Initial Statements: The following introduction is an excerpt from an expansive project I am working on regarding the scope of government in the plight of the Reformers, English Puritans, and the American Revolutionaries. Throughout my discourse on the Reformation, the following articles will in no way look to glorify the Reformers but look at their actions, beliefs, and motivations in a purely objective sense.
The Protestant Reformation sought out to revitalize and return Christian piety back to its original form. Reformation era scholars and theologians, who saw the ills of the Catholic Church, presented their arguments for reform not by advocating for the ratification of revolutionary doctrines, but, rather, these radical reformers embarked on a mission to elevate the forgotten doctrines of the past. Much like Christ’s methodical elevation of the Jewish law presented in The Sermon on the Mount, the Reformers wanted to get to the heart of the issue rather than merely correcting immoral behavior. Yet, before the Reformers could get to the heart of any individual, they had to remove the veil that hid the eternal souls of millions from the truth of the gospel, so they believed. This veil was none other than the most powerful institution in western civilization, the Catholic Church.
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