Emily Hotchkiss
1/1/16
Chapter 15 –
Cultural Transformations
Throughout the
chapter Strayer keep the same emphasis on the cultural exchange in Europe. He
then goes on to further talk about how religion has affected the culture and
ultimately put people on the path to salvation. Additionally, the introduction
of the German priest, Martin Luther publicly invited debate about various
abuses within the Roman Catholic Church. People then used Martin Luther’s ideas
to justify a revolution; which led to protestanism. However, the protestant
movements offered little opportunity to women during this time. During this
time the printing press was also invented which led to bibles being produced on
mass scales and individual people being able to carry a bible and read and
interpret the word of God rather than listen to it. This then spread the word
of Luther’s 95 theses, which had a revolutionary impact on the role of women,
the power of the written word, a century of religious warfare, the peace of
Westphalia and the Catholic counter reform. The protestant formers often
fostered religious individualism because people were encouraged to do their own
thinking about the Church and what scriptures and other things meant to
themselves rather than what they were told to think about it. Additionally, in
years that followed some people used the skepticism and independent thinking against
all conventional religion. Therefore, the Protestant Reform opened some space
for new directions in European intellectual life.
When reading
about the history and the events that played out, I can’t help but wonder how
different things would be if one part of history hadn’t occurred or happened in
a different way. What if Martin Luther decided not to post his 95 theses on the
door of the church and kept it to himself instead? I am assuming other revolutionary
things would have happened however; the outcome would be significantly different.
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