Question #9bde0
1 Answer
The Roman Catholic Church would have maintained its dominance of Western Europe for a longer period of time.
Explanation:
Previous attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church and its control of Western Europe had failed.
The Waldensians of France were destroyed by a Crusade against them. Their translation of the Bible into Provincial French from the Old Latin challenged many of the doctrines of the Catholic church. The Waldensians practice of lay preachers and Bible studies challenged the authority of the priests and bishops. The Waldensians were killed in mass and their translations burned.
The revolt against the church started in 1173 failed
The Lollards of England using a translation of the Bible in English by John Wycliff challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. The Lollards were declared heretics as such could be raped, robbed and murdered without penally. The possession of a an English Bible was a death sentence. Both the Bible and the person were burned. The Lollards failed and their movement of 1384 was stamped out.
Jon Huss of Czech fame, again challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. He was burned alive in 1415 along with his translation of the Bible in the Czech language. Armies were sent to stamp out his followers.
If Martin Luther had failed there would have been another translation of the Bible into the local languages, There would have been another revolt against the authority of the Catholic Church. Eventually one of the revolts like Martin Luther's would have succeeded. It just might have taken another 100 years of so beyond 1522 when Luther translated the Biblical New Testament into German.
