Protestant Reform Movement and Emergence of Liberal Ideas and Ideology

The Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church was a major 16th-century religious revolution- an event, which ended the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope in western Christendom and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches. Renaissance that preceded and the French Revolution that followed, the Reformation completely changed the medieval way of life in Western Europe, including United State of America, and initiated the era of modern history with emergence of new idealism. With the effects of the reformation, ideas and philosophies became more open, and spread out. People changed their views on the world, and Christianity. The most fundamental elements in the reformation were the spirit of rebellious, selfdetermining individualism. These factors were the foundation of the reformation, which ultimately shaped the outcome of European history. Probably for the better, some still argue reformation could have had some negative effects on Europe though. But whether positive or negative, it is unequivocal that Europe would not be anything like what it is now, without occurrence of the reformation. The present paper is an analysis of the impact of this protestant reform movement on social, political, and philosophical aspects and emergence of liberal ideas and ideology.