered hidden or lost documents highliting catholic church curroption. This most likely drove people away from the catholic church and could have even influenced Martin Luther, John Hus, John Calvin, Erasmus,ect….

    • Heather G says:

      It probably did influence them, in all honesty. The writings of the time would have reached them via the printing press, thus broadening their views and allowing for deeper thought.

      • Aaron B. says:

        All of those people really influenced a lot of commoners or peasants and such lives. They were encouraged to start making their own decisions and that really began to put the church in a bad position.

  15. Tori O says:

    I like how someone said humanism was kind of like a rebellion in Europe, because in a way it really was. And the Reformation was a definite rebellion against the Catholic Church. It’s like one rebellion sparked another to start. Both were good in the sense that humanism saved the people from treating themselves badly, as they cared more about themselves, and the reformation not only saved followers of the church money, but let them actually have more faith in their religion and their God.

  16. Caitlyn C. says:

    Humanism was the first breaking away of the Catholic Church. Without it, I doubt that the Reformation would have occurred when it did and the way it did. When people finally realized they COULD think outside of the norm, they did. This resulted, eventually, in the dismissal of corruption of the church (Luther, Calvin) and the Reformation. The reformation was definitely sparked, if not caused by the humanism in the renaissance.

    • Morgan C says:

      Yes, breaking away from the church was a major part. The church controlled many of their faith’s followers mainly to get money for their own selfish purposes.

    • Melissa U says:

      I completely agree here. As soon as people realized that questioning what they were told was okay, they started applying it to everything – especially religion. Not only that, but the focus on the individual marked a rapid change in the way religion was viewed. It shifted from a mass religion to a personal connection with god, as Luther preached.

  17. Nick MmM says:

    Humanism showed people that we are able to change things in our lives. It was a defiance in the catholic church because in certain ideals humanism defied the church. This helped kick start the reformation by providing some ideals that future lutherans or protestants would like to use in their own church. Instead of assuming the church was always right new branches of religion questioned this fact and made it into a ideal that they could change and improve upon.

  18. Morgan C says:

    Humanism pretty much caused the Reformation. Humanists paved the way for Protestants. People realized they could create their own ideas and speak without restrictions. It was a big opening for humanism as humanism is about one’s personal self learning and talents. The Reformation was about people changing their perspective on life from one controlled by the church to a life controlled by themselves.

  19. AlecMWINTERISCOMING says:

    I think that the Renaissance humanism has such a big impact on the reformation. Looking at all the different groups arising, such as the Lutherans and the Calvinists, you can see that a lot of people were straying from the beaten path and choosing their own paths. This new self-thinking group of people sprouted from the philosophical thinkings of the renaissance. Like the Lutherans believed, you were your own priest.

  20. Aaron B. says:

    Humanism had a very big roal in the reformation. Humanism was the beginning of people saying that we don’t have to follow what everyone did before us. This really is the beginning of the reformation. The people of this time period really started to get information about corruption of the church and started to make their own decions on things.

  21. Melissa U says:

    Humanism definitely played a huge part in the Reformation. The study of individuals and how we exist is immediately against the catholic church. Humanism brought so many new view points into the world. Without it telling us that it’s okay to question previously held beliefs, the Reformation would not have happened. That ability to question really was a driving factor.

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