The beginning of the Reformation is recognized by historians as the Ninety-Five Theses promulgated by Martin Luther in 1517, and it can also be said that The Lutheranism founded by Martin Luther was the first Protestant denomination against Catholicism. Later Calvin established a theocratic republic in Switzerland to propagate Calvinist ideas, and soon Calvinism spread far beyond Lutheranism and became the spokesman for Protestantism. Before analyzing, let's take a look at what the two denominations have in common in order to better understand.
Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses
First, both elevate the status of scripture as the supreme authority. Any believer can receive God's will by simply praying, without the involvement of the clergy. This is also a major killer of Protestantism (Both Calvinism and Lutheranism are Protestants, just different factions of Protestantism) against Catholicism, weakening the role of the Church.
Second, Calvinism also subscribes to the Lutheran Protestant doctrine of "justification by faith." The basic doctrine of Christianity is original sinism, and man cannot save himself, but can only rely on God's grace and redemption, but Protestantism believes that salvation lies not in man's merit, but in God's gift; not in obedience to the canons of the church, but in faith in God.
Third, simplification of rituals is another feature of Protestantism. Because salvation is made with faith, religious rituals naturally diminish. Of the seven rites of the Catholic Church, only two are preserved by both denominations: baptism and communion. For both of these sacraments are clearly recorded in the Bible.
Fourth, both are opposed to idolatry. Catholics use holy relics to defraud money, causing corruption in the church, so Protestantism opposes idolatry and holy relics, and only requires believers to believe in God, pray, and achieve spiritual contact with God.
Fifth, cancel mass. Mass is a fixed set of religious rituals that pray in Latin. Luther himself translated the Bible into German, and prayer began to be used in various national languages and dialects, so that Protestant ideas spread more widely.
Mass
So why did the Calvinist Church come to the fore? The core doctrine of Calvinism is "predestination", and it is an extreme double predestination, which holds that the salvation and abandonment of man are absolutely determined by God. What is the judgment that you are God's darling and outcast? That's wealth. Predestination holds that the amount of wealth determines whether you are blessed by God or not. At that time, it was the primitive stage of capitalist development, and this doctrine greatly stimulated the desire of the broad masses of the people to make money, and a large number of bourgeoisie joined Calvinism, and Calvinism also allowed many European people to actively explore the unknown overseas world, venture overseas, discover new continents, and obtain many riches. In this way, more and more rich people joined Calvinism, and it was the bourgeoisie that determined the direction of European history, so Calvinism naturally increased its influence, and Lutheranism betrayed the people, turned to the princes, lost many believers, and natural influence could not be compared with Calvinism. It can be said that the "predestination theory" is the biggest magic weapon that Calvinism can win.
Calvin Predestination
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