Thesis Statement: These key religious reforming events are those that shaped the world for better and for worse from the 14th to the 19th centuries. The Reformation was full of wars and inventions that many never had. seen before, affecting religious and social political systems in positive and negative ways. The first event of the Reformation was the printing press. The printing press allowed the circulation of the Bible, sparking the spread of Christianity and Catholics. The printing press was established by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. Before the printing press, the Bible had to be printed by hand, which meant that copies had to be written word for word. Because they had to be written word for word, only important people, such as popes and other religious leaders, had them. Therefore, everyone would gather somewhere and listen to the one man who had the Bible preach the word. This prevented some from learning the word due to the language barrier. At the time, all printed Bibles were in the Latin language. So they had a translator and copies of the Bible in many other languages. The technological advantages of the 15th century allowed the word to spread throughout Europe, serving as a catalyst for the reforming leaders of the 16th century. Martin Luther is the creator of the 95 theses which constitute a major document of the Reformation. The 95 theses “protest against the sale of indulgences and clerical abuses”. Indulgences state that one can pay for sins committed, as well as sins that will be committed in the future. Even though the 95 Theses reject indulgence, they state that you can be renewed by Christ and that you can be baptized to do so. Luther argued that Christians were wronged and deceived in the... middle of document ... the 95 theses reject the reality of indulgences, believe you can be baptized and renewed in Christ. Ulrich Zwingli was another important man because he brought about the demise of Catholicism and started a war with the Roman authorities. Henry VIII was known not only for killing all of his wives, but also for the Reformation in England where he declared that he would be the sole authority in the Church. Henry VIII established himself as the authority of the Church to be able to remarry. Before this, the Pope would not allow it, making Henry the sole authority in the English churches. The Council of Trent fought to help Martin Luther and the rest of the reformers. Counter-Reformers and the Catholic Church fought to become more spiritual, more learned, and more learned. Jackson Spielvogel. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 1,040 pages. Chapter Overview