Johannes Gutenberg and the Reformation

Historians have little information regarding Johannes Gutenberg’s life. 1400 to 1468 is speculated to be the time when Johannes Gutenberg lived (John et al., 24). Besides, Gutenberg’s influence in Reformation is not understood clearly. Gutenberg was renowned for antagonizing the Catholic Church. He believed that ordinary individuals had to grasp God’s word and that the church Gospels was not to determine one’s interpretation of the Bible. This paper exposes how Gutenberg pioneered the Reformation.

            Through ingenuity, Gutenberg created the movable type of printers.  Book printing became inevitable as opposed to the clergy’s views. Catholics condemned the people to desist from interpreting the Bible on their own (John et al., 27). However, following Gutenberg’s intervention, more people had access to the printed Bible. The Bible would get translated to other languages with the Latin language acting as a benchmark. Catholic officials antagonized the Bible translation process because they focused on having the Bible preserved so that it could get retrieved for use from them. 

            The 1450s marks the time when Gutenberg popularized the printing invention. He would assist Protestants to perceive God’s word in a manner they believed was right. The invention pioneered by Gutenberg marked the epoch of religious movements in Europe when vast regions adopted protestant reformation (John et al., 32). A renowned reformation pioneer, Martin Luther primarily lectured few groups of people. However, Gutenberg’s printed Bibles would get distributed worldwide.

            Overall, Johannes Gutenberg is renowned for his significant printing press invention that made the masses to have quick access to information. In the process, his intervention assisted in disseminating essential ideas and concepts which happened not only in Europe but also in other world’s regions.

Works Cited

Gehl, John, et al. “From movable type to data deluge.” WORLD AND I 14 (1999): 24-33.