Martin Luther

The Renaissance marked new interests in the discovery of the natural world through art and the sciences. In art, the discovery of perspective brought a revolutionary realism to painting, architecture, and exploration. This led to the Europeans' discoveries of new lands, such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Because of the Renaissance's deviance from the thoughts of the medieval age, an opportunistic view of humanity developed. Many began believing that man was capable of doing anything, as long as they had the will.

Society developed a man-centered thought, somewhat departing from the God centered thought of the medieval period. The educated leader, soldier, and artist were revered, whereas the bishop, priest, and monk took a back seat. The artists and humanists of the Renaissance era would help establish this age as one of individualism and creativity Renaissance thinkers appealed to a combination of Christianity and Humanism, by referring to Genesis 1:26 ("And God said, Ð''Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness'") and Genesis 1:28 ("Have dominion over [earth]'"). Because man is made in God's likeness and has dominion of Earth, Humanists believed they were divine creations of God living on Earth. The Renaissance helped secularize Europe. Man was now the creator of his own destiny.

The exploration during this era brought more centralized monarchies. The flood of silver and gold made many nations money hungry, as they raced to discover more lands. Also, this era could be considered a scientific one, as Copernicus published his De Revolutionibus, which culminated into the growth of universities. Also, the printing press had created the ability to produce books cheaply and in more quantities. And this was important, as the Renaissance created a literate public eager for whatever was freshly published.

The Renaissance occurred for many reasons. One main reason could be with the dissatisfaction with the Church. There was a shift from group salvation to a more personalized view on life, due to the Humanistic movement. People wanted an individualized way of salvation. The sacraments became devoid of meaning. The papacy lost much of its power, due to the secularization of many cities. People were able to congregate among themselves and discuss ideas and thoughts. Many people noticed the wealth of the papacy. The poor resented this wealth, while the rich