Reformation

Vernacular

Everyday language of ordinary people

Pluralism

Holding more than one church office/job.

nepotism

favoritism shown to family or friends by those in power

Inquisition

A Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy.

Indulgence

A document issued by the Catholic Church lessening penance or time in purgatory, widely believed to bring forgiveness of all sins. Many paid money for it.

Purgatory

A place of temporary punishment

Diet of Worms

Assembly of the estates of the empire, called by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1521. Luther was ordered to recant but he refused. Charles V declared Luther an outlaw.

Transubstantiation

Catholic belief that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ.

Protestant

The name originally given to followers of Luther, which came to mean all non-Catholic Western Christian groups.

95 Thesis (1517)

Luther's response to indulgences →he believed they undermined seriousness of penance, competed with Gospel teachings, and downplayed importance of charity. Nailed to the church door at Wittenberg.

Justification by Faith

Martin Luther's concept that faith alone is enough to bring salvation

Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura

Martin Luther, "only by faith, only by scripture" Salvation is achieved through faith and reading the Bible.

Frederick Duke of Saxony "The Wise"

Protected Luther from Roman Emperor Charles V and the Pope

Simony

The selling of church offices

Johann Tetzel

The leading seller of Indulgences. Infuriated Luther.

Charles V

This was the Holy Roman Emperor that called for the Diet of Worms. He was a supporter of Catholicism and tried to crush the Reformation.

Martin Luther

a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Church.

Salvation

acceptance into heaven

Roman Catholic Church

the Christian church headed by the pope in Rome

Excommunication

the act of banishing a member of the Church from the communion of believers and the privileges of the Church.

Heresy

the crime of holding a belief that goes against established doctrine of the Catholic Church usually.