her held such widespread support. The principles of Lutheranism - for instance, justification by faith - were much more appealing to the laity than that of Catholicism by presenting a much more "purer" form of Christianity than its Catholic counterpart. The worshiping of saints and relics was prohibited, as was the selling of indulgences and simony. Clergy were allowed to marry and all but two of the traditional seven sacraments remained -- baptism and the Eucharist. Ulrich Zwingly and John Calvin took the break with the Church even further by denying consubstantiation and, with Calvin's views, a proposal of an "elect" who were predestined for heaven. Other sects such as the Anabaptist and the Unitarians believed such ideas as adult baptism and a denial of the holy trinity.The new Protestant theocratic states which would be established throughout the 1500s, most notably in Geneva and Zurich, did not institute a very liberal society by breaking with the old doctrines of Catholicism. The Reformation was not a leftist movement of new ideas or beliefs, rather, it was a conservative movement in its efforts to live in imitation of Christ and to establish a society emulating that of early Christianity. The somewhat radical beliefs of this far-right political and social movement served to establish especially harsh theocratic governments. This integration of biblical and canon law into the traditional laws of the land provided for new, stricter laws, even somewhat absurd in comparison to the laws of modern society. Drunkenness, gambling, and blasphemy were all severely punished; and the new laws against domestic violence earned Geneva the nickname of a "women's paradise." Max Weber, a 19th century historian, claims these strict, hardworking philosophies of puritanical Protestantism laid the foundations of the capitalist society we have today.In conclusion, the Reformation brought about a wave of political devolution counteracting the ...
