Page 14 - Pilgrims in Georgia

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Also, Europe was in religious turmoil

and undergoing a reformation in the Christian Church

Europe and the Protestant Reformation

During this same period of time (1500-1700) Europe was involved in another ongoing conflict known as the
Protestant Reformation. From the time of the Roman Empire until the 1500’s the official religion of the kingdoms
of Europe had been the Roman Catholic Church. But this had begun to change in earnest in many countries and
kingdoms beginning in the 1500’s. Believing that the Roman Catholic Church of that day had in many ways strayed

away from it’s original mission and form given to it by Jesus Christ and His Apostles, “reform” movements sprang
up almost simultaneously all around Europe. The people and their leaders came to be called “Protestants”
because they were protesting the way certain things were done in the church. So, this movement has become
known in history as the “Protestant Reformation”. The original desire of most of the “reformers” was to bring
changes to beliefs and practices within the Roman church. However almost everywhere when this did not seem
to be possible, it resulted in the creation of new churches seeking to “start over” and “re-form” only on the
teachings they found in the Scriptures , generally focusing around the particular views of influential reformers,
groups, or even governments.