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The largest call for religious reforms came from ​

A. The Protestant Reformation
B. The Second Great Awakening
C. The Council of Trent
D. The Enlightenment

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The largest call for religious reforms in American society came from the Second Great Awakening, which was a significant 19th-century movement emphasizing personal salvation and societal reform.

Step-by-step explanation:

The largest call for religious reforms came from the Protestant Reformation, which began in the 16th century with figures like Martin Luther and John Calvin seeking to address perceived corruptions within the Catholic Church. However, in the context of American religious history, the Second Great Awakening in the 19th century brought a significant wave of religious reforms. It was characterized by widespread revivals and a belief in the possibility of personal salvation through free will, influencing many areas of American life and culture.

The Second Great Awakening began around the 1790s and peaked in the 1820s, becoming a major religious movement led by evangelical Protestants. They preached that salvation was accessible to everyone, thus promoting inclusion and spiritual rebirth through personal religious experiences. This movement contributed to the expansion of Methodist and Baptist churches and played a pivotal role in societal reforms, concerning temperance and antebellum communal experiments, and reaching various social strata including slaves and free blacks.

By contrast, the Council of Trent was part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 16th century, the Enlightenment was a philosophical movement emphasizing reason over tradition, and the Second Great Awakening occurred after these two and was primarily a Protestant revival movement. Of these options, the Second Great Awakening is the most closely associated with a major call for religious reforms in American society.

User Yannick Loriot
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