How Can I Be Saved?

Question 1

What great historical event also happened in 1505 along with the beginning of Luther’s trajectory?

Answer 1

The moment an old and discouraged Christopher Columbus sat down to write his last will.

Question 2

What did the Young Luther say to St. Anne after his cry for help?

Answer 2

“I will become a monk.”

Question 3

What did Luther believe like many Europeans of his time?

Answer 3

That eternal life in heaven was promised to those who followed Jesus, and that the agony of hell awaited those who didn’t achieve salvation.

Question 4

Which was the function of the baptism sacrament?

Answer 4

Wash away a child’s sins in case he/she should die young.

Question 5

Which is the purpose of the last rites of placing oil on a dying believer’s forehead?

Answer 5

Pointing him toward heaven.

Question 6

What were the relics that the church kept?

Answer 6

Objects passed down over the centuries that were said to be associated with saints, whom believers could pay respects and contribute with money to receive God’s forgiveness for their sins.

Question 7

Who was the prince who had given up his worldly wealth to walk on the streets whom Luther looked in wonder as a child?

Answer 7

William of Anhalt.

Question 8

What was Luther’s problem?

Answer 8

Even after giving up the comforts of the world, he felt unworthy in God’s eyes.

Question 9

What made Luther feel shocked about some priests he met in Rome?

Answer 9

They seemed to be unconcerned about religion.

Question 10

Which biblical passage comforted Luther once he read it?

Answer 10

“The just shall live by faith.”

Question 11

What did Luther determined to be the only thing truly necessary for someone to achieve salvation?

Answer 11

Faith–the faith that Jesus had lived a perfect life and had died for the sins of all people.

Question 12

Which were the two principles that Luther clung to?

Answer 12

That believers were saved by “faith alone” and that the Bible–and only the Bible–provided the path to salvation.

Question 13

What was the Holy Commonwealth that John Calvin and his followers settled up in Geneva?

Answer 13

A government run on Protestant principles.

Question 14

Give 3 examples of rules of Calvin’s Holy Commonwealth.

Answer 14

Don’t pass tobacco to another worshiper, don’t make noise in church and don’t name your child after a Catholic saint.

Question 15

What did Luther mean to say when he insisted that “the Christian must judge for himself”?

Answer 15

That everyone had the right of reading the Bible.

Question 16

Who did the popes and church councils acted as during the Middle Ages?

Answer 16

As the final judges of the Bible’s meaning–not ordinary people.

Question 17

What did Calvin mean by the Common Wealth he proposed?

Answer 17

Not just wealth in the sense of money but also spiritual wealth–the kind gained by supporting one another as the faithful lived together.

Question 18

Which were the two big ideas that would later have a tremendous influence on what it meant to be an American?

Answer 18

Judge for yourself (Luther) and build a holy commonwealth (Calvin).

Question 19

Which punishment was applied on someone convicted of heresy–the act of teaching false religious ideas–in Europe?

Answer 19

Burning at the stake.

Question 20

What did the disputes sparked by the Reformation plunged the Europe to?

Answer 20

A century and a half of religious war between Protestants and Catholics.