The True Renaissance

What is True Renaissance?

Image Source - http://www.truerenaissance.org

Category :European History

The Renaissance was an improvement to society that involved the building of bridges, art, and architecture. This includes various icons that are historically famous for their artworks, such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, who created paintings and developed science. However, those were both humanists who were devout Catholics. It was really the Reformation that occurred during the Renaissance that changed the face of Europe.

The Renaissance is known to be the period in which art, literature, and architecture spread throughout Europe. Most of the attention was given to these particular artists: Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Raphael. Despite how great they were at creating artworks and designing buildings, their work was not the pivotal point of the Renaissance movement. Historians often study people like them in being known for the rebuilding of Western Civilization, which is also the opinion that is given by Catholic scholars. Since those three were devout Catholics, Roman Catholicism often places them as the center of this movement, but they tend to leave out much history that really took place during that time.

We should realize that it was not the Roman Catholic Church that rebuilt Western Civilization.

It was actually the Protestant Reformation that changed the face of Europe back then. While Da Vinci and Michelangelo were actually humanists in their developments of science, Raphael took part in the selling of indulgences that Martin Luther discovered about the Catholic Church when writing the 95 Theses. The Catholic Church, which is a system that was renounced by Luther and his writings, was discovered not to be the first church but the first institute of religious worship. Luther started out as a German monk inside a Catholic monastery but is known for abandoning almost all of the church's teachings. After he nailed the 95 theses on the bishop's door, he would become excommunicated by the Pope and had to undergo a trial at the Diet of Worms. When Pope Bull demanded Luther to recant his writings, he refused by saying "here I stand" to remain faithful to his oath against them. Pope Bull believed that he had the authority to have Luther put to death, but hundreds of knights were there to defend Luther as his fortress. What would put the Pope in a position that is similar to the judicial branch?

While Charles V was the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, Pope Bull must have had a relevant connection to him in being able to make such a heinous decision. That would involve both of them in what is called the word "Hierarchy," a system that is not only part of the Roman Empire but part of a religious union with the world's governments. The Hierarchy is full of different branches involving cardinals, deacons, bishops, and priests that elect a pope to be head of the state along with the emperor. Ever since Constantine was put in power, the Holy Roman Emperor was thought to be a reconciled part of what the Roman Government was before, but it was still having people killed who disobeyed them. History should know that there were multitudes of Christians who were wiped out by the Catholic Church way before the Reformation would take place, just like Pope Bull was threatening to kill Luther. But there was much work for Luther to accomplish after the Diet of Worms, including having the bible translated across Europe, the construction of churches being built, and discovering more about what was wrong with that system.

The mass was believed to turn into the real body and blood of Christ for centuries by Catholic apologetics, but Luther had stated that "through faith alone" we may be justified, and that God's suffering on the cross is made sufficient. So there was much more that would take place during the Renaissance than creative artists, especially the changes that Martin Luther made to western society, along with others who contributed to the Reformation, such as John Calvin and Zwingli.

TAGS : Luther Reformation Renaissance