This paper analyzes and discusses the religious reform movement in Europe in the16th century, and holds that it has brought great influence on the changes of European political structure. This movement disintegrated the feudal system in Europe; In addition, the new religious ideas it produced also promoted the development of the emerging bourgeoisie; At the same time, because different countries have different attitudes towards different Protestant ideas, the pace of this political change is also different. It can be seen that the revolution in the field of ideological theory often plays an important or even decisive role in the changes of social and political systems.
Keywords: religious reform, the influence of changes in European political structure
/kloc-the church reform movement in Europe in the 0/6th century was also a large-scale anti-feudal movement and national independence movement launched by the emerging bourgeoisie in Europe under the banner of religious reform. Its performance was the opposition to the Catholic Church headed by the Pope, the main pillar of the feudal system in Western Europe at that time, which led to the birth of a new church, the return of Lutheranism, Calvinism and Zwingli, and the new situation of national churches in Britain and European countries, thus promoting the popularity of religious tolerance and freedom of belief in modern Europe. For a long time, historians have paid more attention to the role and influence of the Reformation in ideology and culture, but less attention to the influence of changes in European political structure. This paper intends to make some analysis on this.
( 1)
In western Europe in the16th century, there were many obvious signs of the transition period between old and new societies. After nearly two centuries of development, the budding capitalism has entered a new stage of handicraft workshops from simple manual cooperation, and the development of capitalist economy inevitably requires breaking away from the feudal system serving the feudal economy. Religious reform is a unique social change in the form of religion in this era, and its primary influence on the change of European political structure is the disintegration of European feudal system.
/kloc-In the second half of the 5th century, in Europe, Britain, France, Spain, Scandinavian countries in northern Europe, Poland and Russia in eastern Europe all established centralized feudal autocracy, and only Germany and Italy have not yet formed centralized monarchy, but the essence of the whole European system is the same, that is, feudal system. However, the western feudal system is different from the eastern feudal system.
The feudal system in the East can be said to be "unified". The feudal imperial power was always above the throne. Religious forces have long surrendered to the imperial power. Although they occasionally make waves for a while, they have never dominated the political, economic and ideological fields. Secular kingship is the only general representative of feudal system. The western feudal system can be said to be "dualism", and the extra "monism" is church feudalism, so that the political and economic aspects of European feudal system are generally composed of secular feudalism and church feudalism. The two are evenly matched, alternating with each other, distinguishing and repelling each other, forming their own system, and blending and infiltrating each other. In western Europe, when it comes to feudalism, we can't help but mention church feudalism. In fact, it mainly refers to the Roman Catholic Church. It is called feudalism because the Roman Catholic Church has its own independent feudal form.
First of all, politically, the Vatican implements a feudal centralized system headed by the Pope, who has the right to formulate and amend laws and decide the division of parishes; The Pope also established a feudal hierarchy of archbishops, bishops and priests through the appointment of clergy, which spread all over Europe and was actually a feudal administrative region under the orders of the Pope. The Vatican has courts and prisons, which can change the judgments of national laws and at the same time constantly interfere in the internal affairs of countries; Secondly, economically, feudal land ownership is the foundation of feudal system. The Vatican and its church are the largest feudal landlords in Europe, so they are also the largest feudal owners. The Catholic Church owns at least one third of the land in Europe and cruelly exploits farmers. The peasants in the church land were not only exploited by many tax corvees, but also by tithes and usury. Finally, church theology is the main body of feudal ruling thought, which dominates the political and spiritual life of the whole society.
It is precisely because of the special form of the European church in the Middle Ages that the Roman Catholic Church became the main pillar of the European feudal system. As Engels said, the huge international center of European feudalism is the Roman Catholic Church. It unites the whole of Western Europe (despite the civil war) into a big political system ... It gives the feudal system a circle of sacred light, it establishes its own teaching order in a feudal way, and finally, he is the most powerful feudal owner himself ... To successfully attack the secular feudal system in every country from all aspects, we must first destroy its sacred central organization. "Therefore, anti-feudalism must oppose Roman Catholicism. Therefore, the religious reform at that time was actually an anti-feudal movement in the form of opposing Catholicism.
/kloc-the religious reform in the 0/6th century first broke out in Germany, then quickly spread to the surrounding areas, and gradually evolved from a local struggle to a national or even European-scale struggle. Its struggle with Catholicism is reflected in the following aspects:
The first is the ideological struggle with the three theoretical pillars of Catholicism.
