Discussion for Assignment : The Protestant Reformation

Sections A: What if anything did you know about the Protestant Reformation prior to this class? Were you aware of how much control the Roman Catholic Church had over your daily life in the Middle Ages?

(often referred to as the Dark Ages). If you were to describe what the Protestant Reformation looked like in your mind, what do you see?

Please write 1-2 fully developed paragraphs to answer these questions.

Consider this example: if I lived in the Middle Ages and I wanted to know how many teeth are inside a horse's mouth, I would go to my local priest and ask him this question. Whatever information he told me would be the authority figure I would listen to (and obey).

After the Protestant Reformation, if I had these same questions, I would instead investigate for myself by walking into the barn, open the horse's mouth (very carefully of course) and count the teeth. (My version of scientific inquiry).

While this is a simplistic example, consider how much the Catholic Church dominated all aspects of a person's life.

Section B: What are your impressions of the video on Martin Luther? How would US history have been affected if we did not have Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation? Why was this reformation necessary in the first place? Compare and contrast some of the differences between a Protestant Church vs. a Catholic Church.

Please write 1-2 fully developed paragraphs to answer these questions.

Section C: What are four things you found interesting in the American Yawp chapter? In 1-2 paragraphs, reflect on the things that caught your attention in the readings.

Note: We are only going to focus on history events with regard to religion, we will NOT get into religious arguments, argue verses from the Bible or other theological discussions. Just look at how the impact of religion affected US history.