Abstract
‘Salvation’ considers the theological questions and doctrines of the Reformation. The primary dispute concerned whether salvation was earned through good works, or gained through faith, by accepting God's invitation to salvation. This raised the question of predestination — whether people were free to accept or reject God's offer of salvation if God were truly omnipotent and omniscient. Calvinists believed that God chose an ‘elect’ to receive salvation. Protestants accorded scripture the highest authority, with vernacular sermons and Bibles making them more accessible. Sacraments had an important social role, but their significance and importance was a subject of disagreement. Belief in an imminent apocalypse heightened the perceived stakes for Protestants.
