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Throughout the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church continued to assert its primacy of position. The growth of the papacy had paralleled the growth of the church, but by the end of the Middle Ages challenges to papal authority from the rising power of monarchical sta ....

Middle of Essay
.... covered the abuse of indulgences, is often seen as the beginning of the Reformation movement. However, the movement was not only confined to Luther's Germany. Native reform movements in Switzerland found leadership in Ulrich Zwingli, who eventually sought an alliance with Luther and the German reformers, and especially in John Calvin, whose Institutes of the Christian Religion became the most influential summary of the new theology. On most important doctrines, Calvin was in agreement with Luther. Calvin differed from Luther in his belief in the concept of predestination, derived from his belief in God’s supreme authority. This concept became the ....