Christian Liberty, Utopia, and The Prince
"A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none...A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant to all, subject to none." (Luther Pg. 7) These lines show what Luther is truly about. In Christian Liberty, Luther believes in the reestablishing of God as the inner authority. In Utopia, Thomas More believes the power should be in one group and that the rest of the common people in the society should all be equal like a communist society. In The Prince, Machievelli believes that the power is within the prince. I choose Christian Liberty as the best form of authority because it is the closest to being an honest and true way of authority. Although none of the books portray ideal authority, Christian Liberty is the closest to describing the best authority out of the three because of the emphasis on a moral society with less corruption, a reformation in the people's spiritual selves and less concentration of wealth in the hands of the religious hierarchy in society so that it would become more of an egalitarian society.
In Christian Liberty, Martin Luther portrays the corruption in the church and in the government and explains how this could all be solved with the reformation of the spirit self being ruled by God as an all-powerful force. "Therefore we must also preach the word of grace and the promise of forgiveness by which faith is taught and aroused. Without this word of grace the works of the law, contrition, penitence, and all the rest are done and taught in vain." (Luther page 27). In this quote Luther says that you need to have a spiritual relationship in order to repent for your sins and to do good works otherwise your good works mean nothing t...
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...g of the scriptures and writings of God. Martin Luther with his system of authority based around a personal understanding of The Bible is better then The Prince who uses the rule of the one and Utopia's rule of the few.
Works Cited:
Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
Luther, Martin "Martin Luther's Treatise on Christian Liberty [Freedom of a Christian]." Christian Liberty. Trans. W. A. Lambert. Fortress Press, 1957.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Trans. Hill Thompson. Norwalk: The Easton Press, 1980.
More, Sir Thomas. Utopia: A New Translation, Backgrounds, Criticism. Ed. and trans. Robert M. Adams. Toronto: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1988.
Nelson, William, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Utopia. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
In Martin Luther’s Freedom of a Christian Man, Luther describes what he believes should be the relationship between faith and good works in the life of Christian people. His beliefs became integral to the Protestant and Lutheran ideologies. The basis of Luther’s pamphlet was “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” (31) This central thought provides readers dialogue on what is truly a selfless, act and if these acts do in fact have an effect on one’s
Luther’s On Christian Liberty expressed concepts that were appealing to peasants such as salvation being achieved by faith alone. However, the major concept that appealed to peasants the most was Luther’s principle that “a Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none” (Mckay 396). This quote from Luther was highly manipulated by the peasants and encouraged them to become released from serfdom, no matter the extremity. The peasants’ manipulated version of Lutheran principles caused them to start the revolts that would later be stopped by authorities.
Kittelson effectively composed the book and created the biography to be an interesting look into the life of Martin Luther. His successful usage of primary source documents and information compounded with his personal literary explanation of Luther’s journey toward reformation and peace with God. Kittelson’s book is not without humor either, he includes direct quotes and dialogue between Luther and Zwingli debating the Lord’s Supper. The insults and demonstrative behavior show Luther as he was, a reformer, who wished to convince others of the power of the gospel. This engaging study is both informative and engaging. Luther the Reformer is a good biography for anyone interested in Martin Luther’s life and interested in learning more about why his journey impacted not only the Roman church then, but the entirety of the Christian Church to this
Martin Luther, was “temperamental, peevish, egomaniacal, and argumentative” (Hooker, www.wsu.edu), but played a pivotal role in history. During Luther's time as a monk, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences. Luther took notice to the corruption and began to reason that men can only get their salvation through Jesus Christ, not the Pope or indulgences, let alone the Church itself. Luther began ...
In this essay Martin Luther comments upon the role of good works in a Christian's life and the overall goal of a Christian in his or her walk. He writes seventeen different sections answering the critics of his teachings. I will summarize and address each one of these sections in the following essay.
...s fascinating how Luther and Machiavelli's arguments relate to each other especially in terms of the Catholic Church.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
Finding the perfect capital structure in terms of risk and reward can ensure a company meets shareholder expectations and protects a firm in times of recession. Capital structure refers to how a business puts its money to “work”. The two forms of capital structure are equity capital and debt capital. Both have their benefits and limitations. Striking that perfect balance between the two can mean the difference between thriving versus trying to survive.
Martin Luther a German theologian and religious reformer was the founding figure of the protestant reformation, the break from the Catholic Church, which in many ways marks the beginning of modern Europe. A well-expressed preacher and huge writer, Luther attacked many abuses of the Catholic Church, especially the papacy. The source of his spiritual revelation was not political or institutional but came from his inner fight of conscience. Like other people of his day, Luther was horrified that god would in the end reject him for his sins. He found a word in the bible called “Law” which increased his terror, but he also discovered a word god called “Gospel,” the good news and promise of mercy in Christ, which shed all of his worries. By his words and actions, Luther caused an action that reformulated certain rudimentary Christian belief and the division of Western Church between Roman Catholics and the Protestant traditions. He is one of the most influential person in the history of Christianity.
Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
Additionally, it is important to understand Luther’s distinction between the Law and the Gospel in order to further explore Luther’s understanding of human freedom. The Law is God’s commands; it allows humans to coexist, limits chaos and condemns sinfulness, though it is not God’s road...
Frank E. Manuel and Manuel Frtizie, Utopian Thought in the Western World. London: Belknap Press 1982
Schumaker Paul, Dwight C. Kiel, Thomas Heilke, Great Ideas/Grand Schemes: Political Ideologies in the 19th and 20th Centuries, New York, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1996. Schumaker Paul, Dwight C. Kiel, Thomas W. Heilke, Ideological Voices: An Anthology of Modern Political Ideas, New York, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1997.
The capital structure of a firm is the way in which it decides to finance its operations from various funds, comprising debt, such as bonds and outstanding loans, and equity, including stock and retained earnings. In the long term, firms seek to find the optimal debt-equity ratio. This essay will explore the advantages and disadvantages of different capital structure mixes, and consider whether this has any relevance to firm value in theory and in reality.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, MA: Belknap-Harvard Press, 1979.