How did the Renaissance help cause the Reformation?

The Renaissance helped cultivate the Reformation in several ways. First, the Renaissance placed a renewed emphasis on Greek, the language in which the biblical New Testament was written. Scholars discovered a number of ancient Greek manuscripts during the Renaissance, which sparked a renewed emphasis on the ancient Greek language. This, in turn, inspired scholars to begin studying the New Testament in its original language rather than just in Latin translation.

Second, the Renaissance, as a humanistic movement, elevated the status of the individual. The emphasis on the individual provided fertile ground for Martin Luther and the Protestants, who emphasized the role of the individual in salvation and declared that all Christians were "priests," in contrast to the Catholic Church, which emphasized the corporate nature of salvation and claimed to have the sole authority to interpret Scripture.