Comments on The idea of two reformations instead just one reformation
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The idea of two reformations instead just one reformation
Were there historians of Christianity that claimed a similar claim to that there were actually two reformations instead just one?
- One is the reformation initiated by the "proto protestants" and "protestants"
- Second is the Unitarian.
I understand that both social movements operated in pretty much the same eras in Europe (excluding other similar possible movements before them) so both of them could be grasped as reform makers.
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"The Reformation" wasn't a single shift, with or without Unitarianism. Its starting point and best-known aspect was Luther's break with the Catholic Church. Zwingli started a similar movement in Switzerland, coming into public controversy shortly after the Diet of Worms. The strict Anabaptists broke away from Zwingli. Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church for personal reasons.
The founder of Unitarianism as a formal movement was Francis David of Transylvania. His ideas influenced John Sigismund, who ruled the Ottoman-dominated part of Hungary. Sigismund issued an edict of tolerance in 1568, which went far beyond the Holy Roman Empire's declaration that rulers could choose between Protestantism and Catholicism.
You can break these "reformations" up into as many or as few as you like, but there isn't much support for singling out the Unitarian movement as a second reformation. Its long-term influence in allowing reasoned analysis into religion was strong, but it didn't have that much influence over the religious landscape of Europe at the time.
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