Faith--the belief that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet--is the missing pillar here, not marriage.

Faith--the belief that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet--is the missing pillar here, not marriage.

Soon after breaking out in Germany, the Protestant Reformation began to spill over into Switzerland. With its independent and fiercely individualistic cantons (aka states), a track record of small-scale religious reform movements, and a growing tide of national sentiment, Switzerland enjoyed some of the same key conditions which had helped the Reformation take hold in Germany. Just as Germanic Protestantism operated largely under the leadership of Martin Luther, many Swiss Protestants found their ideal teacher in Ulrich Zwingli, a highly educated devotee of the humanist theologian Erasmus. Zwingli was just as intense, uncompromising, and outspoken as his Germanic counterpart and his devotees followed his example. Before too long, many of the Swiss cantons declared their Protestant allegiance, but the region unfortunately was not able to institute lasting compromises between its new Protestant and established Catholic populations. Before too long, these tensions would boil over into two bloody civil wars – first in 1529 and again in 1531. It was during this last conflict that Zwingli was killed in battle.

Soon after breaking out in Germany, the Protestant Reformation began to spill over into Switzerland. With its independent and fiercely individualistic cantons (aka states), a track record of small-scale religious reform movements, and a growing tide of national sentiment, Switzerland enjoyed some of the same key conditions which had helped the Reformation take hold in Germany. Just as Germanic Protestantism operated largely under the leadership of Martin Luther, many Swiss Protestants found their ideal teacher in Ulrich Zwingli, a highly educated devotee of the humanist theologian Erasmus. Zwingli was just as intense, uncompromising, and outspoken as his Germanic counterpart and his devotees followed his example. Before too long, many of the Swiss cantons declared their Protestant allegiance, but the region unfortunately was not able to institute lasting compromises between its new Protestant and established Catholic populations. Before too long, these tensions would boil over into two bloody civil wars – first in 1529 and again in 1531. It was during this last conflict that Zwingli was killed in battle.

Luther himself created a vernacular translation of scripture. He was against sacerdotalism and encouraged all to communicate directly with God. The other practices listed are emblematic of the corruption he sought to purge from the Catholic Church. In order to answer this question, you could have either known of Luther's vernacular translation, or known about his points of contention with the church.

Luther himself created a vernacular translation of scripture. He was against sacerdotalism and encouraged all to communicate directly with God. The other practices listed are emblematic of the corruption he sought to purge from the Catholic Church. In order to answer this question, you could have either known of Luther's vernacular translation, or known about his points of contention with the church.

Matteo Ricci is famous for his missionary work in China, on behalf of the Catholic Church, in the late sixteenth century. Ricci is responsible for many of the early in-roads made by Christianity in east Asia and is also one of the first Europeans to be able to read, write, and speak traditional Chinese.

Matteo Ricci is famous for his missionary work in China, on behalf of the Catholic Church, in the late sixteenth century. Ricci is responsible for many of the early in-roads made by Christianity in east Asia and is also one of the first Europeans to be able to read, write, and speak traditional Chinese.

In the years from the thirteenth into the fifteenth centuries, Western Europe saw the localized and/or regional rise of many lay religious movements. These developments were entirely conceived, implemented, and managed by secular individuals and were especially common in urban areas, where access to multiple sources of information (helped along by the printing press and expanding trade routes) encouraged free-thinking and experimentation. Several of these groups amassed rather substantially-sized followings – the Hussites, Waldensians, Beguines, and Lollards, for example. While of course these groups were all quite different, it is true that a definite majority shared a common central goal – they desired to return to what they saw as the simple religious practices put in place by Jesus and his original apostles. These individuals regarded the Catholic Church as a far too doctrinally and practically complex realm, one in which ritual outweighed belief. To solve this problem, many believed that the only true solution was a return to a more individualized, ascetic religious experience, one devoid of all the material trappings of Catholicism. Especially enshrined by such movements was the notion of equal and reciprocal exchange amongst religious leaders and the lay population, so that each church member, regardless of their official clerical or social status, was able to have their say and direct their own religious practices.

In the years from the thirteenth into the fifteenth centuries, Western Europe saw the localized and/or regional rise of many lay religious movements. These developments were entirely conceived, implemented, and managed by secular individuals and were especially common in urban areas, where access to multiple sources of information (helped along by the printing press and expanding trade routes) encouraged free-thinking and experimentation. Several of these groups amassed rather substantially-sized followings – the Hussites, Waldensians, Beguines, and Lollards, for example. While of course these groups were all quite different, it is true that a definite majority shared a common central goal – they desired to return to what they saw as the simple religious practices put in place by Jesus and his original apostles. These individuals regarded the Catholic Church as a far too doctrinally and practically complex realm, one in which ritual outweighed belief. To solve this problem, many believed that the only true solution was a return to a more individualized, ascetic religious experience, one devoid of all the material trappings of Catholicism. Especially enshrined by such movements was the notion of equal and reciprocal exchange amongst religious leaders and the lay population, so that each church member, regardless of their official clerical or social status, was able to have their say and direct their own religious practices.