The History Of The Protestant Reformations Theology Religion Essay

The Scientific Revolution began in Europe towards the end of the Renaissance times and continued throughout the 16th century or as one can say the Enlightenment. The Scientific Revolution led people to questioning the church, which led up to the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was a huge impact on what had led to the Protestant Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church soon had split into two sects which was Catholics and Protestants. And soon the Roman Catholic Church grew weaker as the Protestants gained more followers. There were many scientists who made a huge impact during the Scientific Revolution such as Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler. They proved the Roman Catholic Church wrong and that the church was not infallible (John, 7-16) Born in Poland on the 19th of February 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer and mathematician who changed people's view of the universe. Copernicus had discovered that the sun was the center of the universe and the planets revolved around it. As for the Catholic Church, they have said that Copernicus was wrong and that earth was the center of the universe. Many people including the church, believed in the geocentric model which is the belief that the earth is the center of the universe. But when Copernicus had discovered the heliocentric model, in which the sun is the center of the universe, it slowly started to replace the geocentric theory. Soon the heliocentric model began to gain popularity because more technology came to prove that Copernicus's theory was true (Rabin).

Then came the man known as Johannes Kepler. Born on December 27th, 1571 he was a German mathematician and astronomer who discovered that the Earth and planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits. He was able to prove and have evidence that the sun was the center of the universe. He was able to back up and prove Copernicus's theory by using math. He was also able to discover the planetary motion and how the planets revolved around the sun. Kepler not only proved that the sun was e center of the universe and the planets orbited around it, but he also discovered and what is now known as Keplers laws of planetary motion. And that is three scientific laws describing the orbital motion of planets around the sun. Kepler did not go to the Catholic Church and prove them wrong, that all came along from the famous man known as Galileo galilee (Westman) Galileo Galilee had a major role in the scientific revolution. Born and raised in Italy, Galileo was an astronomer, philosopher, mathematician, and a scientist. Galileo had the same ideas and theories as Copernicus and Kepler. He wanted to prove to the Roman Catholic Church that they were wrong about the geocentric theory and that the church is not infallible. Galileo discovered the telescope in 1609. It helped him to confirm and prove his beliefs in the Copernican system. At first, Copernicus's theory was a hypothesis not the truth. Although the church never opposed Galileo's ideas, Galileo had a bad temper and sarcastic manner and he decided not to listen and argue with the church and pope. Galileo broke the agreement of 1616 and still taught people his Copernican theory so the Roman Catholic hierarchy and advisors banned and confiscated Galileo's monument work. Not only had that but also put him on lifetime house arrest by the holy office in 1633. Galileo had gotten himself in trouble by teaching that the heliocentric theory was a fact, although at the time it was still a hypothesis (Machamer). The Protestant Reformation had all started by the man named Martin Luther. Luther was born in Eisleben and was a very smart, religious man. Luther felt the Catholic Church was becoming far from the Bible and the real reason behind religion. The church had gotten too greedy, gave favors, and manipulated religion. So the Protestant movement wanted to go back to the roots of religion and worship. When King Henry joined the Protestants, this all led to the Church of England. When Luther found out the church had been selling indulgences, he knew it has gone too far. Luther was sick and tired of the church ripping people off, lying to them, and taking their money. Luther was not afraid to stand up to the church or the pope and he was very crude and he had no trouble talking to people who opposed or was against him. On October 31, 1517 Luther posted on a church door in Wittenburg, his famous 95 theses. He just wanted the church to clean up their act, but the church refused and did not want to. The church basically laughed at him but the people didn't. The church was mad, but people followed Luther and they became known as Lutherans. The pope ordered Luther to give up his beliefs but instead Luther burned the order in front of a cheering crowd and was excommunicated by Leo X. By then, Luther went into hiding and translated the New Testament into German, making it possible for more people to read the bible. When Luther had translated the bible, it helped spread making the Protestants bigger and more powerful (Kreis). Soon the Roman Catholic Church had split into two sects known as Catholics and Protestants. The scientists and Luther had major roles in the Scientific Revolution and the Protestant Reformation. They, unlike others weren't afraid to express their feelings and opinions and they would talk and argue back with the church. The Scientific Revolution brought a change in the way scientists describe the universe and the place within it. The discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, and physics also contributed to the shift in how humans view the world. Also, it led to conflicts with long-held beliefs, from both scientific and religious (Kreis).