اصلاحات پروتستان

The Protestant Reformation

Until about 500 years ago, there was only one Christian church in western and central Europe. People from Portugal to Poland all belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. However, soon after the year 1500, people in many parts of Europe broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and began their own churches instead. This was known as the Protestant Reformation.

The leader of the early Protestant movement was a German theologian named Martin Luther. Luther believed that many of the priests of the Roman Catholic Church had become too concerned about wealth and luxury. Also, he disapproved of some practices in the Church. One such practice was that priests allowed people to pay money to the Church in exchange for committing various sins. Luther believed that it was wrong to allow people to buy the freedom to commit acts that were against the teachings of the Church.

Luther began to criticize the Roman Catholic Church in public, and he refused to acknowledge the authority of the Church. He said that instead he would follow the teachings of the Bible as he understood them. The officials of the Church declared that Luther was a heretic. However, the local German rulers did not punish Luther. Many of them resented the power of the Church and welcomed his ideas.

Luther and other Protestant leaders disagreed with the Church on several important issues. The Protestants believed that priests should be allowed to marry, whereas the Roman Catholic Church believed that priests should remain celibate. The Protestants believed that people should read the Bible for themselves, whereas the Roman Catholic Church believed that priests should interpret the Bible for the people.

During the decades that followed Luther, the Protestant movement spread throughout much of Europe. Over time, many different Protestant churches were formed. During this period, many wars were fought between local rulers who favoured Protestantism, and other local rulers who supported the Roman Catholic Church. In the end, many parts of Europe became Protestant, such as Scandinavia, England, and parts of Germany, Holland, and Switzerland.

However, the people and rulers of many other areas of Europe preferred to remain in the Roman Catholic Church. These areas included most of southern Europe, as well as Poland and Ireland. The Roman Catholic Church changed a few of its practices in response to Protestant criticism, but kept its most important beliefs.

In recent times, relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the various Protestant churches have become much more friendly. Some discussions have been held between Catholic and Protestant officials, in order to resolve some of their disagreements.

نکته فرهنگی

واژه انگلیسی پروتستان به معنی معترض و مخالف سرسخت است و این دلیل به پیروان مکتب دینی پروتستانیسم اطلاق می‌شود که آنها در مقابل شماری از قوانین کلیسای کاتولیک روم ایستادند.

the Reformation

the religious changes in Europe in the 16th century, that resulted in the Protestant churches being established

luxury:

very great comfort and pleasure, such as you get from expensive food, beautiful houses, cars etc
in luxury
She stole to keep her boyfriend in luxury.
He was leading a life of luxury in Australia.

luxury hotel/car/home etc (=expensive and large)
We stayed in a five-star luxury hotel.
The dress is lambswool – pure luxury.

commit:
past tense and past participle committed present participle committing
▶CRIME◀
[transitive] to do something wrong or illegal
Women commit fewer crimes than men.

commit murder/rape/arson etc
Brady committed a series of brutal murders.

acknowledge:

▶ACCEPT SOMEBODY’S AUTHORITY◀
to accept that someone or something has authority over people
Both defendants refused to acknowledge the authority of the court.
acknowledge somebody as something
Many of the poor acknowledged him as their spiritual leader.

heretic:

someone who is guilty of heresy

heretics are usually treated worse than infidels
Cranmer was put to death as a heretic.

resent:

to feel angry or upset about a situation or about something that someone has done, especially because you think that it is not fair
resent (somebody) doing something
I resented having to work such long hours.
bitterly/deeply/strongly resent

She bitterly resented his mother’s influence over him.Paul resented the fact that Carol didn’t trust him.

I resent what you said about my sister
Homa resents having to live with her mother-in-law
he resents you because you are frank

Another Source:

to feel anger and dislike about (something that hurts, offends, or annoys one):

I strongly/bitterly resent her attempts to interfere in my work.

[+v-ing] I resent having to get his permission for everything I do.
—~ful adj :

She gave him a resentful look.

whereas: conjunction formal
(used to show an opposite or different fact, situation, etc.) but:

They want a house, whereas we would rather live in an apartment.

Whereas we want an apartment, they would rather live in a house.

Another Source:

used to say that although something is true of one thing, it is not true of another
The old system was fairly complicated whereas the new system is really very simple.

Whereas the city spent over $1 billion on its museums and stadium, it failed to look after its schools

celibate:

not married and not having sex, especially because of your religious beliefs
those who become Catholic priests must remain celibate
ￚsee also virgin

Catholic priests are required to be celibate.

interpret:

to explain the meaning of something
Freud’s attempts to interpret the meaning of dreams
to interpret a poem
to interpret a difficult text

favor:

▶PREFER◀
to prefer someone or something to other things or people, especially when there are several to choose from
Both countries seem to favor the agreement.

loose clothing of the type favored in Arab countries
favor somebody/something over somebody/something
Florida voters favored Bush over Gore by a very small margin.

practice:

▶SOMETHING DONE OFTEN◀
[uncountable and countable] something that people do often, especially a particular way of doing something or a social or religious custom
religious beliefs and practices dangerous working practices
the practice of doing something
the practice of dumping waste into the sea