There are three main theological theoretical pillars for the Pope to maintain feudalism and its status, namely, the supreme authority of the Pope, the redemption of "sacraments" and the atonement of "good deeds", and the privilege of priests. It was these three pillars that imprisoned people's thoughts in the Middle Ages, which made people live in the fear of "original sin" and the pursuit of "redemption" all day long, and made people lose their enterprising heart. The new religious view produced in the religious reform made people regain their freedom.
First of all, Luther put forward a new view of the pope in view of the supremacy of the pope. He believes that the leader of _ _ _ _ is Christ, not the Pope, who is only the bishop and priest of Rome. "The church can't have a head in the world, and no one in the world can rule it. Bishops and popes cannot rule it. Only Christ in heaven is the head and only he rules. " (2) This view fundamentally denies the absolute authority of the Pope; In addition, Calvin said, "predestination, we mean that God decides everyone's achievements in the world with his eternal will." "Before the creation of the world, God had chosen us through Christ." (4) Calvin also directly attributed everything to God here, and he denied the authority of the Pope with the absolute authority of God.
Secondly, in view of the redemption theory of "sacraments" and the atonement theory of "good deeds", Luther pointed out the concept of sacraments and advocated reducing and simplifying sacraments. As for the function of sacraments, he believes: "Our church teaches people that the establishment of sacraments is not only a sign and witness of God's will, but also to inspire and firmly accept the confidence of those who receive sacraments ... Therefore, our church abandons those people and says that the sacraments themselves make people righteous. (5) Regarding the atonement theory of "good deeds", Luther said, "You can only be saved by faith, even if you can't do anything else. "In Luther's eyes, the most important thing is" faith ",not" sacrament "or" good deeds ".
Finally, Luther put forward the theory that "all laity are priests". He said: "Let everyone who knows who he is know that we are all priests, and we are no different from each other, that is, we have equal rights to the holy words and all sacraments." 7. Thus, Luther stripped the priests of their sacred clothes, denied their privileges, and embodied the equality between people.
In this way, the religious reform first lifted the imprisonment of people at that time, and the liberation of ideas broadened people's horizons. It enables people to look at this changed world with a brand-new eye, and lays the foundation and provides the possibility for people to accept the new political system ideologically.
-
(1) Engels "from utopia to scientific development of socialism" English preface "The Complete Works of Marx and Engels" Volume III, page 389.
(2) Martin Luther's Pope's Rights and Selected Works of Luther (Hong Kong Edition), p. 124.
(3) Calvin's "Principles" Philadelphia edition, p. 926.
④ Modern Chinese versions of Ephesians and Bible (1982 Hong Kong Edition, p. 295)
(5) the augsburg creed 13 "the creed of Christ in previous dynasties" auxiliary publishing house, page 64, 1957.
6. Martin Luther's The Church was Captured in Babylon and Selected Works of Luther, p. 289.
7. Selected Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Volume II, pp. 282-283.
-
Second, economic struggle. Catholicism owned a lot of land at that time. Therefore, during the religious reform, many people advocated land nationalization and achieved certain results. In addition, religious reformers resolutely opposed the sale of atonement vouchers and usury, and attacked the economic privileges of Christianity from all sides.
Third, politically, it first denied the supremacy of religious power. Luther pointed out that the secular regime is also given by God and belongs to the "spiritual hierarchy", claiming that the secular state is not attached to the Catholic church, and proposing to abolish the privileges of the church in justice, sell the clergy and practice privileges; Secondly, he advocated the separation of church and state. He advocated that the government should not interfere in faith and the church should not interfere in politics. He said: "The Pope and the Bishop should really be bishops, preaching the word of God, but they gave up this responsibility and became secular monarchs, ruling by laws specializing in life and property. They made things so thorough! " ①
From this point of view, a series of new ideas spread through the religious reform must have hit Catholicism, and hitting Catholicism was a blow to the feudal system at that time. First of all, denying the supreme authority of Catholicism and the Pope is a criticism of the feudal hierarchy. The hierarchical system in medieval western Europe was an important part of feudal system. At that time, the first level of feudal hierarchy in western Europe was the church level. Secular people except clergy are below this level. This new class of citizens is extremely dissatisfied. Luther believed that "there is really no difference between religion and custom, and their so-called difference is only the difference between position and work, not the difference between grades". On this basis, he further put forward secular equality, and nobles are no different from citizens and farmers. He said: "Whether he is a man or a woman, he is a prince, a farmer and a peaceful disciple of monks." "In _, there are no elders except Christ, and everyone is equal, with the same rights, talents and honors ..." "The secular authorities are the same. They are just entrusted to punish evil and promote good, and they are cobblers.
