Spread of the Protestant Reformation (1520s–1530s)

Sola fide

Justification by faith alone, not works. A foundational idea unifying early Protestant reformers.

Sola scriptura

The Bible, not church hierarchy, is the final authority, allowing for personal interpretation.

Magistral Protestants

Believed in a Christian state protected by secular authority (e.g., Luther, Zwingli, Calvin).

Protestant Sects

Broke more completely with church-state structures, emphasizing separation (e.g., Anabaptists).

Ulrich Zwingli

A key reformer associated with Zurich, who advocated for a minimalist church and held a symbolic view of the Eucharist.

Transubstantiation

The Catholic belief that bread/wine become Christ's body/blood, conferring grace.

Consubstantiation

Luther's belief in the real presence of Christ *in, with, and under* the bread/wine, without transubstantiation.

Zwingli's view of Eucharist

Symbolic/figural, meaning no real presence of Christ and no grace conferred.

Anabaptists

Radical reformers who rejected infant baptism, emphasized adult baptism, and sought social/political reform.

Münster Rebellion

A radical episode (1534–1535) where militant Anabaptists established a theocracy, which was later brutally suppressed.

John Calvin

A French reformer associated with Geneva, who systematized Protestant thought with his *Institutes of the Christian Religion*.

Predestination (Calvinism)

The belief that God determined salvation/damnation before time, with individuals inwardly moved by grace to live upright lives (the elect) or predisposed to sin (the damned).

Huguenots

Calvinists in France.

Puritans

Calvinists in England seeking further reform of the Church of England.

Presbyterians

Calvinists in Scotland/England.

Sola fide

Justification by faith alone, not works.

Sola scriptura

The Bible, not church hierarchy, is the final authority, allowing personal interpretation.

Protestant

Originally Luther's followers (Lutherans), later broadened to all groups breaking from Rome.

Magistral Protestants

Believed in a Christian state protected by secular authority (e.g., Luther, Zwingli, Calvin).

Protestant Sects

Broke more completely with church-state structures, emphasizing separation (e.g., Anabaptists).

Ulrich Zwingli

Reform figure in Zurich; advocated for a minimalist church and held a symbolic view of the Eucharist.

Transubstantiation

Catholic belief that bread/wine become Christ's body/blood, conferring grace.

Consubstantiation

Luther's belief in the real presence of Christ in, with, and under the bread/wine, but no transubstantiation.

Anabaptists

Radical reformers who rejected infant baptism, emphasized adult baptism, and sought social/political reform.

Münster Rebellion (1534–1535)

An episode where militant Anabaptists established a theocracy, leading to brutal suppression by Catholic-Lutheran forces.

John Calvin

French reformer associated with Geneva, who systematized Protestant thought in Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Institutes of the Christian Religion

Calvin's key work (first published 1536) that provided a coherent, logical account of Protestant belief and doctrine.

Predestination (Calvinism)

Calvin's emphasis that God determined salvation/damnation before time; individuals are inwardly moved by grace to live upright lives.

Presbyterians

Calvinists in Scotland/England.

Huguenots