The Reformation’s greatest impact was on the way that people in western Europe thought. Luther’s ultimate message, like Wycliffe’s, was that each person should read the Bible and come to their own conclusions. This shifted the focus away from mindlessly obeying the Church’s authoritative interpretation of Christianity and instead emphasized the critical faculties of the individual. Eventually, some people began to read the scriptures and reject them altogether. Instead, they tried to explain the world using reason and observation. In this sense, existential questioning triggered by the Black
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