Series 1 Episode 1 - Protestant Beginnings. - Shorter listen (Transcript added).

Feel free to email me your thoughts.This version of the episode is shorter - for a quicker read. The artwork is a portrait painting of Martin Luther from 1528. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) created the painting, which is currently housed at Coburg Fortress, a medieval castle situated above the town of Coburg in Bavaria, Germany. The featured music is 'Kyrie' from the Gregorian Plainsong Mass known as Missa Orbis Factor. This episode examines the origins of the Protestant movement and its impact on central Christian doctrines. The term "Protestant" originates from the Protestation at Speyer in 1529, when nobles opposed the decrees of the Diet of Worms, which threatened to confiscate property from supporters of Lutheranism. Martin Luther, born on 10 November 1483 in Saxony, was a German priest, theologian, reformer, author, and Augustinian friar.  He played a central role in the Protestant Reformation and is widely regarded as the movement's principal leader, whose followers became known as Lutherans. Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam was a prominent intellectual and activist during the European Renaissance, contributing significantly to the development of the humanist movement in Northern Europe. It is also important to understand predestination. The Puritans believed that when the world was created, God had already decided who would be saved and who would be condemned. Finally, William Tyndale is often considered the most influential English biblical scholar.