(3) On this basis, the democratic nature of Calvin Church laid the foundation for the democratic harmony of secular regime. Calvin called the church "the temple of God, the pillar and foundation of truth". In his view, God respects the authority of the church very much, but he insists that Christ is the head of the church, thus avoiding the autocratic color in the Catholic church. In Calvinism, there is only a division of labor, and there is no hierarchy, so it is collectively called "supervision". The duties of a priest are based entirely on the Bible. Calvin said, "The Bible establishes three kinds of pastoral duties. Similarly, the ancient church divided the pastoral teaching into three duties. They chose priests and teachers from among the elders, and other elders presided over the discipline. Deacons are appointed to take care of the poor and deal with charity. " This kind of church organization with clear authority is produced through democratic election: "elected by the congregation according to the method of setting up elders"; "Power institutions must be established and appointed by the people in order to be considered as legitimate elections". (4) Here, on the one hand, the supremacy of the authority of the church, on the other hand, the democracy of the church organization, and the combination of the two determines the transformation of the power nature of the whole country.
Engels said: "Calvin's church organization is completely democratic and harmonious, but where the kingdom of God is already harmonious, can the kingdom on earth still be subordinate to the king and the Lord?" ⑤ In addition, Calvin's "Destiny Theory" emphasizes that God is the supreme master of the universe, and his will is reflected in all space and time. He put forward: "everything is covered by God's secret purpose ... everything is under God's control." ⑥ He attributed man's salvation to God's choice and reservation, relieved man's dependence on the Catholic Church from a new angle, denied the privilege of the Pope and his clergy, and affirmed the rationality and legitimacy of the decline of feudal system and the rise of capitalism with the help of God's will, because everything is God's will, and in human history, "every year, every month and every day is under the management of God's new special will". ⑦ It puts a sacred cloak on the objective inevitability of social development and provides a theoretical basis for opposing the feudal system.
These are all the blows of the religious reform movement to the feudal system in western Europe, and another important manifestation is the religious reform.
The revolution brought a series of movements and revolutions, and also dealt a fatal blow to the feudal system in western Europe, causing it to collapse.
The first is the peasant war in Germany. When the reform broke out in Germany, farmers took it as a signal to alleviate their suffering.
-
① ② ③ Selected Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Volume III, Volume II, Page 69, Volume III, Page 353.
(4) The Collected Papers of Calvin, Volume IV, Hong Kong Edition, pp. 54-58.
⑤ Engels' Introduction to the English Version of Socialism from Utopia to Scientific Development "The Complete Works of Marx and Engels" Volume III, page 389.
All landowners Calvin's "Principles" Philadelphia Edition Volume I XI Page 199 Volume I Page 207.
-
And a series of ideas in the process of religious reform also brought shocks to the thoughts of German farmers at that time. Luther once shouted at the beginning of the movement: "Why don't we use all kinds of weapons to fight against these snake and scorpion kings in the vice city of Rome? They are popes, cardinals and archbishops, but they are immoral and unworthy to be teachers and wash our hands with their blood?" He also said, "God's language is a sword, a war, a lost path of reform and a poison." (2) All these have brought great influence to the German people. Although Luther himself changed his mind, opposed the use of violence, feared the peasant war, and even hated it later, the development of the situation was beyond his control. 1524 In June, under the influence of the Reformation, a large-scale peasant war broke out in southern Germany, which almost swept the whole of Germany. Although it ended in failure, it dealt a great blow to feudal lords.
