How did the Northern Renaissance lead to the Protestant Reformation?

There are at least two ways in which the Northern
Renaissance led to the Reformation.

First of all, the
Renaissance spread ideas of humanism.  These ideas, put forward by such people as
Erasmus, held that people were capable of a great deal of understanding and
intelligence.  They were, for example, capable of understanding a great deal about God
and religion.  This sort of idea led to a questioning of the Catholic Church since the
Church taught that people had to simply do as they were told by those (the clergy) who
were actually capable of understanding God.  Humanism, then, set the stage for the
Protestant idea that people could interact with and understand God by
themselves.

Second, the technological advances of the
Renaissance helped lead to the invention of the printing press.  This invention allowed
works of humanism and, very importantly, Bibles in the vernacular, to become relatively
widely available.  When this happened, people were able to read and think more about
religion and God.  This, too, turned them towards Protestant
ideas.

In these ways, both the ideas and the technology of
the Renaissance helped lead to the Reformation.