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Definition: Reformation from Collins English Dictionary

n

1 a religious and political movement of 16th-century Europe that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches


Reformation

From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
While many movements in Christian history have been called ‘Reformations’, the simple term ‘Reformation’ almost invariably denotes the seismic change in western European Christianity in the sixteenth century. That process of change ended the medieval vision of a unitary transnational Church led by the Roman papacy . It divided European Churches and their colonial offshoots between the Catholic Church and the many, diverse strands of Protestantism . It inaugurated fundamental changes in the liturgies and polities of European Christianity, driven by theological principles and imperatives. Despite putative ‘forerunners’ of the Reformation, the main story begins with the theological struggles and insights of M. Luther , Augustinian eremite and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Electoral Saxony. Like many others of his time, Luther wrestled with the theological dilemma of how a righteous God could save sinners, given the demanding example set by Jesus in the NT. In…
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Full text Article Reformation

From Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable
The period 1536-47 in the reign of Henry VIII marked the beginning of the Reformation in Ireland with the enactment, by the Parliament in Dublin ( see REFORMATION PARLIAMENT ), of the Act of Supremacy and a law ordering the DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES . It was not, however, until the reigns of…
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Full text Article Reformation

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Sixteenth-century European movement that sought reform of the Catholic Church and resulted in the development of Protestantism . More than a revolt against the ecclesiastical and doctrinal authority of the Church, it also represented a protest by theologians and scholars against the interference of…
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Full text Article REFORMATION

From Global Dictionary of Theology
Some fifteen years after he had posted the 95 Theses, Martin Luther could look back on the course of the Protestant Reformation and attribute its success solely to its recovery of the doctrine of * justification by faith alone: “Wyclif and Hus fought only against the life [morals] of the pope, but…
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Full text Article Reformation

From Encyclopedia of American Religious History
Also known as: Protestant Reformation The Reformation refers to a series of extraordinary religious and social changes that occurred in western Europe in the 16th century. During that period, Christian leaders who were attempting to reform the church led successful revolts against the authority of…
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Full text Article Reformation

From Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Full text Article A-Z Entries
A religious movement led by diverse Christian reformers in Europe that fractured Christian unity, producing Protestant and Catholic denominations and creating widespread religious conflict for over a century. A heightened sense of spiritual anxiety and a profound fear about the coming of the…
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Full text Article Reformation

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
religious revolution that took place in Western Europe in the 16th cent. It arose from objections to doctrines and practices in the medieval church (see Roman Catholic Church ) and ultimately led to the freedom of dissent (see Protestantism ). The preparation for the movement was long. Opponents of…
| 2,636 words
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Full text Article Reformation

From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
While many movements in Christian history have been called ‘Reformations’, the simple term ‘Reformation’ almost invariably denotes the seismic change in western European Christianity in the sixteenth century. That process of change ended the medieval vision of a unitary transnational Church led by…
| 1,912 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Reformation

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Break with Roman Catholicism and the establishment of Protestant churches in the 16th century. Though reformers such as Jan Hus and John Wycliffe attacked abuses in the Roman Catholic church in the late medieval period, the Reformation is usually dated from 1517, when, according to tradition, Martin…
| 207 words
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Full text Article Reformation

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
The Protestant reform movements in the Christian Church, inspired by and derived from Martin Luther , John Calvin , and others in 16c Europe. A complex phenomenon, various factors are common to all reforms: a Biblical revival and translation of the Word of God into the vernacular; an improvement in…
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Full text Article Reformation.

From The Oxford Companion to British History
Although ‘reform’ means many things, ‘the Reformation’ always denotes the 16th-cent. division of Latin Christendom into protestant and catholic. *protestantism rejected the catholic belief that salvation comes through grace received in the sacraments and other rites of the traditional church; it…
| 1,130 words
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