Section 1
One of the famous stories of the 18th century is written by Voltaire in which he tried to deliver his message to the readers through the experiences of Candide (the main character of this story). For that, he showed that Candide believed in the theory to live his life. However, the theories on which Candide lived his his life repeatedly put him to the test throughout this story. Even then, Candide did not change his views and learned from his experiences. Through this story, Voltaire tried to give a lesson to the readers. I believe that there are five different ways through which Voltaire has delivered his message for happiness and peace.
The first way of Voltaire to deliver the message is a theory that is repeated several times in this story by Candide is, "best of all possible worlds." It means that he believes that everything that happens is for the best. Although Voltaire is not much optimistic but this theory reflects satiric and ironic sting. The other way was when Candide was tested due to this ideology. It was because of his highly pessimistic statements. Even though he faced many hardships in his life, he never changed his ideology towards life (Butler-Bowden 187).
One of the examples that can be taken from chapter 30 in which it is mentioned that Candide and Cunégonde got married, but they were not happy because they were finding happiness in materialistic things. However, Voltaire through his texts delivered this message that absence of suffering is relatable with the presence of happiness. The other best example is that human affairs cooperated by both God and Devil. Devil spread difficulties for human, and God solves the problems Meanwhile human learn many things, and he must need to realize that everything happens for a reason, and that means best of all possible worlds (Arp 395).
Moving forward, it should be noted that Voltaire supported his points by giving other examples too. One of the examples is related to the suicide and murder of humanity. When a woman tells her story of cannibalism, slavery, and rape, it can be said that the pessimism can be noticed clearly because she said that she wanted to die, and she attempted suicide many times. However, the fact is that God forbids suicide. The reason is that a person should understand the purpose of everything and should wait for his rewards for bearing hardships (Butler-Bowden 180).
Section 2
Martin Luther’s protestant reformation was the 16th century spiritual and opinionated upheaval that fractured the belief and religious convictions of Catholic Europe. According to Edwards, Martin Luther defied the concepts of papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s aptitude to classify the religious convictions of Christianity (Edwards and Jr 1). Martin Luther argued for a dutiful and biased rearrangement of power. The majority of the Catholic Christian did not accept Martin’s conceptual thoughts. The conventional political and religious parties were not happy with Martin’s idea as well, and they initiated a conflict with him and his theories. The scriptures of Martin Luther changed the lessons of the spiritual and artistic history of the Europe and after few years, the Protestantism was re-shaped by the ideological concepts of Martin Luther.
Primarily Huldrych Zwingli endorsed the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. According to McGrath, Zwingli resolute his development ideas upon matter-of-facts and his work shaped the exceptional communal establishment created by the Reformation (McGrath 1). Zwingli formerly began to advocate his new convictions; his work in Zürich placed the future example reforms. In an age when people were habitually unfamiliar with the scriptures, Zwingli became captivated with the concepts of Bibles. After studying Bible, he understood that what Christians priest are preaching is not according to the teachings of Bible. Zwingli started to confront the priest and challenge the traditional rituals and concepts of Christians that were unbiblical. The reason behind his argument was to give communal authority a much superior role in the Swiss Reformed Churches. People were afraid that Zwingli will easily change the thoughts of civilian, so they started a conspiracy war against him, but still Zwingli’s protestant reformation played a vital role in bringing prosperity in Switzerland.
John Calvin is considered as the father of the reformed faiths. He is even more illustrious than Luther as the followers of Luther constructed a single ceremonial church whereas followers of Calvin constructed many churches. Calvin’s writings have mostly targeted the issues to evangelism. Calvin noticeably encouraged the Christians to be engaged in evangelism. According to the belief of John Calvin, evangelism helps the cohorts. Calvin is considered as a primary figure in the expansion of the structure of Christian religious studies. He discussed the significance of the doctrine of predestination and eternal damnation. Calvin’s work has been lauded and respected by followers of the conventional Christian philosophy related to the Reformed theology.
Huldrych Zwingli is undoubtedly the most influential reformer, and he was considered as a key figure in the Swiss Reformation process. He was the first one who introduced the concept of reformation in Switzerland. Zwingli proved to be successful in establishing his commencement of the suitable reformation of the churches in Switzerland.
Works Cited
Arp, Robert. 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2013. Print.
Butler-Bowden, Tom. The Literature of Possibility. New Jersy: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2013 . Print.
Edwards, Mark U. and Jr. Printing, Propaganda, and Martin Luther. Minneapolis: Fortress Press , 2005. Print.
McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. Malden: John Wiley & Sons,Ltd., 2012. Print.
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