The printing press as social media in the protestant reformation

Introduction

Different debates explore the relationship between the introduction of the printing press technology and the spread of reformation. Many scholars claim that despite the fact that the printing press enabled the reformers to spread the anti-papal propaganda; there is no evidence to determine whether the reformation could have been successful with the absence of the printing press. Evaluating the correlation between the introduction and the activities of the printing press and the reformation process is essential in describing the role of the press in the protestant reformation.

Johann Gutenberg established the first printing center in mid 1400s. By 1454, the scholar published his first work using the technology making the invention diffuse in different cities within Western Europe. During early stages, the technology hardly spread around the globe because it faced resistance in some areas such as France. However, the technology was embraced with the time, and it become popular by the beginning of 1500. By this time, the press had printed over eight million books and most of them dealt with religious matters. Among the early centers that utilized the new technology in printing include Cologne, Augsburg, Strasbourg, Leipzig and Nuremberg. Additionally, Gutenberg and his assistant introduced the first printing press starting with printing monopoly before printing the bible in Strasbourg. By the end of 1470s, various agencies managed the printing centers and played a vital role in editing the printed material (Allan 456).

The printing press as social media in the protestant reformation

Introduction of the printing press enhanced formulation of the effective social media that was essential in protestant reformations that happened during the sixteenth century. This is because without the invention of this technology it could have been difficult for Martin Luther to succeed in his mission of challenging the Catholic Church. Primarily, the printing press was significant in the protestant reformation because it helped Protestants such as Luther during the reformation era. The technology offered Luther with an effective method for publishing his work including the propaganda that was staged against Rome (Levy 185). In essence, the printing press provided the Protestants with the strategy for reaching the global community. For example, Luther used the printing press in issuing notices that encouraged individuals to attend the debates and rallies conducted by the Augustinian monk. Notably, Luther was able to apply the new technology in his work because he had high literacy levels and he had high support from his followers (Rubin 82).

The printing press as social media played a significant role in the protestant reformation. This is because the press enabled Luther to publish a lot of his work, which he later distributed to various countries including Germany, Lyons and Meaux. In the absence of the printing press, it could have been difficult for the Protestant reformation to occur. In addition to the Luther’s publications, the printing press was vital to the protestant reformation because it provided an effective way of publishing the Bible. Protestants used the technology in publishing the Bible into numerous vernacular languages enabling them reach the population that was not English literate.

The printing press as social media also played a significant role in the protestant reformation because it encouraged the priesthood of all believers. Prior to the invention of this technology, people use to copy the manuscript manually making them be only accessible to nobility, princes and scholars. Furthermore, before the invention of the printing press, people went to the church to learn about the bible; however, they received false or biased teachings. Although most of the reformers realized the errors associated with the teachings of the time, establishing a strategy for containing the problem was challenging because the common people were not able to read the scripture. Consequently, the preachers could hardly evaluate the standards of their teachings. Interestingly, introduction of the printing press made reading be a vital practice among the common people. This is because the reformers distributed the bibles to common members and opened up theology schools where people accessed education (Allan 456). The reformers also published their works making the common people to read them hence reasoning on their own depending with their understanding. As a result, the society was able to identify the biased teachings of propagated by the Roman Catholics such as the lies among the kings and plans that God had towards salvation regarding his people. Concurrently, after reading the scriptures, the grace of God enabled people to apply wisdom in communicating their thoughts to other people enabling them distinguish between good and bad. This enhanced the development of knowledge in both science and languages that enlightened individuals making them support the protestant reformation (Woodberry 34).

Moreover, printing press played a major role in the protestant reformation because it changed the image-based culture to analytical aspect of reading text. Printing press changed the ideology that people needed to go to the church to translate the images in order to understand the truth of the bible. These images included the statutes of the saints, candles, stained glass among others, which were commonly referred to as the bible of the uneducated. The new technology ended the use of images because common people were able to read and reason in the ideas in a more clear way by analyzing the printed texts. This provided individuals with the knowledge of interpreting the Bible at a personal level. Therefore, it was easier for the gospel to reach various people including the rich, poor, kings and plowboys enabling them in understanding the truth of the world. The printed texts had reality and logic that could not face counteraction easily (Levy 185).

Furthermore, the printing press was vital in protestant reformation as it enabled Luther print his theses, which he later nailed on the door of saints church in Wittenberg. These theses entailed the intentions of the protestant reformation. Luther had a lot of determination in enhancing reformation because he was offended by theological errors that common people were facing. Furthermore, churches were abusing spiritual aspects as us indulgences, relic cults, and clerical privileges among others. Although the circulation of Luther’s work occurred secretly, diverse printed editions spread in different cities such as Nuremberg, Basel and Magdeburg among others. The output of Luther’s work was perfect because he wrote about 30 publications and he ended up selling over 300,000, which spread at a high rate within the Empire. Particularly, the printing press enabled Luther’s message spread among free cities, which later on supported reformation (Weber 2).

The printing press was advantageous in the reformation as the process occurred in cities because of the efforts that the learned and literate priests showed. These people succeeded in the process because they were fervent and aggressive enabling them to communicate with people in an effective manner regarding worshipping methods and practices of the church hierarchy. Therefore, these reformers fostered the spread of the movement among differing cities, as most of them were leaders in churches and were able to address masses of people directly from the pulpits. In addition, the process was successful because most of the printing presses were protestant by the end of 1600. Consequently, these publishers presented high commitment towards supporting the reformation process (Levy 185).

The printing press was also vital in protestant reformation because of the presence of a good relationship between the printing press and the reformists. The joint effort of these two groups enhanced the promotion and spread of Lutheran ideas. The press enhanced reformation by providing a cheaper and rapid transmission of the protestant ideas through publishing them in pamphlets. Additionally, the reformers disseminated the papal caricatures and broadsheet, which were vital in their propaganda efforts within the illiterate population. For example, the press published broadsheets in simpler and attractive manner enhancing understanding while attracting the attention of the reader by setting direct insults towards the church and the papacy (Robert, Ekelund, Hebert, and Denver 21). This was essential because the reformers used such broadsheets in reaching large numbers of followers. Apart from this, the press also allowed the reformers to spread the pamphlets to literate preachers as well as the religious followers that enhanced the occurrence of reformation within the cities. Despite many people being illiterate during the era, the pamphlets were designed in a manner that the reformers could read them loud to people during the public meetings. Printing press also reduced the cost of spreading the message. For example, the cost of transportation was high during era, which made the transportation of the copyrights be expensive. As a result, the reformation work spread around various cities through reprinting them. These highlights provide evidence that the printed pamphlets assumed a significant role in reformation process (Dittmar 23).

Conclusion

The paper focuses on the printing press as social media in the protestant reformation. The study provides evidence that the printing press played an essential role in protestant reformation because it supported Luther and others to spread important information that enhanced the process. Additionally, the technology encouraged the priesthood of all believers and transformation of the bible from images to texts among others (Robert 27).

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