Recently, many incidents have occurred to change the way people view religion. Examples include the Holocaust and, more recently, the Branch-Davidians in Waco, Texas. Even a more spectacular event in history occurred when a group of people decided that just because everyone around them had said it was so, that did not mean that they should blindly follow this idea. The Reformation was led in three different countries by three different men who varied in the reasons for their country's need for reformation.

"The Reformation was an attempt to recover a lost golden age of primitive purity as set forth in the Bible. This search for the primitive purity led to some very impure acts by some on the quest to regain this cleanliness" (Gonzalez 31).

The origin of the word "Protestant" roots back to an event that took place nearly a half-millennium ago in April of 1529. At an assembly of political and religious leaders, a protest was read against the accustomed traditions of Roman Catholicism. The protesters, who consisted of four

The Protestant Reformation has affected the lives of those alive during this time period. Many religions have been started from the Reformation. It has also impacted the lives of millions of people today.

"As a monk, Martin Luther led a very expected solitary life" (Backman 22). He devoted himself to endless hours of contemplation of religion and the fundamental workings of all aspects of Catholicism. Nevertheless, the hours of constant meditation and study of the Bible led him to find flaws in the papal doctrine of that day. "A loyal member of the Catholic Church, he was later to shatter the structure of the medieval Catholicism. A devoted servant of the Pope, he later related the popes with the Antichrist" (Gottfried 10).

"Commencement of the Reformation was spearheaded by a German monk, Martin Luther" (Rosten 9). Born in 1483 in Eisleben, Martin Luther began his schooling in Magdeburg. "Although he led a very strict childhood, his parents used this rigid boarding only as positive re-enforcement" (Backman 19). "Martin Luther was brought up to believe in superstition mixed with Christianity, which led to his more liberal interpretation of the Bible" (Backman 19). After his initial schooling, he went on to study in many different universities across Germany. During one of his daily travels, Martin was thrown to the ground when a bolt of lightning struck near him. He interpreted this as a sign from God. At that instanc

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)