Secondly, the bourgeois revolution broke out under the influence of the religious reform thought. In Geneva, Calvin began to preach here in 1536, and founded a harmonious and democratic Calvinism. Under its guidance, the bourgeoisie tried to combine the anti-religious right with the anti-vulgar right, began to resist the secular feudal system, and established theocracy in Geneva. In the Netherlands, the religious reform continued to deepen and evolved into a greater revolutionary storm that changed the secular feudal system. After decades of war, it finally overthrew Spain's feudal autocracy in the Netherlands and created a bourgeois Netherlands. In Britain, Calvin's fatalism and harmonious thought were inherited by Puritans, and finally the bourgeoisie abolished feudal ownership in the form of Puritan revolution. Cromwell's soldiers, encouraged by fatalism, sang hymns, convinced that they were God's voters and revolutionary justice, opened fire on the feudal dynasty, and executed the king in 1649, proclaiming the harmony of the bourgeoisie.
It can be seen that the social reform movement in the form of religious reform completely disintegrated the feudal system in Europe and completely lifted the feudal system that enveloped Europe in the Middle Ages ideologically and institutionally. It gave people a breath of freedom, and at the same time, a series of new ideas and new ideas produced by this reform movement also promoted the development of the emerging capitalist economy at that time.
(2)
The religious reform movement not only disintegrated the feudal system in Europe, but also promoted the development of capitalist economy and the emergence of bourgeoisie, thus accelerating the change of European political structure, that is, the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
In the Middle Ages, only one ideology was known, that is, religious theology. (3) At that time, European feudal society integrated philosophy, politics and law in the ideological field into theology. Religious theology imprisons people's thoughts, requires people to abstain from sex and does not attach importance to personal values, which is completely contrary to the development of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, if the bourgeoisie wants to develop, it must first break the ideological shackles, and the religious reform is a liberation movement in the ideological field.
Luther put forward the idea of freedom of belief in order to oppose the ideological imprisonment and spiritual tyranny of the Vatican. He believes that people's beliefs should be completely decided by individuals, and opposes any act of violent interference, coercion or suppression of freedom of belief. He said: "it is not only useless but also impossible to force anyone to believe this or that by violence." This must be achieved by other means, not by violence. " (4) In addition, Luther advocated the theory of "justification by faith". He believes that people's faith is everything to people. As long as people have faith, they can get God's salvation without any intermediary or intercessor. Faith is to make people face to face with God, "there is nothing created in it"; Faith liberates people from all external bondage. Before God, only one person's heart and soul are needed, and one's faith exists, so one can save himself through his own faith. In this way, people gradually came out from a series of teachings propagated by Catholicism in the Middle Ages. Emancipation of the mind enables the development of modern science and technology, thus accelerating the development of the emerging capitalist economy.
In order to meet the needs of the private bourgeoisie, Luther also proposed that religious beliefs should be thrifty in time and money, that is, advocating thrifty churches.
-
(1) The Complete Works of Marx and Engels (Volume 7) pp. 407-406.
(2) Link Zhu's "ancient world history" on page 573.
(3) Martin Luther's "The Pope's Rights" and "Selected Works of Luther", Volume I of Hong Kong Edition, page 469.
(4) Selected Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Volume III, page 235.
(5) "Selected Works of Luther" Hong Kong Edition Volume I Page 49
-
He thinks that there are many festivals in the Catholic Church, which are extremely harmful. "In addition to fertilization, ordinary people suffer from two kinds of material damage, which not only neglects their work, but also spends more money than usual and even damages their health, making them unfit for work." To this end, he announced the cancellation of all festivals except Sunday, and suggested that some more important saints' festivals should also be merged into Sunday, or only early mass should be held on the day of the festival, and the rest of the time should still be used as working hours. This not only shortens the time occupied by sacraments, but also saves expenses, which is very important for the primitive accumulation of capitalism. Calvin also proposed in his fatalism that voters should have noble moral qualities, one of which is "frugality". He believes that wealth should not be regarded as evil, and advocates that people should listen to God's call and pursue and acquire wealth in their respective occupations, which is allowed and supported by God. However, the use of wealth should be restrained, and there should be no "excessive greed and excessive waste" ... luxury and enjoyment ",and ② opposition to" excessive enjoyment of wine makes the brain full of fat ". (3) Calvin established a new moral concept here by advocating abstemious life and limiting waste, which made the accumulation of wealth completely reasonable, which also met the needs of the primitive accumulation of the bourgeoisie and accelerated the development of the emerging bourgeoisie.
