During the 1400 and 1500s, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences. These indulgences allowed people to pay money to have their sins forgiven. How did these indulgences spark the Protestant Reformation?

Question

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People were unhappy about how expensive indulgences were so they wanted a new religion
People were committing crimes so they could get money for these indulgences
The monarchs of Europe created a campaign critiquing the sale of indulgences
Many religious scholars felt that indulgences went against the words of the bible.

Answer 1

Many religious scholars felt that indulgences went against the words of the Bible. This sparked the Protestant Reformation because these scholars began to publicly criticize the sale of indulgences and questioned the authority of the Catholic Church. They argued that forgiveness of sins should come from faith and repentance, rather than through the payment of money. These criticisms and challenges to the authority of the Church eventually led to the formation of new Protestant denominations, such as Lutheranism and Calvinism, and the overall fragmentation of Christianity in Europe.