Lutheranism and Zwinglianism Essay Example for Free

Lutheranism and Zwinglianism Essay The Catholic Church reformation can be attributed to personal motives which were supported by political influence and gains. For instance Lutheranism was introduced by Martin Luther because he was against the indulgence act that the Catholic Church perpetuated and used to raise charitable funds to build and maintain their churches. Luther was raised in a middle class family thus was able to enjoy economic benefits such as attending school. This fact made him win over the crowd by demanding for their attention and sympathy . The spread of the Zwinglianism religion can also be attributed to the personal benefits that Zwingli was seeking. Zwingli a catholic clergy was against the celibacy and chastity vows because he had more than once had sexual relationships with women that were his concubines. Therefore, he demanded a change to the doctrines and principles of the Catholic Church to allow marriage of the clergy to curb the immoral vices they practiced . Gustav vas a the Swedish King perpetuated the spread of the Lutheranism religion when he dominated the national church in Diet of Vasteras by controlling all the church possessions, church appointments and demanded Lutheranism to be taught in churches and schools. Furthermore, the Denmark King Fredrick 1 protected Lutheran followers, reformers and preachers from persecution . Denmark had Catholic followers who excommunicated Lutheran believers however Lutheranism gained a strong hold in Denmark when Christian Fredrick’s son, a Lutheran follower, won the king’s throne after the civil war and thus fully supported Lutheranism. On the other hand the Grand council of Zurich favored Zwingli who perpetuated the spread of Zwinglianism over the Catholic councils thus managed to influence Switzerland to practice Zwinglianism. Furthermore, the Zurich community supported Zwingli a fact that influenced the decision of The Grand council because they wanted to maintain political favor of the Zurich community . Word Count: 303 Bibliography Bruening, W. Michael. 2006. Calvinisms First Battleground: Conflict and Reform in the Pays De Vaud, 1528-1559. Warren, MI: Springer.