Discuss Johannes Gutenberg’s Role in the Reformation
Johannes Gutenberg was known to have invented many items that are still currently used. Gutenberg was known to have invented a different model of type printers which made it possible for people not to write books using their hands. With the ability producing many book through printing and use of typewriters, many Churches also acknowledged Gutenberg’s invention of creating and printing more Bibles (Sayre, 2015). Besides printing more Bibles, Gutenberg was also able to translate the Bible into more than three languages. Churches were considered not to like the idea of people reading and translating their Bibles. In this case, Gutenberg’s invention came in handy as it helped many individuals to interpret the word of God in different languages. The Bible also became widely available since individuals had their copies.
Johannes Gutenberg was known to have played a big role during the Reformation. The Reformation was known to be a period where churches started to develop and improve on different features. At this period, the Churches were considered not to favor Reformation since they did not want to share the word of God. In other words, they wanted the word of God to be available in their territory, where they became strong and could control a large population of people (Sayre, 2015). In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing machines, which helped the Catholic Rebels to spread the word of God. The rebels were considered to have covered the word of God in a good manner that was just. Additionally, an individual was also considered to interpret and understand the word of God independently.
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In contrast, individuals who advocated for the Reformation differed strongly with the Catholic Churches. Despite assisting the Catholic Rebels with his printing inventions, Gutenberg was considered to be among the people who opposed Reformation (Sayre, 2015). In this case, Gutenberg played a big part in the Reformation since he was able to make it possible for information to be passed to different locations. The use of the invented type printers helped circulate more information to various places in a quick manner (Sayre, 2015). Later, with the help of the type printers, information was also able to distribute from Europe to other destinations.
His role was also considered to be a major one because he was the first person to have a printed version of the Bible. The first printed Bibles were named after him as ‘The Gutenberg Bible.' The invented printers were not only fast for typing, but they were also movable. Due to this factor, the technology was revolutionized through the use of the type printers. With the help of the printers, individuals were able to produce many manuscripts at affordable prices. Other than being a printer, Gutenberg was known to be a qualified blacksmith and goldsmith. Gutenberg also issued broadsheets, which were common during the period of Reformation (Sayre, 2015). Later, the broadsheets were further reinvented to become newspapers.
Overall, Johannes Gutenberg played a significant role during the time of Reformation. During this period, Churches were known to have rebelled against the idea of people translating and reading their Bibles. At this time, Gutenberg was able to help people understand and interpret the Bible in different languages. Moreover, the use of advanced type printers also helped people during the Reformation period. The printing machines were able to print and type books instead of people writing them with hands. Additionally, the printing machines were also able to print Bibles in many versions and copies.
References
Sayre, H. M. (2015). “ Chapter 8: Renaissance reformation in the North.” In Discovering the humanities . New York, NY: Pearson
