Renaissance+and+Reformation+Religion

**//Calvinist Preacher//** //Calvinist Preacher//. 16th Century. //Beyond Books//. Web. 9 Dec. 2009. []

Born in Noyon, France, John Calvin studied law and theology and eventually became a priest. A serious intelligent person, Calvin joined the reformation movement and began developing his beliefs. He outlined his concept of protestantism in a book entitled The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Many people consider this work to be the definitive handbook on Protestantism. Calvin adopted many of the basic tenets of Luthern doctrine, but he included some ideas unique to Calvism. The most significant Calvinist addition was the concept of Predestination. According to the theory of Predestination, an all- powerful God had already determined whether people were going to heaven or not when they were born. This predetermined denstiny could not be changed during an individual's lifetime.

//**Lutheranism** Lutheranism//. N.d. //Beyond Books//. Web. 9 Dec. 2009. .

Lutheranism and Calvinism were the mainstream, moderate movements of the Protsetant Reformation. However, there were many radical groups who sought to go much further. These groups preached ideas such as pacifism, Biblical authority, and even polygamy. Because the views of some of these groups were so extreme, they faced attack from both Catholics and moderate Protestants. The most radical of these groups were known as the Anabaptists. Originally founded by Conrad Grebel, the most obvious distinguishing feature of the Anabaptists was the practice of adult baptism. The term Anabaptist comes from the Greek, literally "to baptize again". Anabaptists relied heavily on the Bible as the source of religious authority. Because the bible did not mention the practice of infant baptism, they refused to recognize it. Instead, they believed that it made more sense ro baptize in adulthood when people truly understood its meaning. the first rebaptism occured in 1525