In addition, as mentioned above, Calvin emphasized that providence decides everything by preaching the theory of "destiny", so as to affirm the rationality and legitimacy of the decline of feudal system and the rise of capitalism. On this basis, Calvin also linked secular struggle with the success and redemption of his career. He believes that a person's life, have a plenty of the apprentice, have a plenty of obscurity, have a plenty of high position, have a plenty of humble. The fundamental reason lies in God's choice. Only those who are chosen by God are "voters" can people get God's support and protection. Those who are not selected are "abandoned people", and such people will be punished forever. At the same time, Calvin visualized the unfathomable sacredness of God as a voter and a deserter through the summoning theory. He said: "God's special choice is hidden, but it is displayed by calling, so calling can be called evidence of choice." There are three specific signs of summoning, one of which is the ability to fight bravely and win the success of the cause unremittingly.
He believes: "Anyone who wants to be brilliant in the afterlife in heaven must struggle in this life, and the victory of struggle must go through countless difficulties and defeat the enemy." In this way, those who succeed through struggle will not only go to heaven after death, but also gain wealth and live a comfortable life in this world, because "the wealth enjoyed by one is not accidental, but distributed by God", while those who do not actively struggle, lack courage or fail in competition will not only be convicted after death, but also live a miserable life in this world. According to this sermon, the success of the career and the acquisition of wealth in this life are not only the call of God, but also the proof of God's choice. Not only can you live a superior life in this world, but you can also get tickets to heaven. Therefore, all Calvinists armed with this idea are willing to abandon themselves and the people. They firmly believe that they are God's voters, get God's help and affirmation in their careers, fight hard in fierce competition, go all out, strengthen their confidence in setbacks, summon up courage in failures, and strive for ultimate success, thus finally proving that they are God's voters. This conformed to the historical trend at that time and completely overthrew the preaching that medieval Catholics should despise wealth in this life, be content with poverty and oppose getting rich by doing business. As Engels pointed out: "Calvin's creed suited the requirements of the bravest bourgeoisie at that time." ⑦
It can be seen that a series of thoughts appeared during the Reformation, especially Calvin's religious view, greatly promoted the development of capitalist economy and the growth of bourgeoisie at that time, which provided a theoretical basis for the development of capitalist economy, and the development of capitalist economy must conform to the big political environment of its own development. The more they developed, the more unstable the feudal system became, so the religious reform accelerated the change of European political structure.
(3)
In Europe, the bourgeois revolution broke out not in all countries and regions at the same time, nor in all countries and regions.
The form and degree are the same, although there are differences in political and historical factors, the reasons are also closely related to the influence of the religious reform thought.
-
(1) Selected Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Volume II, Page 127.
(2) will durant's history of world civilization 19, page 2 10.
The Principles of Calvin _ _ _ _ Philadelphia Edition, pp. 724, 964, 765, 438+04 and 408.
⑦ Introduction to the English version of Engels' Socialism from Utopia to Scientific Development The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, p. 390.
-
First, let's look at Germany, the first country where the Reformation broke out. In Germany, Protestants mainly believe in Lutheran Protestantism. Luther did advocate the use of violence in his early days, but his spearhead was mainly aimed at the Catholic church, not directly at the feudal regime. Therefore, when the peasant war broke out, he retreated and turned to attack the peasant war and stood with the feudal princes, because the peasant war had endangered the rule of the feudal regime. Luther first advocated that farmers can only call for reform in a peaceful way and never resist the lords, and declared by the Bible that "whoever uses a knife will die by the sword". 1525 During April and May, he took elective courses in various parts of Saxony to carry out counter-revolutionary propaganda, published _, and clamored for "stabbing, strangling and assassinating" farmers. Whoever dies to suppress the revolution becomes a "martyr saint".
Luther Protestantism has become a tool for rulers to strengthen their rule. Although 1555' s Augsburg Peace Treaty established the principle of "Religions Dependence on the State", which was a great victory for the emerging bourgeoisie in Germany at that time, the feudal system in Germany was not overthrown until19th century, in which the role of Lutheranism was an important factor. This is mainly due to Luther's conservative side. While denying religious rights, he affirmed the political power of feudal princes. From the viewpoint of the supremacy of monarch, he denied the supremacy of religious authority, pointed out that secular regime was also given by God and belonged to "spiritual hierarchy", and further demonstrated that religious authority should be subordinate to secular authority. Will Duran wrote: "All local governors welcome Protestantism because he found that Protestantism not only holds high the country, but also obeys it. Because they are symbols of the country, their acceptance of Protestantism is equivalent to putting them in their own field spiritually. At the same time, the Nordic countries Denmark and Sweden, which were completely influenced by Lutheranism, successively supported and established the Lutheran national church, which continued the feudal system for a long time.
