Both Protestants and Catholics undertook a number of reform programs intended to change working-class behavior. What were some of these programs, and why did the reformers choose this method rather than simply encouraging the lower classes to go to church?

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The Answer is Answer would ideally include the following. Most of the programs backed by religious organizations sought to change behaviors that the middle and upper classes found threatening, undesirable, and potentially damaging to the social order. Rather than simply preaching the virtues of Christianity and church attendance, reformers attacked behaviors that they believed contributed to moral degeneracy in the working classes, such as drinking, cockfighting, and bearbaiting. Reformers also turned their attention to educating lower-class children in order to train them to be self-disciplined and religious. Many middle- and upper-class Catholic women joined new religious orders that provided services for the vulnerable, establishing schools, hospitals, leper colonies, insane asylums, and old-age homes. Protestant women formed Bible societies and female reform societies intended to help prostitutes find legitimate work.

Both Protestants and Catholics Undertook a Number of Reform Programs