It is important to remember that whilst Luther was a reformer, he was not a revolutionary. Luther was actually quite attached to many aspects of the status quo. He was famously appalled by the Peasants Rebellion in Germany. His reaction to the rise of the “extremist” Millennials and Anabaptists was one of outrage and disgust. He encouraged the German princes to eradicate these denominations wherever possible.

In Catholicism, the Pope is the leader of spiritual matters in Europe, but he is not the secular ruler of those countries. In Anglicanism, the sovereign is the ruler of the church, but this is not theocracy. In Lutheranism, the church is subservient to the secular rulers; however, in Calvinism, particularly in Switzerland, the government and the religion are one and the same. The government is divinely ordained and governs according to religious law. This was the case, most prominently, in Geneva during the sixteenth century.

The Anabaptists differed from the other denominations of Christianity primarily because the Anabaptists practiced adult baptism. This was considered heretical and deeply sinful by the rest of Christendom and is one of the reasons why the rise of the Anabaptists was met with such wide reaching disdain and anger.

All of these were early adopted tenets of Lutheranism except for predetermined salvation, more commonly called “predestination.” Predestination is a tenet of Calvinism that states that the fate of all men regarding their salvation or damnation is predetermined by God. It is a crucial tenet of Calvinism and one that separates from the vast majority of other denominations of Christianity.

The Church of England, also called Anglicanism, was founded for different reasons than the rest of the Protestant denominations. It was the will of one man, King Henry VIII, to rule without interference from the Pope that was the primary motivation behind its founding, rather than any doctrinal or philosophical disagreements. So, in Anglicanism, the sacraments were upheld and Catholic theology continued. The belief in Predestination is unique to Calvinism and the belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ was adopted vehemently by the Millennials, but also loosely believed by most denominations at the time.

The Jesuits, also called The Society of Jesus, were founded by Ignatius Loyola in the early 1540s. Their stated goals were the preservation of Catholicism, the eradication of Protestantism, and the education of the young and the non-believers. They were actively engaged in the inquisition, as well as in missions to the New World and Asia.

In Calvinism, the fate of all humans is predetermined by God. You are either part of the “Elect” who are already saved, or you are not; however, one way to tell if you part of the “Elect” is if you are wealthy. It has been observed by many historians that the so-called “Protestant work ethic” is a result of the Calvinist emphasis on working hard and becoming wealthy as a sign that you are divinely blessed.

The Council of Trent was convened in the middle of the 1540s. Its purpose was to meet the threat of Protestantism around Europe and to define the tenets of Catholicism. The Council of Trent reaffirmed the seven sacraments and ruled that salvation was through faith and good works (e.g. venerating the saints and listening to the clergy).

The Second Vatican Council (sometimes called Vatican II) was convened in 1962 under Pope John XXIII and ended in 1965. This council was held in Vatican City and had the primary task of working to make the church and its teaching relevant in the modern era. Many of the initiatives undertaken at the council were meant to make the church more accessible to people, such as allowing the Mass to be said in languages besides Latin. Overall this council is credited with reviving and modernizing the Catholic Church and ensuring that it could stay true to its teachings and continue its mission even while the world was rapidly changing.

The peace at the end of the Second Kappel War allowed each Swiss canton (district) to determine its own religion. This allowed Protestantism to flourish in Switzerland, particularly in the cities of Zurich, Geneva, and Basle.