How role did the papacy and the Renaissance play in the advent of the Protestant Reformation?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
In 1500 the papacy, the central government of Latin Christianity, held an unrivaled position as Europe’s preeminent religious and intellectual authority, although lax clerical standards and corruption were endemic. Recovered from a period when competing popes supported by rival secular rulers disputed control of the church, popes now exercised greater power, which was funded by larger donations and by income from the church’s enormous real estate holdings. The construction of fifty-four new churches and other buildings in Rome demonstrated the church’s power and showcased the artistic Renaissance then under way. The church leadership intended the size and splendor of the magnificent new Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome to glorify God, display the skill of Renaissance artists and builders, and enhance the standing of the papacy, but the vast expense of its construction and rich decoration also caused scandal. The skillful overseer of the design and financing of the Saint Peter’s Basilica was Pope Leo X (r. 1513–1521), a member of the wealthy Medici family of Florence, famous for its patronage of the arts. Pope Leo’s artistic taste was superb and his personal life free from scandal, but he was more a man of action than a spiritual leader. During his papacy the church aggressively raised funds through the sale of indulgences—a forgiveness of the punishment due for past sins. A young professor of sacred scripture, Martin Luther (1483–1546), saw this practice and other excesses as intolerably corrupt. As the result of a powerful religious experience, Luther had forsaken money and marriage for a monastic life of prayer, self-denial, and study. In his religious quest, he found personal consolation in a passage in Saint Paul’s Epistle stating that salvation resulted from religious faith, not from “doing certain things.” That passage led Luther to object to the way preachers emphasized giving money to the church more than they emphasized faith.