Gutenberg and The Renaissance

4 Commentsby   |  09.20.13  |  Student Posts

Johannes Gutenberg, due to his invention of the movable type printing press, was very influential during the Renaissance. Thanks to his printing press and his *Gutenberg Bible*, people were no longer forced to rely on the church to spoon feed them the scriptures. There was then questioning of the Catholic church as to why the sermons were still being delivered in Latin, rather than in a text than everyone understood. The invention of the printing press also spurred the religious Reformation that took place because the people now had access to information that they could not previously obtain or understand. Most people were illiterate due to the fact that literature was not common or widespread prior to the printing press, but Gutenberg’s invention encouraged literacy as well. With newfound literacy and more readily available printed information, the people did not have to rely so heavily upon the word of the Catholic church.

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4 Comments

  1. Jessica Weeden
    6:44 pm, 09.21.13

    Kami, thank you for your thoughts. You clearly explained how the printing press spurred religious growth and literacy. There is a sense of freedom in that. Perhaps we could suggest that the press is linked with Redemption. We look on and see how the press was used to draw people either back or closer to God. This is not to say that the Catholic church did not draw people to God, but like you mentioned, the Church (as in the believers) grew as a whole because the message became available to a much broader population.

    This might be a stretch- but increased literacy could be a part of redemption too. I do not believe that inequalities are necessarily bad…the fact that we are all unequal is a universal equalizer. However, I think these differences exist because of the fall. But anyways, God desires to restore people to Him and something such as those who can read and those who cannot is a small dividing barrier within a culture. In a way, we see this equalizing in literacy play out. So it could be postulated that this is a small way that an effect of the fall is restored.

  2. Lindsay Lowe
    6:50 pm, 09.22.13

    I liked the parallels you made with the example of the printing press’ influence on religion. The new ability for everyone to have a copy of the Bible and be literate was a newfound freedom at the time. It helped the people discover truths for themselves and gave them their own voice. Bibles spread the truth around the world. I agree that this tool spurred on religious reformation. Following up with Jessica’s comment, I would probably classify Gutenberg and the printing press with Redemption as well.

  3. Haley Conaway
    10:41 pm, 09.22.13

    These are great points. I would classify Gutenberg with Redemption. After a period coined “the dark ages” where there was a limited spread of new ideas and very little creativity, the Gutenberg press really “redeemed” this dark period. This invention paved the way for an influx of new ideas, books, theology, and really- a whole new society.

  4. Tyler McCuistion
    8:15 pm, 09.23.13

    I find Gutenberg to be a very influential person in the history of the west and maybe even the world. The invention of the printing press definitely made it possible for people to rely more on their understanding than the understanding or dogma of the catholic church.

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