Early in the sixteenth century a religious revolution called the Reformation began. Out of it grew the many Protestant religions. As both words Reformation and Protestant, indicate, the basis of this religious revolution was a desire to change what was then happening in the Catholic Church.

What did these people want to change and why? —One thing they objected to was the kind of lives many of the clergy led. They felt that the clergy were not concentrating enough on spiritual matters and were too concerned with material things.

The reformers also objected to the sale of indulgences. These were statements releasing people from punishment for their sins. Many of the people were jealous, too, of the huge possessions held by the monasteries, even though many of them were good landlords.

There were other forces at work at this time, too. Many people followed the reformers largely for political and economic reasons. Nationalism was rising, and with the feeling of nationalism, there came the desire for a national church.

Another factor was that the authority of the Pope was being questioned as far as it concerned non-church affairs. And there was a great division when two or more popes disputed the right of the others.

In 1517 the sale of indulgences by dishonest agents became so widespread that Martin Luther, a German scholar of the order of St. Augustine, protested. He was excommunicated and condemned as a heretic, but his doctrines spread.

In 1530 he drew up the Augsburg Confession, which contained twenty-one articles of the Protestant faith. This resulted in a complete break between the Lutherans and the Catholics. In time, the reformed doctrines, on which the Protestant churches are based, were accepted in various forms and in different countries.