Calvinism, which was different from Lutheranism, also spread in many countries during the Reformation. Under the influence of Calvinism, a series of bourgeois revolutionary movements in the form of religion broke out, which was much deeper than the peasant war in Germany.
Calvinism first gained a dominant position in Geneva. 154 1 year, the radical religious reform group headed by Calvin established the bourgeois Presbyterian Church in Geneva. It effectively maintained and consolidated the bourgeois regime in Geneva and successfully presided over the first bourgeois sacred republic in Western Europe. Based on this, it sent personnel to publicize its teachings in many ways, so that Calvinism spread rapidly in developed capitalist areas such as the Netherlands, France, Scotland and England.
Calvinism spread rapidly in Holland. From 1566, Calvinists in the Netherlands started an iconoclastic movement against the Catholic Church, which was brutally suppressed by the Spanish rulers. Later 1572, a larger northern uprising broke out, and the revolution in the north promoted the south and reached its climax. During this period, the 18 Committee ruled by Calvinism made great contributions. After several twists and turns, the Dutch bourgeois revolution won in the north, and Calvinism played a positive role in the victory of this revolution. In Britain, its bourgeois revolution also found a ready-made theory for itself in Calvinism.
The Puritans in England combined Calvinism with their political goals. After a fierce struggle, King Charles Stuart was guillotined. The newly established independent parliament passed a series of legislation, abolished the House of Lords and made the unicameral parliament the highest legislative body of the country. The State Council, headed by Cromwell, mastered the executive power, and Parliament officially declared England a republic. The significance of the British bourgeoisie goes far beyond the scope of the Dutch bourgeois revolution. Although these two revolutions were all under the banner of Calvinism, the Netherlands was only a partial victory, while the British bourgeois revolution ended feudal rule and established a new state power throughout the country. This is mainly due to the fact that in Britain, the spirit of Calvinism infiltrated the national church and spread to the bourgeoisie and the lower classes. Finally, Puritanism was separated from the national church controlled by feudal monarchs. Puritanism was better than Calvinism in the Dutch revolution. Instead of standing still in the circle of national independence and opposition to the Catholic church, it constantly fought for bourgeois political power with blood and fire.
To sum up, during the period of the Reformation, the different opinions of various factions had different influences on the revolutionary mode and degree of European countries and regions at that time, which can be said to be another important manifestation of the influence of the Reformation on the changes of European political structure.
The environment formed by a specific society in a specific era can create fertile soil, make new religious beliefs appear and spread, and inject new life into old religious beliefs. If a certain religious thought is not eliminated, it will get a strong response in social consciousness and become a huge ideological force.
-
(1) Selected Works of Martin Luther, Philadelphia Edition, Volume IV, pp. 248-254.
(2) will durant's History of World Civilization (Volume 19), page 157.
-
These religious thoughts often appear in the acute crisis period of society, because the masses are full of pessimism and disappointment, but the rising religious myths point out a way out of despair for them. Various ideas, including religious ideas, were of course put forward by some people; However, only the idea supported by the people can be consolidated in social consciousness. To win the support of the people, it depends on the extent to which the ideas put forward are in line with the interests and feelings of the people. The interests and feelings of the masses have always been the sum of those factors rooted in the historical environment, first of all, rooted in the social and economic status of the masses, rooted in the relationship between social groups and classes, and rooted in the process of class struggle.
16th century is the turning point from feudal society to capitalist society in Europe, and the key to the development and progress of European society and history is also at this turning point. Although the religious reform movement was a revolution in the ideological field, it promoted this historical turning point, accelerated its arrival, and disintegrated the feudal system in western Europe at that time. Different countries and regions have different attitudes towards Protestantism, which has also caused the speed and degree of infiltration into capitalism in different European countries and regions in political differentiation. This fully shows that the development of history is not single, not only the economic conditions determine the historical changes, but also the revolution in the ideological and theoretical fields often plays an important or even decisive role in the changes of social and political systems. Once the theory is correct, it often reacts on the productive forces and promotes social and economic development, otherwise it will hinder social development.